Page 25 of The Last Strike

“Good plan,”Samuel said.

James lowered his weapon but Asher noted his finger didn’t leave the trigger.

“Hold out your hands. I’m going to cuff you while King Asher decides what to do with you,” James said as one of his men passed him a pair of cuffs.

Theodora hesitated before extending her arms, holding her wrists together. She tipped her chin up, perhaps indicating she had nothing to hide.

James held her arms and Asher noted the thick black and purple marks covering the fresh wounds on her wrists. It was clear she’d been cuffed recently and had fought against it. Given she’d been found in a cell, that wasn’t surprising, and it could also back up her story.

James cuffed her wrists and she looked down at them, her composure cracking as her chest heaved. Her emotion caught Asher off guard.

She shuddered and then blinked, as if holding back tears. She rested her head back, squeezing her eyes shut.

Asher wondered if her father had cuffed her while he’d made her watch her boyfriend’s execution? Her reaction seemed traumatic.

She didn’t open her eyes, and Asher thought that was because she was still fighting to control her emotions.

The longer he looked at her, the more he believed her story. But he would verify it. Despite what King Khalil thought, Asher was no fool.

“Asher, I’m going to use CCTV footage to see if I can find the guards bringing them to the palace, but we won’t be able to see inside the cells. I’ll also get the details on her boyfriend and see if a missing-persons report has been filed or if any of his bank accounts have been touched. Without DNA or footage evidence, it’s going to be hard to verify the story. Perhaps Queen Victoria can verify if the marriage had been arranged?”

“Thanks. I’ll make a phone call,” Asher said, still staring at the princess. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed the Queen of Arinia.

“King Asher, how did it go?” Queen Victoria answered on the first ring. She clearly wasn’t one to waste words on pleasantries.

“Good, but that’s not why I’m calling,” Asher said, suddenly wondering why Queen Victoria would agree to the marriage of her son—the heir—to an Adani princess.

“Okay,” she said, slowly. “Why are you calling?”

“Did you arrange for your son, Tristan, to marry Princess Theodora?” Asher asked.

A moment passed. “I considered it,” she said, sighing heavily. “I thought it could be good for business,” she said, using the exact same phrase Theodora had used. “I thought Tristan might be able to sway King Khalil, to have some kind of positive influence on him. Or, at the very least, convince him not to target my kingdom.”

Queen Victoria was no fool—she could not have truly believed Tristan would have any influence over King Khalil. Khalil didn’t listen to his advisors, let alone his son-in-law.

“You don’t believe me,” Queen Victoria said with another sigh. “I don’t blame you. But this is what desperation does to you, Asher. It makes you weak, and you start making bad decisions. I’m hoping this war will get me—or more correctly, my son—out of that arrangement. He can’t marry Princess Theodora, and he won’t. He’s refusing.”

“He won’t need to. She’s dead,” Asher said, looking at the camera footage of Princess Theodora.

Queen Victoria inhaled sharply. “What do you mean, she’s dead?”

Asher sighed, feigning regret. “She was in the palace when we attacked and she got caught in the crossfire. We helped her escape but we lost her on the flight back. The irony is that King Khalil’s men murdered his own daughter. I am not going to inform King Khalil as yet. I need to understand why she was being held in a cell by her father, and why she wanted to run from the palace. We may be able to use this against him.”

“He held her in a cell? That’s a new low even for Khalil,” she said, her voice dripping with disgust.

Asher nodded. He couldn’t agree more, and now he’d laid a test for Queen Victoria.

Time would tell if she passed.

Abi

She tilted her head, watching her king. She couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but it wasn’t the conversation she’d expected him to have.

Asher ended the call. When he looked to her, he didn’t seem surprised by her inquisitive gaze.

“I want to see where her loyalties lie,” he said. “She’s the only one who has—and will be—told of the princess’s death. I want to see if that’s leaked. I need to see if she’s as trustworthy as I need her to be.”

A proud grin spread over her lips. “Nice play, Asher.”

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