Judd shakes his head. “Trying to take over more territory with the public’s fucking blessing.”
“They like her,” Lu cuts in. “She’s perfected her public charm.”
“All while they try to starve us out,” Os says. “A fucking month of reserves, and we’ll be completely wiped out.”
I look between all of them, even Ryatt, whose eyes are stuck on the table. “I need to pull volunteers from the army. I need massive efforts thrown into bringing in our own food.”
“We all know Fourth is made up of mostly swamps and marshes. Not exactly the best farmlands, that’s why we’ve always relied on the other kingdoms. And can crops even be harvested that quickly?” Judd asks.
“Some,” Osrik pipes in. “Radishes, spring onions, spinach, turnips—those we can harvest in about a month.”
Everyone stares at him.
He shrugs his shoulders when he notices. “What? You shits know I was from First Kingdom.”
“Yeah, as a mercenary,” Judd replies, his brows lifted up. “How the hell do you know about farming?”
Osrik shifts in his chair, the bulk of his body making the wood creak in protest. “Hired to kill a farmer who didn’t pay his taxes once. Ended up staying there to help him so he could pay instead of murdering the poor fuck.”
Lu grins at him. “Aww, Os. You’re such a soft-heart.”
“Fuck off,” he grumbles. “My heart’s rock-hard.”
Judd’s eyes practically light up. “No, that’s not your heart, that’s your—”
“Let’s not,” I cut in.
Judd just laughs.
“Alright, so we send soldiers to fucking plant seeds and shit, but we’ll need some actual farmhands who know what they’re doing to supervise, and we need a place to do it,” Os says.
“Yes. I’ll talk to Barley,” I reply. “She knows Fourth’s land like the back of her hand. If there’s any other viable land we’re not tapping into already, she’ll find it. And I’ve already had her and Warken put together a plan to increase our fishing and hunting.”
“But will it be enough?” Lu asks.
I meet her worried eyes, because the same worry is in mine. This is what my Premiers and I have been working on night and day. “I don’t know. Isalee is running the numbers. But for now, we’ve come up with a plan to make a backdoor deal with First Kingdom. They want more lantern oil, so we’ll give it to them in exchange for supplies.”
“Will the king go for that?”
“We will need to charm him enough so he can’t help but take the deal.” My attention moves pointedly onto Judd.
He ruffles a hand over his hair. “Ah, shit. You need me to go to First Kingdom and schmooze King Thold, don’t you?”
“My Premiers are too busy to leave, and out of all of us, you’re the most charming.”
“That’s not saying much. But fine, I’ll go try to schmooze him to give up some food in exchange for oil and gems.”
“Thank you.”
“But what if he refuses?” Judd asks.
I scrub a hand down my face. I really fucking hate being a king sometimes. “Then we’ll try to find another way to ensure people don’t starve.”
From the corner of my eye, I see Ryatt lift his head. There’s a slow roll of his shoulders as his neck straightens, his eyes meeting mine before he finally breaks his silence. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
The only reason I don’t rear back in surprise is because I’ve been bracing myself for his reaction since I walked in.
When I say nothing, he looks around at the others, head shaking. “Are all of you honestly just going to sit here and not even say it?”
“Say what?” Lu asks.
Ryatt tosses his arms out in frustration. “Oh come on! It’s obvious! How can everyone be fine with the fact that there’s a damn good chance the entire kingdom is going to starve?” His fierce gaze snaps back to me. “Auren needs to go to the Conflux.”
Fury gropes beneath my skin. It pokes and pries, trying to wrest me open and ooze out onto the floor. I glare at my brother, feeling that fury charge the air of the room.
“How can you say that?” Lu demands. “We all know the trial is a joke.”
“Yeah,” Judd agrees. “If she shows up, it won’t be good.”
Ryatt shakes his head. “No, they just want a show. They need to put on a spectacle, slap Auren’s wrist, and send her on her way. They know they can’t push too hard and risk angering Slade, because he’ll rot their entire kingdoms to the core. All she has to do is show up, let them run their little power trip, and come back. Then there’s no risk of war, no risk of starvation—”