Page 96 of The Twisted Throne

Whereas what were the costs of her staying? What were the risks beyond the obvious jeopardy to her own life? Try as she might, Ahnna came up blank as to how her presence in Verwyrd would cost Ithicana, and if Aren had known concrete reasons why she shouldn’t remain, he’d have said. He’d been driven here out of fear for her life, and while it warmed her heart that he cared so much for her well-being, Ahnna wouldn’t allow him to put her life over the lives of their people.

If she remained, she could keep searching for information that could aid Ithicana. Details about competition against the bridge or plans that negatively affected her homeland. Even if the Harendellians had no intention of giving her any influence, knowledge was power, and she could learn more in Verwyrd than anywhere else.

Leaving would be a mistake, and one Ahnna refused to make, no matter how much it cost her personally.

They stayed late into the night, Ahnna listening to William’s endless conversation, pretending to be interested in everything he had to say. As the carriage delivered them into the Sky Palace’s stable yard, William’s overindulgence finally caught up with him. Leaving his friends to stand next to him while he vomited several bottles of wine onto the dirt, Ahnna made her way into the stables.

Walking down the dimly lit row of stalls, she smiled as Dippy stuck his head over the door and whickered softly at her. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t have any apples.”

She stroked his head, then kissed his nose, wishing for all theworld that she could climb on his back and ride off into the night.

“Good evening, my lady,” one of the stable boys said, passing by her as he checked the horses. “Will you be back riding soon?”

“I hope so,” she said. “Though I don’t wish to push him, given he’s only just regained his soundness.”

The boy gave Dippy a pat. “Oh, he was right as rain within a few hours of his stumble, my lady. Been going nicely for days now. Taking to his training quite well.”

Days.

More confirmation that James wanted nothing to do with her, yet the revelation still hurt. And then the stable boy’s words registered. “Training?”

“Yes, my lady. His Highness has been working with him for hours every day, even in the rain. Bent and determined on turning Dippy here into a proper saddle horse for you, and did a fine job of it.” The stable boy hesitated, then added, “Pardon my asking, my lady, but do you have horses in Ithicana?”

“No,” she whispered, seeing the faint sweat marks on Dippy’s back that had not yet dried. Marks from a saddle, meaning James had come here after she’d walked away from him in the alehouse. “Ithicanians have no use for horses.”

Which meant James hadn’t been trying to find ways to make her leave. He’d been planning for her to stay.

A familiar voice filled her ears. “Enjoy your evening, my lady?”

Ahnna turned to find Georgie walking down the aisle. He jerked his chin at the stable boy, who swiftly disappeared, leaving her alone with the lord.

She’d seen Georgie in the alehouse leaving with James, so she suspected he was well aware of Aren’s presence in Verwyrd. “I’ve had better nights. But also worse nights.”

He rested his elbows on Dippy’s stall door, watching the horse munching on hay. “Your brother has departed by way of riverboat.”

She made a noncommittal noise.

“Why was he here? It’s more than a little untoward for the king of a foreign country to be roaming Harendell’s lands.”

“It’s nothing new,” she grumbled. “He’s been here dozens of times, though he always favored Maridrina. Aren struggles to sit still. No need to make more out of it than that.”

“He seems a man of action,” Georgie said. “Though to leave his wife and newborn daughter so soon after her birth suggests a more pressing concern than…itchy feet. A concern that you clearly shared, given you were distressed.”

“I appreciate your interest, but it was Ithicanian business.”

“I know,” Georgie said. “Because I had him followed. Verwyrd’s underbelly is full of individuals with a talent for listening in the shadows and who will relay what they hear for a bit of silver.”

Ahnna’s jaw tightened, but she had no grounds to get angry at him for spying on her brother, given that Aren had no right to be in Verwyrd. “And what did your spies learn?”

“That Katarina has made overtures to Ithicana.”

She silently cursed Aren for keeping that from her, even though she knew James had interrupted the conversation before he’d really had the chance. “Ithicana has an existing trade relationship with Amarid. It’s not new for her to ask for revisions to terms.”

“Overtures of alliance.” Georgie brushed a bit of hay off his sleeve, the gesture at odds with the anger that seethed off him. “I don’t recall an existing agreement of the sort between Amarid and Harendell. Especially given that Amarid’s navy laid siege to Eranahl alongside the Maridrinians. Though I suppose you forgavethe Maridrinians swiftly enough, so why not their northern bedfellows?”

Ahnna’s hands turned to ice, because if Aren truly believed Ithicana was at risk from Harendell, he might have such a conversation with Katarina. Except it felt entirely wrong: She knew he disliked the queen on a personal level, and the idea of trusting Amarid felt like madness. “He said nothing of the sort to me, if that is your question.”

“Then why was he here, Ahnna?”

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