Chapter 37 #3
Iryana swallowed. She’d hoped Vaneshta would ask questions, lead the conversation. She was normally so outspoken. Not today, apparently.
“I needed to sneak out, and I didn’t want anyone to know.”
“Mhmm,” was Vaneshta’s only response.
She should have just told Vaneshta all of this originally. What Karvek had done, what she was trying to do. But she’d been terrified of Vaneshta learning how much she had truly lied about and hidden from her.
There was still a chance Vaneshta would sell her out, especially after what she’d said. But she ignored that fear. Wouldn’t let it hold her back.
“I only said those things so we’d fight,” she admitted. “So I could storm off and you would be mad enough to let me. It was stupid for so many reasons.”
Vaneshta narrowed her eyes.
“I’m not good with friends. I—uh, think you know that,” Iryana said awkwardly, rubbing her arms. “It hasn’t gone well for me in the past, and I assumed it wouldn’t this time, so it—”
“So you pushed me away before it didn’t go well?” Vaneshta cut in.
Iryana felt her cheeks redden. “I’m an awful friend. If you can even call me that. It’s not just you; I’ve been that way with everyone.”
“And?”
Could she not make this any easier? Iryana grumbled to herself. She was going to have to grovel, to beg. She could see it in Vaneshta’s rough gaze.
“And you deserve better. And I’m sorry. I didn’t trust you, and I should have. You never give up on me, and—”
“You’re forgiven,” Vaneshta interrupted her. “Now stop groveling; it’s making me uncomfortable.”
Iryana blinked. “I had a whole speech planned.”
“Spare us.”
A laugh burst out of Iryana.
But Vaneshta quickly quieted her when she bluntly asked, “What did you need to leave the mission for?”
Ah, that meant it was time for the tricky part. Iryana watched Vaneshta carefully. “I was trying to finish something, but I didn’t go about it the right way. I failed.”
“What are you trying to finish?” Vaneshta’s gaze was searing then, more serious than Iryana had ever seen her look.
“I know you don’t like the general.” She hesitated. “His plans, the new soldiers.”
“You’ve been his little pet lately,” Vaneshta accused instead of answering, but she watched Iryana carefully. “Getting close to him, running secret missions for him.”
“I have. But not for the reasons you think.”
“Oh?” She was staring too intently, so carefully.
If Iryana was reading her wrong, things would go sideways quickly.
Hoping she wasn’t making a mistake, Iryana lowered her voice, stepping closer.
“I want to overthrow Karvek.”
“Why?”
“So many reasons,” she breathed. “I saw him kill Pavoshol. It wasn’t a challenge, like he told everyone. He snuck into his rooms and stabbed him in the back.”
Vaneshta jerked slightly, but looked less surprised than Iryana expected.
“And he’s going to take over the river brigades; that’s what he was planning at the summit. He’s planning a war.”
Everything she had seen and heard just kept tumbling out of her mouth.
“And what he’s done to Pyetar…and he almost killed my sister.
I think he might kill the entire Kleesold clan once he gets a chance.
If Karvek is not stopped…” Her heart was pounding so loudly.
“He will pull this entire territory into war. I have to stop him.”
This was the part she was the least sure of. Vaneshta scrunched her nose up at Karvek’s new soldiers, avoiding them as much as she could. But was she willing to work against him?
Darkness fell over Vaneshta’s eyes. “I want to see him bleed, see him ripped from this place. Tell me the plan.”
So Iryana did.
They would tell the river brigades what Karvek was planning, convince them to march on Myura River. Her family would help. And they’d turn as many in the fort as they could. Anyone who was willing to betray Karvek.
She was part of the way through explaining the specifics when a chuckle sounded from the hall and Iryana spun to see Lidishta step in, pulling the door shut behind her. Iryana stiffened, eyes flicking over Lidishta. Had she heard?
There was a smug look on the young soldier’s face that said she did. Vaneshta tensed beside her. They couldn’t let Lidishta tell her brother, or worse, Karvek. It would all be over then. Iryana couldn’t let that happen.
Her hand slowly reached out, summoning her dagger, and her body coiled, ready to strike.
“Please,” Lidishta laughed at the blade now gripped in Iryana’s hand. “That wouldn’t go well for you. Plus, you would lose an ally.”
Her hand stilled. An ally? “You want to stop Karvek?”
Lidishta stepped further into the room, arms crossed tightly over her chest. “Every time I see him walking the wall, I want to shove him over. Look down at his broken body at the bottom.”
Iryana reared back, staring in shock at the pure bloodthirst on Lidishta’s face. It wasn’t the look of someone who despised a person on principle. She hated Karvek, and Iryana didn’t doubt that she wanted him dead. But why was the question?
There was only one way Iryana could see Lidishta benefiting from his death. “We won’t let your brother take over afterwards. He’d be almost as bad.”
Lidishta threw her head back and cackled. “Good. Throw him over the wall too.”
Iryana couldn’t help her shock, but Vaneshta stepped past her and clasped arms with Lidishta. They shared a dark look.
She watched them carefully, analyzing. Vaneshta seemed to know something about Lidishta’s relationship with her brother, perhaps with Karvek too. If that made Vaneshta believe that Lidishta could truly be on their side, Iryana decided she should trust it too.
That’s what friends did. They trusted each other.
“Well then,” Iryana mused. Lidishta had access to Karvek’s manor, to visit her family’s rooms there. And she was popular among the younger soldiers. She could be incredibly helpful. “Welcome to the team.”