A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)(40)

It’s why I need this army to respect their queen and to follow me. Rhen will sense the slightest weakness and exploit it. My magic is worthless if we can’t move our forces into Emberfall. My claim to the throne is worthless if his people will not support me.

I once told Rhen not to get mired in self-doubt, and now I’m facing the same thing.

We’ve reached the final turn before the hallway that will lead to her strategy room, and I stop. I can hear the cacophony of voices echoing from here. Nolla Verin stands near the doorway with an advisor, Ellia Maya, and they seem deep in conversation. We’re too far to hear their words, but Nolla Verin casts a disapproving glance my way. I want to cast a disapproving one right back, but I’m sure they’ve all been waiting awhile, and that will do nothing to improve my position.

I look at Jake, who has stopped with me. “So I am to meet with generals and officers who already hate me and now think I am merely using them as a means to an end.” It’s no wonder Solt and the others glare at me with disdain on the training fields.

Jake stares back at me steadily. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but … aren’t you?”

I frown.

“Isn’t that the point of an army? Any army?” Jake continues. “When Harper first dragged me and Noah into Ironrose, I was hoping you’d get trampled by a horse, but I still fell in with that ‘good of Emberfall’ crap. I still risked my life. A lot of that was for Harper—but then a lot of it was for …” He pauses, then rolls his eyes, looking abashed. “Well, you, you idiot.” He glances meaningfully at the hallway. “They’re still here. They must believe in something you’re doing.”

I was not raised to be a prince. I am not a general. I was not even a soldier.

I don’t know how to make them believe in what I’m doing when I’m not entirely certain I do.

“Go.” Jake punches me in the shoulder. “Do you need a pregame pep talk?”

“What?”

“No guts, no glory. Get your head in the game. Go big or—”

“Jake.”

“Grey.” He hits me in the center of my chest, where the emblem of Emberfall is embedded in the leather: a gold lion and a red rose entwined, encircled in green and black, the colors of Syhl Shallow. The armor was once a gift from Karis Luran, in honor of our future alliance.

“Syhl Shallow needs to ally with Emberfall to survive,” Jake says fiercely. “You know that. They know that. Karis Luran herself knew that.”

“As I know that.” Lia Mara speaks from the hallway, and I turn to face her as she strides across the marble floor, her guards trailing behind. She has changed into fresh robes in layers of green, with a thick black belt laced into place at her waist. Her red hair hangs over her shoulder in a silken curtain. Her eyes are bright, but her mouth is solemn, and my heart skips at her beauty.

Jake bows to her, and at first I think it’s mockery and I’m going to have to punch him. But then he says, “Your Majesty,” in Syssalah, and I realize it’s not. Perhaps I should get my head in the game.

She smiles. “Jake. Good morning.”

“We were discussing strategy before meeting with the army officers,” he says.

“I heard a bit of your strategy,” she says, not fooled. “I’d like to join you. If I may.”

As if they were not her generals and officers. As if I would not grant her everything she asked.

I nod. “Always.”

She reaches for my arm and draws close enough that I can catch her scent, like oranges and vanilla. “I thought that showing a distance between myself and my armed forces would make my people realize that I will not quickly resort to violence.” She hesitates. “I believe it has done quite the opposite. I do not want my soldiers to think I do not need them. I do not want my people to think we are weak.”

They would never, I want to say, but it would be a lie. Her people are worried and uncertain, and it’s clear.

It’s impressive that she sees that. It’s more impressive that she admits that.

“Besides,” she says. “I disagree with what you said. I don’t need to show them my strength.”

These words are said more clearly, and Nolla Verin straightens at the end of the hallway when she hears them.

I glance down at Lia Mara in surprise. “You do not?”

“No.” She keeps her eyes ahead, fixed on the challenging gaze of her sister, but her fingers tighten on the bend of my arm. “This is not about Syhl Shallow alone. This is about forging an alliance between our countries. This is about learning the ways magic can be an asset, not a threat. This is about more than violence and power. This is about education, and knowledge, and communication.” She looks up at me, and her eyes are intense. “If my people must see strength, then we need to show them ours.”





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

RHEN

It’s been two weeks since Lilith showed herself.

Two weeks—leaving Emberfall with less than a month until Grey brings his forces here.

I’m not sure which causes more dread to fill my chest. I’m not even sure it matters.

This morning, Harper is just outside my window again, sparring with Zo. We are to ride for Silvermoon later, because their Grand Marshal has grudgingly sworn his private army to defend Emberfall, and I want to see the state of his forces myself. My spy, Chesleigh Darington, is expected to return from Syhl Shallow by this evening with reports on their army, on whether she bears a weapon she thinks I will use against Grey—a weapon I hope to use against Lilith.