The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom #1)(103)

He chuckled, feeling some of his tension dispel only for it to return when she said, “It’s too soon, Aren. Let me go get Jor.”

“No. You are Queen of Ithicana and that makes you my second in command. That is how it has always been, and for me to take Jor in there with me instead would send a message to the Watch Commanders and the people that I don’t see you as capable. That I don’t trust you. It would undo everything we’ve accomplished since you came to Eranahl.”

“As far as they know, I am incapable.”

“I know otherwise.” But he was the only one who knew; Lara’s past, her training, her deadliness a secret Aren kept from everyone. And would continue to keep in order to protect both his wife and the tenuous peace their marriage symbolized. “Besides, there is more to running a kingdom than martial prowess.”

“This is War Tides council meeting,” she said between her teeth, eyes shifting down the corridor to ensure they were alone. “The only thing that matters is martial prowess. Let me get Jor.”

Aren shook his head. “You’re the only one who knows all the stakes.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I need you at my side.”

And before she could argue further, he unlocked the door and tugged Lara inside Ithicana’s war room.





37





Lara





Aren dropped her arm the moment they entered, the intimacy that had thickened the air between them moments ago gone. And replaced with something else entirely.

Here, they were not husband and wife. Not King and Queen of Ithicana. In this room, Aren was Commander of Midwatch and she was his second, and Lara instinctively mimicked his squared shoulders and grave expression, following at his heels to the elevated replica of Midwatch, the island one part of an enormous map of Ithicana. The only complete map of Ithicana in existence.

No one was allowed in this room but Watch Commanders and their seconds. Not even servants were admitted to clean, the group taking care of the duty with typical Ithicanian efficiency. That she, a Maridrinian, stood in this room was unprecedented, a fact made clear when every head turned toward her, their eyes wide with shock.

“Where’s Jor?” Ahnna’s voice cut through the silence from where she stood next to the replica of Southwatch, her hand resting possessively on the large island.

“Downstairs.” Aren’s voice was curt, though Lara suspected the tone had more to do with nerves than with irritation. He’d known her presence would be questioned.

“Commander, perhaps we might discuss whether Her Majesty’s presence is appropriate,” Mara said. Which was unsurprising. The woman had made no secret of her distaste for Lara, barely speaking to her whenever she was in Eranahl.

Aren turned cool eyes on the commander of Northwatch. “We choose our seconds. Our choices are not questioned.” He jerked his chin toward Aster, whom Mara had taken on as her second after his dismissal from the Kestark command. “Unless you’d care to change that protocol?”

Mara held up her hands in defense. “I only thought you’d wish to have someone with experience as your second, Commander. Emra”—she gestured at the young commander of Kestark—“selected someone with age to compensate for her youth.”

Emra had chosen her mother—a battle-hardened warrior whom Lara liked immensely—as her second, and the woman in question rolled her eyes skyward as her daughter replied, “I chose someone I could trust.”

A small beacon of solidarity, but what relief Lara felt at the young woman’s words was washed away when Ahnna said, “Since when don’t you trust Jor?”

Aren shifted next to Lara, his legs brushing her skirts. She knew that not having his sister’s support hurt. From what she’d gleaned from Taryn, Jor, and the rest of the guards, the twins had been close, fighting at each other’s backs until Ahnna had moved to Southwatch. She’d been the key vote of support in this council chamber in Aren’s marriage to Lara, but judging from the princess’s expression, she deeply regretted that decision.

“Lara is my wife. She is Queen. I trust her, and she is my second.” Lara held her breath as Aren’s gaze roved around the room. “Anyone who has a problem with that can get the fuck out now.”

Mara snorted, but everyone else held their tongues. “Let’s begin, shall we? I want to be on the water before nightfall.”

It was a long process of Mara detailing the developments that had taken place over the storm season. What the Northwatch spies had learned about Harendell and Amarid’s intentions. Where their armies and navies were located. The number of ships that had been built or destroyed. Lara listened intently; it was not lost on her that every ruler in the world would kill to have a spy in her shoes.

“Amarid is replacing the ships they lost raiding last year,” Mara said. “But we’ve tracked their progress, and none will be ready by the beginning of War Tides, so we may see some respite.”

“All of them?” Aren asked. “With what funds? Amarid is nearly bankrupt.”

A bankruptcy that Lara knew had been cemented by Ithicana taking the income Amarid usually received for shipping steel across the Tempest Seas. Of all the kingdoms, north and south, her marriage to Aren had cost Amarid the most.

“Straight from the coffers, near as we can tell,” Aster answered. “It’s not on credit. No one will lend to them anymore.” The older man lifted the page in his hand. “There’s a rumor the ships were financed with gemstones, but that seems unlikely.”