I will make him pay.
She lifted her head. Six legionnaires, all armed to the teeth, stoodbefore her. Kalie’s breath seized. She would not be intimidated, she would not be intimidated, she would not be?—
Boots thudded across the carpet. A looming shadow appeared as Krii stepped in front of her. With his bloodless skin, soulless eyes, and cold white smile, he looked like something that had crawled from the depths of Zagan’s hell.
Kalie wanted to raise her chin, to tell him that if this show was supposed to intimidate her, it wasn’t working.
But it was. Gods dammit, it was.
A chair scraped against the carpet. She flinched as Krii took a seat across from her.
Distant thrusters roared, muffling the chrono’s unendingtick-tick-tickand the air conditioning’s near-silent buzz. Frigid air gusted across her skin. She shivered.
Krii and his lackeys didn’t move.
Their silence was a tactic she’d seen in countless negotiations, a power play. It was one of Father’s favorite tactics, one he used with his friends and enemies alike. Aunt Calida, depending on the day, fell into both categories. When Father had faced her with his imperious stare, she’d matched it with her own.
Kalie met Krii’s gaze.
He crossed one leg over the other and snapped his fingers. A legionnaire appeared with a glass of water. Krii took a long sip. She was suddenly aware of the dryness in her throat, but she didn’t let the longing show. She kept her face impassive. Father’s tactic, Aunt Calida’s expression.
Krii set the glass aside. “Let’s keep this brief, Princessa. His Excellency is waiting.”
“Oh, really?” Digging her cracked nails into the chair’s armrests, Kalie glared into the lens of a camera. “Then listen to me when I tell you this,Your Excellency. I don’t care how long it takes, or what I have to do. You’re going to hell.”
Krii’s strident laugh boomed through the room. He tugged at the tip of his pointed ear. “The Prime Minister isn’t listening, you foolish girl. He’s merely waiting to hear the outcome of our negotiations.”
Negotiations. A jolt of hope shot through her. They didwantsomething. Even if she was backed into a corner, with no way out, she could use this.
“Perhaps, if you want to negotiate with me, Admiral,” she spat, tossing her filthy hair, “you should remove these restraints.”
“You’re in no position to make demands. Still, since I wish for this to be a civilized conference…” Krii flapped a hand, and a lock clicked. All four cuffs fell to the floor. “I’ll humor you.”
There had to be more to it, but cycles of experience at negotiations had taught her not to let them pick up on any surprise. So she did exactly what they would expect—she sighed and rubbed her wrists.
Under her lowered eyelashes, she studied Krii. Though he radiated confidence, there had to be some angle she could exploit, some tell that would give her insight into his flaws. But his stony mask gave her nothing to work with, and as she shrank back, every lesson she’d been taught about reading people vanished.
She wasn’t smart enough to find a way to save herself. If only she’d paid closer attention to Aunt Calida, if only she wasn’t such a screw-up, if only she could think.
“Surely you know the only way you’re making it out of here alive is to cooperate.”
Chills lifted the hair on Kalie’s arms, but she did her best to keep her face blank. One of Ariah’s rules: never let them see fear.
“But the Prime Minister is generous—” Krii tugged at his ear again— “and he wants an arrangement that will benefit both of you. So, in exchange for your life, you will renounce your claim to the Etovian and Dalian thrones.”
Kalie’s mouth fell open.
“You will endorse a regent of our choosing, and you will give two-thirds of all annual crown revenues to him as payment for his service.”
No. She could hardly believe what she was hearing, butno.It would be the same horror story that happened across Sectors Seven and Eight. He would exploit Dali, tax her people into starvation, force them into factories, and pillage the planet of its resources. The lush okul foreststhat only grew on three other planets in the Federation, producing the healing sap that went for thousands of credits per ounce, would be stripped to line Carik’spocket. The oceans, the grassy hills, the splendor of the grand churches and cities—all of it would be ruined.
“You’ll be banned from ever returning to Dali. You will formally declare that the Federation and Prime Minister Carik had no role in the deaths of Senator Pool and Duchissa Calida, and you’ll issue a statement accepting full responsibility for the coup that killed your aunt.”
Fury burned in Kalie’s chest as she quaked with rage. Zagan’s hell would freeze over before she let these monsters force her to say she’d killed Aunt Calida.
“I would never.Never.”
“You can deny it all you want, but you’re charged with treason, conspiracy to commit murder, and any deaths that occurred in the commission of the drone strike. If you accept the charges against you, we’ll waive the conspiracy to commit murder charge in exchange for your guilty plea of treason.” Krii smiled at his guards. “Did I miss anything?”
