Chapter 54 Keris
Keris
Keris pulled his wife against him, eyeing the dying light of the sun through the expansive windows, longing for darkness to fall and, with it, any reason to leave this room. But it was not lost on him that the stakes were too high to lose himself in his wife for long. “Which bitch?”
“As much as I’d love to say Alexandra, I mean Lestara. I know you have been working to undermine her and the Cardiffian alliance. What progress have you made turning William against her?”
“None. The letters you brought were timely, but in truth, I don’t think they’ll be enough to sway William. Lestara has his measure and has dug her claws in deep. Plus, she’s pregnant.”
Zarrah released an aggrieved sigh. “Of course she is. God have mercy on that child to be born to such a family.”
“I’d thought Alexandra would move swiftly to be rid of her, but now I’m not so sure. I think she’ll keep Lestara in play until she’s ready to move on Cardiff, which is likely to be years from now.”
“Maybe.” His wife’s expression was thoughtful. “Lestara makes emotional choices, which Alexandra won’t like. If I were a betting woman—”
“Which you are.”
She smiled. “My bet is that Lestara won’t survive the birth of the child.
It’s risky business at the best of times, and it would be nothing for Alexandra to arrange to give her something that causes her to bleed out.
Ronan can hardly blame Harendell for that, and he still has the advantage of a grandchild sitting pretty as heir.
As long as Harendell agrees to move on Amarid, he may be content.
It’s not as though she’s a favored daughter. ”
Keris frowned, a memory crawling up from the depths of his mind. “Sara said something to me when I first discovered what Lestara had done. She said that she’d overheard the harem discussing Lestara and that Coralyn had been grooming her for…err—” He winced. “—me.”
Zarrah lifted one dark eyebrow. “Coralyn did love to meddle.”
He rolled onto his back, staring at the bed’s canopy. “Why would Coralyn choose Lestara as her successor to rule the harem?”
“Maybe because Lestara was young and beautiful?” She bent over his chest and examined the healing wound on it, frowning. “I feel compelled to also point out that Lestara was the only one who hadn’t given birth to one of your half siblings.”
“Minor factors.” When she grimaced, he added, “In Coralyn’s mind, at any rate. She would have backed the woman she believed would lead me to the greatest success. I can’t begin to fathom why she believed Lestara was that woman.”
“Coralyn died before Lestara showed her darker attributes. She seemed to get on well enough with the other women while I was imprisoned with them.”
It was not a topic that he relished discussing with his wife, but Keris couldn’t let go of the sense that he was missing something. “Coralyn would have had her measure. Would have sensed her ambition and selfishness. What about Lestara was worth saddling me with such a risk?”
“Get Sarhina to ask the other women in the harem?” Zarrah shifted so that she was looking down into his eyes. “Though beyond how poorly Lestara took your subsequent rejection and the fact that she’ll surely kill you if she gets the chance, I don’t really see why Coralyn’s intentions matter.”
Keris didn’t either, and yet…“She told me that Ronan would kill her for failing if I sent her back to Cardiff.”
“Her position secured a trade deal with Maridrina.”
“A minor one. We aren’t in high need of furs in Vencia.
” He rubbed at his temples. “Fuck. I wish I’d paid more attention to the things she said to me, but every thought in my skull was getting you off Devil’s Island.
Ronan had to have known there was no chance of her becoming queen of Maridrina, prophecy or no.
What was his goal for her? What was she supposed to achieve? ”
Zarrah curled up next to him, her fingernails tracing lines up and down his chest. “The Cardiffians put a lot of weight into prophecy, Keris, and I’ve heard that Ronan’s queen, Calythra, is a seer of renown. I’m not sure you can rely on logic to understand the things they do.”
“Except if we are to break the alliance between Cardiff and Harendell, we need to understand it.” He sighed, distracted by his wife’s touch and wishing he could lose himself in her for days on end. But there was no time for that.
“Lestara knows your face and knows it well,” he continued, rolling onto his side. “The Harendellians won’t take it well to learn that the empress of Valcotta is roaming the Sky Palace in disguise. You can’t stay, Zarrah. Especially given what is happening back home with the herds.”
“It was Harendellian cattle that brought the disease. Cattle that somehow escaped from their isolation to join other animals.” Her face hardened. “Seems rather timely, don’t you think?”
His anger rose, much of it directed at himself. “Alexandra neglected to mention that Harendell was the source.”
“The animals were premium bulls sent via ship before Edward died.”
Zarrah’s tone was steady, but he could feel her fury. “Do you think he’s responsible?”
“Hold that thought.” His wife slipped out of bed and crossed the room to her discarded clothing, only to let out a yelp. “What is that?”
Fiona had appeared from the sitting room and sat watching them expectantly. “Oh. That’s Fiona. She’s a poison-sniffing dog. Saam bought her.”
“Did he now?” Zarrah stooped to stroke Fiona, then shooed the dog into the other room before picking up her jacket.
She extracted a letter that showed signs of having been read many times and handed it to him. Keris frowned at the sight of Eddie’s familiar handwriting, skimming the letter and then turning it over to reveal where Zarrah had helpfully decoded the hidden message.
I will have wed William to Lestara by the time you receive this. Forgive the seeming betrayal of our friendship. As one who has risked all for love, you will one day understand everything, but know I regret the hurt my actions will cause you and your family.
“It arrived after you left.”
“I know,” Keris muttered, because this was the actual letter that Cormac had intended his forgery to replace. He swiftly relayed all that had happened since he’d left Pyrinat, leaving out no details. Darkness had fallen by the time he’d finished.
“Harendell is living up to its reputation.” Zarrah curled against him, staring up at the canopy.
“It’s not a matter of one plot. Every cursed person in this court is scheming, and it all tangles together until the plots can’t be separated.
It’s clear that Edward aimed to take the bridge and put James on Ithicana’s throne as well as name him heir.
Just as clear that Alexandra now aims to give William as much and more.
Maridrina was never in a position to aid, but infecting Valcotta’s herds was a surefire way to keep us out of the fray.
The question is whether it was Edward’s plan or Alexandra’s?
Has she picked up the reins of his plots, or was she scheming the entire time and has only now stepped to the fore?
Given James’s legitimacy, my gut tells me the latter, and I can’t help but question whether she’s behind Edward’s death. ”
“It makes sense, but Ahnna has profound motive and the martial skill to have done it. She threatened Edward before a ballroom full of people and then was caught red-handed attacking Alexandra by James and his men, who followed bloody boot prints from Edward’s rooms. Did I mention that Edward was stabbed forty-seven times and he didn’t die quickly?
Alexandra doesn’t have the skill or strength for such a feat. ”
“Perhaps she used Ahnna, then it got out of hand when Ahnna realized she’d been tricked?”
“Maybe. But the only one who could tell us is Ahnna, and I doubt she’s still alive.
There is no proof against Alexandra, and William is entirely under her control.
” He watched the clouds that were gathering, slowly cloaking the view beyond.
“I’d suggest assassinating them both, but blame for that will only fall back on Aren.
The Harendellians see possessing the bridge as a possibility, so whoever claims the throne will only leverage the deaths of the Ashfords to go for the same goal.
Cardiff is too goddamned obsessed with revenge against Katarina to see the threat they face, and as it is, William seems unwilling to see Lestara for who she is.
As much as I hate it, Amarid feels like the only lighthouse in this storm. ”
“Katarina knows she’s in danger—that’s the only reason she’s clamoring for an alliance.
” Zarrah shook her head. “My father and Daria are working to prove the cattle were deliberately sabotaged and to find proof of who is behind it. If we can tie it to the Ashfords, Valcotta has grounds to retaliate. My father is playing up that I’ve gone into seclusion because of conflict with you, and I’m hoping that Alexandra, if she’s guilty, will take the opportunity to try to foster a coup against me by backing one of my cousins, because she has to want to get rid of me.
If she does it, she’ll play right into my hands. ”
“She’s clever. She might not bite.” Cleverer than he’d realized, and Keris wasn’t unaware of the certainty growing inside him that he was outmatched by Alexandra. She was smarter than he was, and he didn’t like it.
“Very clever, but if all our suspicions are true, she’s woven so many threads, north and south, that she risks tangling herself.
My father played the propaganda game with Petra for years, so he’s got the skill to entice her into making a move.
” She sighed. “The question is whether we have time for this strategy. The calm season is coming, and then it will cease to be a war of blockades and words. An alliance with Amarid will be the only chance in that situation.”
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” But God, he wished it was anyone other than the Crimson Widow.
A knock sounded at the door, and Saam’s voice called through. “It’s important.”
Keris tensed, but Zarrah was already reaching for her clothes. “Get dressed,” she said. “Put yourself together.”
“Saam knows what we’ve been doing,” he said, reaching for his own clothes.
“This palace has eyes everywhere.”
Fixing his hair into its usual knot at the back of his head, Keris went to the door and unlatched it. Saam pushed his way inside, shutting the door behind him. “There’s something you need to see.”
Going to the window, he pressed his hands against it. “Look.”
Keris looked down the incredible drop of the spiral to the city below, which was awash with the glow of lanterns. “What am I looking at?”
“The procession on the river. Do you see it?”
Keris could indeed see a tiny carriage surrounded by mounted horsemen with torches. They crossed the bridge, then headed north. “What are we looking at, Saam?”
“Two things. The first is a messenger who has been sent to retrieve Princess Virginia and her entourage.”
His heart sped, but it was Zarrah who asked, “And the second?”
“Lestara is in that carriage,” Saam said with a grin. “Whatever you two did worked. She left the palace in tears.”
Keris nearly choked on the thickness of his relief, bracing a hand against the window. “We’ve done what we can. We need to leave, Zarrah.”
The glass was cold beneath his hand as he waited for his wife to respond, but Zarrah only watched the procession of torches slowly disappear into the trees. Finally, she said, “Not yet.”
Turning her back on the view of Harendell, she drew in a deep breath. “There’s one more thing we need to do.”