“Oh,Maria,” said Lady Norr, and Maria blankly registered her tall, trousered form sinking heavily down onto the bed beside her. “Are you all right? Simon tells me you finally told him — well. Needless to say, we’resosorry. Gods, what amess.”
It sounded like she meant it, and Maria blinked her bleary eyes at Lady Norr’s face. At where she looked like she meant this, too, her head shaking, her mouth grimacing. Because — because she’d known. She’d known who Maria was too, and she’dlied.
“I know it’s probably no help now,” Lady Norr continued, with a sigh. “But we truly believed you were bait. A willing trap. Every single sign — everyscrapof intelligence we had — pointed to Warmisham sending you here. Him setting up your kidnapping as grounds to finally break our treaty for good, and get hiswar.”
Maria couldn’t speak, couldn’t find words through the blockage in her throat, and Lady Norr sighed again, her hands rubbing against her knees. “He and that damned Council haven’t given us a single moment’s rest since that treaty was signed. It’s been constant aggression. Constant new laws. Constant pretending his own people’s violations of our treaty don’t exist, while secretly slipping money to this lord or that, or trying to rouse common folks to attack us. All while pretending he’s so far above it all, and wouldnevertruly worry about being threatened byorcs.”
The sheer vehemence in her voice was surprising, but Maria still couldn’t seem to speak, and Lady Norr kept talking, her frown deepening. “We’ve had some success playing him and his fellow lords off each other,” she said flatly, “and none of them have yet been able to raise enough coin to really wage a proper offense against us — so we’ve managed to foil the worst of their plans so far. But recently Warmisham proposed this infuriating new law to the realm’s Council — perhaps you knew of it? — that allows him to fund his wars by openly stealing money from anyone he wishes.”
Oh. Maria’s curdling brain had reflexively flicked back to that day, to her husband speaking so coolly in his silk sheets. “I did know about that,” she heard her voice croak, almost inaudible, “because I was the first person he stole from.”
“Oh of course, the bastard,” Lady Norr replied, her voice scathing. “So fuckingtypical. Luckily, however, Warmisham’s new law has provensingularlyunpopular, because no one — most of all Warmisham’s wealthy friends and supporters — wants all their coin appropriated for an orc war, right? So for now, rather than actually funding any proper armies, Warmisham’s been stuck waving around the promise of a massive bounty for your return. Which means that we’ve been getting the realm’s best hoodlums and mercenaries instead.”
She sounded grimly satisfied with this development, and when Maria’s still-bleary eyes focused again on her face, she indeed looked almost smug — but then it faded, sinking into something much like regret.
“Butyou,” Lady Norr said, with a sigh. “It didn’t make sense. Even after questioning you — Nattfarr has a gift of truth-seeking, you see — it was very clear you still had some major ulterior motives. So afterwards” — she grimaced — “Grimarr ordered Simon to keep you here, in the Skai wing. To watch you. To make sure you couldn’t communicate with anyone on the outside.”
Wait.Wait. So Simon’s rule about Maria staying here, being his prisoner, earning his trust — that hadn’t been entirely his doing? It had been an order from hiscaptain?
But in glancing at Simon, Maria could see the truth of it. Written on his harsh face, speaking in the flex of his claws against his taut bicep. In the glare of his black eyes on Lady Norr’s face.
“And no, of course Simon didn’t approve,” Lady Norr added, with a wry glance toward him. “If there’s anything the Skai stand united against, it’s confinement. But” — she sighed again — “Grimarr made it an ultimatum for your continued presence here, which I will admit, I thought was fair at the time. And Simon didn’t want to lose you altogether, so…”
Her voice trailed off, and she ran a hand against her hair. “It’s why I haven’t been doing more to make you welcome here, either, Maria,” she said, “and I do apologize for that. I wassureI would give it away at some point — we likely know so many of the same people, and I’ve met Warmisham multiple times. And I don’t mean to offend you, but the man isvile, and alsofarcleverer than the rest of them. And” — she exhaled, heavy — “we couldn’t risk letting one man’s hatred and bigotry ruin our entire future. Wecan’t.”
Her eyes on Maria’s were wide and regretful, almost as if pleading with Maria to understand. And of course Maria did understand, but perhaps she still should have shouted, or raged at the unfairness of it all. At being suspected, conspired against, lied to, ignored. Without even being given a chance to defend herself.
But she just felt… resigned. Tired. So damned tired, still, of secrets and whispers and lies.
“So what happens next,” she said, her voice wooden. “With my husband. This war.Me.”
Lady Norr hesitated, and her eyes angled, brief but telling, toward Simon. “I’m not fully certain,” she said slowly. “But from our side, you’re welcome to stay, if you like. We’re very lucky that none of Warmisham’s men actually saw you enter the mountain — they just followed you in this direction — so we’ve officially told your pursuers, multiple times, that no one of your name or description has ever come here. Thank you for that bit of truth, by the way.”
She’d flashed Maria a halfhearted smile, which Maria couldn’t seem to return, and Lady Norr cleared her throat, and continued. “And we’re not overly bothered by mercenaries — they can’t get in, obviously, so it’s more of an annoyance than anything else. The real question is whether Warmisham can sway his Council — and public opinion — into fully supporting his wealth-stealing warmongering scheme, so he can pull together a proper army to invade us, and prove that his poor, helpless wife is evenhere.”
She shot Maria another wry smile, and Maria did feel her own mouth slightly twitch this time, before the heaviness settled again. “But my husbandalwaysgets his way with that Council,” she replied, quiet. “Those lords worship at his feet.”
“Ah, but do they?” said Lady Norr, a rather militant spark in her eyes. “They’re afraid of him, yes. But we’ve got a few of those lords in our pocket now — Otto and Culthen will both be swayed, if it benefits them — so in truth, it’s really only Warmisham and Anton of Dunburg holding the rest of the lot together. So if we can deal with Warmisham — and Anton would be a bonus — we might actually have a chance of real, lasting peace. A chance to focus on the problems in this realm that really matter. Like poverty. Cruelty. Injustice.Hate.”
Her voice had gone low and fervent, her eyes still sparking on Maria’s, and Maria was swiftly, forcefully reminded of Simon’s words. Simon’s future. Winning wars through words, whispers, perceptions.
And for an instant, there was a brief, flickering glimpse of… hope. Maybe Duke Warmisham could be defeated, after all. Maybe he would never need to know Maria was even here. And then, if Simon could just defeat Ulfarr, and gain her son’s safety, as he’d sworn…
Maybe Maria really could… stay.Stay?
And even as the vision of that swarmed her thoughts, bringing with it a sudden, churning warmth in her belly, there was still something else. Something nagging at her, dragging at her, drawing her deeper and deeper below…
One last, final blow. Dealt by her own hand, destroying her own future. Ensuring her permanent, inviolable defeat.
“But I wrote letters,” she said, her voice blank, broken. “I confessed it all. And once those letters are sent, they’ll destroyeverything.”
30
For a silent, horrible moment, both Lady Norr and Simon stared at Maria. Lady Norr with confusion in her eyes, and Simon with… disbelief.Judgement.
“What do you mean, you confessed it all in letters?” Lady Norr asked, her brow furrowing. “You can’t have sent any letters from here. Can she?”
That question was directed toward Simon, who gave a very slow, very purposeful shake of his head. But his judgement was still there, because he’d already put it together. Already knew. This damned orc, seeing far too much, as always.
