Page 127 of The Twisted Throne

Except Alexandra wasn’t the sort of woman who would lie down without a fight.

Rising to his feet, his father retrieved a bottle from the sideboard and set it on the table. Then he moved to rest his hand on James’s back. “I know it is a great deal to take in, Jamie. I know that you are angry about my methods, about my deception, and about the embarrassment that Ahnna has endured. But I hope that youwill come to see that everything I’ve done is for you. And to see you have the opportunity to wed for love makes all the heartache worthwhile.”

He squeezed James’s shoulder, then left the room.

Outside the window, brilliant lights burst bright over Verwyrd, the noise of the revels filling his ears.

James didn’t move for a long time, and when he finally did, it was to drink straight from the bottle. His father might believe that Ahnna would easily forgive, but James suffered no such delusion. Because after tonight, whatever love Ahnna might have had for him had been burned to ash.

Slamming the door, Ahnna lockedit behind her and pushed a chair under the handle to keep it from turning.

Crossing the room, she fell to her knees in a pool of leather skirts, sobs tearing her body apart because she’d failed again. Failed to protect the kingdom she loved above all else. And though she wanted to scream and blame Edward, the fault was her own for not rooting out the truth.

Instead, she’d been outmaneuvered, and she’d spilled her heart to the enemy.

And she had no idea what to do about it. No idea how she could make this right because no part of her felt like she could go back to Ithicana with the news that not only had she failed to gain the increase in trade they needed, but the one nation that had been stalwart for decades had now turned their back on Ithicana entirely.

“You have to go back,” she whispered between sobs. “You need to explain what has happened so they can react accordingly.”

She wouldn’t be punished, Ahnna knew that. Instead, she’d be shuffled off into a corner where she’d be out of sight. Unable to cause any more problems. A name that faded from conversation until, over time, she was nearly forgotten.

Visions of her future filled her mind, tears rolling down her face as her imagination subjected her to a taste of what it would be like. To watch her country decay and crumble, her people abandoning their islands for chances at new lives in other kingdoms. To watch her home cease to exist and know that she was to blame.

How much time passed, she couldn’t have said, her miserable reverie broken only by the sound of an explosion.

Lifting her head, Ahnna watched the sparkle of fireworks drifting past her window, the palace putting on a show to celebrate its prince’s union. A show of strength as the nation headed to war with a new ally at its back and the old left in the dust.

Climbing to her feet, Ahnna watched the explosions of light over Verwyrd, not moving until the smoke had cleared and her mind was certain.

She’d leave tonight.

Going to her closet, Ahnna took out her Ithicanian garb, neatly pressed. Unfastening the gown, she put it on the bed, then dressed, making a bundle for a spare set of clothing, along with the crown and earrings, which she’d return to Lara. Her mother’s necklace she kept on for safekeeping.

Shoving knives into her boots, she buckled on her sword, then sat to wait until it was late enough that she could move through the palace without having to face endless nobles who’d laugh at her misfortune.

Music played on and on, shrieks of laughter reaching her even through the thick walls as the Harendellians celebrated. Gradually, the noise began to quiet, the nobility slowly shepherded down thespiral to the city, where they’d find their beds in their fancy homes along the riverbank.

Only when there was utter silence did Ahnna go to the door. Moving the chair, she unlatched it and then pulled it open, an argument for her bodyguards to let her pass already rising to her lips.

But there was no one in the hallway.

“Why would there be?” Ahnna muttered. The Harendellians had only been pretending that her well-being mattered, and they need pretend no longer. Hefting her bundle over her shoulder, Ahnna started down the hallway on silent feet.

The air felt charged, but Ahnna ignored the goosebumps rising on her arms as she headed toward the servant staircase. She didn’t make it far before stopping in her tracks.

Alexandra was walking toward her. “I’ve been waiting for you, Ahnna,” the queen said. “I suspected you’d leave after he humiliated you. That you’d wait for it to quiet, then slip out in the night.”

“Are you here to stop me?”

The queen gave a bemused laugh and said, “Hardly. You’ve played your role to perfection, my dear. I had worried you wouldn’t rally, but tonight? Tonight you were magnificent. Every bit the Ithicanian we were promised. Twice the woman that blond bitch will ever be.”

Ahnna’s skin was crawling, her instincts screaming danger, but Alexandra was unarmed, so she held her ground as the queen drew in front of her. She gripped Ahnna’s shoulders. “I hope that you won’t take this personally, Ahnna, for this really has nothing to do with you. I merely needed someone to take the blame.”

“Pardon, Your—”

Alexandra jerked one of Ahnna’s knives from its sheath.

Ahnna reflexively stepped away and pulled another knife. Butthe queen didn’t move to attack. “I highly suggest you run, my dear,” Alexandra said. “You might well escape with your life.”

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