Once we’re situated and I’ve already taken my first bite, Slade looks across to them. “Alright. Lay it all out.”
Isalee sets her own cup down with a nod. “Since you left with the army to travel to Fifth, we’ve made sure the outpost at Cliffhelm was repaired and the soldiers there relieved. Of course, when the supply shipment didn’t arrive, we made sure to send over a backup cargo that should be getting there within the week. Then as you know, we had new recruits for the army that are in the training camp in Farncroft.”
“Good,” Slade says. “And the mines?”
It’s Warken who answers. “They’ve hit another very productive pocket three weeks ago. We’ve been making sure to work it, refreshing the laborers there too, keeping morale up with pay increases as they work the fissures to extract the oil.”
“And the north mountains?”
“Ahead of schedule on the mineral deposits—that vein has been incredibly easy to extract. We’ve been having it worked quickly in order to prepare for possible conflicts with the other kingdoms,” Warken explains, his hand rubbing over his chin thoughtfully. “So our reserves are up. We have plenty of funds to do what needs to be done with weapons and new armory and food stores.”
“But therein lies the problem,” Barley adds, cutting her eyes up to Slade. “We just got word from another one of our ports. Our imports have slowed.”
“From where?”
“Third Kingdom.”
Beside me, Slade’s body stiffens. “How many shipments have arrived?”
Barley shares a look with her mother before replying. “Three.”
He physically jerks back. “Three?” His eyes skate across the table. “How can that be? I know you sent word that the supply shipment for Cliffhelm seemed to have some foul play when it went missing, but this…”
“Best we can tell,” Warken begins, his face grim, “is that this is no longer an isolated incident. It’s no longer shipment sabotage. Third Kingdom seems to have slowed our imports drastically.”
Slade’s fist closes around his butter knife like he’s envisioning stabbing someone in the eye with it. “So that’s their play. We can mine all the rock and gems in the world to pay for the imports our kingdom needs, but it does nothing if the trade agreements in place aren’t going to be honored.”
My stomach sinks. “The three ships that did arrive—why didn’t they block those?” I ask.
“All three had been on extended journeys,” Isalee tells me. “One ship was nearly sunk in a storm, holed up at the edge of our territory awhile for repairs. The other two had been gone for weeks, dropping off and picking up along their trade route. We believe the only reason all three of them actually docked at our port was because they hadn’t been able to be reached to cut us off.”
“What was on the ships?” Slade asks.
“One had grain, another was salted meat, and another had fabrics.”
The table is quiet for a moment as Slade takes all of this in, and the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach grows and festers.
“So they’re cutting Fourth off,” I say quietly.
Warken nods solemnly.
The lines of power flail beneath the skin at Slade’s neck, tucking into the beard of his jaw. “Fucking bastards.”
“They’re playing the game,” Isalee says. “Queen Kaila is cunning, and she moves quickly. We knew her traveling to Fifth was a power play. She’s had to adjust. Now with what happened with King Midas and Prince Niven, she’s pushing the narrative that Fourth is harboring a traitor.”
I swallow hard. “Me.”
She tips her head.
“Just so you know, I didn’t steal Midas’s magic, and I’m not here to steal Slade’s.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry,” Warken tells me. “Slade doesn’t trust very many people, so when he does, we know that they’re trustworthy. That includes you.”
The compliment warms my chest, makes some of the anxiety melt from my shoulders.
“The other kingdoms are going to do their best to spread this version of you to the public, so we need to supply a different one,” Isalee tells me. “Which is why I think it was good for you to go into the city and be seen.”
“Exactly,” Barley adds. “Go out and show them that you’re not some devious woman. You’re the victim of King Midas, not the other way around. We need to push back on their other story, give the people the truth and a reason to band behind you.”