Page 75 of The Traitor Queen (The Bridge Kingdom 2)

Lara

“What did she say?”Lara demanded the moment they were clear of the palace gates. “Will Valcotta help?”

“No.” Aren glanced up at the sun, then shook his head. “She has no more interest in peace between Maridrina and Valcotta than your father does.”

“That should be to our favor.” Lara broke into a trot to keep up with his long stride. “Plucking Southwatch from my father’s hands should have been an irresistible opportunity. Unless . . . does she want the bridge for Valcotta?”

“No.” His tone was angry. Clipped. “That’s not what she wants.”

Lara considered the situation, realization dawning on her. “She made Valcotta’s assistance dependent on my death. That’s what she wanted, isn’t it?”

He nodded.

“Why?” Though the real question she wanted answered was why he hadn’t agreed.

“Because your death would ensure any chance of a future alliance between Ithicana and Maridrina would be well and truly dead.”

She’d underestimated Aren. This entire time, she’d believed all he cared about was getting home and driving her father out of Ithicana, but it appeared he still had larger ambitions for the fate of his kingdom.

“You blew the doors to Ithicana wide open, Lara. There’s no closing them again. No going back to the way things were before. Which means I need to find another way to keep my people safe.”

“Peace with Maridrina?” Lara rubbed her temples. “God, Aren, that’s impossible. You have to see that my father will never allow it to happen.”

“No, but your brother might.”

“Whatever sentiments Keris might hold for me hardly matter. Without Valcotta, we can’t take back the bridge. Earning the Empress’s favor must be your first priority.”

“Allowing her to set the terms will only bring us full circle.” Aren opened the door to the hotel. “And it’s not Keris’s sentiments foryouthat I’m banking my kingdom on.”

Inside, Lara followed as he took the stairs two at a time, striding down the hall to the room where Jor waited.

“Well?”

Aren shook his head. “We proceed as though we are on our own. How quickly can we get home?”

“We can be on a ship tonight, though only Valcottan naval vessels are allowed past Nerastis. From there it’s a matter of making our way north to the meeting point.”

Panic flooded through Lara’s veins. “Aren, we can’t go without convincing the Empress to ally with us.”

“I’m not willing to do what it will take to convince her.”

“Then this is a lost cause,” she shouted, her temper flaring out of her control, because she knew what needed to be done. “Not only is it impossible for us to take Southwatch without the Empress’s navy, Harendell’s assistance was predicated on the Valcottans’ involvement. Weneedthem.”

“No.”

“What does the Empress want?” Jor asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.

“Me dead.”

Jor winced. “I see.” But Lara had already rounded on Aren.

“Agree. Give her what she wants. It’s not as though I’m going to be able to live with myself if we lose Ithicana because of this.” Her heart was a riot in her chest, terror and sorrow twisting through her veins because she didn’t want to die. But she would. For Ithicana. For Aren. For herself, she’d do this. “Let them kill me.”

Aren lowered his head. “No.”

“Then I’ll do it myself,” she snarled. Twisting out of reach of his hands, she dived toward the door, hauling it open.

Only to find Zarrah Anaphora standing in front of her.

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