Page 27 of The Twisted Throne

“Is the Sky Palace as tall as they say?” There was a wistfulness in her voice that he’d not heard before, and he wondered if that was how she’d sounded before Silas and his daughter had brought war to Ithicana. When, according to Taryn, Ahnna had lost her humor.

“Touches the clouds,” James said.

The corner of her mouth turned up. “Of all the places in Harendell that I’ve read about, the Sky Palace of Verwyrd is the place I’ve desired to see the most.”

It was the first genuine smile he’d seen touch her face, and it had been elicited by the place that he hated most. The place of his birth. The place of his mother’s murder. Home to the Twisted Throne and to the people of equally twisted morals who fought for a piece of it. A place that would devour a woman like Ahnna Kertell. Yet all James said was, “Welcome to Harendell.”

Sableton was the largest portcity in Harendell and, much like Vencia, was the nexus for merchants intending to ship their goods through the bridge. The air smelled of fish and tar, the docks bustling with sailors and workers loading and unloading vessels of every size and shape, crates of goods moving to and from the vast warehouses lining the wharf. The large shipyard boasted several vessels in different stages of completion, and as the wind blew over her, Ahnna inhaled the scent of cattle from the lots beyond.

She had never seen anything like it.

Resting her elbows on the rail, she eyed a pair of Amaridian merchant vessels that sailed past. For all they spat and snarled at each other, the two nations conducted an impressive amount of trade with each other, much as Valcotta and Maridrina had always traded despite being continually at war. Yet as James joined her at the rail, she turned to him and said, “Will Harendellian ports start refusing Amaridian vessels after this attack?”

“No.”

His hands gripped the rail, and her eyes were drawn to them. Large, with long fingers marked with fresh scrapes from the fights, but also a multitude of old scars. Strong hands. Unbidden, the memory of him gripping her thighs as he lifted her filled her mind’s eye. Ahnna forced her gaze back to Sableton. “Then why make demands that Ithicana do so?”

“I am in no position to make demands of Ithicana,” he said. “It was a suggestion.”

A strongly worded suggestion,she thought, but only said, “Seems hypocritical. It might have happened on Ithicana’s shores, but it was Harendell they attacked. Trade sanctions from Harendell seem more appropriate.”

“Such a decision would come at great cost to Harendell’s merchants and is not to be made lightly.”

“Yet you’d have Ithicana make similarly costly decisions before the blood on Northwatch pier had even dried.”

He exhaled a slow breath, then turned his head to look at her, sun reflecting in the amber of his eyes. “As pertains to trade with Amarid, my opinions matter little and yours, arguably, even less. This is a speculative conversation with no tangible worth, given that neither of us has the ability to influence the trade policies between Amarid and Harendell. Silence is preferable to a fruitless argument.”

He wasn’t wrong, but irritation flared in Ahnna’s veins, and she said, “If you spoke out of turn or above your station, then just say so, Your Highness. As a courtesy, I’ll allow you to retract the statement.”

“I retract nothing.” His eyes narrowed. “The Amaridian merchants haven’t dared to bring violence to our ports, but they dared to bring it to Ithicana’s. Which suggests that they are of theopinion that they can get away with it. It behooves Ithicana to remedy that opinion lest Amarid begin to question what else they can get away with in Ithicana’s waters. But again, my opinion is of no relevance.” He turned his glower on the port. “This conversation is over.”

Ahnna scoffed. “Are you seriously ordering me to be silent?”

“I’d never be so presumptuous as to order you to do anything,” he retorted. “But I am most certainly suggesting it.”

The captain and Georgie chose that moment to join them, and Ahnna stewed in silence as the port master quickly made room for theVictoria’s impressive bulk, dockworkers tying off the vessel and pushing the most ornate gangplank she’d ever seen in place next to it. With its polished wooden rails and gilt, she felt almost compelled to remove her boots lest she soil the crimson carpet. On the dock waited several dozen uniformed soldiers standing in neat rows, and as James offered his arm to her, six of the soldiers lifted trumpets and blew a series of notes.

All around, the bustle paused, and Ahnna’s skin crawled as she felt the scrutiny of hundreds of eyes. Though she was still irritated by his comments, Ahnna took James’s arm, and her fingers tightened reflexively at how exposed they were. All it would take was an Amaridian in the crowd skilled with a bow, and they were both dead.

“This is an unexpected arrival, and few will suspect your identity, much less be prepared for it,” he said softly. “We’d intended to make port at Elmsworth and take a riverboat to Verwyrd, so that is where any potential attack would have been planned.”

“They’ll recognize you,” she said between her teeth. “Or at least that cursed purple banner flying from the mast. It’s your life that hangs in the balance, Your Highness.”

“The local garrison is prepared.”

“You just said they weren’t prepared!”

“Prepared for proper ceremony,” he hissed, pulling on her arm. “Now walk. The longer you stand there, the longer you invite an assassin to take advantage of the opportunity our position gives.”

Ahnna bit down on a curse of irritation and allowed him to lead her down the gangplank, her eyes taking in everything as she hunted for threats, though the soldiers kept sailors and civilians well back.

If this was alackof preparation, Ahnna couldn’t help but wonder what had been intended in Elmsworth. The soldiers formed ranks around their small group, marching in lockstep to the beat of the drummer at the fore. More soldiers waited at the end of a dock, as did a carriage decorated in gilt pulled by a team of six black horses, their trappings plated in polished silver, purple feathers fastened above their ears.

The coachman opened the door, James taking Ahnna’s hand to help her inside. She sat on the velvet-cushioned bench as Bronwyn and Taryn climbed in, sitting across from her, which necessitated James sitting next to her. As he did, the shoulder seam on his borrowed shirt split, and he exhaled an aggrieved breath.

“Perhaps we ought to take the time to commission you a new wardrobe before we travel,” Ahnna said. “At the rate you ruin clothing, you’ll be naked by the halfway point.”

“We’ll have time aplenty, given your own wardrobe needs to be remedied,” he muttered. “You look as though you stumbled out of the jungle.”

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