The soldiers, waiting for a drug-induced opening, were creeping up to her. Emere had grabbed Gwaharad’s arm and was shouting at him, but Loran could no longer distinguish words.
Her left eye ignited.
Her whole body suddenly grew hot and the poison coursing through her dissipated, not virulent enough to withstand the heat. Strength returned, tears threatened. Loran stood, and the soldiers approaching her instantly fell back. There was no longer anyone sitting in that banquet hall. They had all risen from their seats and were staring at Loran.
The poison subsided, but Gwaharad’s words remained. She had barely defeated a single armored century. There was no way she could fight an entire legion by herself.
“Iwillsurrender to the legion.”
“That’s suicide!” shouted Emere. “Please, Princess, heed not my brother’s words!”
“Be quiet, Emere!” Gwaharad shrieked.
Loran smiled. “It is not his words that moved me so. I had a mind to do it for days now. He is right in that it is the only way to stop the Twenty-Fifth from retaliating against Arland.”
There was surprise, shame, and something like guilt in the eyes of those gathered. Gwaharad spoke, suspicion in his tone.
“And you expect us to believe what you say? That you will walk to your death on your own two feet?”
“Youmay not be able to believe me, Your Majesty,” said Loran, “but there are many in this hall who will willingly lay down their lives for their family and their neighbors.Theywill not find it strange there is one more such person among them.”
A look of incomprehension crossed Gwaharad’s face.
“I shall put it in terms you might understand,” said Loran. “I could kill everyone in this hall and take this palace, so why would I bother lying to you? Make way.”
The poison still lingered. Her steps were a little unsteady, her head still swimming. But when Loran drew Wurmath, everyone gave her as much room as they could. She walked out into the hall. Soldiers were gathered there as well, but they only watched her pass, their backs close to the walls.
How small and suffocating this place seemed now. Perhaps it was the poison; perhaps she was just tired. The Princess of Arland silently resheathed Wurmath and stumbled her way through the dark tunnels of the underground palace.
20CAIN
The Capital’s winter tended to turn strangely warm this time of year, and the docks were packed with pedestrians and carts alike, everyone trying to get as much work done as possible before it inevitably turned freezing again. Around sunset, Cain was sitting at the end of an alley on a discarded wooden crate, watching five children walk toward him. He put on his spectacles, which he’d taken off to avoid standing out, and took a few silver coins from his pouch.
“We’re here.”
It was the oldest girl, who was also the smartest. Her name was Ayana, and she looked about fourteen. There was a spiral scar on her left cheek, made with great care. Ayana had negotiated shrewdly with Cain on their pay, but Cain was even more impressed with her insistence that he pay the coins in multiples of five, so that she could divide equally among the children.
“How did it go?”
“The money first.”
Cain had already taken out half the promised amount from his pouch. He handed it to her.
“You’ll get the rest when you tell me how it went.”
“It’s only half,” said the boy next to her in a heartlander accent. The girl counted the coins.
“It’s all right,” said Ayana, “we’ll just tell him half, then.”
Cain raised his spectacles with his fingertip and said, “If there’s no trust in a transaction, the whole business becomes very tedious.” Cain sighed with slight smile. “Tell me, and you’ll have the rest.”
“You’re joking?” Ayana said with a cock of her eyebrow. “If there wastrust,you would give usallthe money. This isn’t your first time with us.”
She had a point. He handed her the rest. Ayana quickly counted it, put it in her pocket, and looked around her. Satisfied no one was listening, she said, “We did what you said and watched from a different place than last time.”
“You weren’t seen?”
Ayana shook her head. “It was easier this time, the scary one wasn’t there.”
