Chapter 8 Lara
Lara
The merchant captain shifted uncomfortably, unable to meet Lara’s eyes as he set a letter sealed with the crest of Harendell on the table before her.
“The Harendellians asked that this be delivered to Northwatch, Your Grace,” he said.
“Every ship flying their colors is forbidden to trade with Ithicana, but they’ve not yet moved to blockades.
Flying Maridrinian colors as we are, we aim to run the route between Sableton and Northwatch for as long as the Harendellians allow it.
Or until the Harendellians begin directing trade to Cardiff, at which time we’ll make the run north into the bay. ”
Aren made an aggrieved noise, then snatched up the letter and cracked the wax.
Lara watched his eyes skim the contents, his jaw, shadowed with several days’ stubble, hardening.
He handed it to her without comment, then resumed pacing the room.
Lara glanced at the looping cursive, which was a request from the newly crowned King William to meet at Emesmere Island so they might hand over Ahnna and negotiate reparations.
Lara set it face down on the table, then turned her eyes on her countryman. “What else can you tell me, Captain?”
The man rocked on his heels, and Bronwyn moved from where she’d been lingering next to the window. Pouring a glass of wine, she gave it to the captain and then rested her hand on his shoulder. “Speak true, friend, else you’ll never see Maridrina’s golden shores again.”
The man’s face blanched, and Lara fought the urge to roll her eyes at her sister’s less-than-subtle threat.
“I only know what everyone else knows, my lady,” he said after taking a gulp of the wine.
“King Edward hosted a ball in the Sky Palace, but rather than announcing a date for nuptials between Prince William and Princess Ahnna, he declared that he’d formed an alliance with King Ronan of Cardiff, which included terms allowing for free trade between the nations.
To cement the alliance, he had secretly wed Prince William to the witch Lestara of Cardiff.
” He spat on the floor. “Murderous bitch. Prince Keris ought to have taken her head for what she did. This might never have happened.”
Lara didn’t disagree that Keris’s creativity in punishment had unleashed a problem that a beheading might have prevented, but she strongly suspected that the alliance with Cardiff had been a lifetime in the making.
James’s lifetime, to be specific. The marriage to Lestara was likely nothing more than the frosting on the cake of profit.
“Continue. And please refrain from spitting on my floor.”
“Apologies, Your Grace.” The man knelt and wiped the mess up with his sleeve, his eyes jumping from her, to Bronwyn, to Aren, seemingly uncertain who was the greatest threat.
“There was more to King Edward’s speech.
He went on about some history with Prince James’s mother—apparently, she was also a Cardiffian witch, King Ronan’s sister, no less, and Queen Katarina was the one who murdered her.
Edward and Ronan intended to march through the Lowlands to raze Amarid as vengeance for their mutual suffering.
At any rate, the Princess Ahnna took great issue with being jilted and offered threats to Edward before storming out.
Late that night, he was discovered brutally stabbed to death in his bed, and when the alarm was sounded, Prince James and his men discovered Princess Ahnna in the act of trying to kill Queen Alexandra.
She escaped the Sky Palace and fled into the countryside on horseback, evading all attempts at capture.
She was spotted in Sableton trying to reach the harbor but fled, and she had not yet been apprehended when we set sail.
” The captain hesitated, then added, “Prince James heads the search himself, but the entirety of Harendell is in arms hunting the princess, all desiring vengeance for the murder of Good King Eddie.”
“Ahnna didn’t murder Edward,” Aren growled. “This is the scheme of some power-hungry Harendellian, and my sister is nothing but a scapegoat.”
The captain shifted uneasily. “As you say, Your Grace. I’m only repeating the beliefs of the common Harendellians. Tavern gossip, if you get my meaning.”
Tavern gossip could be shockingly accurate, but Lara only gave the man a small smile. “We thank you for your service. Safe travels.”
“Have you heard anything about Lady Taryn?” Bronwyn asked as the man began to turn away. “Any information as to where she’s been taken or if she’s well?”
“No, Your Highness,” he answered. “Not a word.”
At Lara’s nod, he retreated and then exited the room.
Aren waited until the door clicked shut, then exploded, “It’s not even a request, Lara! William is ordering me to meet him at Emesmere to address his demands. Like I’m a dog to be dragged, tail between my legs, to make amends for shitting on his floor.”
“Colorful,” Bronwyn muttered, but there was an edge to her sister’s tone that matched the seething fury in her eyes. Bronwyn and Taryn had grown close in their friendship, and while her sister had been closemouthed about the nature of their relationship, Lara suspected that the two were lovers.
“The captain’s story is consistent with what James told Bronwyn when he arrested Taryn.
” Lara rose to go to the window, looking out over Northwatch.
The skies were gray and misty, but there was no sign of weather that might prevent a meeting at Emesmere.
“It’s consistent with everything we’ve been told. ”
Which meant this was either a very well-orchestrated deception…
Or the truth.
Bronwyn sighed and took a seat at the table, staring gloomily at the wood.
“James believes it, Lara. That much I know. You can’t feign that sort of anger and grief.
While he didn’t elaborate as to exactly what Ahnna was doing to Alexandra when he came upon them, it was violent.
Her guilt in that crime is certain. Whether Ahnna was also the one to kill Edward, only she can say for sure, but the evidence is damning.
” Bronwyn hesitated, then added, “As is her motive.”
“Ahnna didn’t do this!” Aren slammed his fists down on the table so hard that the glassware bounced, and Lara felt a pang in her chest at the fear beneath his anger.
“I didn’t believe it at first, either,” Bronwyn said. “But I think we have to consider that Ahnna’s anger got the better of her.”
“My sister wouldn’t do this! It’s not who she is!”
“You’re the last person who can claim to know Ahnna’s mind,” Bronwyn snapped at him. “You two have been at odds from the day you married Lara, and I assure you, the woman Ahnna was before the invasion doesn’t exist anymore.”
“Bronwyn, enough.” Lara left the window and moved to rest her hands on the table. “This isn’t helpful.”
“Isn’t it?” Her sister scoffed and then leaned back in her chair.
“Because given that you two are pressing forward on the assumption that Ahnna is innocent, I think it is. Saving Ithicana was Ahnna’s obsession.
She went to Verwyrd on a mission to gain power and influence.
Power and influence that she hoped to use to increase trade through the bridge and put enough profit in Ithicana’s coffers that you could feed your people and rebuild.
So that she could be the savior of Ithicana, not you.
” Bronwyn leveled a finger at Lara’s chest. “She wanted to prove she was better than you in every possible way.”
Ahnna isn’t that petty. “Enough, Bronwyn.”
“No, you listen.” Her sister rose. “She was obsessed, and Edward surely saw that. Strung her along and made her feel as though she was wanted. As though she was exactly the woman Harendell needed. Made her feel as though her goals were in her grasp, and then he ripped out the carpet from beneath her and sent Ahnna sprawling in front of all of Harendell’s nobility.
He didn’t just marry William to another princess and destroy her dream of becoming queen, but also declared his plan to direct all the gold Ithicana needed into Cardiff.
And to top it all off, James, her one friend”—Bronwyn’s voice seethed with sarcasm—“was the man behind the whole plan. Which meant he’d been lying to her the entire time.
Don’t tell me, Lara, that the sum of this isn’t enough to break anyone, least of all a woman who has spent the past years suffering trauma after trauma. ”
“Stop.” Lara’s hands balled into fists. Her sister’s words were making the air in the room so very hard to breathe.
“I will not.” Bronwyn got to her feet. “Because Taryn, who has done nothing, is once again a prisoner, and I don’t know if she will survive it.
I have no doubt that Ahnna acted impulsively.
I have no doubt that she regrets what she has done.
But my most sincere hope is that she turns herself in and accepts all accountability, because then maybe William will have fucking mercy on the rest of us! ”
“Get out!” Lara screamed as her own temper cracked. “Go!”
“Gladly!” Bronwyn stormed from the room, slamming the door shut behind her.
Lara drew a steadying breath, already unhappy that she’d lost control of her emotions. Aren still had his hands planted on the table but the anger had left her husband’s gaze, leaving a hollowness that cut her to the core.
“What if Bronwyn’s right?” Aren asked softly.
“She’s not.” Lara circled the table and pushed him down on a chair.
Straddling him, she cupped his stubbled cheeks and forced him to meet her gaze.
“Ahnna is brash and brazen. Prone to saying exactly what she thinks. But she is never impulsively violent. If there is anyone in the world who could have driven her to murder, it’s me, but your sister has never once harmed me. ”
“She pushed you off the bridge.”