Master of Iron (Bladesmith #2)(58)

Kellyn leads us out into the hallway, takes us up a level of stairs. “Most definitely, but I loved every second of it.”

With a smile, I say, “Me too. Attending a meeting sounds less fun.”

“If you want, we can go back to kissing when the meeting is over.”

“No!” I say.

“That’s a strong response.”

“I mean, we can’t plan when we’re going to kiss.”

“Can’t we?”

“No. Because if I know it’s coming, then I’ll overthink it. I’ll be stressed and panicking until it happens. I won’t be able to focus on anything else.”

“Why?”

“I’ll worry over all the ways I’ll do it wrong.”

“You can’t do it wrong,” he says confidently.

“But my mind will worry that I might. I can’t control it. It just is.”

“Fine, we won’t kiss after the meeting. Is that better?”

“… No.”

He laughs so hard, we have to stop in the middle of the hallway. When he’s done, he purses his lips, as though he wishes to say something. Then, thinking better of it, he simply tugs me after him.





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN


The meeting room consists of a large oak table with elaborate carvings running up the legs and sides. The Southern Mountains are depicted in perfect clarity, the table legs showcasing streams and trees. The chairs have hand-stitched cushions, each with a native blossom in exquisite detail.

When we admit ourselves into the room, Petrik stands from where he’d been sitting. “About time! Kellyn, I told you to wake her if she wasn’t up by four o’clock.”

“She was up.”

Petrik hisses between his teeth, “Then why are you both so late? I think we can agree the situation is grave enough to warrant some seriousness.” Petrik cocks his head to one side. “Why are your arms covered in dust?”

Kellyn notices the gray streaks on himself and tries to brush them away with his fingers.

“And, Ziva, it’s all over you, too. What have you been doing?”

I swallow, feel my cheeks heat.

But, like usual, Temra rescues me. She’s suddenly there. “Why don’t you stop embarrassing them and resume the meeting?”

“I thought you weren’t speaking to me,” he says. “And I’m not embarrassing them. I’m asking a perfectly valid question.”

“They’re both covered in dust, Petrik. What do you suppose they were doing in a secluded, abandoned area?”

Petrik’s eyes widen, and he stammers a bit before retaking his seat.

“Idiot,” Temra mumbles.

“What did we miss?” Kellyn asks.

“They caught the spy wearing your face,” she says. “Unfortunately, he took his own life before we could question him. He had something on him. A poison of some sort.”

“So we have nothing?” I ask.

“Just the warning you’ve brought us. Come sit. We’re discussing a siege.”

The table is full of empty seats, but I take one next to Temra, while Kellyn occupies the chair on my other side.

It isn’t until I sit down that I find Skiro’s eyes on me. He grins, winks, and I feel hot all over again. Did he just overhear the conversation between me and my friends? Or does this have to do with how attracted he was to the imposter wearing my face?

To you, Ziva. If he was attracted to someone wearing your face, then he’s attracted to you.

“Ziva,” the prince says, and I cringe at being singled out. “I haven’t gotten a chance yet to thank you for bringing Serutha back to us. You have done me a great service, and I shall not forget it.”

I nod, unable to do anything more.

“As I was saying,” a woman I don’t recognize says, “there are just over three thousand people in the city. We can fit that many within the palace walls, but it’ll be tight.”

“Bring them in,” Skiro says. “If it can be done, then it must. It’s the only way to ensure Ravis doesn’t slaughter innocents on his way to the palace.”

“And when he reaches the castle?” a man I don’t know asks.

“We negotiate,” Skiro says. “There has to be a peaceful solution. If Ravis wants something that will spare my people, then we need to give it to him.”

Temra leans in next to me. “The man is Saydan, and he oversees all the guards in the palace and city. The woman is Bida. She’s a sort of caretaker over the city and its people. She’s been helping Skiro’s Territory find its feet when the land was split. She knows numbers, food, trade—all of it.”

“And the last woman in the room?” I ask.

“Isulay. She is the person who keeps the castle running. She knows who lives here at any given time, servants and all. She’ll be working closely with Bida to prepare for the siege.”

When I look back up, Kellyn is speaking. “Ravis doesn’t want to negotiate, Prince Skiro. He has every intention of claiming all of Ghadra for himself. Ziva and I were there. We saw his forges and armories. We saw his army. I don’t think he would bring so many if he intended to talk.”

“That’s possible,” Skiro says, “but I know my brother. He’s reasonable, even if he is ambitious. And if we can come to some sort of arrangement, then we have to try.”