Page 26

“Has she replied yet?” Ahnna demanded as Hazel walked into the room. It had been over a day since she’d sent a card requesting an audience with the queen, and despite the woman living within the same palace, she’d not responded.

“I’m afraid not, my lady,” Hazel said, setting the tray of food on the table next to the window.

“Is it normal for her to take this long to respond?”

Her maid gave a slight grimace. “It is not, my lady. She typically responds immediately, regardless of the answer.”

“Shit,” Ahnna muttered, then gave Hazel an apologetic wince for cursing as she paced her room, ignoring the food.

“You aren’t supposed to exert yourself. The poison might still—”

Ahnna sat down at the table. Not because she was worried about the wraithroot or because she was hungry, but because she was in no mood to argue. Already she was going stir-crazy locked in her room. This was the longest she’d remained in bed in recent memory. At the worst possible time, because years of reading spy reports about the machinations of rulers told her that things were happening. Potentially right down the hallway from where she slept. “I need out of this room.”

Hazel sighed, then picked up a card off her tray. “Lady Virginia has invited you to join her and her ladies for tea.”

Virginia wasn’t who interested her, because she did not strike Ahnna as a woman consumed by politics. But her ladies might feel differently, and Ahnna had gleaned many interesting facts over the years by putting together pieces of gossip. Frowning at the card, she asked, “Hazel, what happens at these gatherings?”

“Cross-stitch and knitting,” Hazel answered. “Sometimes flower arranging and poetry readings, and more rarely, singing in accompaniment of the pianoforte. But primarily, they gossip.”

Taking the card to the writing desk, Ahnna carefully penned her acceptance, then placed it back on the tray to be returned to Virginia. Attempting to make her voice nonchalant, she asked, “I’ve not seen His Highness. Is he well?”

“Prince William has gone to the races again.” Hazel lifted her head to meet Ahnna’s gaze. “Or did you mean James?”

She had, but realizing how that might look, Ahnna said, “Both, I suppose.”

“Ah. Well, James has been most preoccupied with the Sky Palace’s security after the attack on your person, my lady. Many of the men on duty that night have been reprimanded and docked pay, and some dismissed. The rumor is that he’s called in men from his regiment in the Lowlands to serve, though it will be some time until they arrive. You might see changes in your guard when they do.”

Ahnna had briefly met the four new guards Bronwyn had selected from Georgie’s candidates, all seemingly capable men. Or at least as capable as could be ascertained from her bedchamber. Bronwyn said they were all good fighters and had been willing to spar with her, but said little more. There was still tension sitting between them.

“It may be that Lady Virginia’s invitation came at the directive of the queen,” Hazel said. “Though I would caution you to show care in what you reveal, my lady. This is Harendell, and in our courts, there is no greater currency than information. Virginia might hold your confidence, but do not expect as much from those in her service or company.”

“I understand.” Hesitating, she added, “Virginia seemed pleasant enough. And certainly loyal to her family.”

“Tremendously loyal, my lady. Most especially to her brothers.”

Ahnna did not fail to notice that Hazel had confirmed one of her statements but not the other, which suggested that perhaps the princess’s personality was not as genuine as one might hope. Which was perhaps no surprise, given that Virginia was an Ashford, and the Ashfords were supposed to epitomize what it meant to be Harendellian.

Her appetite had not materialized, so though she was typically loath to waste food, Ahnna abandoned the breakfast and eyed one of two dresses that Hazel had secured for her from a modiste in Verwyrd. The cost of the confection of lace and satin had made Ahnna want to vomit when she’d signed for the draw on her accounts. Neither garment was in a color that she favored, but beggars could not be choosers, and having something made custom would have been twice as much.

Hazel went to work on Ahnna’s hair, using damp fingers to coax it into loose ringlets hanging halfway down her back. Cosmetics followed, Hazel using pink powder to give color to her cheeks, which remained pale. Then came layers of undergarments, and finally, the dress. Thankfully, a morning dress required no corset, so if it came to a fight, she’d be able to breathe. When Hazel was retrieving a pair of flat silk slippers, Ahnna swiftly secured a thigh sheath beneath the skirt, the blade within it small but sharp.

Her eyes flicked to the clock, which read half past the ninth hour. “Is it rude to be early?”

“Yes,” Hazel said, smoothing one of her curls. “Unless what you have to say makes it reasonable that you came before the other ladies. Give her some gossip, my lady.”

Ahnna opened the door and stepped outside. She found Taryn standing in the hallway with two of Ahnna’s new bodyguards, Louis and Alfred. Her cousin’s eyes were bloodshot with a hangover, her color poor, and she gave Ahnna’s dress a sad smile.

“Where’s Bronwyn?”

“With Jor.” Taryn sighed. “He’s really not well. His cough is horrible, and Bron is worried. She thinks he should return to Ithicana.”

“I’ll make arrangements,” Ahnna said. “I’ll speak to him myself after I know more.” She hesitated, then added, “Stay with him, would you?”

Taryn cast suspicious glares at the two guards but then nodded and headed off toward the servant staircase.

“If you’d follow me, my lady.” Alfred started up the hallway.

It was still tiring to exert herself, the act of walking the circuitous route around the palace leaving her slightly breathless, just as Bronwyn had warned her. Having been fit and healthy the whole of her life, Ahnna found the weakness irritating.

Another set of guards stood outside the double doors. One of them rapped sharply on the thick oak, which then opened from the interior. “The Lady Ahnna,” he said rather unnecessarily to the maid.

The maid bobbed a curtsy, and Ahnna smiled at her, sick of how long it took to do anything in this place with the endless middlemen.

“The Princess Ahnna, my lady,” the maid announced as she stepped inside, and Ahnna’s eyes went immediately to Virginia. The young woman was seated on a lavender velvet sofa, a saucer and teacup balanced on one knee. Across from her was Lady Elizabeth, daughter of the Duke of Silverthorn, and an absolutely vapid idiot from what Ahnna had gathered at her welcome banquet.

“Ahnna!” Virginia rose, navigating carefully around the furniture, then reaching out for Ahnna, kissing the air next to both her cheeks. “I was horrified to hear of what happened. Jamie gave me barely any of the story, but Georgie was more forthcoming. I hate to think of what might have happened if my brother hadn’t been with you.”

“I’d be dead, no doubt,” Ahnna said. “Both assassins were very skilled.”

“Amaridians.” Virginia wrinkled her nose. “I swear they are asking for war. This behavior cannot stand. Have you sent word to your brother?”

“Not yet.” There had been no need; Lara probably had spies in Verwyrd with instructions to report, and the events were no secret. “I’m fine.”

“You’re so brave.”

Virginia linked arms with her, leading Ahnna to the large windows that overlooked Verwyrd’s expansive courtyard, where several men were training with swords. Ahnna immediately recognized James, partly from the copper gleam of his hair but mostly from his size.

“Where is Bronwyn? Hazel was to invite her as well. Did you know she sparred with the candidates for your new guardsmen instead of interviewing them? Beat every last one of them, and I think Georgie despaired finding anyone who suited.”

“Bronwyn has had significant training. Unfortunately, she’s attending my countryman. He’s ill, and she’s educated in herblore.”

“Shame for the illness and the absence. Bronwyn has a delightfully salty tongue. Veliants are always entertaining. We have several of her cousins and even a few half siblings floating about Harendell. I’ve heard that her half brother, the Empress of Valcotta’s consort, is the most beautiful man in the world. Have you met him?”

“Keris?” Ahnna had only half heard Virginia’s question, her attention all on the duel going on below between James and George. Both were stripped down to their shirtsleeves, James’s pushed up to his elbows to reveal muscled forearms. He pressed George backward, using his superior height and skill to his advantage. Every step he took was smooth and certain, not an ounce of hesitation. Like he’d been born to fight. The idea rose in her again that propriety was a mask he wore, not at all reflecting the man beneath. The man she’d seen glimpses of. The man who had kissed her like she’d never been kissed in all her life. “Keris is good-looking,” she finally answered, her toes curling slightly in her shoes as James disarmed George. “If you enjoy blonds. And salty tongues. He makes Bronwyn seem sweet by comparison.”

“You don’t?”

“Don’t what?” Ahnna asked, distracted by James dragging a forearm across his sweaty brow. The fabric of his shirt strained over his chest, the garment at risk of joining the ruined clothes that he seemed to leave in his wake. Ahnna’s heart sped, heat pooling low in her stomach, but she kept her expression schooled to bland interest.

“Prefer blonds?”

Ahnna twitched, turning her head to find Virginia staring at her in that uncanny way she had, as though she saw more than shadows. “Not really, no.”

Virginia made a soft humming noise and turned to the window. Below, James was now facing off against two men whom Ahnna didn’t recognize, his expression still as grim as one going into the last battle of his life.

“How fortunate that my brother isn’t blond.”

Ahnna’s breath caught, certain that Virginia had noted where her attention lay, but then the princess said, “All three of us favor our father’s coloring, though James got lucky with the copper highlights. Not that he cares. Vanity is not one of his faults.”

Instinct warned Ahnna that Virginia was prying into her opinions of James. Knowing she couldn’t give the princess any clues that her attraction lay with the wrong brother, Ahnna made use of Hazel’s suggestion. “Keris saved my brother’s life when they rescued Zarrah from Devil’s Island. Took an arrow for him and nearly died.”

Virginia’s eyes widened. “Really? That surprises me, for I had heard that he’s quite bookish.”

“He is. But Aren said there aren’t many people he’d rather have at his back than Keris, and that is a significant endorsement of character.”

“Shame he’s wed.”

“A love for the ages,” Ahnna said. “If they’d been unable to rescue Zarrah as they did, I suspect he’d have set the world on fire to win her free. She consumes him to the exclusion of all else.”

“Love like that can be dangerous,” Virginia replied, causing Ahnna to look sharply at her. But Virginia was already facing Elizabeth. “Lizzie, dearest, would you play something for us? You sing so beautifully.”

“Of course, my lady.” Elizabeth set down her tea, then went to the pianoforte, her voluminous skirts making soft swishing sounds. Sitting, she began to play competently, then cleared her throat and sang.

Loudly.

Ahnna turned back to the window so that the woman wouldn’t see her grimace.

“We applaud effort as much as skill in this house,” Virginia murmured. “You’ve made a tremendous impression on my father, by the way. You were all he talked about at dinner last night.” She was quiet for a moment, then said, “He was also kinder to William than he’s been in longer than I can remember, despite Will being somewhat drunk. I think my father sees a better future for Harendell with you in it, and that makes him more forgiving that Will doesn’t possess the strengths he admires. It made me very happy.”

“I’m glad,” Ahnna said. “I’ve not seen William since the night of the banquet.”

“Oh, that’s probably for the best. Let him come to you, is my advice. Will has had enough pushed upon him in life.”

“I understand.” Eyes drawn out the window again, Ahnna watched James clasp hands with his opponents, the contest over, and he victorious. He strode to where his coat lay discarded, but then looked up. Through the glass and the distance, their eyes locked. James stopped in his tracks. Ahnna was flooded with the sensation of his hands on her body. His lips on hers, claiming her. Her heart skipped, then whispered, He’s what I want.

Only for logic and loyalty and good sense to shriek, And you’re a selfish fool for it!

Twisting away, Ahnna rested her shoulders against the glass. “What advice would you give in approaching the queen?”

“The same.” Virginia’s tone was flat. “Let my mother come to you.”

One of the servants came in and began announcing the names of the ladies who had arrived. The time for private conversation was over, and Ahnna felt she’d learned nothing at all.

An hour later, the wound on her back itched and exhaustion pressed down upon her as she answered the questions the women posed to her about Ithicana, knowing her voice was numb and mechanical. But this had been a waste of her time. None of the conversations she’d been privy to had given her any information helpful to the puzzles before her, and Ahnna half wondered if she’d be better off having slept the day away.

But more than that, she felt stifled and contained. The air in the room was overheated and stank of an awful mix of perfumes. She desperately wanted to be outside. To be near the sea. To hear the waves that had lulled her to sleep every day of her life.

Her heart ached, the deepest sense of loneliness that she’d ever felt crushing down on her, and Ahnna was about to rise, to claim lingering illness from the poison, when the door opened and a beautiful woman entered. Her hair was such a pale blond that it bordered on silver, cheekbones high, lips painted a glossy pink. Her gown was cut in the same style as those of many of the other women present, but the eyes that stared back at her were the same amber as James’s. Cardiffian eyes. There was no doubt in Ahnna’s mind who the woman was.

Lestara.

“Oh God,” Virginia said, ignoring Lestara as she bobbed a curtsy at the group. “Everyone check your shoes. It smells like dog shit.”

All the ladies giggled and pretended to check their shoes, but Lestara offered no reaction, only sat on a chair in the corner and began work on a half-finished needlework piece.

Ahnna eyed the woman who’d caused the destruction of Vencia and then asked, “Why is she having tea with us?”

“Lestara was exiled from Maridrina for treason,” Virginia answered. “We took on her care as a favor to Keris Veliant. I would have thought you were aware of her.”

“I know who she is and why she’s in Harendell,” Ahnna said. “My question is: Why is she in this room?”

“Ah.” Virginia sighed. “A fair question. I, too, thought she was better housed in a cage in the kennels, but Father insists she be treated with the courtesy befitting her rank.”

“The mongrel princess,” Elizabeth snickered. “Fair warning, you do not want to look too long into those eyes, lest she cast a spell on you. Their women are all witches.”

“Bark for us, Lestara,” one of the other women said, and Virginia laughed. “Be a good bitch.”

The Cardiffian princess did not respond, only continued to stitch a pattern of flowers around the border of her piece. But it was Virginia’s behavior that struck Ahnna, because she had not thought the princess in possession of such a mean streak.

“Want a piece of cake, doggy?” another woman said, placing a slice on a plate. Rising, she set it on the floor by Lestara’s feet. “Be a good girl and eat it.”

Lestara kept stitching, but like sharks scenting blood in the water, all the women were watching, expressions vicious.

“Eat it,” the courtier repeated, and when Lestara continued to ignore her, the woman retrieved the plate and smashed the cake into her face. “Eat it!”

The women howled with laughter as Lestara’s face was smeared with lemon and meringue, but Ahnna did not laugh. Not because Lestara didn’t deserve their disparagement, for she’d caused the deaths of countless innocents in her quest to ruin Keris and put his half brother on the throne, but because she did not care for how much the women enjoyed being the punishers. How they relished Lestara’s discomfort as she wiped the dessert from her face and hair, then attempted to salvage her needlework, which was stained yellow.

“You seem to take her crime against Maridrina very personally,” Ahnna said, watching as yet another woman took up the pot of tea and poured it on Lestara’s head, the dark liquid adding to the stains on the needlework. Lestara left off trying to clean it, staring blankly out the window.

“Hardly,” Elizabeth said with a laugh. “What we take personally is that these witches cast spells on our men. Turn them into slavering creatures fixated on lust. She’s a witch, and if not for His Grace’s order, we’d burn her at the stake.”

“Cardiffians do not follow the faith,” another woman said. “They sacrifice animals to the stars, smear themselves with blood, and then dance naked beneath skies they claim hold the stories of their ancestors. As though the stars belong to them, such madness!”

“They decorate themselves with bones!”

“Barely human!”

“They run with animals. Eat meat raw!”

Virginia waved a calming hand. “Don’t worry, we keep her locked up and always under guard. She’ll not slip our watch and slink off into the darkness. We’ll keep her as our pet until it’s time to put her down.”

Aren had warned her. So had Keris. And James. All different words with the same refrain: Harendellians are cruel. But all the warnings in the world hadn’t prepared Ahnna for the viciousness of these women.

Lestara’s chin quivered, and the sharks in the room all grinned. “Cry for us, doggy,” one of them crooned. “We love your tears. We treasure your sobs.”

Aren had told her that Keris had deemed sending Lestara to Harendell the worst possible punishment, and Ahnna had questioned the choice. Questioned why he hadn’t hanged her or cut off her head, for Lestara had most certainly deserved it. Now Ahnna understood. For the rest of her life, or until she lost her mind and flung herself off the Sky Palace’s walls, Lestara would be treated like this. From princess to harem wife to… animal.

Worse than an animal, for these women treated their lapdogs, which were currently eating the crumbs around Lestara’s feet, with more kindness than they did her.

Lestara lifted her face, amber eyes latching on Ahnna’s, and she couldn’t help but wonder what James thought of this. Whether he resented how they belittled Lestara for the culture and beliefs his mother had held. Whether he considered himself Cardiffian at all.

“She’s been out of her kennel long enough,” Virginia declared. “Take her back until it’s time for her to be walked.”

“We put a diamond collar and leash on her,” Elizabeth said. “We like to walk her before dinner and make her squat in the corner where the other dogs go.” She grinned, but Ahnna gave her a flat stare until the grin fell away, unease filling Elizabeth’s eyes.

One of the guards led Lestara away. Ahnna started to rise, disgusted by their behavior, but a servant entered with a silver tray, which he proffered to her. “A letter has come for you, Your Highness.”

She immediately recognized Aren’s handwriting and personal seal. Unease fluttered in her chest. Plucking it up, she cracked the seal, swiftly reading the contents. All the breath fled from her lungs. “I thank you for your hospitality, Virginia,” she managed to say. “But if you would please excuse my early departure.”

Without waiting for a response, Ahnna left the room, finding her bodyguards waiting. “My countryman,” she said. “I need you to take me to him immediately, please.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Without hesitation, they flanked her, seeming to sense her urgency as they took long strides, leading her to the small barracks in a sublevel of the palace.

She heard Jor’s coughing before she reached his small room, and through the door, she heard Taryn shout, “You need to go home, you old goat. You’re no good to anyone here hacking up a lung!”

Ahnna knocked on the door and Taryn opened it. “He won’t go. Because he’s an old idiot.”

Jor was sitting on a narrow cot, glowering at the steaming cup in his hand, Bronwyn looming over him as though she intended to force it down his throat. For the first time, Ahnna felt herself struck by the age of the man who’d been a near constant in her life. Aren’s surrogate father because their actual father had been far too busy and, truth be told, obsessed with their mother to pay them much mind. Jor looked thin and gray, shoulder bones pressing through his nightshirt where once there had been solid muscle. “You need to go back to Eranahl, Jor,” she said. “You can travel by riverboat and then book passage, but you’re leaving tomorrow.”

“I’ll be fine. It’s just a flux,” Jor muttered.

“It’s not a flux, it’s the cold air here,” Bronwyn said. “It’s not going to get better unless you return to the hot and humid.”

“I ain’t leaving.” He scowled. “Not with Amaridian assassins at every turn.” His dark eyes fixed on her. “You need someone to watch your back.”

“I have James’s men, hand-selected and vetted by Bronwyn.”

“As well as James himself,” Bronwyn said. “The man’s taken her safety as his own personal mission.”

Heat rose to Ahnna’s cheeks, but she shoved away her thoughts about that and said, “I don’t need you to protect me, Jor”—and before the hurt her words might elicit rose in his eyes, she shoved the letter into his hands—“but this little princess surely does.”

—

For the next few hours, Ahnna celebrated with her companions. Concerns and conflicts were forgotten as they toasted the arrival of her niece, and when she finally left Jor’s room, her head was buzzing with happiness. With her guards in tow, she headed to her rooms, the skirts swishing around her ankles not irritating her quite as much as they had. The world not seeming quite as dark.

“Ahnna!”

Edward’s voice caught her attention as she reached the top of the stairs, and she turned to see the king of Harendell jogging down the carpeted hallway toward her, a letter in his hand.

“Your brother wrote to me of his good news,” Edward said, waving the page. “Congratulations! What a joy for Ithicana.”

“Thank you, Your Grace,” she said, and when he gave her a dour glare, she amended with, “Eddie.”

“Might I add to the good news of the day?” He linked arms with her, and they walked onward. “As it so happened, the dean of Briarcliff Conservatory was in Verwyrd to discuss the needs we will have for the wedding. He would be delighted to accept your cousin into the conservatory as the first Ithicanian student. Was thrilled by the notion, if I’m being honest.”

“Even though he hasn’t heard Taryn sing?”

Edward laughed. “Well, he was hardly going to say no to the king, now, was he? Of course he trusts my judgment, as I trust yours. It will all go marvelously. It is still your wish that Bronwyn accompanies her?”

“Yes,” Ahnna said, because while the thought of having no one she knew to guard her back made her nervous, Bronwyn’s obsession with Lestara made her more liability than asset.

“Is she aware of that?”

“Not yet.” Neither Taryn nor Bronwyn knew of her plans for them, and even though studying music in Harendell had been Taryn’s lifelong dream, Ahnna knew her cousin wouldn’t leave her alone without a fight. As for Bronwyn…“Bronwyn and Taryn have become quite close. I am hopeful that will cause her to see the merit of traveling with my cousin.”

If not that, guilt and emotional manipulation would have to suffice. Taryn was fragile and needed protection, and Bronwyn knew it.

“It doesn’t trouble you to be without your people? I wouldn’t fault you for being nervous, given the ordeal you endured.” Edward’s voice was light, tinged with a level of concern, but she could feel his interest in how she answered, and that made Ahnna cautious.

“It’s not ideal,” she said. “But if I am to live my life in Harendell, I must develop a trust for Harendellian guardsmen. That won’t happen if I cling to my own people. And if we are being truthful, this was always my hope for Taryn. She needs to walk a path with less violence than guarding my back will bring. Bringing peace to her life is worth some risk to me.”

“Ithicana’s loss is truly our gain,” Edward said. “You will make a worthy queen, Ahnna. It’s a shame I’ll not be alive to see it.”

Her cheeks flushed. “I hope that it will not be for many years, Eddie.”

He chuckled. “Likewise.”

Smiling, Ahnna said, “My guardsman Jor will also be returning to Ithicana, as the weather in Verwyrd has not been kind to his health. They’ll all travel together by riverboat once the conservatory is ready to accept Taryn. I’ll fund her tuition, of course.”

How, Ahnna didn’t know, but that was a problem for later.

“Nonsense! Full scholarship on account of her bringing a new nation’s worth of musical material into the conservatory. The dean would have it no other way. He is leaving himself in the morning, so perhaps they might join him on his vessel. He has a good many questions for your cousin.”

“I’m sure she’d be happy to oblige,” Ahnna said as they drew up next to her room. “I truly appreciate your efforts, Eddie.”

“It is my pleasure.” He patted her hand, then released her arm. “Now I suggest you take an afternoon of rest, young lady.” He wagged his finger at her. “Time is required for the effects of wraithroot to subside. And no more wine! It will go straight to your head.”

She nodded, feeling flushed with the pleasure of something going right for once. As Edward disappeared down the corridor, her guard Alfred opened the door to the room. “If you would wait here, my lady,” he said, stepping inside. Only to immediately step back out again, gesturing inward.

Ahnna’s instincts jangled, and she slipped her hand through the hole in the pocket of her dress, closing her fist on the hilt of her knife as she stepped inside.

To find Queen Alexandra of Harendell standing next to the window.