This was the first piece of intelligence about his country that Keris had received since leaving Vencia, and some level of proof that his orders were being followed. “At present, they are there for defense. Petra has made it abundantly clear that she desires to invade Maridrina. A plan made clearer through my own efforts to spy on Welran. But ultimately, when Zarrah makes her move against Petra, I’ll commit my own forces to aid her.”
“Of course you will. Except answer this, Your Grace: why do none of your soldiers know your plans?”
Keris’s hands turned cold.
“We have spies in your palace in Nerastis. Your officers speak freely around paid company, and not one has whispered of your so-called plan for peace. Only about continued plans for war. Why is that?”
There was a reason. A reason that terrified Keris so badly that his mind shied away from even considering it, even though it had the power to destroy his plans with Zarrah. “Screaming my strategies for all to hear is a good way to arm my enemies.”
“Oh, I know that. Believe that. What is uncertain is who you see as your enemy.” The commander resumed his circling. “That is why we stand on the side of the road, away from the presence of the Empress, Your Grace. For while she may be blind to the advantages this alliance holds for you in the long run, I am not.”
Tension sang through his veins, but Keris allowed none of it to show on his face. “Then allow me to provide clarity. My enemy is Petra Anaphora. Not Zarrah, not the rebellion, and not you.”
Silence stretched, the only sound the rapid breathing of the soldiers and the wind howling through the surrounding forest.
“You have all the answers, but I see your intentions, Your Grace. You’d pit the rebellion against the Usurper, spend the strength of both forces, then, while backs are turned, take Nerastis. You don’t tell your generals of plans for peace because Maridrina’s plans are unchanged. The war rages on.”
“On my honor, that is not my intent.” Keris said the words knowing that this man probably
considered him honorless. “I am a true ally to Zarrah. Our goals are shared. And this conversation should not be happening behind her back.”
“Baa! Baa!” The commander mimicked a sheep’s call, his soldiers laughing. “You want her here so you can cower behind her?”
Keris’s fingers curled, his irritation rising. “Do not mistake my respect for her as cowardice.”
The commander shrugged. “Perhaps you tell the truth. Perhaps you do desire to aid my empress, to fight for peace, but in that case, you are making promises that you can’t keep. Already you are the weakest king Maridrina has seen in generations, so what hubris flows through your veins that you believe you can return to Maridrina and order your army to fight to liberate their mortal enemy? They will laugh in your face and then rip you apart before staking your head on Vencia’s gates.”
Keris’s irritation fled, for this was the fear that lurked deep in his heart. The knowledge that when Zarrah would need him most, he might fail to deliver. Hearing it voiced by this man made that fear a thousand times more intense, for it validated what Keris already knew.
“A weak ally that promises much and delivers nothing is no ally at all,” the commander said.
“You’re a liability that the Empress cannot afford, and as such, one we will be sending back to Maridrina.”
Keris’s lips parted to protest, but before he could speak, Zarrah’s voice cut through the air. “As it stands, Commander, it seems that you are a liability that I cannot afford.”
GUIDING THE HORSE with her knees, Zarrah kept the arrow she’d nocked trained on the
commander’s chest. “Step away from him. All of you. Then put your weapons on the ground.”
“You were supposed to keep her at the camp,” the commander barked at the mounted
soldiers galloping up behind her.
Rather than allowing them to answer, she said, “You cannot have it both ways, calling me Empress but then undermining my authority. You may have wished for a mindless figurehead, but that is not what you’ll get with me.”
In truth, it had taken some doing to convince the soldiers to give her a weapon and a horse, for they’d been following the commander’s orders since the beginning and did not wish to go against him.
But Daria and Saam had her back, defending Keris’s right to be brought into the camp. The
concession had been that close to fifty soldiers had accompanied her.
She could feel their unease, and Zarrah didn’t blame them for it. She was a stranger to them. Worse than a stranger, in truth, because what they knew of her was primarily as the Usurper’s tool. Whereas
the commander had led them all these long years, a stalwart force at their backs. And she had an arrow they’d given her trained on his heart.
The commander alone seemed unconcerned. “You are not a figurehead, Empress, but you must earn the authority to command this army.”
“Then quit undermining my ability to do so.” Digging in her heels, she drove her horse forward, circling Keris and the commander, her nerves once again jangling with the familiarity of the man.
Where had she met him before? Who was he beyond his role as commander of this rebellion? “I would have your name, Commander.”
Their eyes locked, but it was his rich-brown gaze that looked away first. “You don’t remember, then?” He ran a hand over his shaved head. “I had hoped that you would, but perhaps that was foolish of me, given how much time has passed.”
Her heart increased its pace, and she glanced at Keris, but his eyes were on the ground. He knew, but it wouldn’t be him who gave her the answer. “Your name, Commander.”
“My name is Arjun Retva, consort to the late Empress, Aryana Anaphora.”
Zarrah swayed in the saddle as though she’d been struck, all the air gone from her chest.
Impossible. It was impossible. “Retract that lie, Commander, for it was my mother who told me herself that my father had died in battle.”
“Your mother was involved in falsifying my death,” he said quietly. “One of the hardest things she ever did was lie to you that I was gone, and it grieved us both deeply. But it was a secret too great to be left in the hands of a young child.”
Zarrah sucked in a breath, opening her lips to call him a liar. To tell him that she’d kill him for dishonoring her parents’ legacy, but nothing came out. All the tiny pieces fell into place, not the least of which was her aunt’s certainty that he’d rescue her. Her memory unlocked itself, revealing faded memories of this man as he lifted her into the air, both of them laughing as they spun in circles.
“Father?”
“Yes, Zarrah.” He met her gaze again. “I have thought of you every day that we have been apart.
Not being at your side has been the greatest pain I’ve ever endured. I will not ask you to forgive the lie, but I hope you will see that all that I have done has been for the sake of not just your mother’s legacy, but for you.”
“You left me,” she whispered. “You left me with her. ”
All around them, the rebels were retreating out of earshot, their eyes low, until only Keris remained. He said, “I never thought anyone would make my father seem a lesser evil, Commander, but commander’s chest. “Step away from him. All of you. Then put your weapons on the ground.”I think you have done it.” His blue eyes met Zarrah’s. “I’ll be close by.”
Keris strode toward the soldiers, leaving the two of them alone on the snowy field.
“I left you with your mother,” her father finally said. “She knew what horrors Petra would bring upon Valcotta, the death that would come as she fanned the flames of war with Maridrina, and she needed me to build her an army so that she could stop her.”
“What of after her death?” Zarrah’s horse snorted and pranced beneath her, sensing her agitation, so she slipped off and allowed it to trot away. “You left me to be raised by the enemy, to be the victim of they’d been following the commander’s orders since the beginning and did not wish to go against him.her lies and manipulation, to be used in an unrighteous war. You let her turn me into a monster even as you used my name to rally Valcottans to your cause. I was your legitimacy, your figurehead, but not once did you try to liberate me!”