Page 242 of Scorched Earth

He tossed the letter on the table, and Felix picked it up.

“This is good news,” Felix murmured. “We might be able to satisfy Cassius’s demands for Mudamorian gold without racing onto poisoned ground. Gold in exchange for shipments of grain and fresh water. And his betrothed, of course.”

Time and again, Marcus had tried to kill Lydia and she’d alwaysescaped. Now she was to be handed to him without a fight. His instincts flared with the sense that all was not as it seemed.

“It’s too easy.” Rising to his feet, Marcus went to the broken window. The view overlooked the brown muddy earth left in the wake of the dam’s rupture. The perfect view of the destruction Lydia had barely escaped.

Felix gestured at the books surrounding them. “My guess is that they failed to find the answers they needed and they have realized they won’t win the fight against Rufina. They see us as the lesser evil. At least under Senate rule, they get to live. Though if we agree to this, we are setting ourselves up for an eventual fight against the Queen of Derin, so I’d start thinking about how you plan to negotiate with her.”

It could not be this easy. “Cassius won’t accept a deal without the mines. And if we don’t give him the gold, it will beoursupplies at risk.”

“So negotiate,” Felix said. “We risk nothing by doing so.”

Then why did it feel like he was risking everything? “Gather the legati to discuss the terms we’ll offer. I want to get this done tonight.”

As Felix went ahead, Marcus met Gibzen’s eye and gave him a slight nod.

He’d get it all done tonight.

93TERIANA

With the aid of the greater ocean paths and a stiff wind supplied by Baird’s mark, theQuincensemade good time crossing the world, and it was not long until they were anchored off the coast of Bardeen and heading inland for a meeting with the rebels. It seemed a lifetime ago that she’d been in these forests with Austornic and the Fifty-First, but the oppressive feeling of being watched by the enormous redwoods was the same.

“These trees have eyes,” Bait muttered. “I swear it.”

“More like there are eyes in the trees,” Teriana answered. “The rebels know we are coming, and they most definitely don’t trust me.”

“Us, you mean?”

“No.” She looked up into the shadowed branches, which were devoid of the sound of life. “It was me they saw with the Fifty-First. They know my role in all of this, so it’s me they have cause to doubt.”

Cause, even, to kill, but Teriana didn’t allow herself to dwell on that fact.

The meeting had been set up via the network of merchant connections the Maarin had throughout Bardeen. For all her people were the enemy of the Cel, the legions who policed the province showed Teriana and her crew little interest. Not only were the Maarin not considered a threat, Cassius had named them a conquered people. So as long as taxes were paid and laws abided, no one caused them much trouble. Yet notices were posted in every port that Maarin births were to be registered, and that child tithes of secondandfourth born sons were to begin.

Over my dead fucking body, had been Teriana’s thought as she’d cemented the arrangements to form an alliance that would ensure the Empire would never dismiss her people again.

The deal was that the rebels would meet with Teriana and one other from her crew, all bets off if she brought more reinforcements, so she and Bait walked alone down the little-used road, waiting for the rebels to make contact.

“What if they don’t come?” Bait muttered. “What if they aren’t interested?”

“When it comes to striking a blow against the Empire, there is nothing they’remoreinterested in.” Teriana remembered the reports that had come Marcus’s way. “Trust me.”

Then an arrow struck the ground at her feet, forcing her to slide to a stop.

Out of the trees, dozens of Bardenese warriors appeared, their clothes dark browns and greens that blended into the landscape. But Teriana’s eyes were all for the woman at their head.

Perhaps a few years older than Teriana was herself, the young woman was beautiful beyond measure with her rich brown skin, large eyes rimmed with long lashes, and full lips. Her dark hair was long and woven into a braid that hung over one shoulder, but it was the gladius at her waist that told Teriana she’d found who she was looking for. “You’re Silvara.”

“My name matters little,” the young woman answered, keeping a cautious distance between them, though Teriana had no doubt Silvara was the more dangerous fighter. “Your messenger said you wished to speak of an alliance between the rebellion and the Maarin. Out of courtesy to your people, I have come, but only to tell you thatI’ve no interest in an alliance with a Cel puppet who wants revenge over a broken heart. Go back to the sea where you belong.” Then the woman turned and walked away.

Teriana’s cheeks burned with embarrassment, but the anger that roared in her heart was louder. “Agrippa told me to tell you that he’s sorry. That it took him a bit of time to figure things out, but that he’s now fighting on the right side. He hopes you’ll join him on that side, for I do not offer an alliance with the Maarin, but with all who oppose Celendor’s oppression.”

Silvara froze in her tracks. “Agrippa is dead. Drowned.”

“No, he’s on the far side of the world by way of the same xenthier stem that the legions now use to reach Arinoquia. He could have rejoined the Thirty-Seventh, but instead he fights for those who stand against them.” She rattled off a description of Agrippa, concluding with, “He can’t say more than a handful of sentences without cracking a joke or insulting whomever he’s speaking to. Sound familiar?”

Silvara’s hand rested on the pommel of the gladius, toying with the 37 marked on it as she whispered, “Agrippa is alive?”