Chapter 86 Keris
Keris
“Is the explanation lunacy?” Keris snapped the words, well past his breaking point. “Do you know what happens to a person when they fall from such a height?”
Thud.
His memory filled with the sound of such a fall, and Keris turned away to hide his flinch. Given that Aren was apparently not dead, he’d be the one Keris would have had to tell if Ahnna had been reduced to a splatter on the stone below.
“She’s fine,” Zarrah murmured. “We caught her.”
Fine for now, but the only way out of this palace was the way Ahnna had come up, and he was not looking forward to it.
He went to the table full of decanters and filled a glass.
As he did, he noticed the spot of blood on his cuff.
Katarina’s blood. “What are you doing here, Ahnna? If William catches you, he will kill you to protect Alexandra. He cut off Katarina’s head in front of his whole court so that she couldn’t implicate his mother. ”
“Katarina’s dead, then?”
“Quite.”
“I’m going to poison Alexandra. It might be a long shot, but if William is rid of her influence, we might have a chance.”
He laughed, noticing how Fiona was watching Ahnna with sharp interest, nose moving, and then she let out three sharp yips.
Apparently the coin Saam had spent wasn’t wasted after all.
Except Alexandra’s dogs had the same training.
“You’re never going to get close to her. Especially not after tonight.”
“What happened? No one in the city knows anything.”
Keris took a sip of his drink. He’d already told Zarrah everything, and the thought of doing so again was exhausting. Seeming to sense that, his wife stepped in, swiftly explaining all that had occurred.
“William won’t turn on Alexandra,” Keris said as she finished. “I’m not sure if he’s in denial about her guilt, or if he just doesn’t care. He’s burned the Cardiffian alliance to protect her, and I don’t think there is any length he won’t go to if it will keep her head attached to her shoulders.”
“He can’t keep this all contained,” Ahnna argued. “The people are going to find out, and they’ll demand justice for Edward. If he refuses, he’ll have a civil war on his hands.”
“If we had time, I’d say that we could work with that,” Keris said.
“But when Ronan gave William his ultimatum, he all but told him that there were survivors of the poison plot. Harendell already has soldiers holding the bridge, but the calm season is only weeks away, which means they can move to purge resistance in the outer islands. If he has uncontested control of the bridge, he might be able to buy his mother’s forgiveness from the people. Or at the very least, the nobility.”
“If we can get out of the palace and out of Harendell, we can take the proof we need for me to declare war and sail to Ithicana’s defense,” Zarrah said. “But even that will take more time than we have. If we could even find a way to get the proof south, my father has the authority to set sail.”
It felt hopeless, but instead of panicked, Ahnna’s expression was thoughtful. “I think I know someone who might help. Is Virginia in the palace?”
“Yes, but she’s been in seclusion since she returned,” Keris replied. “I’ve not even seen her, and there is no reason to believe she’ll speak with me.”
“I guarantee that she will.”
“Why is that?”
Ahnna shrugged. “She once referred to you as the most beautiful man in the world.”
Keris blinked. “Flattering, but I feel compelled to point out the obvious: Virginia Ashford is blind. I could be as ugly as a pig’s ass and she’d never know it.”
“She is now but wasn’t always,” Ahnna replied. “Which means descriptions mean something to her, and you’ve been waltzing about the Sky Palace in full view of all her ladies-in-waiting, which means the descriptions have been confirmed.”
He cast a sideways glance at Zarrah, who appeared amused by his discomfort. “I find this all very reductive.”
“I doubt that,” his wife answered. “And Virginia is not wrong.”
Heat rose to his cheeks, and Keris covered the reaction by saying, “Where are you going with this, Ahnna?”
“Virginia was quite intrigued by you, and she said, I quote, ‘It’s a shame he’s wed.’ ”
“I disagree.” Keris saw the direction this was going, and no part of him liked it.
Ahnna’s eyes flicked between him and Zarrah. “I think she would leap at the chance to speak to you alone, and I think there is a good chance she’ll help you.”
Reaching out, Ahnna took Keris’s drink and finished it, then flopped on a sofa, her mannerisms reminding Keris deeply of her brother.
“No one knows Alexandra’s nature better than her own daughter, so she will not struggle with believing her mother capable of all of this.
Virginia loved her father dearly. She loves her brothers and is loyal to them, and she will not take well to any of this. ”
“Are you sure?” Keris replied, going to a chair and sitting on the back of it, not caring that his boots were on the plush upholstery.
“Keep in mind that Alexandra’s actions benefited Virginia.
If Edward had lived, it wouldn’t have been just William who was discovered to be illegitimate, but Virginia as well.
Her value, and her pending nuptials to that asshole George, would have been ruined.
I do not think we’ll find an ally in Harendell’s princess. ”
“Dip your toe in the water and see what she says.”
“I might dip my toe in these waters and find myself pulled under when she goes to William with everything that was said and he decides to go through with cutting off my head this time.” Keris rocked the chair back, balancing it on two legs as he considered whether what might be gained with this scheme was worth the risk.
Zarrah met his gaze and gave the slightest of nods.
“But we need to find a way to get you out of here, Ahnna.”
“My rope is dangling from the spiral railing, so I can’t go back the way I came.” Ahnna picked up a pen that was sitting on the table, dipped it in the ink, and began writing on a piece of Keris’s stationery. “Nor do I intend to.”
He tried to read what she had written, but other than the flourish of her name, he caught none of it before she folded the page.
“Ahnna, you aren’t going to be able to get to Alexandra.
At the best of times, she’s more protected than William himself, and with what happened today, no one will get near her. ”
“Alexandra is no longer my goal.” Ahnna extracted a vial, which she tossed into the fire. Then she tucked her hair up into a uniform hat and started toward the door. “If you find James, please tell him I love him and that I’m sorry I broke my promise.”
“What are you doing?” Keris reached for her, trying to stop her, but she was too quick.
His fingers brushed the sleeve of her uniform as she took hold of the doorknob, and the last thing he saw of Ahnna was a flash of hazel eyes as she said, “You claimed that William will do anything to protect Alexandra. I think it’s time we put that to the test.”