“Parix.”
A laugh escaped Keris, stealing some of the tension from his chest, for the last thing he’d heard about Parix was that he’d been caught having inappropriate relations with a sheep and been banished to the middle of nowhere by their father. “Then it’s a good thing it’s the law of succession that I wish to amend.”
sway civilians with promises of a brighter future, quite another to convince hardened soldiers to fight Resting his elbows on the table, Keris explained what he wished to do. Sarhina was silent for a long moment, then she exploded to her feet and paced the rocking deck. “No. This is absolute lunacy, Keris. It won’t work.”
“I disagree.” Rising to his feet, he glanced out the window at the passing coastline, barely visible in the haze of wind and rain. “Either way, I’m the king, Sarhina. While the crown sits on my head, my word is law. Have one of the scribes aboard draft it, and I’ll sign before I disembark. I want it done now, just in case this goes poorly.”
Her hands had balled into fists, pale cheeks red with color. “Maridrina will never accept this, Keris.”
“I don’t intend to give them a choice.” Going to the door, he paused before opening it. “We cannot hide, sister. Even after destroying the rebel forces, Petra’s armies will still be massive, well supplied, and rested, and we have always been her target. We fight now with allies, or we fight
“I’ve no taste for sea travel,” Sarhina muttered, moving their pieces back into their places. It was a alone.”
game of strategy that Keris had been forced to learn as a child. He was good. Lara was better. Sarhina Pushing her dark hair behind her ears, Sarhina scowled at him. “If you’re looking for speech ideas, I’d start there.”
Keris nodded and left the room. A very wet Dax stood outside, though his bodyguard said nothing as he followed Keris to his cabin. “I need you to help me with something,” Keris said once they were sister was visibly pregnant now, stomach swollen, but the malaise that had plagued her on the journey inside and standing before a chest on the floor.
“I told you, I ain’t carrying your goddamned books again,” Dax groused. “They’re too bloody heavy, and I don’t see why you need them where we are going, anyway.”
Most of his library had been lost to the fire that destroyed the palace. “It’s not books.”
Kneeling, he flipped open the lid, revealing the shining metal and thick leather of the armor inside.
one battle is not winning the war. If you don’t think of a way to convince these men to fight for Zarrah, Dax whistled between his teeth. “Well, that’s a fancy bit of work.”
“Yes.” The chest had apparently been in Coralyn’s rooms, discovered by those salvaging the ruins.
The note inside said, Since I am no longer there to guard your back. ~C
It made him wonder what Coralyn would have said if she had lived to see this moment.
“You ever worn armor before?” Dax asked, and Keris shook his head. Much as he’d refused
lessons with all the arms instructors or any tuition in battle strategy, Keris had dug in his heels over wearing armor. “I drew a line in the sand many years ago,” he said, more to himself than to Dax.
“Refused to cross it no matter how much pain it caused me because I believed my defiance meant something. And perhaps it did, though the one who cared is now dead. So by remaining on this side of the line, who am I defying? What victories can I hope to win?”
Dax shifted restlessly, then shrugged. “I’m not the one to ask.”
Keris barely heard the answer as he knelt to touch the crest embossed on the breastplate. He wished she were here. Wished that it were Zarrah he posed these questions to, but she was
somewhere south of here and in dire need of his aid. So Keris answered the question himself. “None.
For the dark truth of the world is that peace must be paid for in blood.”
notoriously good at getting themselves killed, and he’d lost track of which of his younger half brothers Straightening, he met Dax’s gaze. “Will you please help me put it on?”
“That I can do,” Dax said, the relief at being asked something he could finally answer palpable as he pulled the armor out of the chest. “Turn around.”
Keris stared at his reflection in the mirror while Dax strapped the armor onto him. It felt as though, with each piece of metal that was attached to him, he was letting go of a piece of the mask he’d worn all of his life. Casting off his last protection against a world that stood at odds against him, for he could no longer hide behind it.
Not if he was going to change the world.
Belting on his sword, Keris clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Thank you.” Then he went back on decks.
Eyes moved his direction as he strode through the rain and up the stairs to the quarterdeck, where Aren stood at the helm. The King of Ithicana’s eyebrows rose. “Nice outfit.”
“Kiss my ass.”
Keris moved to rest his elbows on the railing, surveying the storm-tossed sea ahead of him, Nerastis faintly visible on the horizon.
“Her blockade still holds,” Aren said. “Reports say there are ten ships on patrol, though Maridrina still holds the harbor.”
“Can you sink them?”
Aren snorted. “Of course I can. But are you sure you want to? It’s a declaration of war, and as yet, you have no army. Only holds full of civilians willing to fight.”
“Sink them.”
Pushing her dark hair behind her ears, Sarhina scowled at him. “If you’re looking for speech ideas, Aren was silent. “Are you sure? If we leave them be, we still have the option to back away from this conflict if we need to. There is no turning back if we sink ten of her ships.”
“When I step onto that dock, I want my army to have only one path forward,” Keris answered.
as he followed Keris to his cabin. “I need you to help me with something,” Keris said once they were “There can be no other choice after what Petra has done.”
All that remained to be seen was whether it would be an invasion or a liberation. If it was the former, he was unlikely to be alive to witness it.
Aren’s eyes went to the seas. He was under no obligation to do what Keris wanted. The fleet was Ithicana’s, as were most of the trained soldiers, and doing this would also be a declaration of war on his part. A war he couldn’t really afford, given his nation was battered and healing from the last.
Aren cleared his throat. “Put every one of those vessels under the waves.”
The order echoed over the ship, the Ithicanians moving without question. While those in the main fleet lowered sails to slow their pace, over two dozen tiny vessels broke ahead, splitting off in different directions to disappear into the storm.
“Now we wait.”
Keris’s heart throbbed a steady beat, his eyes moving over the grey horizon. No one spoke, the world seeming to stand still despite the violence of the seas and fierce snapping of the banners above his head.
something. And perhaps it did, though the one who cared is now dead. So by remaining on this side of Brilliant light bloomed on the horizon, only to disappear.
Keris blinked, for a heartbeat thinking that he’d imagined it, only for another ball of light to bloom.
Then another.
Aren made a noise of approval. “They’re only putting holes in the hulls. Most will stagger back to shore before they sink.”
Most. But not all. Keris felt queasy witnessing the ease with which they had extinguished lives. A few words spoken, some explosives, and hearts ceased to beat. Men and women who had families.
Friends. Who, a matter of minutes ago, had believed their whole lives ahead of them. “Make port.”
Motion caught his eye. Sarhina stood glaring at him from below, and she lifted her fingers to beckon him. Keris made his way down, following her out of the rain, Dax on his heels.
Keris stared at his reflection in the mirror while Dax strapped the armor onto him. It felt as though,
“Will this do?” She gestured to the large piece of parchment on the table, ink still glistening wet.