Chapter 14 #2
At that moment, I looked up to find General Isa watching me, and I could almost hear what she was thinking.
Threatening the Zephyrians with my power was exactly what we had planned to do, and a peace treaty was the exact outcome we had desired.
My blood pounded in my ears, drowning everything out.
I knew it couldn’t be that easy. There was more to this.
“Yes, but that’s why I asked for peace,” Queen Samira was saying. “If First Daughter Zara joins the battle in the north, your battalions will be destroyed in an instant, but we can avoid all of that with a treaty.”
I was almost positive that level of power, if I was even capable of it, would not only destroy my bond with Shazeera, but also cause the Earth Mother to forsake me as future heir to the throne. But the Zephyrians didn’t know that.
Commander Talon pulled out a scroll from a leather bag slung across his chest and at his hip. “I have a treaty here, signed by Emperor Altair, but it comes with three terms.”
“What are they?” Ama asked.
“The first is that we will receive twenty percent of every trade and sale of your exports in the port city of Rhythos. In exchange, your land, including the Northern Plains, Mid-Plains, and Southern Plains, will remain under the rule of the Children of Earth. Additionally, you may migrate across the continent as you see fit, under the protection of the Zephyrian Empire.”
Queen Samira paled at that number. Since she grew the vast majority of crops in the south, it would affect her the most. Perhaps she deserved it for keeping my mother in the dark about her plans.
Ama may have argued with a tax of that size, but it appeared she felt as I did and that it was a just punishment for Queen Samira’s actions. She merely nodded and said, “Go on.”
“The second is that you will engage your daughter, the First Daughter Zara of the Children of Earth, to the emperor of the Zephyrians, for marriage in a month’s time, which is the customary engagement period for Zephyrian royalty.
In doing so, our people will become her people, and she will never again be able to use the power of the wind against us. ”
I half stood—I thought I was about to run from that tent, or perhaps vomit all over Commander Talon, or possibly faint—but Mariyah linked arms with me in solidarity and held me still.
“And the last term?” Ama said, her voice tight.
“The First Daughter will come to stay with the emperor immediately upon signing this treaty, where she will learn the ways of our people, and prepare for her role as empress. She will never use the power of the wind against us, or this treaty will be considered forfeit, and we will retaliate as necessary.”
All I could hear was the blood pounding in my ears.
They wanted me to come with them…to leave my people and become one of them.
The thought made my chest constrict so painfully I let out my breath in a pained hitch.
Beside me, Mariyah gasped, but a strange calm had descended on me.
My family—save Queen Samira, who had probably suggested it in the first place—all sat frozen in shock, but my mind raced ahead.
The suddenness of this news hit me like being shot with an arrow. And yet…
All my life, I had wanted to be the First Daughter my people could look up to.
Someone like Ama, whom everyone came to at the first sign of trouble.
When the years crept by, and it became more and more obvious I would never have my mother’s abilities, I began to descend into despair that I would ever be useful.
And then my own power manifested, one so destructive it had the potential to break the bond I had with Shazeera.
For the briefest moment, I thought I would be the one to save my people from their suffering.
But then that, too, had been taken away from me.
And now, here was my enemy, offering me another chance to save everyone from this war, doing something only I could do.
Across the room, General Isa and I locked eyes. Out of everyone in the room, I knew she understood.
“May I see the treaty?” Ama asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
Commander Talon handed it to her. We all waited in silence as she spent several minutes poring over the words. The writing on the scroll was precise, neat lettering, all except for the bottom, where the emperor’s signature was a bold flourish.
“How do I know this is truly his signature?” she asked.
“It also has the emperor’s seal at the bottom, which is illegal to duplicate,” Commander Talon said.
And there, down at the bottom, was a golden wax seal with a crowned eagle, its wings spread wide.
“We will need some time to discuss these terms privately,” Ama said, and I leaned into Mariyah a little more. She squeezed my arm.
“I will wait outside,” Commander Talon said. He stood gracefully despite his tall stature and left the room, flanked on either side by Queen Jazela’s guards.
Queen Jazela whirled on Queen Samira as soon as they were gone. “How could you do this? Why didn’t you speak to us about it first? This is the worst kind of betrayal—Zara is your cousin!”
Queen Samira looked unrepentant. “I knew Rana wouldn’t want to make the sacrifice, so I forced her hand. Before you tear into me, though, you know we need a peace treaty with the Zephyrians. They will wipe us off the face of the continent otherwise.”
“But why wouldn’t you come to us, Samira?” Ama asked, her arms wrapped around herself like her insides hurt. “Why go behind our backs?”
“I actually had intended to arrive here before the Eagle Riders—I didn’t want to make quite so dramatic an entrance,” she added with a little laugh that had me rolling my eyes, “but the crops needed a little extra care before I could leave them.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Queen Jazela said, pacing with balled fists back and forth across the rug. “You let your family be completely blindsided because you wanted to stay home and take care of your plants.”
A wrinkle appeared on Queen Samira’s forehead. “That reminds me—the export tax on crops seems a little high—” Queen Jazela shot her such a nasty look that she had the sense not to continue.
“As this concerns Zara,” Ama said, turning to me, “I think we should hear from her.”
I looked around at all the strong women in this room and tried to still my shaking hands and roiling stomach.
I couldn’t even ask Shazeera’s opinion, or how she felt about possibly being shipped off to live in the mountains amongst terrifying eagles and cold, emotionless people.
I was First Daughter; I belonged here, with my people.
But I thought of the eleven guards and their horses who had been killed, of all the injured and their horses, and all the people and horses still at war, of Eagle Riders with skills superior to ours.
Using this wind power would bring me nothing but pain and suffering…
could ultimately even destroy my bond with Shazeera.
A choice lay before me. I could refuse and join the battle to the north, use my power even though Ama forbade it.
I could wipe out the Eagle Riders—maybe, hopefully, assuming I was even that powerful—and never again communicate with Shazeera or even sense her presence in my mind; she’d be as good as dead.
Or I could sacrifice everything I’d ever known and loved, go to live with our enemy, and marry a man I neither knew nor loved.
But all my people would be safe and at peace.
And suddenly, I saw the only answer I could possibly give, even if it cost me my soul. I realized what would finally make me a worthy First Daughter, and it was something only I could do.
General Isa watched me, her expression steady and strong.
It comforted me. She trusted me to make the right choice.
Mariyah gripped my arm, her face twisted in pained sympathy.
Ama, though her eyes still shone, watched me with a calm and peaceful expression, as though she knew I would make the right decision.
“I will do it,” I said, my throat thick.
“Oh, Zara, no,” Mariyah said, her eyes spilling the tears mine held back.
“There must be another way. How will you survive in that cold place? How will you live amongst those evil people? You saw Commander Talon! He has absolutely no expression on his face, and every rider I’ve ever seen is the same! You don’t deserve this.”
“Mariyah,” Queen Jazela said sharply. “Don’t make your cousin feel bad when she is making an enormous sacrifice on all our behalf.”
Ama’s eyes shone with unshed tears, but her voice was strong when she reached out and touched my cheek.
“You told me before that you wanted to prove yourself to be a worthy First Daughter, and you always have been. This is a great sacrifice being asked of you, but it will mean peace for our people at last. No more death and injury and losses of daughters and sons and horses. No more enduring the trauma of eagles preying upon our horses before our eyes. There is a reason you’ve been given this power, Zara, and as an empress, you will have greater influence than you even would have as Queen of All Queens.
“You are resilient, and you will survive no matter where you are. You will breathe life into a cold people and change them for the better. And you won’t be without an ally.
Shazeera will be there, and you will never again have to test the bond between you.
” She squeezed my hand. “There’s more, my daughter.
The power you have will draw evil things to you—ancient creatures better left alone in their dark caves—and now that there are many who know you have this ability, you would be safer with an empire as powerful as the Zephyrians. ”
I nodded mutely, not trusting my voice.
Mariyah jumped in. “You can’t possibly think she’ll be safer there! With our enemy?”
Mariyah had a point, considering our enemy regularly committed war crimes against us.
Why should we believe them when they offered peace?
They could bring me back to the palace, far away from any of my family and allies, and then remove the threat by killing me.
On the other hand, how could we possibly afford to refuse a treaty at this point?
My thoughts raced to find a solution.
“What Her Majesty says is true,” General Isa said. “You have seen the strength and abilities of their warriors. As their empress, they will defend Zara with their lives.”
“They may be strong, but Mariyah has a point about not being able to trust them completely,” I said. “I think there will need to be some sort of fail-safe to make sure they don’t try to double-cross us once I’m at the palace.”
“Yes, exactly,” Mariyah said, and I felt a surge of love for her for defending me so strongly. “What if the emperor doesn’t marry Zara and, Earth Mother forbid, they kill her instead?”
General Isa turned to me with a shrewd gaze. “What did you have in mind, First Daughter?”
I thought of how quicky the Zephyrians had reacted to my wind power.
We had been at war with them off and on for a hundred and fifty years, but suddenly, they feared this power so much they were willing to offer a treaty almost immediately.
“We should use the Zephyrians’ ignorance of our people and our magic to our advantage.
We can tell them that there are others who have manifested this wind power, and if they don’t uphold the terms of the treaty, then we will retaliate with that power. ”
General Isa silently considered what I had said for a moment before nodding. “I think that will work to keep you safe, First Daughter. But of course you must be vigilant when you are in the enemy’s palace. Keep daggers hidden on you at all times.”
I touched the hilt of the one currently strapped to my thigh. “I always do.”
“Then we will make sure Commander Talon understands what will happen if they try to harm you,” Ama said solemnly. “Are you ready to finish this, Daughter?”
I nodded. “I’m ready. You can call him back in now.”
Mariyah turned to me and threw her arms around me. “Are you sure?” she whispered. Her voice was raw with emotion. I knew she’d come to the same conclusion I did. This had to be done to save our people.
“I’m sure,” I said out loud, forcing my voice to sound strong.
I had made my decision and knew it was the right one, but inside, it felt as though a harsh wind was tearing me apart, piece by piece.