Page 118 of A Queen's Game
“Reports, even if it’s glimpses of them. If you can steal them, then all the better.”
Marietta laughed mirthlessly. “He doesn’t trust me to leave the suite, let alone be near his work.”
“Then distract him,” Valeriya said, cocking her head. “He loves you; that much is clear. Use his love against him. Earn his trust and lower his guard.” She paused, a slow smirk coming to her lips. “If you can play the part of a loving wife, it would not only help with that, but could be a distraction for Keyain.”
“I tolerate him as much as I can already. Why would he need to be distracted?”
“To drive a wedge between him and Wyltam.” The Queen spoke quickly, her hand moving to her chin. “If we can separate them, if we can deteriorate their relationship, then the whole court will suffer. Marietta, we could do damage from the inside while making a difference with the Exisotis.”
Marietta could affect the war. She would have to suffer Keyain’s attention, but she already saw the cracks in his relationship with the King. All she had to do was pry it open. If she could do that, then she would be close enough to Keyain that he’d let down his guard, meaning she could steal information.
“Okay,” Marietta said, meeting the Queen’s gaze. “For the community I lost, I can fake being in love with him again. But I need your word that it’ll work.” Marietta exhaled slowly. “This will open up a wound that healed years ago. It can’t be for nothing. It has to work.”
The Queen stepped around the table, grasping Marietta’s hands, her eyes earnest. “That is a promise I can keep. Together,you and I can sabotage this war, and at the end, I will turn Satiros into Reyila, where pilinos are equal.”
Emotion clogged Marietta’s throat. To change not just the lives of those she cared about, but of all those she had yet to meet, was more than she could ask. “Then I promise to do my best, Queen Valeriya.”
“When it’s just us, Valeriya will suffice.” She dropped Marietta’s hand, her lips curling up to one side. “After all, we will be working together.” Valeriya took a step away, leaning against the table again. “You’ll have to be a better liar. Keyain can’t learn you’re up to something, and you always have a tell.”
Marietta winced. “Am I that bad?”
“Yes, you’re pretty obvious. Your expressions always reveal your emotions except for when you lie.”
“How do I fix that?”
“Just act the part. Pretend you’re the sweet, devoted, demure wife of the elvish nobility, the dream wife existing to bear him kids.” Her tone was sarcastic, and she rolled her eyes. “Or imagine him as someone you love, as someone you could say or do those things to. Just dive into it, don’t think about anything else. Make yourself believe that you feel those emotions.”
“I can try,” Marietta said, looking down at the table, noticing a paper with neat rows of numbers. She grabbed it, recognizing the ledger. “What’s this?”
“The crown’s income and costs from the army. It’s long to parse through. Here.” Valeriya handed another stack to Marietta. “Those are the papers I managed to grab, though they’re a few months old.”
The army cost Satiros a vast sum of gold. Mentally, Marietta tallied up the costs, realizing the number written on the sheet was incorrect. How did the Queen get these documents? Marietta skimmed through the rest. “Do you have something to write with and a paper?”
Valeriya handed her charcoal and a blank sheet. Marietta started making her adjustments on the new page and compared it to the numbers listed on the original documents. After some time, she had adjustments for the month’s tracked expenses.
“Who’s in charge of these?” Marietta looked up at Valeriya, her hands still hovering over the paper.
“Royir. He’s Minister of Coin.”
Marietta thought of the old elf she met in the hallways with Keyain, the one who called her a clip. “He’s made a ton of errors, claiming that the losses aren’t that severe, but according to my numbers... they’re losing a ton coin. The army is costing them a great deal.” She pointed at the numbers she wrote off to the side.
Valeriya laughed. “Of course it is. This is the exact number that Satiros is losing?” she asked, pointing to Marietta’s notes.
“It is.”
Valeriya rolled up the papers. “I can work with this.”
“You’ll give my notes to the Exisotis?”
The Queen hesitated. “Yes, I will. I don’t know what they’ll do with it, but this is a weak spot that they can exploit,” she said, placing the papers in her pocket. “We should head back before anyone notices that you’re missing.”
Back in the suite alone, Marietta paced, thinking over the plan she made with the Queen—no, Valeriya. There was danger in trusting her, in agreeing to steal information and hand it to her. After all, how did the Queen of Satiros have a contact in the Exisotis?
Valeriya hated her husband. That much was clear. But did she really wish to tear apart the court she ruled over? To help the pilinos, Marietta guessed she’d have to break apart the court and start fresh. None of the presiding males would ever agree to change.
The part Marietta hated to admit was that tricking Keyain into thinking she fell back in love with him would be beneficial,regardless of the Queen’s intentions. By distracting the two people in charge of the war, the Exisotis and Enomenos could attack while Satiros was weak.
It just meant sacrifice on Marietta’s part. Not that she had a difficult life in the rich palace, but to kiss Keyain, to act as if she loved him after he murdered Tilan, would rip open old wounds and likely create new ones. But like she told Valeriya, for the people she loved, she would give everything, even her life. Marietta hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
