Page 231 of Scorched Earth

Teriana’s eyes widened. “War makes for interesting bedfellows. Anukastre and Mudamora have been at each other’s throats for generations. Though I suppose they mostly fought over Rotahn’s gold,so it makes sense to form an alliance given that someone else has taken it.”

“I think it has more to do with Killian winning Xadrian over,” Lydia said, watching the boy approach Killian, who had a grin on his face. “He understands Xadrian’s burdens in a way no one else does.”

Just as she and Teriana understood each other, and with Xadrian’s presence, Lydia revised her thought that there was no time for them to catch up on all that had happened while they’d been apart.

Taking hold of Teriana’s arm, Lydia murmured, “Let’s leave them to their reunion. We’ve other matters to discuss, I think.”

Teriana didn’t argue, only followed her out of the room, the doors shutting out the din of their companions arguing over strategy. Lydia linked arms with her and said, “You probably know your way about this place better than I do.”

“Hungry?”

Lydia nodded, and Teriana tugged on her arm, leading her through the corridors to the kitchen. Taking a loaf of bread and a bit of butter, they sat at a worn table in the corner of the room, the silence between them as comfortable as it had ever been. As though they’d been only days apart.

“I imagine Bait has told you most of what has happened to me in the time we’ve been apart,” Lydia said, nibbling on a piece of the bread. “Killian and I were able to tell him everything, or at least everything that was his business, before he left with Magnius to find you.”

Teriana smirked, her eyes showing hints of blue in the waves rolling across her irises as she said, “He did, but now I’m interested in thethings that were not his business.”

Lydia felt her cheeks warm. “Do you believe in love at first sight?”

“Nope.” Teriana’s smirk turned into a wide grin. “But I believe inlustat first sight. Although knowing Killian as I do, he was all honor and duty and insisted on treating you like a lady, so it took him a hundred years to kiss you.”

“He doesn’t always treat me like a lady.” Lydia gave her friend a sly wink, but then allowed her expression to grow more serious. Reaching across the table, she took Teriana’s hands. “You know my story, but I don’t know yours. Tell me what happened, Teriana. I’ve heard the speculation of others, butno onehas heard your account.”

Teriana shrugged, eyes shifting to the deepest grey. “What’s the point? The road I traveled doesn’t much matter—only where I ended up. I trusted the wrong man, and while it got me what I wanted inthe short run, all of Reath now pays the consequences of my choices. The Six willing, I’ll be able to strike a blow at the Empire to knock it back, but that won’t undo the damage that has been done.”

Lydia could see the weight of grief dragging Teriana down. Her friend knew that all held her responsible, but it was also very clear to her that Teriana heldherselfresponsible. “Your story matters to me. I want to hear it. All of it.”

Teriana’s calloused hands flexed in Lydia’s grip, but then she nodded. “All right.”

It was a tale as unexpected as Lydia’s own, and with Teriana’s gift with words, it was as though she walked along at her friend’s side. The story made Lydia clench her teeth with fear, laugh out loud, and weep in heartache, and by the end of it, she felt as exhausted as if she’d walked a hundred miles.

“Part of me wants to believe that he’d deceived me the entire time,” Teriana said quietly. “That I was a fool who fell for a handsome face and clever words, and that once he had what he wanted, Marcus cast the mask aside and showed his true colors. But I don’t think that’s true. I think that in the moments after I discovered the truth of what he’d done to you and left on theQuincense, the Corrupter got into him. Changed him into the heartless creature that I saw in Revat.”

Lydia let out a slow breath. “I know better than anyone what it’s like when the Corrupter gets his claws into you, and…” She trailed off, hunting for the words. “My greatest fear has always been my perception that I am weak and that my weaknesses will cost those around me. I was desperate to be strong, to be able to fight, to be able to kill to defend those I love. The Corrupter latched onto that fear and offered me a way to be free of it. In a way, I became my fear. Not changed, but reduced to one awful aspect of myself with every other part of me buried deep inside. I was awful, Teriana. Crueler than you know, most especially to Killian.”

Taking a small mouthful of bread, Lydia chewed as she remembered her venomous words, wishing she could pass them off as the Corrupter’s but knowing that they were her own. “I know that you think that staying would have protected him from himself, and in doing so, protected him from the Corrupter. But the truth is, the Six themselves freed me of the Corrupter’s claws only for me to fall right back into his embrace the moment I was put to the test. When you are your own worst enemy, no one can fight your inner battles for you. You must fight the war yourself.”

She set down the bread. “I would not be here without Killian and my companions, but I also know that I am the one who decides what sort of woman I wish to be. No one else. My heart tells me it is the same for Marcus and that nothing you could have done would have saved him from himself in the end. Only he can do that, and you must accept that he might never do so.”

Teriana’s shoulders shuddered, a sob escaping her. Lydia pulled her stool around next to her friend and held her close.

“I loved him.”

Grief pooled in Lydia’s stomach, as well as anger that Teriana was suffering so much. Would suffer more still in the war to come.

Drying her eyes, Teriana straightened. “I know what needs to be done, but you’re going to have to convince my people this is the right course, Lydia. And you need to do it swiftly, because they’ll need to enlist the aid of every nation on the Southern Continent if they are going to make this work. You’re the Queen of Mudamora, which means they’ll listen to you. It’s time the Cel discover what it feels like to be attacked.”

It was very likely that she was queen no longer given what had happened at Teradale, but Lydia didn’t add to Teriana’s burdens with the plots of Helene Torrington and the other High Lords, which were likely going to descend in earnest soon enough.

Gripping Teriana’s shoulders, she met her friend’s eyes. “This fight is yours. You suffered through blood, sweat, and tears to prepare for this moment, and now it’s time for you to strike the blow. I have my own battle to wage. Circumstance is going to pull us apart again, know that we fight at each other’s back in the same war. And together, we will win this.”

87KILLIAN

“Lord Calorian,” Xadrian said, “I thought your palace would be larger.”

Despite himself, Killian laughed and approached the prince, embracing him tightly even as he saw Lydia lead Teriana out of the room from the corner of his eye. “It’s good to see you, Your Highness. Your arrival is timely.”

The boy’s grip on him tightened, then Xadrian pushed him away and dusted at his coat. “It was clear to me that you would lose this battle without aid, so I gathered my best and took to ship. The Maarin were most obliging, but it is a miserable form of travel.”