Chapter 42 James
James
James’s fury at having been interrupted with Ahnna vanished like flames doused with water, replaced by dread.
Rising to his feet, he went to stand beneath the opening above and looked up. Carlo was nothing but an outline, backlit as he was, but he could smell the Beast’s cologne from here.
“There you are,” Carlo murmured. “In no way diminished, I see. Not even the Furnace is enough to break you.” Then his head tilted and he made a retching sound. “But God help me, you stink.”
“So sorry to offend,” James retorted, but his tone belied the panic churning in his stomach. “I’m afraid my cell wasn’t equipped with a bathtub. Or soap. It does, however, sit over a fiery pit of some version of hell.”
Carlo gave a soft snort. “Nothing so fantastical, I’m afraid.
Just a large room with a big stove and a man who must be replaced every year because his lungs turn black from the labor.
” He lay on his stomach, looking down at James.
“This is beneath you, James. I told Mother that, but she says there is no other place we can be certain that you will be contained, which I cannot argue with. Still, it grieves me that you will meet your end rotting in your own filth. You deserve a glorious demise.”
“And yet here I am,” James said even as he silently screamed, Get to the point!
“Here we are.”
A cloud must have passed overhead, because the light of the sun fell away and James could make out Carlo’s face. His missing eye had been replaced with a polished red gemstone that glittered as he moved.
“Are you going to get on with it?” James finally asked. “Or do you just wish to discuss my accommodations?”
“Ah, yes. Thank you for reminding me.” Carlo cleared his throat.
“It has been such an uneventful span of time. Ithicana’s typhoons have prevented any sea travel south, so Mother’s plans to send Lady Taryn home to serve as our poisoned apple were much delayed.
I have just returned from the deep south, where we were waiting for a break in the storms. I am pleased to inform you that Lady Taryn and Lady Bronwyn should be arriving in Ithicana shortly to begin making their appeals to Aren for an alliance with Amarid.
Which will be timely, because Prince Keris’s messenger should be arriving at nearly the same time to deliver Alexandra’s threats.
The titan of the north breathing hot fumes down Aren’s neck right as Mother’s poisoned apple promises deliverance. It is a beautiful thing.”
James’s chest hollowed.
“Mother has them convinced she’s terrified of the alliance between Cardiff and Amarid.
Truly, she has such a gift for the theater.
Though between you and me, I do think she fears the Crehan clan, Ronan most of all.
Alexandra does as well, which is why she put an end to your uncle Cormac.
Poisoned him right across the table from Keris himself! ”
Cormac is dead?
“We’d always intended to kill him, of course.
He knew the truth about William’s pedigree, and Mother has taught her protégée not to leave loose ends.
But this was two birds with one stone, for now Keris believes that Amarid has grown so desperate to stymie the northern alliance that we have reduced ourselves to sloppy attempts to frame Harendell for assassinations.
Alexandra has ensured that no one stands in the way of Keris’s messages back to Ithicana.
” Carlo snickered. “I do not normally care for these sorts of manipulations, for they are a woman’s weapon, but it is delightful to watch nations north and south dance about on Mother’s web. ”
“Mother’s? Or Alexandra’s?” James asked between his teeth. “She’s the bigger spider.”
Carlo made a soft humming sound. “That is why we keep you, James. The biggest threat of all to William’s reign is you. And you are ours.”
“Unless I rot to death.”
Carlo was silent for several long moments, the only sound the endless wailing of the Furnace inmates, then he said, “Cormac is just the first to die, James. Ronan will meet an accident soon enough, and then we will pick away at the House of Crehan until Lestara is the heir apparent. Or, more accurately, the child in her belly. The baby will be king of Harendell. King of Ithicana. King of Cardiff. Yet Alexandra will rule him, and Mother rules Alexandra. It is stunning, isn’t it?
A proper masterpiece of plotting, because the largest roles of manipulation go to those Aren trusts the most.”
Logically, James had known that it would come to this, but hearing the plans to murder his family from the heartless lips of the Beast made them so much more real. So much more certain. And trapped as he was, there was nothing James could do about it.
“Enjoy the balance of your day, dear nemesis.” Carlo got to his feet. “Not even the misery on your face is enough to keep me in this stink.”
The Beast disappeared from sight.
As he departed, so did the cloud cover, and sunlight streamed through the small opening, stinging James’s eyes. He endured it for a heartbeat, and then returned to the opening between his cell and Ahnna’s, leaning his back against the wall.
“I’m sorry, James.” Ahnna’s voice filled his ears, and he reached up to take her hand through the opening. It felt like she was the only thing keeping him alive.
“I hate this,” he replied, running his thumb over her knuckles. “I hate not being able to do anything.”
“I feel the same way.” She was quiet, the only sound her breathing, then she said, “But I think Alexandra made a mistake.”
James turned his head, looking at the shadow of her face. “How so?”
“I don’t think killing Cormac was part of her plan. I think she was rushed into it by whatever drove Cormac to meet with Keris. I think she was worried what Cormac might tell Keris and chose to silence him.”
He shook his head. “It sounded to me as if Keris is very much part of their plan. They are using him to soften Aren up for an alliance with Amarid so they can strike Ithicana from the rear.”
“I know, but they couldn’t have predicted that Keris would go to Harendell.
I think they’ve pivoted to use him, but in doing so, they’ve overextended their hand.
” Her fingers flexed in his. “I think Alexandra reacted impulsively, murdering Cormac to silence the spread of William’s secrets and then blaming Amarid to further that scheme, but it lacks her usual foresight.
Because Ronan will not take this death lightly, will he?
He already wants revenge against Katarina for Siobhan’s murder, and that desire will be compounded by Cormac’s murder. ”
“He’ll push William to move with him to attack Amarid.” The wheels in James’s mind began to spin, following her course of thought. “And if William refuses, or if Alexandra digs in her heels to protect her ally, Ronan might withdraw his support from the alliance.”
“Exactly. Alexandra has woven so many threads, and I think she’s finally tangled herself in this one.
William is the one thing that causes her to act impulsively, because she’ll do everything and anything to protect him and his reign.
” Ahnna’s grip tightened. “She’s made a mistake, James.
And if she makes one, she’ll make more.”
There was a fierceness to her voice, and James relished her strength. Hope was dim for them in this place, but she had not given up and neither had he.
“Carlo does not like that you are imprisoned,” she whispered, her grip tightened. “Katarina is punishing him as much as you by keeping us in here, and that might be something we can exploit.”
“How?”
“I don’t know yet, but my gut tells me that Carlo might be our one ally in escaping this place.”
James’s lips parted to remind her that if Carlo released them from the Furnace, it would only be because he had a more vicious end planned for them, but then the warden’s voice called down from above, “Prisoner, approach!”