“I am aware. The answer is still no.”
Silence.
“And if I say that Valcotta’s support is contingent on her death?”
Lara’s life in exchange for the return of the bridge. Setting aside his own feelings, it seemed the obvious choice. The right choice to ensure his people endured. Except he knew that the Empress was not so petty as to make her assistance conditional on the life of one woman. “No.”
The Empress shoved away her glass, rising to her feet in a flurry of motion. “Even now you put Maridrina first.”
Aren rose as well. “I put the chance of peace before old grievances. Which is something you might consider.”
The Empress whirled back around, eyes flashing in anger. “Peace with Maridrina? Son of my friend or not, in this you go too far. On my life, I’ll not lay down my staff until Silas Veliant lays down his sword, and we both know that will never happen.”
“It won’t,” Aren agreed. “But Silas won’t rule forever.” He cast a backward glance at Zarrah, who was staring at the floor. “And neither will you.”
Inclining his head, Aren pressed a hand to his heart, praying that he wasn’t making the biggest mistake of his life. “It was an honor to meet the friend of my mother, but now I must take my leave. Tonight, I sail to Ithicana.”
Zarrah didn’t try to stop him as he left the room, and no one interfered in his progress down the curving stairs. In the main room at the base of the tower, he found Lara sitting on the floor with Welran, the pair playing some sort of board game. She rose at the sight of him.
“I’m pleased to see you still intact,” he said to the big man.
“A near thing, Your Grace.” Welran pressed his hand to his chest. “You must sleep with one eye open and your hand on your dagger with such a woman in your bed.”
“Perhaps one day you’ll be so fortunate.” Aren inclined his head to the Valcottan, then to Lara he said, “We need to go.”
41
Lara
“What did she say?” Lara demanded the moment they were clear of the palace gates. “Will Valcotta help?”
“No.” Aren glanced up at the sun, then shook his head. “She has no more interest in peace between Maridrina and Valcotta than your father does.”
“That should be to our favor.” Lara broke into a trot to keep up with his long stride. “Plucking Southwatch from my father’s hands should have been an irresistible opportunity. Unless . . . does she want the bridge for Valcotta?”
“No.” His tone was angry. Clipped. “That’s not what she wants.”
Lara considered the situation, realization dawning on her. “She made Valcotta’s assistance dependent on my death. That’s what she wanted, isn’t it?”
He nodded.
“Why?” Though the real question she wanted answered was why he hadn’t agreed.
“Because your death would ensure any chance of a future alliance between Ithicana and Maridrina would be well and truly dead.”
She’d underestimated Aren. This entire time, she’d believed all he cared about was getting home and driving her father out of Ithicana, but it appeared he still had larger ambitions for the fate of his kingdom.
“You blew the doors to Ithicana wide open, Lara. There’s no closing them again. No going back to the way things were before. Which means I need to find another way to keep my people safe.”
“Peace with Maridrina?” Lara rubbed her temples. “God, Aren, that’s impossible. You have to see that my father will never allow it to happen.”
“No, but your brother might.”
“Whatever sentiments Keris might hold for me hardly matter. Without Valcotta, we can’t take back the bridge. Earning the Empress’s favor must be your first priority.”
“Allowing her to set the terms will only bring us full circle.” Aren opened the door to the hotel. “And it’s not Keris’s sentiments for you that I’m banking my kingdom on.”
Inside, Lara followed as he took the stairs two at a time, striding down the hall to the room where Jor waited.
“Well?”
Aren shook his head. “We proceed as though we are on our own. How quickly can we get home?”
“We can be on a ship tonight, though only Valcottan naval vessels are allowed past Nerastis. From there it’s a matter of making our way north to the meeting point.”
Panic flooded through Lara’s veins. “Aren, we can’t go without convincing the Empress to ally with us.”
“I’m not willing to do what it will take to convince her.”
“Then this is a lost cause,” she shouted, her temper flaring out of her control, because she knew what needed to be done. “Not only is it impossible for us to take Southwatch without the Empress’s navy, Harendell’s assistance was predicated on the Valcottans’ involvement. We need them.”
“No.”
“What does the Empress want?” Jor asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.
“Me dead.”
Jor winced. “I see.” But Lara had already rounded on Aren.
“Agree. Give her what she wants. It’s not as though I’m going to be able to live with myself if we lose Ithicana because of this.” Her heart was a riot in her chest, terror and sorrow twisting through her veins because she didn’t want to die. But she would. For Ithicana. For Aren. For herself, she’d do this. “Let them kill me.”
Aren lowered his head. “No.”
“Then I’ll do it myself,” she snarled. Twisting out of reach of his hands, she dived toward the door, hauling it open.
Only to find Zarrah Anaphora standing in front of her.
The other woman pushed Lara back, glancing over her shoulder before stepping inside. “We don’t have much time. There are soldiers on their way to escort you to the harbor and put you on a ship to Nerastis. My aunt wants you gone.”
“Time for what?” Lara looked to Aren, who appeared entirely unsurprised at Zarrah’s arrival.
“Time,” he said, “for General Anaphora and I to negotiate an alliance between Ithicana and Valcotta.”
42
Aren
“Shame that we couldn’t have had this conversation before I had to endure the Red Desert.” Aren motioned for Zarrah to take a seat. “Everything could be said and done by now.”
“I didn’t know you intended to ask my aunt for assistance until I heard word of trouble in Jerin oasis and realized your intentions. You really ought not to leave witnesses alive, Your Grace. I won’t be the only one who’s heard the tale.”
He shrugged. “I don’t murder children.”
“Your principals would be commendable if the stakes were not so high.” Zarrah rolled her shoulders. “But in this instance, it worked in my favor. I needed to get here ahead of you to ensure our stories remained aligned. My delivery of food to Eranahl was not precisely sanctioned by the Empress.”
It wasn’t the only thing she was keeping from the Empress, but Aren only nodded.