“Petra is incapable of feeling guilt,” Arjun answered. “She removed them so that she might become your mother figure in Aryana’s stead. As to the painting itself, it’s my work.”
Keris took a seat at one end of the table, content to observe as Zarrah reached up to touch her her forehead from exertion. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Valcotta will keep your dancing talents a secret mother’s portrait. She murmured, “I remember the smell of paint in your rooms. That you always had colors on your hands.”
“You got into them as a child and painted yourself,” Arjun answered. “The servants couldn’t get it out of your hair and suggested shaving you bald, but your mother refused. Worked on your hair for days to get the blue paint out of it.”
pulled him away from her, or her from him, the other dancers stepping wide around them as the world Keris’s own father would’ve beaten him bloody if he’d done such a thing, but there was a faint smile on Arjun’s face that suggested the memory was a fond one, even if his tone was gruff as always.
“I remember.” Zarrah’s tone was wistful; then she rolled her shoulders and moved to sit at the table, drawing a map in front of her. “There will be time for memories later. We need to focus on the pain of what might have been or to keep going, knowing that there will come a moment when I lose present. What news do you bring, Miri?”
Once they were all seated, Miri said, “We’ve learned that Petra is amassing her army south of Pyrinat. Likewise, her navy. Hundreds of ships crowding the harbor, to the point that merchant vessels are struggling to make port, which isn’t sustainable. The only garrison that remains untouched is that in Nerastis.”
Arjun nodded. “All the spy reports indicate that with her failure to capture me at Devil’s Island, she will now have to move directly against us here.”
“Welran spoke of the desire to retake Nerastis,” Keris said quietly. “But also an unwillingness to make a move on Maridrina with the rebel threat at its back. It seems to me Petra plans to bring the full weight of her army to bear on the rebellion, and with it crushed, turn her eyes north.”
Arjun exhaled a long breath. “Arakis supports our cause, which was made very clear by actions taken last night. To crush the rebellion means—”
“Wholesale slaughter of Arakis and all other southern towns and cities known to support you,”
Zarrah said. “Cut off the arm to save the life, would be how she’d think of it.”
Not even his father would have considered such a move, and Keris began to understand why his father had spoken about Petra with admiration. She was a villain far darker than Silas Veliant could ever claim to be. Clearing his throat, he said, “We’ve been told you have proof that Ephraim intended Aryana to succeed him.”
Arjun nodded, extracting a lockbox that he opened with a key kept on a chain around his neck.
Inside was a wax-wrapped document, which he carefully removed and spread in front of them. “I watched him sign this myself.”
Keris’s eyes skimmed over the document, pausing on the shaky signature of the dying Emperor, which he recognized. A large seal in lavender wax was fixed beneath. It appeared authentic to his eyes.
“Then it’s true.” Zarrah touched the seal, then asked, “How many soldiers can you bring to arms?”
“Five thousand.”
looked in the mirror. There was also a portrait of Zarrah, though it was oil work done with incredible No emotion registered on Zarrah’s face, but her stillness told Keris that she had hoped the number much larger.
“All trained? All armed?”
Arjun didn’t answer, which was an answer in and of itself. “They are committed and will fight to the palace. Said they were too painful to look upon.” Her face abruptly twisted with disgust. “Though the death, which is more than one can say for the Usurper’s soldiers. The Queen of Teraford has been supplying us with some weaponry, though it is out of self-interest. She fears that if Petra isn’t distracted by rebellion, she’ll move to annex choice parts of land along the border.”
“Petra is incapable of feeling guilt,” Arjun answered. “She removed them so that she might become Zarrah’s jaw was working back and forth, and Keris didn’t need her to speak to know what she was thinking. Five thousand soldiers, only a portion of which were trained, would not stand a chance against Petra’s army, which, last Keris had heard, numbered thirty thousand strong, plus one hundred and fifty naval vessels.
Picking up two pairs of markers, Keris set one on the border. “Your intelligence will be fresher than my own, but there should be five thousand Maridrinian soldiers in Nerastis, a thousand of which is cavalry. All armed, all trained, all experienced fighting men.”
Arjun nodded. “Our spies confirm these numbers.”
Keris set another marker down on the edge of the Red Desert. “Three thousand, broken into groups, smile on Arjun’s face that suggested the memory was a fond one, even if his tone was gruff as always. along here. Desert-bred men who can survive on the thought of water alone.”
Arjun blinked. “Our spies say a thousand.”
“That only means your spies didn’t brave the sands. They’re there. Plus, I have another thousand who remain in defense of Vencia, along with smaller garrisons to protect the larger towns along the coast. Those I won’t touch.”
Pyrinat. Likewise, her navy. Hundreds of ships crowding the harbor, to the point that merchant vessels
“Navy?”
Keris shrugged. “Beneath the Tempest Seas with my father’s ambition, for the most part. But I’ve a dozen good ships protecting the border at Nerastis, and another three that manage any pirates who try to attack merchants making the run to Southwatch.”
It wasn’t enough. While his father had been running his military ragged, Petra had been cooling her make a move on Maridrina with the rebel threat at its back. It seems to me Petra plans to bring the full heels and building her strength, waiting for this moment. And now it was at hand. From the look in his dark eyes, Arjun was thinking the same things.
Silence stretched, and it was Zarrah who broke it.
“It will do.” She rested her chin on her cupped hands, eyes thoughtful as she examined the map and markers. When she realized both of them were staring at her, Zarrah smiled. “It was never about needing large enough numbers to meet her head-to-head. It was about having enough men and women demanding a different future that all the Empire would be forced to listen. All this time, that’s what she’s been fighting to prevent—voices that demanded something different than what she wanted.
ever claim to be. Clearing his throat, he said, “We’ve been told you have proof that Ephraim intended Someone different than her. She will silence them no longer, for she will not silence us.”
God help him, he loved her.
Didn’t know how he was going to live without her.
But if their mutual dream was to succeed, Keris was going to have to bring her the army she needed, which meant leaving her. If he remained in Valcotta with her any longer, he’d be putting everything at risk. Rising to his feet, Keris inclined his head. “It seems that I have my marching orders. Given time is of the essence, if you can arrange a ship north, I’ll return to Maridrina to do my part.”