Page 26 of These Divided Shores
Natewascrying. He lowered the pistol to his thigh with a trembling gulp and smeared the back of his hand across his nose.
Vex looked around the room. Realization smacked him in the head. “Where’s Pierce?”
“Don’t act concerned. I’ll get him back and then I’ll get you Argridian rats out of Port Camden—”
“How?”
Nate and Vex looked at Kari, who stared calmly back at them.
“Kari the Wave,” Nate snapped. “Kari the Senior Councilmember. Last I saw you was more than five years ago, when you and a group of rebels convinced us raiders to rally against Argrid. You lot made promises about what’d happen after the revolution—and didn’t waste no time breaking every single one when the war ended.”
“Now the Council’s gone and allied with Argrid,” another raider spat. “Kill ’em!”
Nate stood there, fury in the lines around his mouth, inhis tight grip on the pistol.
“That is why this takeover has happened: because we did not fulfill our promises to you.”
Vex’s eyebrows rose. Kari straightened, as proper and regal as if she wasn’t restrained.
“Had we stayed true,” she continued, “Grace Loray would have unified five years ago and Argrid would never have had the opportunity to separate us by twisting prejudices and deceiving our citizens. The allegiance between Argrid and the Council was a lie to soothe Argrid’s presence here—Argrid locked away many councilmembers for refusing the union. Though Mr. Bell and I”—she nodded at Vex—“have come together, that act should not be reduced to an Argridian and a councilmember machinating against you. Quite the opposite. The bills that passed in recent days to eradicate stream raiders, the terror and prejudice that have gripped the island, are not the Grace Loray I fought for. I strove from the beginning of this country to bring fairness—but I failed. I failed Grace Loray. I failedyou.I am sorry.”
Nate and his raiders gaped at Kari. Vex gaped at Kari. The bags were still on their heads, but Vex suspected Nayeli, Edda, and Cansu’s raiders were gaping at Kari.
Hearing a councilmember apologize had never been on Vex’s most desired list, but now that he heard it, it loosened his anger. The disgust when the Council heralded beingGrace Lorayanas the only possible future and ignored anyonewho refused to take on that nationality.
The rest of the room seemed to share his realization.
Nate cleared his throat and pulled on hisI haven’t decided if I’ll kill youface, but he holstered the pistol. “We’re well aware that you failed. You going around, offering apologies? Apologies won’t bring back anyone who Argrid’s snatched.”
Nate’s raiders shifted, their faces speaking to the terror that hung over every street, the innocent people who had run from Argridian soldiers. How many of these raiders had family members who Argrid had taken? Or worse?
“My apology was not meant to fix anything. You merely deserved to hear it,” Kari said with a shrug. “We have come to seek your help removing Argrid from Grace Loray. This request echoes of the past, I know, but I do not come with a militia of rebels—I come as myself, surrounded by raiders from other syndicates, to ask you, a powerful raider Head, to take up the mantle of Grace Loray’s freedom. I offer my knowledge of strategy, but I will follow your lead, and I will not ask you to agree to war without proof of my value. First, together, we will work to free your people—your husband—from the prison.”
Nate went cherry red. “You’re holding my husband as ransom for going to war?”
“No. Your decision to stand against Argrid is your own—my allies and I will attack the prison with or without you. A fleet of Tuncian steamboats is on its way to Port Camden now. We have our own plans, but we wouldbe grateful for your syndicate’s knowledge of the prison. Should our rescue be successful and you find my services of value, we can discuss taking further action against Argrid. But your husband will be free no matter your choice.”
“Why do I need you?” Nate snapped. “You’re tangled up with the Tuncians already—so if I went to war, I’d have to work with Cansu, yeah? Where the hell is she, anyway?”
“She’s also in the prison,” Kari said. “But we have Tuncian representatives with us.”
Nayeli, the bag still over her head, jerked as though someone had stabbed her. Kari could’ve been referring to Cansu’s raiders—but she had no reason not to think Nayeli was part of the Tuncian syndicate as well. Nayeli had left the Tuncian syndicate less than three years ago when she’d had enough of her aunt Fatemah and Cansu preferring to wallow in poverty rather than accept the Grace Lorayan Council’s help in exchange forbeing Grace Lorayan, not Tuncian.
When was the last time anyone had called Nayeli a Tuncian representative? Probably around the last time anyone had called Vex an Argridian without it being a slur.
Vex swallowed, wishing he could share a look of disbelief with Nayeli.
Nate’s eyes widened. “Argrid captured a Head? Shit.Shit.”
Kari nodded at Nate’s raiders. “Am I right to assumethat you have not attacked the prison because you no longer have enough troops? How many has Argrid arrested?”
“I’ve lost forty-two raiders in the past three days, including my husband,” Nate said. “Most in our initial attack on the Port Camden soldiers, but since then, anyone out past dark, Argrid takes. Anyone on the rivers, they question, and if they don’t like the answers, they take. Anyone who refuses to surrender magic, Argrid takes.”
Nate pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered a prayer.
Emerdon followed the Argridian Church, but Emerdians viewed the Pious God less as an all-powerful deity and more as a benevolent overseer who occasionally passed out punishments. They also didn’t recognize Elazar’s unquestioned authority as Eminence.
The Church for Argridians was a way of life; the Church for Emerdians was a sport. Vex repeated that to himself as one of Nate’s raiders made the sign of the Church against his chest.
