Chapter 46 Aren #2
The queen took another mouthful of cake, again watching him as she chewed. It reminded Aren of being watched by a rat. Swallowing, she dabbed her lips with a napkin and looked at Nina, who had sat quietly this entire time. “Would you play for us, my sweet?”
The girl picked up a lute and began to play a soft melody while staring off at the sea.
“Ithicana has always favored Harendell at Northwatch,” Katarina finally said. “Your alliance with them was strong, and you gave them priority in every possible way. It was the reason that I agreed to ally with Silas—he was willing to give me the terms I wanted once he controlled the bridge.”
Aren said nothing, only took another sip of wine. Expensive beyond measure, yet it tasted sour on his tongue.
“All nations covet the bridge, but a ruler’s greed is not sufficient motivation for an army of living, breathing men to fling themselves against Ithicana’s defenses.
Ahnna, however unwittingly, has given the Harendellians sufficient motivation,” she continued.
“If they go to war, it will be for keeps, and at the end of it, William will be Master of the Bridge. This bodes poorly for Amarid, for of a surety, Harendell will either deny my merchants access to the bridge or extort them with horrific tolls. Worse still, once they have defeated you, they will turn their eyes on the Lowlands. Since their marriage-alliance with Cardiff is soon to be cemented with an heir, Amarid will stand no chance against them. From my perspective, it behooves me to support Ithicana in its fight, because if Harendell is occupied with you, they will not come for the Lowlands.”
“Support how?” Lara’s voice was toneless, and it was only because he knew her so well that Aren heard the distress within it. “It will be many years before you can rebuild your navy after the losses you took in your alliance with my father.”
“Oh, I will not risk an all-out war with Harendell,” Katarina replied. “However, I will covertly support Ithicana by supplying weapons and steel. Everything your warriors need to keep up your resistance.”
“You’d have us do all the fighting while you sit back and sip your wine?” Lara demanded.
“It may be water that I’m forced to sip, because funding your side of the war will take a terrible toll on my coffers.
But yes, Lara. It will be Ithicanians on the front lines.
” Katarina took another mouthful of cake.
“You should try a piece, Aren. My pastry chef is the best in the north, if I do say so myself.”
Ithicana had run through its supply of grain, so his people didn’t have bread, never mind cake, and despite not having much of a sweet tooth, Aren took a slice. The frosting tasted of oranges and ginger.
“May I have a piece of cake, Grandmother?” Nina asked, pausing in her playing.
“As many as you like, dearest. We have plenty.”
The girl set into the tray of cakes with gusto while Katarina watched her with affection.
“This one will make a fine queen one day. I must fight for a future where that is possible, for if the Harendellians have their way, they will rule the entirety of the north. They were quiet in Edward’s reign, but anyone who knows their history will remember that their might grew from conquest. It’s in their blood to take, and William’s youth makes him brash and ambitious.
In combination with Alexandra’s intelligence, he will be deadly. ”
Harendell’s history was something Aren had known from his childhood lessons but forgotten.
No…not forgotten but rather dismissed as a relic from the past that held no threat for the present, because Edward had never shown the same inclinations as his forefathers. Or at least, Aren hadn’t thought so.
Lara shook her head as Nina offered her a piece of cake. “Do not think I’m fooled by this charming picnic or your pretense at being a doting grandmother building a future for her granddaughter. You don’t make sacrifices. You execute strategies.”
“Lara,” Aren snapped, holding to the roles they’d agreed upon before stepping onto the beach. Before they’d learned that Ahnna was gone. “We have enough enemies without adding Amarid to the mix.”
His wife’s voice was like ice as she said, “They already are our enemies.”
Forcing a grimace onto his face, he met Katarina’s ratlike gaze. “You are forever tarnished in my wife’s eyes by your association with Silas, I’m afraid.”
“She is sitting right here,” Lara snapped. “And she has no interest in alliances with liars. Zarrah can supply everything she offers. This conversation is over.”
“You cannot afford to turn me down.”
“Yes. We can.”
Lara rose. Aren made a noise of protest but broke off as she cast him a blistering glare, and he got to his feet as well. She caught hold of his hand and started to haul him away, but then Amarid’s queen spoke. “Fine. I’ll sweeten the pot.”
Aren dug in his heels.
“Yes, Valcotta can supply weapons.” Katarina picked up yet another piece of cursed cake, the frosting sticking to her awful teeth as she took a bite. Chewed. Swallowed. “But what about food?”
Aren dropped Lara’s hand, and Katarina’s mouth quirked in a smile.
“Your wife doesn’t know famine as you do, does she, Aren?
But you remember the first war with Maridrina, don’t you?
You remember what it’s like to be confined to your islands while typhoons rage across the Tempest Seas.
Fishing, impossible. Foraging, impossible.
Forced to eat vermin because the bridge sits empty.
You remember how disease walks hand in hand with that sort of confinement and hunger, taking first the very old…
and then the very young. Maridrina endures a famine itself, and Valcotta’s herds are infected by wasting disease. Though I’m sure you are aware of that.”
“What are you offering?”
“A trade. I will sell you a shipload of our best vintages at fair market value, which you can resell at Southwatch to recoup your costs. In exchange for your services, I’ll give you a shipload of grain of the best quality.”
“I could buy three shiploads of grain with the tolls on that much wine.”
“Except there is no grain for you to buy,” she countered. “It is simple economics, Aren. That which is in short supply is very valuable indeed. One cannot eat gold or steel.”
“We aren’t agreeing to extortion!” Lara grabbed his hand and pulled as though she could physically force him away from the conversation. “We’re through here.”
He allowed her to tug him a few paces down the beach.
“Two shiploads of grain for each ship filled with wine,” Katarina snapped.
“No!” His wife, ever the consummate actress, was crying. “I will not negotiate with this woman, Aren. She was my father’s ally!”
“Three.” Katarina rose to her feet. “And to prove my commitment to the agreement, given we shall have nothing in writing, my granddaughter will return with you as your ward for the duration.”
The girl’s face paled. “What do you mean, Grandmother? I don’t want to go with them!”
“You will do your duty, Nina.” Katarina rested a gnarled hand on the girl’s shoulder. “One day, you will be queen of Amarid, and having a strong relationship with Ithicana will be to your benefit.”
“Agreed,” Aren said, and reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a map and circled three locations. He handed it to Katarina. “Tell your captains to come in the next storm break.”
The queen took the map, but her eyes were on Lara. “Clever like your father.”
Lara stiffened. “I’m nothing like my father.”
“You keep telling yourself that, girl. Silas was also very good at getting what he wanted with duplicity. He learned the hard way about what happens when one leaves a trail of those one has duped in one’s wake.
I would not want you to have the same fate as he did.
” She snapped her fingers, and a pair of servants came forward with a traveler’s chest. “Do take care of my granddaughter.”
The weeping child walked toward them, and Lara gently took hold of her arm and led her toward the longboat. Leaving Aren alone with Katarina.
Katarina settled back down on the blanket and reached for a piece of cake. “I think I shall enjoy the weather while it lasts. In recent years, I have learned to savor the small moments of pleasure.”
A wave of loss rushed over him, because there wasn’t anything Aren wouldn’t have given to have Ahnna here to wield a weapon at his back.
Katarina took a mouthful of cake, chewed and swallowed, then looked up at him. “Fight hard, Your Grace. Fight until the Harendellians decide the economics are not in their favor. Fight and win, for all our sakes.”