Page 236 of Scorched Earth

“Civilized,” High Lord Pitolt said with a nod. “Helene, you will invite the legatus to meet us for negotiations in a neutral location, and we will see this done.” Then he inclined his head to Lydia. “Your sacrifice is moving, Marked One. You are Hegeria incarnate with this act.”

Coward,Lydia thought to herself.You’re only doing this to save your own neck.“It is the right choice.”

“Helene, sign the letter.” High Lord Pitolt clapped his hands, and Helene obediently wrote her name on the page with a flourish. “Someone find the Gamdeshian shifter to serve as messenger. Kitaryia, for obvious reasons you are to remain confined in your rooms and under guard until our negotiations are concluded.”

It was cruel to send Astara back to Revat, given she’d barely escaped with her life, but Lydia made no comment. Only allowed the guards to lead her back to her rooms, fully expecting to find them empty. To find Killian gone.

A breathless panic descended on her, but as the door opened, the first thing she saw was Killian.

“Good night,” she said to the guard.

He shut the door behind her, and Lydia said softly, “Helene signed the letter. They aim to have Astara deliver it.”

Killian gave a tight nod, but said nothing.

Silence hung between them, tension growing with every passing second. Lydia was silent because she didn’t know what to say. No part of her hated him, and certainly no part of her wanted to quarrel with him, but neither did she wish to deny the way she felt. “I love you, Killian,” she finally said. “But I am angry.”

“I don’t want to lose you.” His dark eyes met hers. “I’m afraid that what it will take to win this will tear us apart.”

A knock sounded, and the door opened. Agrippa stepped inside. “Gods, that woman is an idiot. But thankfully that serves our purpose well, especially with Seldrid and Malahi able to guide the process along. Now we just wait for Marcus to fall for it.”

“Do you think he will?” Lydia’s uncertainty that this scheme had any hope of succeeding mounted with each passing second. Marcus was intelligent and experienced, but it also only took one word in front of the wrong ears, and their duplicity would be revealed.

Agrippa went to the sideboard and poured himself a glass of lemon water, draining it before he spoke. “If you think about it from the outside looking in, our circumstances are incredibly dire. From Marcus’s perspective, we have no chance at victory.” He sighed. “When faced with the might of the Empire, cities, regions, nations, they almost always hand over their rulers in the end, because people want to live. Everyone fancies themselves brave and stalwart and loyal, but when it comes between the lives of your family and the life of a stranger wearing a crown, who do you think most people choose? So while to us this seems so obviously a ploy, Mudamora will be doing exactly what Marcus expects us to do.”

“But…?” Killian said. “Because I hear abutin your voice, Agrippa.”

“But he will be prepared for trickery.” Agrippa refilled his glass and downed his drink. “And he will have contingencies in play. Everything depends on Teriana winning us allies tonight, on them moving with speed, on them achieving something that has never been attempted before. If we do manage to trick Marcus, and Teriana fails, there will be a reckoning. A bloody and brutal one.”

“I have faith in her.” Lydia went to the window and looked out,praying that her friend had come out better tonight than she had. “This is what Teriana was meant to do.”

But gods, it was going to cost her.

“We could be using this time to attempt to get to Deadground,” Agrippa said. “Are you sure you don’t wish to make the attempt to travel there rather than sitting here as bait?”

Lydia wasn’t sure. How could she be when there were so many uncertainties? “Killian struck a heavy blow against Rufina with the fires, and I believe that is what drove her to offer an alliance to Celendor. We have her on the defense right now, and she needs the legions if she wishes to defeat us swiftly. Rufina has the xenthier stem to Deadground too heavily guarded for us to reach, and even if we set out today on foot, we’d not be even halfway to Deadground by the time the legions arrive on our shores. They’ll defeat our armies and take control of the south, and even if we succeed in destroying the blight when we get there, what will be left when we return but a different form of blight consuming Mudamora in the form of the Empire?

“Whereas if we buy Teriana enough time, she can prevent the Cel from setting sail from Revat at all because Marcus won’t risk bringing an entire army here without a supply chain. Rufina won’t have the alliance she needs to attack, and she’ll be forced to remain on the defense, which is when we make our move on Deadground.”

Agrippa scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m aware of your reasoning, Lydia. But it’s a massive gamble, because if Teriana fails, we are done. The game is over. We have lost. And not to point out the obvious, but Teriana hasn’t even succeeded in securing the support of her own people in this.”

Nerves twisted in Lydia’s guts, making her stomach ache because she was very much aware of the risk. “If the Maarin refuse to support her tonight, then we abandon the strategy and head to Deadground.” She met Killian’s gaze, prepared for him to look away. “We’re ready for that?”

His brown eyes were steady as they met hers. “Seldrid has horses and supplies waiting. We’ll ride north to the blight line, then travel onward on foot to Deadground.”

And do so knowing that if they succeeded, it would be to return to find Mudamora under the Empire’s rule.

“Everything depends on Teriana,” Lydia said quietly. “She is the only one with the power to save us.”

They fell into silence, minutes feeling like lifetimes as they waitedfor news from Teriana. Then the door to the room opened, and Finn entered, Killian’s dog at his heels. He looked between them, then gave them a large grin.

“Teriana did it,” he said. “The Maarin sail to war tonight.”

90TERIANA

“I wish there was time to say good-bye,” Teriana said to her aunt as she climbed to the quarterdeck of theQuincense. Night was heavy upon Serlania, but the city itself glowed like a beacon. Which she supposed it was. The last holdout of the living in Mudamora.

“Not worth the risk,” Yedda replied. “And we can’t spare the time. The legions are quick. We must be quicker. The other ships have already headed out to deeper waters, and we do not want them making plans without us. Especially Kalin and Vane—those two both seek blood and vengeance. But this strategy is yours, Teriana.”