“Give me one good reason not to slice this bitch’s head off right now,” I hiss at Anassa through the bonds.“Seriously, I need you to be the voice of reason because I am about to lose it.”
Stark is burning with anger behind me, too, and it’s reaching me and intensifying my own.
“Her tactics are discourteous, but I sense sincerity from her,” Anassa says.“The offer seems genuine.”
“So, what, we travel to the far ends of our enemy nation at the beck and call of their king, leaving our country leaderless? All in the hopes that whatever awaits us there will be better than risking their wrath?”I pause, mulling this over.“I think I should use foresight.”
“That may be wise,” Anassa says.“As long as you remember the visions aren’t complete.”
Closing my eyes, I let myself fully enter our bond, tapping into my Strategos power. It’s easier this time, after using it so recently. Like a pathway I’ve trod before. But the visions come swiftly… and brutally.
If I don’t agree to go with Ruby…
Burning fields. The village in shambles.
Children wandering around soot-covered, barefoot, through the rubble. Crying for their parents. Crying for food.
Immediate destruction and misery.
And if I do agree to go…
The baking sun. A golden crown, not my own. Blood, in a slow drip down someone’s neck.
It doesn’t seem great, either, but it’s a whole lot less sinister.
My throat tightens as my eyes fly back open.
The misery of my people can be avoided.
“I can make a choice that staves off that future,” I say to Anassa.“But how do I know that it won’t result in something worse happening further into the future? Further than I can see?”
Anassa is silent for a moment. Eventually, she says, “You do not, and you never will. These are the decisions that you must make as the leader of your country. All you are able to do is make the best decision for the moment with as much information as you have, and then live with the consequences.”
I want to groan.“Great. As someone known for her totally unimpulsive decision-making, I’m very qualified for this job.”
Anassa huffs at my side.“This is why you humans require direwolves. We are not as irrational.”
“Yeah, I’m really glad I can get advice from someone who sniffs butts.”
She nips at my ankle, and I finally look back to Ruby. “Your position is clear. I’ll need to confer with my advisors before making such a momentous decision.”
Ruby bows her head in a slight acknowledgment. If she’s frustrated, she doesn’t reveal it. She sounds uncaring as she says, “The offer expires in twenty-four hours, after which hostilities will resume at full force.”
I rise from my seat. “Twenty-four hours,” I acknowledge.
Unexpectedly, Ruby’s expression shifts to almost… amusement.Immediatered flag. When she stands, I tense slightly.
“To help the queen consider our proposal, I have a gesture of goodwill to present,” Ruby says. She nods to one of her attendants, who disappears around the side of the manor house. My hands are in fists as he returns moments later with another figure trailing behind him.
My whole world tilts sideways.
For a second, it looks like the crumbling manor has finally given in to its own weight and toppled over. Ifeellike it has, like its stones have crushed all the air out of my lungs.
I can’t maintain composure. A small sound rips from me. Wounded. Lost.
The sound of a heartbroken little girl.
Standing before me is my father, who Iknowhas been dead for eleven years.
