Chapter 80 Ahnna #2
“Times change,” Katarina replied. “Those who fostered the animosity between our nations are in the grave, and those who live on finally have the chance to move toward a new era of collaboration. Harendell and Amarid will share ownership of the bridge, the responsibility of administering trade, and the duty of protecting it.”
“I see.” Through the ringing of panic in Ahnna’s ears, she heard Hector’s dismay as he realized his powers to negotiate were not half what he’d believed. “We were not aware.”
“It is a new, freshly inked alliance,” Katarina said, her tone gloating. “Harendell’s representative is late to arrive, but I think it safe to begin negotiations while—”
She broke off as a distant scream filled the air.
No one spoke, and that meant Ahnna heard the clash of swords from down the slope toward the cove. More screams and shouts of alarm.
“What’s going on?” Hector demanded. “Is this some trick—”
“No trick,” Katarina interrupted. “Guards, investigate!”
Rolling onto her belly, Ahnna crawled to the edge of the foundation.
Aren must have seen the arriving Harendellians, realized their plan had failed, and rallied his forces to fight.
He was throwing everything he had at trying to expel a unified front of Amarid and Harendell. A battle they were destined to lose.
But Ahnna would fight alongside her brother until she could not lift her sword.
She reached the edge of the foundation, ready to throw herself into the thick of it, only to freeze. It wasn’t Aren and his soldiers fighting the Amaridians, it was Harendellians. Dozens upon dozens of uniformed men racing up the slope to the house and cutting down anyone who got in their way.
What is happening?
Has Alexandra turned on Katarina?
Rolling back under the cover of the house, Ahnna listened to the shouts of alarm coming from within. “We’re under attack! The Harendellians are attacking!”
More screams and the clash of blades, and then the Harendellians were in the house, boots pounding over the floor. Ahnna forced herself to breathe as she listened to the Amaridians try to surrender, only for the Harendellians to slaughter them without mercy.
A door creaked open, and a Harendellian voice said, “Well, well, well. If it’s not the Crimson Widow herself!”
Ahnna recognized the voice as belonging to one of William’s courtiers. A minor nobleman named Archie Bennett who was terrible at cards but good in a bar fight. He wasn’t in the military, so Ahnna had no idea what he was doing here—and in command, no less.
“What is the meaning of this?” Katarina snarled. “This was not what we agreed to.”
“No, I don’t suspect it was,” the Harendellian replied. “You thought that you could murder an entire nation and take the bridge beneath our noses and that no one would be the wiser?”
“That isn’t what—”
“Shut your mouth, old woman,” Archie barked, then demanded, “Who are you?”
“Hector Adrias,” the Maridrinian replied. “I am a member of Maridrina’s lawfully elected parliament and have been sent to represent my fellows’ interests. I hope you have not shown violence to our escort, else Harendell and Maridrina will soon find themselves at odds.”
Archie gave a soft snort. “Your men are well enough for now, but you chose poorly when you chose to deal with Amarid and not Harendell. This will not be forgotten.”
“Trade must flow,” Hector answered. “Maridrina will negotiate with whoever holds control over the bridge, though that seems to change by the minute.”
“Maridrinian rats,” Archie said with disgust. “Amarid poisoned an entire nation. Murdered innocent people. Innocent children. Shame on you for your willingness to do business with such monsters. If there is justice, King William will punish your lack of morality, sir. Get out of here and flee back to your sand dunes.”
There was a scuffle of noise as the Maridrinians were dragged from the room, then Archie said, “You are a war criminal, Katarina. What you have done is a crime against humanity that will not be tolerated. In the name of King William of Harendell, I am charging you with murder. You will be returned to Verwyrd, where you will be executed for your crimes. May God have mercy on your soul.”
Katarina screamed in protest, her small feet drumming the floor above Ahnna’s head as she was restrained and removed from the house.
“The captain said there is a storm coming and there is nowhere to anchor for safe harbor,” Archie said to whoever else remained with him.
“We’ll leave as many men as possible to purge the Amaridians north and south.
Get your hands on whatever deal the Maridrinians were ready to offer, and we’ll bring it to the king. ”
“Yes, sir,” a soldier replied. “Should we look for any Ithicanian survivors?”
“Look, but don’t expect to find any. The Amaridians poisoned the lot of them, and any Ithicanians found alive were probably put to the sword. This is an empty kingdom, which means it’s waiting for the strongest to claim it, and that, my friends, is us.”
“Katarina was mad to think she’d get away with it.”
“You saw her.” Archie gave a dismissive snort. “She’s ancient and probably half senile. Either way, we caught her quick as a wink, and now the old hag will hang.”
“Don’t see why we don’t string her up now and be done with it.”
“Queen’s orders,” Archie said. “She’s to be brought to Verwyrd unharmed.”
“I hope they make a spectacle of it—watching the Crimson Widow dangle and kick will be a fine story to pass down over the years.”
Everyone laughed.
“Before we set sail, plant a flag on the highest point of this island to claim these lands for Harendell,” Archie said. “King William is now Master of the Bridge.”
The alliance between Katarina and Alexandra was broken, but this was no victory. Ithicana had only exchanged one invader for another.
Ahnna waited until the Harendellians had abandoned the house, then rolled out from under the foundation and sprinted into the trees. Her clothes blended into the jungle as she wove her way to where Aren, Lara, and the rest would be hidden.
“What is happening?” Aren demanded the moment he saw her. “The Amaridians allowed the Harendellian ship to unload without argument, but the moment they reached the beach, it was slaughter.”
“I don’t know what’s going on.” Ahnna’s fear was rising, choking her.
“Katarina told Hector about her alliance with Harendell. Said it was freshly inked, and that he would be negotiating with both nations as a united force. She said that representatives were expected, but then…well, you saw what happened. They’ve arrested Katarina and are bringing her back to Verwyrd to be put on trial for the mass poisoning of Ithicana.
They think we’re all dead, and they’ve claimed the bridge for William. ”
Her brother went deathly still.
“A ruse?” Lara demanded. “A scheme concocted between Alexandra and Katarina to lure us out?”
“I don’t know. It was under the queen’s orders that she be brought back to Verwyrd unharmed, but they were rough with her. I don’t think that Katarina would risk her own neck that way.”
“Any mention of Cardiff?” Aren’s voice was toneless. “Or James?”
“No.”
“Did he betray us?” Anger rose in her brother’s voice. “Was this all a trick? Was he in on Alexandra’s scheme, and all of this, everything with you, was just a ruse to get us to let them in without a fight?”
“No!”
“Aren, James didn’t betray us.” Lara stepped between them. “Something has gone wrong in Cardiff. Something has happened. He’s loyal to Ahnna, you know that!”
“All I know is that I sat in the jungle and watched while we were invaded, and now the most powerful nation in the known world is inside my defenses!”
“I’m sorry.” Ahnna’s tongue was thick and it tripped over her words. “I…I…” She trailed off, because she had no defense here. This had been her plan, and it had made everything worse.
Aren wouldn’t even look at her. “No need to abdicate now, is there?”
Bile burned up Ahnna’s throat, and she swallowed hard to keep from vomiting. “Aren, no. Maybe…maybe there is something going on here that we don’t know. Maybe James convinced William to take our side and this is just a ruse. Maybe—”
She broke off, because Aren had turned his back on her and was walking away. Before she could go after him, Lara’s hand closed over her wrist. “Leave him be.”
This was her fault.
All her fault.
Ahnna doubled over, hand pressed against her mouth while the jungle around her spun around and around. There was no answer, no solution, because it was one thing to try to fight Harendell off when they were on the far side of Ithicana’s defenses, quite another to expel them from the inside.
She’d done exactly what Lara had done, but unlike Lara, Ahnna could not claim to have done it unwittingly.
Lia sat on a rock and started crying. Others stared blindly into space, while more still just walked away. All of them broken. All of them defeated.
Because of her.
A dark voice inside her whispered, Do them all a favor and fall on your own sword.
Except to do so would accomplish nothing. It was only the coward’s way out of an awful solution, and if she was going to die, it might as well be for something.
“Don’t let him give up just yet,” she said to Lara, and then broke into a run, heading down to Midwatch’s cove where most of the violence had taken place.
Keeping low, she searched until she found a Harendellian soldier who’d been killed in the fray.
She swiftly donned his clothes and then hid his corpse beneath some brush, and with her hair tucked up beneath his hat and a bit of blood smeared across her face, she joined the ranks of soldiers being ferried in longboats back to the ship.
“You hurt, lad?” one of the other soldiers asked, gesturing to the bloodstains on her uniform.
“Nothing serious.” She lowered her pitch, mimicking their accent. “It’s mostly Amaridian blood.”
Several of the men clapped her on the shoulder, and then the longboat was pulling alongside the ship.
Ahnna climbed up the ladder, saluting the officer waiting at the top, and then headed belowdecks.
She knew ships and knew them well, and ensuring she walked with purpose, Ahnna made it to the hold.
There, she hid behind empty water barrels, and settled in for an uncomfortable journey north.
Where are you? Her heart screamed the question, desperate to know if James was safe. Desperate to know that there was a chance that they would be reunited.
Ahnna shoved away the thought. Her people were alive, and where there was life, there was hope. This time, she wouldn’t disappoint them.