The room stilled.
“She what?” Torell demanded.
Kiva swallowed and explained, “She said they’d help Navok’s forces invade if he got her into Zalindov — and if a Corentine ended up on the throne. She, uh, didn’t know about the Royal Ternary” — Kiva avoided looking at Jaren — “so she thought it was the best chance she had. Or at least, the quickest.”
“Why would Navok agree to that?” Eidran asked, his head tilted in thought. He’d kept so quiet for most of their conversation that Kiva had nearly forgotten he was there. “He’s wanted Evalon for too long to just conquer us and then hand over the crown.”
Kiva dreaded sharing the answer, but once again, Ashlyn didn’t hesitate.
“Navok retrieved Kiva from Zalindov to marry her,” the princess said. “That was the deal Tilda made. Her daughter, for our kingdom.”
Kiva stared at the ground, uncomfortably aware of everyone looking at her.
“She didn’t,” whispered Torell’s agonized voice. “Kiva — tell me she didn’t.”
She said nothing. Did nothing. Just stood there, wishing for the earth to open and swallow her whole.
“And I thought my family had problems,” Cresta murmured.
That made Kiva finally look up, ignoring everyone but the redhead as she said through clenched teeth, “You’re not helping.”
“It doesn’t matter now.” Ashlyn’s voice was deliberately light, as if to ease the sudden waves of emotion in the room — emotion that wasn’t coming from just Kiva and Torell.
Kiva didn’t want to look, was afraid to look, but her gaze moved to Jaren without her permission.
His face —
His eyes —
He turned away and ran his hand through his tousled gold-brown hair. When he turned back again, his expression was blank once more.
But Kiva had seen it.
She hadn’t imagined it.
He’d been horrified — for her.
And he wasn’t the only one. Because unlike Jaren, Caldon didn’t have a reason to deny what he felt, and the way he was looking at her . . .
“I’m all right,” she said quietly, to him — but also to Jaren. “Ashlyn got me out in time.”
“Not quite in time,” Ashlyn said. “He did manage to torture you first.”
Kiva’s body locked, and she snapped, “Ashlyn,” forgetting that she probably shouldn’t speak to a princess — and a general — in such a tone.
But Ashlyn held her indignant gaze and said, “They need to know.”
“Why?” Kiva demanded, throwing out her arms and wincing when the move pulled at her shoulder.
“They need all the facts so they can help us figure out why Navok agreed to the deal,” Ashlyn said calmly. “And don’t tell me you believe he said yes just so he could ally with the rebels. We both know it’s more than that — something to do with your magic. Why else would he have been so desperate to see you use it? And so furious when you wouldn’t?”
“Please,” Kiva said, rubbing her forehead, “can we just —”
“And you’re not the only thing we need to worry about when it comes to Mirraven,” Ashlyn went on, ignoring Kiva’s pleas. She turned to her brother and Jaren, and grimly revealed, “Navok has been collecting anomalies. Not one or two, but dozens. More than we ever thought existed. More than should exist. I don’t know how he’s finding them, but their numbers are growing, and they’re seemingly loyal to him.”
“Dozens?” Jaren repeated, eyes wide. “How is that possible?”
Anomalies were supposed to be incredibly rare. Kiva was still amazed that she’d encountered two in her lifetime — Xuru and Galdric. That Navok had found dozens . . . Anxiety welled within her as she wondered what he was planning.
“I wish I knew,” Ashlyn said, visibly unsettled. “Voshell found out and was furious. He feared Navok might use them as leverage against the whole of Wenderall, including Caramor, so he confronted him and demanded a guarantee of safety for his kingdom. But Navok didn’t like that Vosh wasn’t acting like a weak-minded pawn, and when Vosh threatened to break their alliance, Navok laughed and said, ‘Go ahead’ right before he —” Ashlyn exhaled unsteadily, before finishing, “Navok attacked him. If Serafine hadn’t interrupted them, Vosh would be dead right now, rather than on his way back to Terith and preparing to close Caramor’s borders. Mirraven’s closest ally — Navok willfully destroyed that. And he did it laughing. That means there’s more going on here than any of us realize.” Her focus returned to Kiva. “And something tells me it all has to do with you.”
Everyone in the room was as still as a statue listening to Ashlyn, even Cresta, who had paled significantly toward the end of the princess’s speech, as if finally realizing the gravity of what they faced.
But Kiva couldn’t think about Cresta, her mind too busy processing Ashlyn’s words. She wondered how badly Voshell had been hurt, whether the closing of Caramor’s borders would affect the rest of Wenderall, and what would happen to Serafine now that the alliance — and therefore her betrothal — had been broken. Her thoughts spun until she realized the others were all watching her, waiting for an answer.
“I already told you everything Navok said to me,” Kiva croaked to Ashlyn. “He thinks my magic” — she shot a quick look at Jaren, wincing as the damning word hung in the air — “can combat Zuleeka’s. But he’s wrong, because when I tried to fight her, I failed.”
“You didn’t,” Caldon disagreed, his unusually grave eyes on Kiva. “You broke her hold on us.”
Kiva shook her head. “That took almost everything I had, and it still wasn’t enough to keep her from — from —” Her eyes flicked to Jaren’s chest, right where Zuleeka had stabbed him, and she rasped out, “I couldn’t stop her. Whatever Navok thinks, whatever my mother told him, I’m not powerful enough.”
She turned back to Ashlyn, silently begging for help. The princess eyed her closely, then sighed and said, “I think we’ve all had enough for tonight. In the morning, we’ll talk with Galdric and see what he can tell us about Navok and Tilda. Hopefully he’ll be able to shed some light on the situation with the anomalies — and with Kiva.”
“Galdric?” Torell repeated, his forehead scrunching.
Kiva cursed quietly, having forgotten all about the supposedly dead ex-rebel leader who had likely already been delivered to the base.
After hearing their quick explanation about how he’d been waiting in Navok’s dungeon as a wedding gift for Kiva, Torell looked stunned, but Cresta just drawled, “This is lovely and all — weddings and reunions and people coming back to life — but have you decided what to do with us yet?” She held up her re-bound hands. “Can I take these off again?”
“No.”
The word came from multiple voices — all three Vallentis royals and Eidran — causing Cresta to grumble under her breath and slump down in her chair.
But then Caldon mused, “What are we going to do with them? She escaped Zalindov — do we just send her back? And Torell . . .”