The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom, #1)(8)
Countless ships and thousands of men lost for every attempt. Lara knew the history of the war that had ended fifteen years ago with Ithicana triumphant, but the specifics rose and fell in her mind like the waves on which the ship rode. Her knees were shaky, her whole body weak with seasickness.
“You are the hope of our people, Lara. We need that bridge.”
She was afraid if she opened her mouth, she’d spill whatever remained in her stomach overboard, so she only nodded once. The island was in full view now, twin peaks of stone festooned with lush vegetation rising out of the sea. At their base was a lone pier crusted with armaments, a cluster of unadorned stone buildings, and beyond, a single road leading up to the yawning mouth of the bridge itself.
Her father’s sleeve brushed her wrist. “Don’t for a heartbeat believe that I trust you,” he murmured, stealing back her attention. “I saw what you did to your sisters, and while you might claim to have Maridrina foremost in your heart, I know you were motivated by the desire to save your own life.”
If saving her own life had been what she’d cared about, she would have faked her own death. But Lara said nothing.
“While your ruthlessness makes you desirable for this role, your lack of honor makes me question whether you’ll put our people’s lives above your own.” Grabbing her arms, he twisted her toward him, nothing on his face betraying that this was anything more than a conversation between a loving father and his daughter. “If you betray me, I will hunt you down. And what I will do to you will make you wish that you’d died alongside your sisters.”
The sound of steel drums danced across the sea and into her ears, punctuated by the distant grumble of thunder.
“And what if I succeed?” Her mouth tasted sour, and she turned her head away, taking in the hundreds of figures on the island waiting for the ship. Waiting for her.
“You’ll be the savior of Maridrina. You’ll be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams.”
“I want my freedom.” Her tongue felt strangely thick as she spoke. “I want to be left alone, to my devices. Free to go wherever I choose, to do as I will.”
One silver eyebrow rose. “How different you and Marylyn are.”
“Were.”
He inclined his head. “Even so.”
“Do we have an agreement then? The bridge in exchange for my freedom?”
His nod was punctuated by a loud boom of thunder. It was a lie, and she knew it. But she could live with his lies because their goals were aligned.
“Drop sails,” the captain of the ship bellowed, and Lara gripped the rail as they lost momentum, the sailors running about to make ready to land. The drums continued their beat, pace escalating along with Lara’s heart as the ship drifted against the empty pier, sailors leaping the gap to tie off the ship.
The gangplank was lowered, and her father took her arm, leading her toward it. The drumming intensified.
“You have one year.” He stepped onto the solid stone of the pier. “Do not falter. Do not fail.”
Lara hesitated, dizzy, and, for the first time since the night she’d freed her sisters from their dark fate, desperately afraid. Then she took her first step into the world that was now her new home.
The drums let out a thundering beat, then went still. Holding tight to her father’s arm, Lara walked up the pier, biting back a gasp as she took in the masked Ithicanians for the first time.
Their steel helmets were sculpted like raging beasts with mouths full of snarling teeth and brows bearing curved horns. She could see nothing of the men beneath except their eyes, which seemed to glitter with malice as they watched her pass, hands on swords and pikes. No one spoke; the only sounds were the whistle of the wind between the two towers of rock and the call of the storm beyond.
Tearing her eyes from the soldiers, Lara’s gaze went down the paved road rising up to the gaping mouth of Ithicana’s bridge. It was enclosed like a tunnel, maybe a dozen feet wide and equally as tall, made of a grey stone gone green with exposure to the damp air. A great steel portcullis was raised, the entirety of the bridge’s mouth framed by a guardhouse.
A figure stepped out of the dark opening, the steel spikes of the portcullis hanging above him like fangs, and Lara felt her stomach lurch.
The King of Ithicana.
Dressed in trousers, heavy boots, and a tunic of drab greenish gray, he was tall and broad of shoulder. Her training told her that he was as much a soldier as any of those lining the road. But those details were lost, her heart beating staccato, as she took in the helmet that concealed his face. It had a snout like a lion’s, open to reveal glittering canines, and horns like a bull sprouting from both temples.
Not a man, a demon.
The lingering dizziness from the voyage passed over her in waves, and with it came fear that possessed her like an angry spirit. The heel of her sandal slid on the stone, and Lara stumbled against her father, the ground feeling as though it were moving beneath her like the rocking ship.
This had been a mistake. A terrible, horrible mistake.
When only a handful of paces stood between them, her father stopped and turned to her. In his free hand was a jeweled belt with her camouflaged throwing knives hooked on either side. He wrapped it around the waist of her sodden gown, fastening the buckle. Then he kissed both her cheeks before turning back to Ithicana’s king. “As was agreed upon, I stand here to offer my most precious daughter, Lara, as a symbol of Maridrina’s commitment to its continued alliance with Ithicana. May there ever be peace between our kingdoms.”