Athan grins. “Yes, he is.”
“Is this a game to you?” Reni asks fiercely. “Your General reneged on every promise made. He swore left and right that he’d stabilize his own borders and push no further. And now, two years later, where’s your army? In the damn capital of Karkev! It makes one wonder how Savient came about, doesn’t it? Perhaps it’s time the Royal League heard how he actually built his ‘new nation.’ It’s rather convenient, I think, that he found such support there and suddenly there’s no one left to object. Not a single protester to the Safire cause.”
The amusement vanishes from Athan’s face, like a cloud over sun. Sudden and sharp. “You forget to mention, Your Highness, that the rulers of Karkev let brigands run wild and terrorize their people, as the old leaders did in Savient. Why? Because the corruption kept their pockets full of gold. If you’d like to applaud them for that, please do, but being a royal yourself, I suppose you’d be better acquainted with those who feast than those who suffer.”
Reni flushes. “How dare you…”
“I’m not going to stand here and listen to you speak lies about us, not when you yourself have more to answer for.”
Colour drains from my cheeks, and Cyar appears equally stunned, still beside me. No one speaks.
“I don’t need to answer to anyone, least of all you, Lieutenant,” Reni says at last.
Athan draws a breath and steps away. “This is pointless. You believe whatever they tell you.”
Reni snorts. “I’m not the one who runs to fetch when the General whistles.”
“At least I’ve seen enough to know why I’m running.”
“I’m not as ignorant as you think,” Reni bites, voice rising again. “I know far more about the politics of these negotiations than you.”
“Then why are you standing out here with me?”
“Watch your mouth! This palace is mine.”
“Funny, because I thought it belonged to your mother.”
I gasp, a slightly strangled sound.
Reni’s face darkens with fury. “Might I remind you that you’re not in those negotiations either.”
“Which is fine with me,” Athan replies hotly. “I’m a youngest son. I don’t expect much else. But if I were you, I might be a bit more insulted.”
“There’s an order to things, Lieutenant, and unlike you Safire, I accept it!”
“Perhaps that’s why you’re losing your girl to an upstart Safire captain with no crown at all.”
Reni’s fist strikes Athan dead in the face, horribly perfect aim. Athan keels over, and Cyar leaps down from the wing.
I stand in shock. “Reni!”
My brother appears stunned by his own reaction, staring at his fist like it isn’t a part of him. The two Etanian mechanics gape in the corner.
Athan groans and raises an arm to keep Reni back. “God, I didn’t see that coming.”
“You didn’t?” Cyar asks, already at his side.
“I…” Reni begins, then stops.
Athan winces. “Do you feel better now?”
My brother swallows, his mouth opening like he might say something further, then he closes it yet again.
I crawl down out of the plane and run for the pilots’ icebox near the mechanics. They quickly pretend to be working again. I fish some ice from inside, wrap it in a nearby rag, then hurry back to Athan. He’s sprawled on the floor, leaning against the wheel of the plane.
“I’m terribly sorry,” I say, hand trembling as I pass him the compress.
He rests it on his eye. “Why are you apologizing?”
“I don’t know,” I fret, kneeling before him, reaching to make sure he has the ice in a good position.
“I’ve got this,” he says.
“I feel terrible.”
“It isn’t your fault.”
We sit there, him wincing and me feeling useless. I knew it. I knew Reni would start a war, I just didn’t see it happening quite like this. Not that Athan’s words weren’t entirely out of line either, but he’s Safire, and what else would anyone expect? Reni shouldn’t have provoked him.
“How can we make it up to you?” I ask.
“Please don’t worry.”
“Anything at all.”
“I’m fine.”
“There must be something.”
“Well, I suppose there’s one thing.” As usual, no hesitation. Here or there. Never in between. “I’d really like to climb that,” he says, pointing out the hangar door, to one of the higher peaks nearby. “But I might need someone to show me the way. I’ve heard the trails are confusing.”
I look at the mountain. “Climb the entire thing? With me?”
“I was thinking your brother.”
“You’re joking.”
“Princess, we Safire never make jokes. But if you’re willing to go with me instead, that would be fine, and I’ll lie about where this injury came from.” He flinches, head crooked as he balances the ice.
It takes a moment, but I realize he’s teasing, something playful in his good eye.
“All right,” I say, voice lowered. “But it will take the entire day.”
“I have ways to make it happen if you do.”
I nod.
He salutes.
I turn from him and find Reni still watching us. Cyar’s trying to show him the fighter plane—a noble but futile distraction—and my brother ignores it, walking towards us with a frown, the sort that means he’s unfurling knots in his head.
“For a junior lieutenant,” he says to Athan coldly, “you do have a lot of gall.”
Athan shrinks slightly back against the wheel, ice perched on his face, and Reni leaves the hangar.
19
ATHAN
Our third night in Etania, we’re off the hook for watch. A full seven hours of sleep that feels decadent. Cyar and I wake up, yawn our way through some calisthenics, and I throw on some sunglasses to hide my left eye. It’s rather swollen and ugly. Somehow, though, Father finds me at breakfast in the Safire lounge—a common area with games and cabinets of expensive liquor—and the next thing I know he’s pulled the glasses from my face and snapped them in two. I’m sure he’s heard about the illegal stunt with the plane, and maybe even my run-in with royalty, and there’s a brilliant threat in his glare.
Then he’s gone.
Garrick sits smoldering across the room, a cup of coffee clenched between his hands. He’s looking at me now with a face that says, “You do one more thing wrong, it’s my neck on the line, and I swear to God I’ll kill you for it.”
I give him a smile that says not to worry.
“You really had that fist coming,” Cyar offers.
“You’re right.” I remove the cherries from his plate.
“But I know you don’t regret it.”
I toss a cherry into my mouth. He hates them, I love them. “That stubborn ass of a prince couldn’t survive a single day outside this palace.” I grin, and regret it.
Pain.
“This might not be a good idea,” Cyar observes. “The hike.”
“You think a sixteen-year-old girl is going to murder me in the woods?”
Cyar pauses, then shakes his head. “Never mind.”
Bad idea or not, my bag is quickly packed and I’m off. Yes, it’s going against my own rules, but if I have to die, it might not be such a terrible way to go. Murdered in the mountains, or executed for it later. At least it’ll be an enjoyable last few hours.
“Where are you off to this early?”
Havis catches up to me in the hall, pacing alongside, and I don’t look at him. “A hike with a local.”
“Who?”
“The Prince was happy to volunteer his time.”
“I find that difficult to believe, Lieutenant, considering the rather fantastic rumour going around.”
“Is there?”
Havis grips my arm, halting me. “Yes. One of Sinora’s lords heard—from a major in the auxiliary air force, no less—that the Prince was seen sparring with an impudent Safire boy in the hangar, and won. He was quite impressed.”
“Hardly a fight,” I clarify, since it’s not like I could swing back.
“Well, either way, it’s a good thing the Queen’s son seemed the victor, otherwise the story might not have been so charming.” His voice lowers. “And Sinora won’t be pleased to find you sporting in the woods with her daughter.”
“There are lots of things she wouldn’t be pleased about.” I wrinkle my nose. “And that’s an unfair angle to assume.”