A Kiss of Fire (A Kiss of Magic #2)(31)

“It was not easy, believe me.”

“I do believe you.”

Ariana realized that, had they known the disadvantages the Kiltians were fighting under, they might have found a way to hold out longer…to wear the Kiltians down letting such deficiencies do the work for them. They would have done so and kept the land for themselves.

It sounded selfish even to her.

For the first time she found herself glad they had negotiated the treaty the way they had. Before then she had felt resentful, felt as though the Kiltians had had them over a barrel and had forced them to give away that which they did not want to share.

How arrogant and unfeeling they had been. How self-centered and egocentric. No wonder the Kiltians thought so little of the Sarens. No wonder they had fought like they’d crawled out of both hells for the land they now owned.

She was quiet as she continued to eat, but the delicious food was now wasted on her. The amount of guilt she felt was overwhelming. She had refused to see any of this from their perspective. It had been easier for her to dismiss them as being warmongering and greedy. Vicious and uncouth. She had never thought of it in terms of sheer survival.

The Kiltians had been fighting for their existence; the Sarens had been fighting for property.

Yes. She was now glad they had given the land to them.

No. Not given. Bought. Given implied a sacrifice. A thoughtfulness. It had been neither of those things. They had sold the land to the Kiltians at a phenomenal price…and were demanding an annual tithe on top of it. Saren was now a rich country because of it. What had the price cost the Kiltians? The riches in their mountain mines were not endless. She didn’t even know how much gold and gemstones such mines produced. Had they beggared the Kiltians in the process of becoming rich?

“Were you…were you able to afford the price you paid for the land?”

She watched his face, saw him debating his response. His hesitation spoke volumes. Even though she was completely in his power, he did not entirely trust her with the secrets of the crown.

“We were,” he said at last, “but it was a hefty price. One we were glad to pay but…it took a great deal of hard work to come up with this autumn’s tithe on top of all of the livestock and seed and machinery, as well as maintaining our usual trade for produce and grain while we were waiting for our first crops to be produced. Next autumn—“

“Will be better,” she finished for him. “Your Anima majji—I’m sorry I mean shamans—will be able to work the soil much better?”

“They learned a lot this annum. They will be able to produce several crops next summer. We will finally be rich in that way. The Anima can also encourage the breeding of the livestock, help create more live births…keep animals from dying in the birthing process. Yes…my country will finally be able to prosper. And all it took was a little land.”

“And a war,” she reminded them both needlessly.

They finished the meal in relative silence after that. Ariana didn’t know what to say really. She was seeing everything from his perspective suddenly. And she couldn’t even demand he see things from her perspective…because her perspective was not nearly so noble.

To think, it all could have been avoided had the Sarens agreed to give land to the Kiltians. Land they could more than afford to lose. Hells, even if they had given the entirety of the Triagle Territory to the Kiltians, as Sin had originally wanted, there still would be a country many times the size of what Kilt would have been.

The Kiltians and the Sarens shared a continent. They were the only two peoples on their continent. The Kiltians occupied the northern most tip of the continent, the Sarens the rest. The northern most tip was entirely mountainous, with beaches only to the east and west that were accessible. The northern coastline was sheer cliff face directly into the ocean. The small beaches to the east and west had been transformed into port cities where all their crucial imports had come in. During the war the Sarens had tried to create a blockade of ships, the attempt meant to cut off the supplies to the Kiltians that were so crucial to their survival. Now, in retrospect, she was glad it had not worked. She didn’t want to imagine these people starving to death on top of everything else they already suffered.

“You are so beautiful,” he said out of nowhere, taking her by complete surprise. She looked at him and saw the intensity with which he was staring at her and she felt immediately uncomfortable. Why did he have to do that? Just when she was beginning to relax a little he had to remind her of why he had brought her there.

To make her his…

“Why do you want a wife like me? Like this?” she asked him desperately. “Why kidnap someone who hates you? Surely you wish to have a wife that loves you.”

He smiled at that. “I would not have taken you for a romantic,” he said.

She flushed. “Everyone wants love. That doesn’t make me a romantic.”

“Finding love in marriage is common in your people? I thought Sarens married for position and wealth. For mixing powerful majic lines.”

He was right. They did. Love rarely came into the picture.

“It is true. We do all of that. But that doesn’t mean we can’t find love in those marriages.”

He looked dubious. And he should. She knew she was creating fairytales where there were none to be had. He knew it too.

“I have chosen you for many reasons,” he said quietly. “I have chosen you because you are a very powerful shaman. I have chosen you because besides your majical power you are a powerful woman. You are used to managing a people in a position of authority. My wife would have to be able to do that. She is not merely a pretty bauble on my arm. She must help me to rule as my raji. A woman who could rule in my stead if I were away or somehow incapacitated. Right now there is my brother but…” He glossed over that. “I need a wife who can produce an heir. Fine sons who would rule upon my death. A woman who would serve as raji-mother if I should die before my son is of age to inherit.”