Anythingwas not supposed to mean a coup of preference from her allies.
Amarande’s anger beat like a drum at her temples.
“That is unreasonable. Irefuseto toss my people back into a tailspin upon the whims of other rulers.”
Renard’s eyes glittered, amused as her tone veered into what could be called an outburst. He clearly thought that merely by standing firm but furious, she’d proven his point about a woman’s emotions coloring her decisions.
“You will,” Renard insisted, “or you’ll be in violation of the compact of the union of the Kingdoms of the Sand and Sky.”
Amarande’s fingers twitched for her boot knife, and perhaps Luca knew, because he put up a placating hand. “How much time do we have to sort this out?”
Here, Councilor Menon from Pyrenee gave a nasty old smile. “I believe a week is fair.”
Luca’s hand dropped to his lap. “That’s not enough time.”
“It’s exactly the same amount of time you gave us ahead of this conclave to sort out our own matters of succession,” Menon replied, clearly gloating over this twist of events.
Moldy bastard.
“Perhaps we could meet at the Itspi in a week,” Osana suggested. “The lack of travel will give Ardenia additional time to think it over.”
“To mount an attack upon us when we arrive, you mean, my darling daughter,” Zavier scoffed, turning on this surprise suggestion by Osana in a way that caused her to shrink back and Ferdinand to stiffen beside Amarande.
Renard clapped both hands together, almost as if he were proposing a toast. “No, please come to King’s Crest. Her Highness cannot hide behind stone walls if she is my guest, and the Bellringe’s secluded location will make it impossible for Ardenia to mount an attack upon all of us.”
It was most certainlynot impossible,but that was beside the point.
Tears pinched at Amarande’s eyes as the other kingdoms agreed to the terms in quick succession. Luca sat, still and sober, all blood drained from his face.
A week.
A week to decide the fate of two kingdoms and two hearts before marching into the Mountain Lion’s den.
It was an ultimatum, but it felt like a death sentence.
CHAPTER 28
“HOWin the stars is he alive?”
Amarande held that question in for the remainder of the conclave proceedings. Proceedings in which they did not change a single damn law. Not for succession, not for marriage rights, not for anything at all. The Kingdom of Torrence was added into all currently standing agreements and that was it.
A thousand years of the same old blasted thing despite five new leaders.
The status quo. The patriarchy. The traditional Sand and Sky. All buffeted by a stars-damned ghost who broke up every tie vote until the entire meeting was a litany of three-to-two decisions with Amarande and Luca on every losing side.
Worse, Amarande’s vote was officially counted as “the will of Ardenia” because they wouldn’t count her as queen in her own right. Ferdinand and Joseba had tovisibly agreeto every single yay or nay from her side, even though there was one vote per kingdom on each and every issue.
Now ensconced with Luca and Ferdinand in the privacy of the Ardenian royal tent, Amarande felt as if she was completely coming apart at the seams. Every piece of her unraveling until she was a spool of fraying yarn upon the furnishings.
“He should beinthe stars,” she spat, amending her previous statement as she tore across the space, her boots stomping sand inelegantly all over the rugs until she ran out of room and had to wheel around to keep pacing. “He isn’t real. He cannot be real.”
“He’s real. He’s here. And we can’t change that.”
Luca was right, of course, he was, but Amarande still shook her head forcefully enough that her love and her brother wobbled in her fury-filled vision as she paced toward where they stood, arms crossed over their chests, letting her rant at them.
“Icould change that.” Amarande lunged at the naked air beforeher as if she had Renard by the neck. “Just my blade, hacking straight through that smug smile of his.”
“An assassin’s smile would be cleaner,” Ferdinand replied with cold precision. Amarande glanced up, surprised he’d even said a thing. Perhaps figuring out how to kill a manwho should be deadwas a terrific distraction for a heart broken by Koldo’s death.
