Lady Smoke (Ash Princess Trilogy #2)(68)

“I was hoping to have a chance to speak with you tonight, Your Majesty,” Archduke Etmond says, his voice low. “I’m afraid this whole ordeal is…well, it’s trying for me and I’m sure it’s doubly so for you.”

I smile slightly. “It is overwhelming,” I admit.

His smile grows a little easier. “My brother sent me here,” he admits. “And I think he meant it as more of a prank than anything. I’m not…I’ve never been very good at talking to people, you know. And women…” He trails off, shaking his head. “I’m sure he believes I will come back embarrassed and rejected.”

He doesn’t say it like he’s looking for pity. He’s only stating a simple fact. Before I can say anything to soothe his mind, he continues.

“But…would I be right in surmising that you aren’t looking for a romantic partner?” he asks.

Next to me, Dragonsbane goes still. I ignore her. Instead, I move closer to the Archduke.

“Yes,” I tell him. “You are quite right. Though marriage seems to be the only way to take Astrea back, and so I will do what I must.”

For the first time since I met him, the Archduke holds my gaze, nodding once before he looks away. “I believe that we can help each other,” he says, lowering his voice. “You need an army to defeat the Kalovaxians. I have an army.”

“Your brother has an army,” Dragonsbane interjects.

The Archduke shakes his head. “My brother wears the crown, but his army listens to me. He knows this as well as anyone; he is content with the arrangement. After all, we rarely have need for our army. We’ve fought no wars in years. I can get troops to fight for you.”

“How many?” I ask him.

“Enough,” he says.

I try to keep my expectations in check, but a stupid hope works its way into my chest anyway.

“And what would you need in return?” I ask him. “Sovereignty over Astrea?”

He shakes his head. “No, no. Nothing like that. The idea that I might inherit Etralia if my brother fails to produce an heir is horror enough. No. Several years ago, the Theyn came to visit Etralia and my brother gifted him my favorite chess set. Centuries old, carved from onyx and bone.”

I remember the chess set. I saw it often when I visited Crescentia; it was kept on a shelf like a decoration, never actually used.

“My brother gave it to him to spite me,” the Archduke continues. “But I have always mourned the loss of it. I understand the Theyn is now dead.”

“You want your chess set back,” Dragonsbane says slowly, disbelief punctuating every word.

“A family heirloom,” he says. “It is more precious to me than anything.” He straightens up, a shy smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “And besides, it’s been many years since Etralia has fought a war. It sounds like it could pose quite an interesting challenge.”

I exchange a skeptical look with Dragonsbane before nodding. “I think we can agree to that partnership,” I tell him.

He smiles broadly and motions to a serving girl carrying a bottle of wine. It’s the same skittish girl who delivered the King’s message earlier. She’s even more ill at ease here, her hands shaking as she pours two glasses of rich red liquid. Dragonsbane waves her off before she pours a third, since her own glass is still half full. When the Archduke passes a glass to me, I force a smile. In truth, I know that I can’t drink anything more. I haven’t eaten all night because the dress is too restricting, and already I can feel the little wine I’ve had clouding my mind.

“To new friends,” Archduke Etmond says, lifting his glass toward me.

I lift my glass to meet his, but when he takes a sip, I only pretend to. It’s all I can do not to get to my feet and shout with joy. I want to throw my wine in King Etristo’s face and tell him exactly what I think of him. I want to dance until my feet bleed. For the first time in a long time, the hope in me is not a fragile thing. It is growing firmer, growing bolder.

I open my mouth to thank the Archduke, but before I can get the words out, a bewildered expression settles over his face. His hands rise to clutch at his throat and his eyes grow wide and panicked. He scrambles to his feet, knocking into our table and sending both of our glasses careening to the ground, then collapses beside them.

Everyone is on their feet but my mind is still a bewildered blur. Dragonsbane grabs my wrist, her fingers digging into my skin painfully as she pulls me away.

“Get back!” a voice calls, breaking through the panicked murmur. Coltania rushes toward him, moving surprisingly fast in her heavy dress. She drops gracelessly next to him, rolling him over onto his back and feeling his chest. “He isn’t breathing, I’m going to have to do it for him.”

She leans over the Archduke, fixing her lips to his in what looks at first like a kiss, but it isn’t. Her cheeks puff up, then his do before she pulls back and does it again.

I wrench my arm out of Dragonsbane’s grip and move toward him, horror coursing through me as the Archduke’s skin takes on a purple tint. I feel like I’m walking through a dream, my mind unable to comprehend what is happening right before my eyes.

“Theo,” a voice says, cutting through the fog. Erik steps in front of me, blocking the Archduke from my sight. He grips my shoulders, giving me a gentle shake, but I barely feel it. I barely feel anything at all. “Theo, you need to leave. It’s poison and there may be more. The wine—did you drink it?