After a moment, she and Ama sank down gracefully onto the wide pillows. Mariyah and I did the same. General Isa remained standing by the door.
“With so many people in the room, you’re no doubt wanting introductions,” Queen Samira said. “This is Queen Rana, Queen of All Queens, and her daughter, the First Daughter, Zara.” She then indicated a silently seething Queen Jazela and worried Mariyah. “Queen Jazela is queen of the Nazeeran Canyon andMid-Plains, and Mariyah is First Daughter here. No doubt you’ve already heard of General Isa.”
The Eagle Rider’s eyes flicked back and forth amongst us before returning to Queen Samira’s face. “In your letter to the emperor, you claimed to be writing on behalf of the alliance of the Children of Earth.”
Almost in unison, Queen Jazela and Ama gave Queen Samira furious looks. “How dare you write on our behalf!” Ama said, with barely restrained fury.
“When you see the peace treaty this rider has brought with him, then I’m sure you will understand,” Samira told her with a calm tone that set me on edge. Queen Samira had always had a flair for the dramatic, and she loved to stir things up—even amongst allies. But the wordspeace treatyhad the effect she wanted. We all now hung on her every word.
“And who are you?” Ama asked when the Zephyrian seemed to have no intention of offering his name.
“I am Commander Talon, cousin to the emperor of Zephyrus, and one of the leaders of the Eagle Rider Aerial Army.”
“We are pleased you could come and speak with us peacefully,” Queen Samira said, and I could feel the waves of animosity coming from Queen Jazela, who was the most volatile of the three queens. “We have long sought an agreement that would satisfy both our countries.”
“Yes, but they have never been able to guarantee that we would be able to keep our ancient lands. Grasslands we need for our horses,” Queen Jazela added in a biting tone as she stared at Commander Talon.
For his part, he met her gaze without blinking, without any sign of remorse on that cold face. It was a face wasted on a manfrom that empire, with striking icy-blue eyes and a sharp jawline that was tempered by full lips. But he ruined it all with that stony expression that never changed.
“However, in light of recent events,” Queen Samira said, and the way her gaze shifted so briefly to mine before dancing away made that terrible feeling that I wasn’t going to like the outcome of this—that indeed I was mostly likely thecauseof it—come back with a vengeance.
“Which recent events?” Ama interrupted.
“She is referring, I think,” Commander Talon said, and all three of us turned to him with eyebrows raised, “to a release of power that was devastating enough to kill fifteen Eagle Riders.” His gaze settled on mine. “That was the second time this power was used. Though Neo and I managed to survive and serve as witnesses to the first.”
I flinched. Not only had the bastard lived, but he’d returned to the emperor—hiscousin—to tell him about it.
When Ama sent word to Queen Samira to ask for her advice, I was sure she didn’t expect her to react by demanding a peace treaty from the Zephyrians. Not without broaching the subject with the other queens first, especially Ama, who outranked them all. Samira overstepped her place by not convening with them. So much so, in fact, that I may have called her a traitor had she not arrived with hopes of finally ending the war.
“I sent word describing your devastating abilities as well,” Queen Samira said to me, and Ama shot her a look of shocked hurt. “I asked for peace.”
“You threatened us,” Commander Talon corrected. “You said her power could wipe out numerous battalions.”
At that moment, I looked up to find General Isa watching me, and I could almost hear what she was thinking. Threatening theZephyrians with my power was exactly what we had planned to do, and a peace treaty was the exact outcome we had desired. My blood pounded in my ears, drowning everything out. I knew it couldn’t be that easy. There was more to this.
“Yes, but that’s why I asked for peace,” Queen Samira was saying. “If First Daughter Zara joins the battle in the north, your battalions will be destroyed in an instant, but we can avoid all of that with a treaty.”
I was almost positive that level of power, if I was even capable of it, would not only destroy my bond with Shazeera, but also cause the Earth Mother to forsake me as future heir to the throne. But the Zephyrians didn’t know that.
Commander Talon pulled out a scroll from a leather bag slung across his chest and at his hip. “I have a treaty here, signed by Emperor Altair, but it comes with three terms.”
“What are they?” Ama asked.
“The first is that we will receive twenty percent of every trade and sale of your exports in the port city of Rhythos. In exchange, your land, including the Northern Plains, Mid-Plains, and Southern Plains, will remain under the rule of the Children of Earth. Additionally, you may migrate across the continent as you see fit, under the protection of the Zephyrian Empire.”
Queen Samira paled at that number. Since she grew the vast majority of crops in the south, it would affect her the most. Perhaps she deserved it for keeping my mother in the dark about her plans.
Ama may have argued with a tax of that size, but it appeared she felt as I did and that it was a just punishment for Queen Samira’s actions. She merely nodded and said, “Go on.”
“The second is that you will engage your daughter, the First Daughter Zara of the Children of Earth, to the emperor of theZephyrians, for marriage in a month’s time, which is the customary engagement period for Zephyrian royalty. In doing so, our people will become her people, and she will never again be able to use the power of the wind against us.”
I half stood—I thought I was about to run from that tent, or perhaps vomit all over Commander Talon, or possibly faint—but Mariyah linked arms with me in solidarity and held me still.
“And the last term?” Ama said, her voice tight.
“The First Daughter will come to stay with the emperor immediately upon signing this treaty, where she will learn the ways of our people, and prepare for her role as empress. She will never use the power of the wind against us, or this treaty will be considered forfeit, and we will retaliate as necessary.”
All I could hear was the blood pounding in my ears. They wanted me to come with them…to leave my people and become one of them. The thought made my chest constrict so painfully I let out my breath in a pained hitch. Beside me, Mariyah gasped, but a strange calm had descended on me. My family—save Queen Samira, who had probably suggested it in the first place—all sat frozen in shock, but my mind raced ahead. The suddenness of this news hit me like being shot with an arrow. And yet…
