Page 125 of With Wing And Claw

Rather, because they no longer considered her athreat.

Gods have mercy.

How much did they know? Had Inga told her sister of the grain scarcity, perhaps? Or had the Alliance simply run their own calculations, based on the food tributes taken from their islands over the years, and arrived at the same conclusions as Gadyon and his administrators had?

Did they have the faintest idea that they could kill her by simply leaving this meeting without any firm conclusions?

The sun was rising outside, dawn colouring the historic events pictured in the stained-glass windows shades of orange and pink. A few hours to go before the court started looking for her. A few hours in which to arm herself against their fury, and the allies she needed might laugh in her face.

Sweat itched between hershoulder blades.

‘It doesn’t have much to do with desperation,’ she said, forcing herself to speak impassively, a calm close to boredom. Panic was weakness, and they thought her much, much too weak already. ‘The simple fact is that these fae used unprompted and unnecessary violence against your peoples. It seems more reasonable to let them bear the brunt of the consequences than to let the whole court, innocent members included, suffer on their behalf.’

‘Very reasonable,’ Nenkhet said in Helenka’s place. A cold sort of amusement glinted in the vampire’s dark eyes as she tilted her head. ‘What if we added your own name to the list?’

On the other side of the hall, a small, barely audible, but unmistakable squeal of outrage rose from the direction Naxi had wandered in.

‘I’m not sure I understand your meaning,’ Thysandra said, her mouth dry. ‘I hope I never used the sort of excessive cruelty against any of you that would justify my own arrest.’

‘You did assist the Mother in binding every single one of us,’ Helenka pointed out from Nenkhet’s side, with a directness that wasn’t so much unfriendly as unflinching. ‘One could consider that a direct act of aggression against us, no?’

The worst thing was that it wasn’t untrue at all.

Really, it was a miracle theyhadn’tcome clamouring for her head yet.

‘One could,’ she forced herself to agree – necessary agreement, but it felt like laying her own neck on the chopping block. ‘If so, though, it’s an act of aggression I am trying sincerely to make up for.’

Yndrusillitha pursed her lips, sceptism drawn sharply in every line on her face. ‘And as I’ve said before, your repentance is timed rather auspiciously.’

The silence that followed spoke volumes – the pointed lack of objections.

What in the world was she supposed to respond to that?Don’t worry, my regret is entirely genuine– as if her word would convince a single one of them.Just give me a chance, and I’ll show you proof of my good intentions– little good that would do, if they had already decided between the fiveof them that they wouldn’t be giving her even the slightest benefit of the doubt.

The truth, of course …

I’m starting to learn this court broke so many versions of me I might have been. I’m finally picking up the shards.

But they already didn’t take her seriously, and admitting to being a flailing wreck would be the final nail in that coffin. They weren’t looking for an ally who might collapse at any moment. They were looking for an ally they could trust – and hell, had she still not learned how much damage she could do by sharing too much with the wrong people?

‘May I ask …’ Careful, now. She couldn’t be too defensive. Not too offensive, either. ‘May I ask what exactly the purpose of this meeting is to you? Because from your letter, I was under the impression we would be discussing trade agreements. If you’d rather dive into the details of my goals and motivations, I’d have liked to know in advance.’

‘The trouble,’ Tared said, still lounging against his pedestal, ‘is they’re the same thing.’

She blinked. ‘Care to elaborate?’

‘Our enthusiasm to work with you is entirely dependent on your goals.’ He shrugged. ‘Assisting the Crimson Court to make sure it isn’t driven to desperate violence – that we can do. Assisting the Crimson Court so it can quietly regain its former strength and attack us again is … a less attractive prospect.’

‘Another war is the last thing I want,’ Thysandra ground out.

‘Well, that’s good news,’ he dryly said. ‘And how about the rest of your court?’

Bereas.

Her entire army.

The poison in her wine.

Any moment, now, Naxi could speak up on the other side of the hall and inform her friends this place was a hellhole about to cause the rest of the world a whole damn lot of trouble. Sheshouldspeak up, really. But the gallery remained painfully devoid of demon voices, and so the lies were all Thysandra’s to tell.