Page 67 of Scorched Earth (Dark Shores #4)
I won’t waste time on preamble, because I suspect you are well informed on recent events.
I know the situation in Mudamora is dire, but I desperately need your help.
Five hundred Maarin souls remained imprisoned in the worst of circumstances, and if I don’t give the Empire what they want, less than six months from now, they will begin executing them.
One hundred souls for every month of delay.
I’ve appealed for help from the Arinoquians, the Gamdeshians, and from my own people, but everyone has declined.
They see the five hundred as casualties of war, but I refuse to give up on them .
I know you have influence with the Gamdeshians.
If you are able, please speak to them and see if they will see reason.
Otherwise I fear what lengths I will have to go to to free my people, because I will not accept their deaths as certain.
All my love,
Teriana
Emotion overwhelmed her, and Lydia didn’t argue as Agrippa plucked the letter from her hand.
Through the lines on the page, she had felt her friend’s fear and desperation, especially knowing Teriana stood alone.
“How can you read this and think that these are the words of a traitor?” she hissed.
“Teriana isn’t motivated by lust! She’s trying to save five hundred lives, and no one is helping her! ”
“A loss that we, as a people, have agreed to accept,” Vane snapped.
“Do you think we don’t grieve it? That we don’t hate the Empire for its evil?
But to save them would mean setting the legions loose on Gamdesh, and you of all people, Lydia Valerius, know the cost of that.
Thousands will die. Tens of thousands. And if the Empire is victorious, every nation will be enslaved to the Senate.
Yet Teriana spits in the face of the desires of the Gamdeshians and the Maarin to pursue her own ends—it’s treason.
She needs to be stopped, permanently, if needs be, because she’s a tool for the Cel. They control her.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Teriana is young!” Vane crossed his arms. “And young people do foolish things when they are enamored. It may be as you say”—his eyes flicked to Agrippa—“and the Thirty-Seventh’s legatus would not break legion laws.
Yet I doubt it’s beneath him to use charm and good looks to his advantage.
Who is to say that he has not played her like a fiddle on the orders of the Senate, filling her with the idea that she will be the savior of her people if she does this. ”
“He wouldn’t…” Agrippa shook his head. “I don’t know if he’d agree to it or not, but I can tell you that Marcus can lie through his teeth with no one the wiser.
He is as much a politician as he is a commander, and if he thought pulling the heartstrings of a girl would get him what he wanted without casualties…
” He turned away. “If he’s willing to do that then I’m not sure how well I can claim to know him anymore. ”
Bait looked ready to be sick, and Lydia’s temper snapped.
“Everyone can quit acting as though she’s some brainless twit to be manipulated by a pretty face.
Teriana is not that easily fooled. If she’s aiding them, it’s only to free her people, because what I do believe is that she’s not willing to sacrifice the lives of the few to avoid risking the many.
” Catching hold of Bait’s arm, she squeezed tightly.
“She’s a gambler. I’d bet my life that she’s willing to go to the brink to save those imprisoned on the belief that a united West has the power to force them back. ”
“Which we would,” Malahi said quietly, “if not for the fact that the Northern Continent is fighting its own war. Teriana may not know how dire our situation is and may be making decisions on the belief that Mudamora will sail to Gamdesh’s aid, for we have long been allies.
If she’s guilty of anything, I suspect it’s that she’s had information kept from her that might cause her to alter her course.
Efforts should be made to get this information in her hands. ”
“Is it possible to speak to her, Bait?” Killian asked.
“For one, I’d like to hear from Teriana’s own mouth the full truth about both her actions and intentions before jumping to any conclusions, but I also think it’s important to make certain that she knows all the information, including certain facts about her captor. ”
“I can try,” Bait said. “If it’s anything like before, she’s with him at all times, always under guard.
Astara is the name of the shifter who keeps an eye on the legions.
She can take on the shape of a hawk, so she was able to speak to Teriana once in the middle of the night. She might help me get in.”
“If maintaining Teriana’s value as an asset requires keeping her in the dark, they’ll make sure that no one gets near her,” Agrippa said from where he was now sitting on a chair in the corner. “You try to sneak past, they’ll catch you and kill you. Better to get this bird to drop her a note.”
“They aren’t half as clever as they think,” Bait retorted. “I’ll just watch for the right opportunity.”
Agrippa rolled his eyes skyward. “Your funeral. Oh wait, there won’t be one, because they’ll dump your body where it will never be found.”
Bait’s hands balled into fists, but Lydia tightened her grip on his arm. “Maybe a message. Or paying off someone they trust near her. Either way, I think you need to try.”
The whole room fell silent, and Lydia said, “Madoria told me that Teriana is exactly where she needs to be.” When Bait opened his mouth to ask the obvious question, she added, “That’s a long story for another hour, but I personally choose to have faith in Madoria. And faith in Teriana.”
“Regardless of what the truth of Teriana’s situation may be,” Malahi said, “we cannot aid Gamdesh. Captain, what can you tell me of Mudamora? Where are the high lords and ladies? Who leads?”
We cannot aid Gamdesh, Lydia thought, yet the first thing we intend to do is to ask them to aid us.
She didn’t envy Malahi’s role. Always having to weigh the needs of one group against another, which inevitably required hard choices. Much like Teriana. Lydia’s heart demanded that she try to save everyone despite knowing that walking that path risked catastrophe for all involved.
“I think the question you are asking, Your Grace, is whether you’re still queen.
” Vane rocked on his heels. “When we left Serlania, you had not been replaced, but I think that more to do with the fact they can’t agree on who should rule than any loyalty to House Rowenes.
They were all in Serlania, but Hacken Calorian holds the most influence and seems content to rule in proxy given your absence. ”
“Oh, I’m sure he does.” Malahi turned away and walked to the windows at the rear of the cabin, watching their wake.
Lydia bit the insides of her cheeks as she met Killian’s gaze.
While Malahi had released him from both an unwanted engagement and his oath to protect her, Hacken was likely to have different views on the matter.
She had not forgotten how Killian’s older brother had manipulated circumstances the night of that awful ball, making his support of Malahi’s rule conditional on an engagement to Killian, and there was nothing to stop him from doing the same again.
For Lydia didn’t for a heartbeat think that the spreading blight or an army of the dead were enough to curb Hacken’s desire for power.
Judging from the anger seething from Agrippa, Malahi had already shared Hacken’s previous schemes with him, so Lydia said, “It’s a different circumstance now, if all the High Lords are together.
You don’t need his vote, Malahi. Once everyone knows what we learned from Ceenah and that you are marked by Yara, they’ll support you.
” Both Bait and Vane raised their eyebrows in surprise, but they said nothing, and Lydia added, “We support you.”
Malahi cast her a small smile over her shoulder, then went back to her contemplation of the wake.
Agrippa moved to her side, his murmured words too low for Lydia to hear, though she expected it was something related to cutting the throats of anyone who didn’t bend the knee, for Malahi laughed softly and shook her head.
“There is little to be done other than to sail to Serlania with all haste,” Vane said.
“Your Grace, I will gladly give up my cabin for your use on the journey, and we will attempt to make your companions as comfortable as possible. What information we have, we will freely give to you, and I hope you will extend the same courtesy.”
Malahi turned around to face the captain. “Our conversation has been grim, Triumvir Vane, but we have learned information in Anukastre that gives us hope the blight can be defeated. The sooner we can return to Mudamora, the better.”
“I believe I can help with that,” Baird said. “All I need is some space and a drum.”
Vane gave the giant a wary look but led him toward the door. Before he disappeared, the captain called back, “I’ll have someone bring up food, drink, and water for washing. I imagine your journey has taken its toll.”
“Hacken is going to be a problem,” Malahi said once he was gone. “He was already the most powerful high lord, and given the Calorian lands are the most removed from the blight’s progress, his strength will have only grown.”
“Fortunately, no one likes my brother.” Killian was staring at Teriana’s letter, smoothing the creases. “And they trust him even less. He can plot all he wants. Once you return, they’ll turn to you to lead.”
“Perhaps.” Malahi met Lydia’s gaze. “Vane called you Lydia Valerius. I’ve never thought to ask, but do you wish to be known by your birth name?”
Malahi may have forgotten to ask, but in truth, Lydia hadn’t given the idea much thought. “No,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like who I am anymore.”