Page 56 of To Save a Kingdom

Elessan sat to her right, with Zadé beside him. To Aliya’s left were Roland and Tsara.

Fixing Roland with the same glare she’d given him outside, Aliya flared her nostrils. “Now that we’re somewhere more private, do you care to tell me what you want that is so far out of reach you’re willing to destroy the fragile alliance your daughter and I spent the better part of a week negotiating?” She gestured with her chin in Tsara’s direction. “She went to extreme lengths to make sure the terms were beneficial to the sun elves.” She spread her arms. “So please, tell me what’s changed.”

Roland cleared his throat. “We came with the expectation that, as allies, technology would be shared between our kingdoms.”

Aliya nodded. She was certain he intended the information flow to be one-way only. “And so it was to be.” Though that possibility was almost off the table now that she had confirmation she couldn’t trust Roland any further than she could throw him.

The king shook his head. “I asked for Whisperers, you said no. I asked for access to the Master Artificer, you said no.”

“Not out of malice,” she said. “The Whisperers pose a danger to all our realms and were to be destroyed.”

“But they weren’t!” Roland thundered, the familiar redness flushing his face again. “Instead, they were stolen!” He jabbed a finger at Zadé. “By a war criminal who escaped from custody during that drunkard’s watch!”

Zadé practically crumpled in her chair from the force of Roland’s accusation. Aliya’s brow wrinkled. The general had stood up to enraged royals, mage scholars, and even something called a shadow dragon in the battle after Malkov took Aliya prisoner. And now Zadé appeared ready to break under words alone.

There must be some truth behind Roland’s allegation. Or she was still reeling from the loss of her friend.

Zadé might be a recovering alcoholic, but the weight of Brooks’ actions didn’t rest solely on her shoulders.

Aliya took a deep breath, steeling her spine. “Brooks escaped from beneath all our noses. It’s not the general’s fault—”

“A general is responsible for the duties of those in his or her command,” Roland interrupted.

Fixing the frustrating male with a glare, Aliya continued, “I am still speaking.” He may be royalty, but so was she, and she could not allow him to disrespect her, or it would set the tone for all their future interactions.

The king sputtered, but before he could say anything else, Aliya pressed forward. “It’s not the general’s fault Brooks plotted his and the master artificer’s escape. It’s the responsibility of every human and elf on duty that night. Nor can she be blamed for the loss of the Whisperers. That lies at the feet of the mages in charge of deactivating them, as well as all the guards assigned to protect them.” Aliya crossed her fingers and hoped Roland didn’t realize Zadé had overseen selecting those same troops.

Aliya took a deep breath, centering her thoughts and trying to cool her temper. “However, this is all beside the point. I asked you a question, and your attempts to deflect by blaming Zadé won’t work. The Whisperers were never going to be yours, and you’re smart enough to have realized this up front. So my original question stands, and I will not ask it a third time.”

Roland’s attention flicked to Tsara before going back to Aliya. Silence stretched until the room became stifling. “I want access to your magic.”

Cold drenched Aliya’s body as though someone had poured a bucket of ice water over her head. He wanted to use her like Malkov had. She was nothing more than a power-infused trophy to be exploited by whoever won her.

It was what she’d expected, so she had no reason to be surprised, but hearing him admit it out loud forced a depressing finality into her bones.

“Whether it’s the Whisperers, your artificer, or you.” He shrugged. “The sun elves lack ready access to magic. At first, I would have been happy with the weapons, or the knowledge and manipulations by the master inventor. However, when your father approached me with the possibility of marriage, giving me the source itself…” His eyes sparkled. “That was too perfect an opportunity to pass up.” His face fell, a hardness creeping into his expression that had Aliya fighting the urge to step back. “Until suddenly, it evaporated.”

Aliya swallowed. He meant when her aunt had lost control and forbade Roland from marrying her. Not that Shadow had the authority to do such a thing, but with the shapeshifter masquerading as Aliya, there was no way Roland would’ve known the difference.

She’d have to be very careful how she handled the next part. Otherwise, she’d reveal her secret. She dropped her voice, shooting for deep and threatening like Elessan’s had been when he’d first brought her to Kavol, bleeding out. Before the dwarf had first put her in contact with Jalius. Pairing the tone with what she hoped was an innocent smile, she asked, “And you believe my stand-in has the authority to make such decisions without first consulting with me?”

Roland sputtered.

Princess Tsara, who’d been silent up to this point, paled. “That wasn’t you?”

Aliya brushed off her question with a dramatic flourish of her wrist, as though it was inconsequential. “You’re telling me elven royalty don’t take the same precautions from time to time?” She thrust her chin forward, daring him to challenge her.

Roland’s eyes narrowed as the edges of his lips pulled down. “Your stand-in is a remarkable facsimile. Her makeup artist is to be commended.”

Aliya nodded, ignoring the suspicion rolling off him in waves. He may not believe her, but at least she’d sewn enough doubt he wouldn’t call her a liar outright. That was all she needed at this point.

“I have not yet made my decision about whose hand I will accept,” she said, careful to not let her gaze drift to Elessan. “Though this display of temper and your easy destruction of the treaty between our kingdoms doesn’t incline me to choose you as my husband and king consort.”

Turning her attention to Tsara, she narrowed her eyes, unable to keep her anger at the princess’ brazen moves on Elessan from her features. She stared the elven woman down until Tsara shifted her weight.

Focusing on Roland, she continued, “I’ll need some sort of guarantee you intend to honor our agreement, and proof you consider it more permanent than you demonstrated today.”

The door to the chambers slammed open with a crash.