Stormcaster (Shattered Realms #3)(56)

“I’m not ready to stop,” Shadow said, “until they pay for what they’ve done. Then I will be ready to talk about peace.” He refilled his cup. “We had a visitor this afternoon who wants us to get in bed with Arden for mutual defense. If I have my way, that will never happen.”

“A visitor?” Ash said, grateful for this partial change of subject. “An emissary from Arden?”

Shadow shook his head. “A pirate from Carthis. I don’t think he was going to admit it, but Hadley DeVilliers recognized him. Remember her? She’s commander of the navy now. Anyway, she says he surfaced two or three years ago, and has been working the entire east coast, down to the Southern Islands and beyond. She wasn’t sure how many ships he controls, but shipping has taken a huge hit.”

A pirate from Carthis? Ash’s mouth had gone dry, and yet it was as if he tasted blood, metallic on his tongue. “Why would a pirate from Carthis involve himself in our war?”

Shadow laughed. “He wants to involve us in his war. He came to warn us that an empress from Carthis was planning to invade with a huge army. He claims that he just came from Ardenscourt, where he managed to prevent an agreement between Arden and the empress.”

“He just came . . . from Ardenscourt?”

Shadow nodded. “We think that he and this empress must be rivals, and he wants to poison us against her.”

Ash cleared his throat. “What was his name, this visitor?”

“His name is Evan Strangward,” Shadow said. “He’s known as the Stormcaster.” He paused, frowning. “What is it? Do you know him?”

“Where is he now?” Adrian demanded, his heart thumping painfully. “He hasn’t left the city, has he?”

“I don’t believe so,” Shadow said. He looked over Ash’s shoulder. “In fact, he just walked in with your mother.”





22


QUEENS AND KNAVES


“You should get dressed now,” Evan said to Brody. “We don’t want to be late.”

His first mate was stripped down to his smallclothes, sprawled across a delicate velvet chair that looked like it might collapse under his weight at any moment. He was distracting, as always, but in a distant way, like a platter of sweetmeats after a feast.

“We should go home now, Captain,” Brody said. “You’ve had your meeting with the queen and her crew. She’ll decide what she decides. The longer we stay, the more likely it is that we’ll get into trouble. I don’t like being so far from the sea.”

Brody was right—they’d had their meeting with the queen and her small council that afternoon. Hadley DeVilliers introduced them without a hint of endorsement. There were several other mages present, including the High Wizard, Micah Bayar, and a healer, Lord Vega. The wetlanders had been polite enough, but they’d questioned and debated him on every detail. When he told them he’d seen Celestine’s ships off their coast, they shrugged and said that pirates had been a problem for years. When he warned them that the empress in the east had all but conquered the Desert Coast and was preparing to invade the wetland realms, they said they’d been fighting off invaders for decades. Besides, pirates knew better than to venture too far from the sea. Fierce, fearless, unstoppable desert horselords? They’ll freeze to death in the mountains.

One uplander in particular, Shadow Dancer, seemed convinced that Evan was trying to persuade the Fells to get involved in his personal feud.

They saved their deepest skepticism for his suggestion that the Fells seek peace with Arden so that they could join forces against Celestine.

“Captain Strangward,” Queen Raisa said finally, “we must direct our resources to the war we have. If another war comes to us, we’ll fight that one, too. As for suing for peace, you should be speaking with the young king in the south. We did not start this war, but we intend to finish it. We do not intend to bend the knee, and we do not intend to lose—to anyone.”

The meeting had been disappointing, to say the least. And then, hours later, this invitation to a reception. It had rekindled Evan’s hope that something had changed, that somehow he could come away with an agreement.

“The queen invited us to this reception,” Evan said. “It would be rude to refuse. It is in honor of the queen’s son, who has come home after a long absence, so it will be a chance to meet him. Maybe we can win him over. Anyway, parties are often where important business gets done at court.”

“What do you know about how queens do business?”

“It’s in books,” Evan said. “I’ve read about it.”

“You’re always reading,” Brody said, like it was an accusation. “I don’t trust the wolf queen.”

“That’s fair, because she doesn’t trust us.”

“If she intended to do business with us, she would have shown you more respect in the meeting.”

“You are the one who needs to show some respect, youngling,” Teza said. “Your job is to follow orders, not to argue with the captain.”

“It’s not that the queen doesn’t respect us,” Evan said. “I think it’s exhaustion, more than anything. They’ve been fighting this war for more than twenty-five years. The queendom is surrounded by enemies. They really don’t need more bad news. Their resources are stretched to the limit.”