Page 82 of The Traitor Queen (The Bridge Kingdom 2)

They obeyed, getting out and standing in the knee-deep water.

Jor stepped up onto the beach. “Who’s in command? Hopefully someone with more sense than you brainless fools.”

“I am,” the other man responded, pulling off his mask. Though he’d recognized his voice, Aren still cursed the sight of Aster’s face. Not only did the old man begrudge Aren for replacing him with Emra as commander of Kestark garrison, Aster had mistrusted Lara from the beginning and had never let the sentiment go.

“We haven’t heard from you for weeks, then you arrive in a Maridrinian boat,” Aster said. “How are we to know this isn’t a trap?”

“It’s not a trap.” Aren pushed back his hood, and gasps of surprise echoed from his soldiers, more of whom stepped out of the trees with their weapons lowered.

“Your Grace!” Aster’s eyes widened. Then they narrowed again, his focus going past Aren’s shoulder. “That better not be—”

Aren knew Lara had removed her hood because every weapon abruptly lifted. Moving quickly, he stepped between them and his wife. “You want to kill her, you’ll have to kill me first.”

“The bitch is a traitor,” Aster snarled. “She deserves to die a thousand times over. You said so yourself before you were taken. I said so from the moment she stepped onto our shores.”

“I know more now than I did then,” Aren answered, seeing motion out the corner of his eye and knowing he was being surrounded. “She freed me from captivity. I owe her my life.”

“And she’s apparently been working her own brand of magic on you ever since.” Aster made a vulgar gesture. “No other explanation for you bringing her back to Ithicana. The witch has a hold on you.”

“What I brought back was a plan and the allies to see it through.” Aren forced himself to remain calm despite the terror building in his gut. He’d known that it would be difficult to convince his soldiers to accept Lara’s presence, but with Aster in command, it might be impossible. “Valcotta has agreed to help us retake the bridge and drive out the Maridrinians.”

His soldiers shifted, weapons wavering, and he noted how thin they all were. Little more than skin and bone. It couldn’t be much better for those in Eranahl.

“Ahnna has likewise secured the support of the King of Harendell. In conjunction with their navies, we’ll conduct a coordinated strike against the garrisons. Then we’ll hunker down and let the storms take care of the rest of them.”

“As if that’s so easy.” Aster rocked on his heels, eyes flicking past Aren, then back again. “We spent months trying to retake those garrisons, and all it earned us were dead comrades.”

“That’s because before we were scattered,” Aren said. “This time we’ll be more strategic. This time we won’t lose.”

Aster shook his head, as did several of the others. Unconvinced, yes. But also afraid. This invasion had taken its toll.

“Perhaps you might consider what will happen if youdon’tfight. Eranahl is starving. If we don’t retake the bridge, the city will have to be evacuated come storm season, and it won’t be people returning to their homes. It will mean people fleeing to Harendell or Valcotta, or wherever the wind takes them. And without its people, Ithicana is no more.”

“Maybe that’s how it has to go.”

Aren shook his head. “Ifanyof you believed that, you would already be gone. And yet here you stand.” Knowing he was taking a risk, he strode forward so that he stood among them. “We have one chance to take back what’s ours. Hear me out, and then make your choice.”

Picking up a stick, Aren began to trace shapes into the sand, slowly drawing Ithicana by memory. “This is what we’re going to do.”

The plan that had been building in his head poured from his lips, and weapons slowly lowered as he explained to his soldiers how they’d retake the bridge. How they’d retake their homes. How they’d retake their kingdom. By the time he was finished, the sky was beginning to grow dark, and his throat was dry and parched. “Well? What do you say?”

“It’s a good plan,” Aster admitted, scratching at his beard, but then his eyes went back to Lara, who stood silently next to Jor. “How does she factor in?”

Before Aren could answer, Lara spoke.

“You all have cause to hate me,” she said. “I came to you as a spy for Maridrina. I deceived you. Manipulated you. Conspired to betray you.”

The soldiers shifted, expressions grim, but they were listening.

“My father raised me on lies so that I’d hate Ithicana. So that I’d hateyouenough to dedicate my life to your destruction. But when I came to understand his deception, I turned my back on my father’s schemes. Except that means little because the damage was already done.” She paused, then added, “I’m not here for forgiveness. I’m here to ask you to allow me to fight because I assure you, I hate my father more than any of you ever could.”

Aster spit on the ground at her feet. “You deserve a traitor’s death.”

“I know. But allow me to avenge the harm done to Ithicana instead.”

Aren kept quiet as his soldiers stepped back, heads together, and debated Lara’s request. Cold sweat trickled down his spine because he knew that they had every right to ask for her death.

Why did you bring her here?he silently demanded of himself.Why didn’t you leave her on that beach?

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