“I feel the same way.” She was quiet, the only sound her breathing, then she said, “But I think Alexandra made a mistake.”
James turned his head, looking at the shadow of her face. “How so?”
“I don’t think killing Cormac was part of her plan. I think she was rushed into it by whatever drove Cormac to meet with Keris. I think she was worried what Cormac might tell Keris and chose to silence him.”
He shook his head. “It sounded to me as if Keris is very much part of their plan. They are using him to soften Aren up for an alliance with Amarid so they can strike Ithicana from the rear.”
“I know, but they couldn’t have predicted that Keris would go to Harendell. I think they’ve pivoted to use him, but in doing so, they’ve overextended their hand.” Her fingers flexed in his. “I think Alexandra reacted impulsively, murdering Cormac to silence the spread of William’s secrets and then blaming Amarid to further that scheme, but it lacks her usual foresight. Because Ronan will not take this death lightly, will he? He already wants revenge against Katarina for Siobhan’s murder, and that desire will be compounded by Cormac’s murder.”
“He’ll push William to move with him to attack Amarid.” The wheels in James’s mind began to spin, following her course of thought. “And if William refuses, or if Alexandra digs in her heels to protect her ally, Ronan might withdraw his support from the alliance.”
“Exactly. Alexandra has woven so many threads, and I think she’s finally tangled herself in this one. William is the one thing that causes her to act impulsively, because she’ll do everything and anything to protect him and his reign.” Ahnna’s grip tightened. “She’s made a mistake, James. And if she makes one, she’ll make more.”
There was a fierceness to her voice, and James relished her strength. Hope was dim for them in this place, but she had not given up and neither had he.
“Carlo does not like that you are imprisoned,” she whispered, her grip tightened. “Katarina is punishing him as much as you by keeping us in here, and that might be something we can exploit.”
“How?”
“I don’t know yet, but my gut tells me that Carlo might be our one ally in escaping this place.”
James’s lips parted to remind her that if Carlo released them from the Furnace, it would only be because he had a more vicious end planned for them, but then the warden’s voice called down from above, “Prisoner, approach!”
43
Ahnna
“What now?” James muttered, lettinggo of her hand.
Ahnna bent her head to watch him walk back into the beam of light, looking up at the male warden above. “What do you want?”
“His Highness finds your smell offensive and has ordered you bathed.” The warden’s voice was tight with irritation. “Strip.”
“I’ll pass,” James growled. “I’m not interested in you turning my cell back into a steam box.”
“The furnace fires are banked and will be kept so for the balance of the day,” the warden snapped, and it struck Ahnna that the man resented this. The Furnace cells weren’t just a prison. They were also torture chambers, and Katarina’s need to keep them alive and sane undermined that purpose. “Strip.”
“Or what?” James asked. “You going to come down here and punish me for disobeying?”
The warden gave a soft chuckle. “Perhaps we starve your woman.”
An unsubtle way of reminding them that Ahnna was being kept alive to manipulate James.
“No, you won’t.” James’s tone was bored. “Katarina wants her alive. Katarina wants her sane.”
Silence stretched, but James only stood with his arms crossed inthe beam of light from above. Finally, the warden said, “We’ll give your woman wash water. And soap.”
Ahnna’s toes curled at the mention of soap, the thought of washing away the sweat and filth coating her skin more alluring than anything else they might have offered, but James didn’t respond.
“And the furnace stays banked until tomorrow,” he finally said. “That’s the deal, and if you go back on your word, Warden, this will be the last concession you ever get from me.”
The warden was silent, but Ahnna could feel his rage seething through the stone above her. His unbridled fury at having his shrine to sadism bent to a different purpose. But she also suspected that his fear of Carlo, and of Katarina, was more powerful than his rage. “It will be so. Strip.”
Ahnna knew that it would be appropriate to look away, but she remained where she was as James pulled off his prisoner garments and stood naked beneath that golden beam of light. It illuminated his skin, and Ahnna couldn’t help but admire the hard lines of his body, shoulders broad and waist narrow, the muscles of his ass worthy of a sculpture.
He caught a small block of soap that the warden dropped, then turned his face up as water was poured down. It cascaded down his body, and he set to scrubbing himself with the soap, hands moving over his body with vigorous efficiency, and a memory of his words filled her mind.I confess to having a small obsession with your legs, Princess, and I’ve stroked my cock to completion more times than I care to admit with thoughts of them filling my head.
The ache of need returned with a vengeance, her breath quickening as she watched his hand move over his cock, more water sluicing down from above to pool at his ankles. She’d seen him nude before, but Ahnna found it impossible to take her eyes from him, her imagination filling with images of her hands on him, her mouth around him, and a soft noise escaped her lips.
