Page 3 of The Twisted Throne

To find herself face-to-face with one reason she needed to leave Ithicana behind.

Lara stood on the rocks, her long honey-colored hair blowing behind her in the wind. She wore a Maridrinian-style dress over her rounded belly, the diaphanous silk rippling with each gust, her feet encased in delicate sandals. Ahnna hadn’t the slightest idea how the other woman had climbed in such attire, but then again, Lara wasn’t the type to be restricted by something as inconsequential as clothing. Or even something as consequential as pregnancy. “What do you want?”

A grimace formed on Lara’s beautiful face, her blue eyes vibrant against her suntanned skin. “You know he didn’t mean what he said. Fear makes him say stupid things.”

Once a spy, always a spy,Ahnna thought, but she only said, “I don’t need you to make apologies for mytwin,Your Grace. As it is, our conversations are none of your damned business.”

“I’m not apologizing for him. I’m here to tell you that he’s wrong.” Lara picked her way through the rocks, closing thedistance between them. Ahnna forced herself to sheathe her weapon, though her instincts still demanded she remain on guard around this woman. It had always been that way, even before Ahnna had known what Lara was. What she was capable of. Ahnna had passed it off as her own uneasiness and inexperience with outsiders, but she should’ve trusted herself.

How many people would still be alive if she had? How many people would still be breathing if she’d trusted herself and put a knife in Lara’s chest the moment she arrived?

Instead, Ahnna had left her brother alone with the most dangerous woman on two continents, and Ithicana had paid the price tenfold. “What part of what he said was wrong? You don’t need me here. And I know you don’t want me here, Lara.”

Lara huffed out an amused breath, ever and always difficult to provoke. “You’re wrong about that.”

Ahnna’s temper flared. She resented the level of control Lara wielded. Resented how she’d been reduced to a pawn on the queen’s game board. “It was your damned idea to use me to gain Harendell’s support in the war. Why are you backtracking now?”

The other woman opened her mouth to speak; then her brow furrowed, and she gave the slightest shake of her head. “The people trust you, Ahnna. More than they trust Aren, and far more than they’ll ever trust me. It would help us if you remained.”

That wasn’t what Lara had intended to say—Ahnna was certain of it. Even now, after everything, Lara still hid things like the spy she’d been. Like the Maridrinian she still was. “Go for another swim with the sharks, Your Grace. Perhaps that will bolster the sentiment of the people.”

Lara tensed ever so slightly then exhaled. “I’ll take that as anoto remaining in Ithicana.”

“I made a vow to King Edward that I’d travel to Harendell oncethe war was over. You and Aren may have forgotten that vow, but I have not.”

Silence.

“I haven’t forgotten.”

“Then why are you both trying to make me break my word?” Ahnna demanded. “Why are you both working so hard to keep me from going?”

“You’re Aren’s sister. He wants you to be happy, and you’ll be miserable in Harendell.”

Ahnna’s hands balled into fists. “How is my happiness worth more than filling Ithicanian children’s empty bellies and rebuilding their homes? My happiness isn’t the reason Aren is digging in his heels. Tell me the truth or fuck off.”

Silence stretched between them, and then Lara sighed. “He’s worried that your going to Harendell will make the situation worse because you’ll damage our relationship with the crown.”

Hurt pooled in Ahnna’s stomach, because she hadn’t realized her brother had so little faith in her. “I got along just fine when I met Edward to negotiate.”

“He’s not thinking of Edward.” Lara looked away, her eyes on the bridge, though Ahnna didn’t think she was seeing it. “The women of Harendell are far from powerless. They might not wield weapons or fight in wars, but they influence everything that happens, every decision that is made. None is more powerful than Queen Alexandra. Or more dangerous.”

Ahnna suppressed a shiver at the name of the woman who’d soon be her mother-in-law, remembering how Keris had told her that the queen wouldtoast your name while poisoning your cup.“You picked up allthatduring your months of drowning yourself in wine in the company of sailors in the seediest port taverns of Harendell? I didn’t realize the nobility frequented such establishments.”

Spies had reported that was how Lara had spent the weeks after the invasion. Drinking while Ithicana lost battle after battle to the Maridrinians, Ahnna’s people forced to flee their homes for Eranahl or hide in the isolated outer islands.Drinkingand God knew what else while Ithicanians were dying, as Ahnna had spent every waking minute either fighting to keep people alive or digging graves when she failed. It was only after Aren had been captured that Lara had roused herself to action. Why hadn’t she assassinated her father immediately? Why hadn’t she done something to try to stop the Maridrinians? To stop the war? Why had Aren been the only one who’d mattered?

“Drunk men talk, and I’ve been trained to listen, even when I’m deep in my own cups. It’s the queen of Harendell the people fear crossing, not the king.”

Ahnna shrugged. “I’ve no intention of stabbing them in the back, so I’m not particularly concerned.”

The queen of Ithicana’s jaw tightened, the first real crack Ahnna had seen in her composure, and though her bravado was feigned, Ahnna relished having landed a blow.

Lara’s voice was clipped as she said, “It’s that lack of concern that has Aren worried.”

“I was trained for this,” Ahnna retorted. “But more than that, I understand the stakes. The last thing I’ll do is willfully make things worse for the people I’ve spent my life protecting.”

The wind gusted, the only sound to break the silence between them as they stared each other down.

“Here,” Lara finally said, holding out one hand, a deeply familiar necklace of gold and gemstones hanging from her fingers. “Take it.”

---