There was a shifting and gathering in the room, every one of the commanders and seconds present now keen to return to their watch. To prepare to repel their enemies, whoever they might be. To be through with this meeting.
But Aren wasn’t through with them.
“There’s one more matter we need to discuss,” he said, the tone of his voice causing all heads to turn. “Or rather, finish discussing. And that is the matter of the plight of the Maridrinian people.”
“What’s there to say?” Aster said, exchanging a chuckle with Mara. “They made their bed.”
“As did we.”
The smile fell away from Aster’s face.
“Sixteen years ago, Ithicana signed a treaty of peace with Maridrina and Harendell. A treaty that both of those kingdoms have held to, neither of them attacking our borders in the intervening period. Our terms with Maridrina have all been met. They provided me with my lovely wife, and we have eased the costs of using the bridge.”
“I assume you’re driving to a point, Your Grace,” Mara said.
“The terms have been met,” Aren interrupted, “but the question of the nature of the agreement between our two nations remains unanswered. Is it, as Commander Mara so eloquently described, a business contract, where Ithicana has paid Maridrina for peace? Or is it an alliance, where our two kingdoms use the terms of the treaty to foster a relationship beyond the exchange of services and products and coins?”
No one spoke.
“The people of Maridrina are starving. Little of their land is suited to produce, and of that which is suited, more than half rests fallow for lack of hands to work it. The wealthy are still able to import, but the rest? Hungry. Desperate. All while we, their so-called allies, do business with their enemy, filling Valcottan holds with the goods Maridrina desperately needs because the Valcottans pay the most. Sitting idly by while Valcottan ships deny Maridrina the steel they’ve rightfully paid for. No wonder they call this treaty a farce.”
“What’s happening in Maridrina is Silas’s doing,” Ahnna said. “Not ours.”
“It is Silas’s doing. But are we any better for sitting back and watching while innocent children go to their graves when we have the power to save them? Silas is no more the sum of his kingdom than I am the sum of ours, and neither of us is immortal. There is a larger picture.”
“Just what are you suggesting, Aren?” Ahnna asked, her voice toneless.
“I’m suggesting Ithicana demand Valcotta drop its blockade. And should they refuse, that they be denied port at Southwatch. That we prove ourselves allies to Maridrina.”
The room broke into a flurry of voices, Aster’s the loudest of all. “These sound like your wife’s words, Your Grace.”
“Do they really?” Aren leveled the man with a glare. “How long have I been pushing for us to form unions with other kingdoms so that our people have opportunities beyond war? For us to turn Ithicana into something more than just an army viciously guarding its bridge? How long did my mother push for it before me? These are not Lara’s words.”
Though in a way they were, because before, he’d only cared about protecting his own kingdom. About how Ithicana might benefit from an alliance. Now Aren saw both sides, and he believed he was a better man for it.
“But to have an alliance that would allow our people these opportunities, we cannot just take. We have to give something in return. Maridrina’s plight? It’s an opportunity to show Ithicana’s worth. Our worth.”
“Is this to be a proclamation, then?” Aster spat. “For us to risk our own children and have no say in the risking?”
If Aren could’ve made it an order, he would’ve, for no reason other than that he would be the one to bear the guilt if things went wrong. But such was not Ithicana’s way. “We vote.”
Slow nods, then Emra’s mother said, “All right, then. Hands for those in favor.”
Hers went up immediately, as did Emra’s and four of the other younger commanders. Including Aren’s vote, that made seven, and he needed nine. It was one of the reasons he hadn’t asked Lara to come back here with him. Odd numbers ensured the vote wouldn’t hang. And having her absent meant no one could hold her accountable.
Several of the old guard, including Aster, stepped back, shaking their heads. But Aren almost fell over in surprise when Mara lifted her hand. Seeing his shock, the commander of Northwatch said, “Just because I question you doesn’t mean I don’t believe in you, boy.”
All who remained to cast their vote was his sister.
Ahnna trailed a finger over Southwatch, her brow furrowed. “If we do this, it will mean the destruction of our relationship with Valcotta. It means war for Ithicana.”
Aren cast his gaze over the replica of his kingdom. “Ithicana has always been at war, and what do we have to show for it?”
“We’re alive. We have the bridge.”
“Don’t you think it’s time we fight for something more?”
Ahnna didn’t answer, and sweat trickled down Aren’s back as he waited for his twin to cast her vote. Waited to see if she could move past her distrust of Lara and Maridrina. If she’d risk taking a chance, this leap of faith. If she’d fight at his side the way she always had.
Ahnna gave her island one last affectionate pat, and then she nodded once. “I swore long ago to fight by your side, no matter the odds. Now is no different. Count Southwatch in.”
39
Lara
Eight weeks later, Lara clunked her mug against Jor’s over the fire pit, shrieking with laughter when a log burst, spraying sparks at their hands.
For the first time in living memory, the months of respite from storms hadn’t meant war for Ithicana, though it felt as though the entire nation had held its breath until the season was declared over.
After a strongly worded warning from Aren to drop the blockade or risk losing the right to trade at the Southwatch market—which the Valcottan Empress had ignored—Ithicana had driven the Valcottan navy ships lurking around Southwatch back, allowing Maridrinian vessels full access. Aren had then proceeded to load Ithicana’s own vessels full of food and supplies, which were delivered into Vencia and distributed to the poor. Again and again, Aren had used Ithicana’s coffers and resources to supply the belabored city until the Maridrinian people were cheering his name in the streets.
Whether it was because he’d lost the support of his people for war or because Lara hadn’t given him the intelligence he’d needed, her father hadn’t lifted a hand against Ithicana. Neither had Amarid, which seemed to still be licking its wounds. And now that the storms were rolling in, both kingdoms had lost the chance for another year. Or perhaps forever, if the strength of the relationship between the Ithicanian and Maridrinian people were any indication.
Not that there hadn’t been consequences. The empress had responded with a letter telling Aren he deserved whatever he got for bedding down with snakes, turning her armada entirely to merchant transport in an attempt to further undercut the bridge’s revenues, which were already halved by the loss of trade with the southern nation. The coffers were drained. But in Lara’s mind, both Maridrinian and Ithicanian civilians were alive. They were safe. Nothing else mattered.