AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Before she could look away, he turned his head, and their eyes met. In the sunlight, she saw that his eyes were not black, but hazel, the brown flecked with emerald green that mirrored his kingdom. “Does seeing it bolster your sense of self-worth?”
Her skin burned hot, and she turned away, needing to move. “I am not a commodity.”
He huffed out a breath. “That’s not what a meant. The bridge, it’s . . . For Ithicana, it’s everything. And Ithicana is everything to me.”
Just as Maridrina was everything to her.
“It’s . . . impressive.” A weak word for the ancient structure.
“Lara.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him reach for her, then withdraw his hand as though he thought better of touching her. “I know that you didn’t choose to be here.”
He scrubbed a hand through his hair, his cheeks clenched as though he were struggling for words, and her heart began to pound anticipating what he would say. “I want you to know that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. That this . . . this is whatever you want it to be. Or don’t want it to be.”
“What is it to you?”
“The treaty means peace between Ithicana and Maridrina. It means lives saved. Maybe one day it will mean the end to violence on our shores.”
“I didn’t think we were talking about the treaty.” She was intent on understanding what motivated this man, which included his desires.
Aren hesitated. “I hope our marriage will be the first step toward a future where my people’s lives aren’t tied to this ancient piece of stone.”
The statement was so contradictory to what he’d said about the bridge being everything that Lara opened her mouth to ask for him to explain, but she was cut off by the sound of a horn blaring in the distance. It belted out a song, then repeated it twice. Aren swore after the first pass, his hand reaching for the large spyglass mounted at the center of the watchtower. He panned the water, unleashing a tirade of curses when he caught sight of whatever it was he was searching for.
“What is it?”
“Raiders.” He flung himself at the stairs, then caught himself on the doorframe, halting his progress. “Stay here, Lara. Just . . . don’t move. I’ll send someone for you.”
She started to argue, but he was already gone. Leaning over the edge of the tower, she watched him exit the base, sprint through the clearing, then disappear from sight.
Standing on her tiptoes, Lara peered through the spyglass. It took her a moment, but she finally caught sight of the ship passing under the bridge toward Midwatch, its deck teeming with armed men in uniforms, the Amaridian flag flying from the mast. A naval vessel. And not, if Aren’s words were to be believed, one that had come in peace.
A loud crack split the air. Lara watched as a projectile tore through the rigging, a mast splintering and toppling sideways. It fell, sails and ropes catching on the metal spikes set into the base of one of the bridge piers. The ship keeled over, spilling countless men into the water. Another crack echoed up to her position, and a gaping hole appeared in the hull. A hole that swiftly disappeared as the vessel sank lower in the water.
Hands frozen on the spyglass, Lara held her breath as violent barrage of ammunition methodically destroyed the ship while those still aboard clambered higher, or swam toward shore, fins circling them ominously, no safety within reach. As she watched, one of the sailors was jerked under, and her blood ran cold as a cloud of crimson blossomed where he’d been. After that, it was a frenzy, the sharks attacking one after another after another, the water now more red than blue.
Moving the glass to where the island met the sea, she searched for any sign of Ithicanians, keen to see their defenses in action. But the angle was bad, the jungle obscuring her vision of whatever was happening at the water’s edge.
This could be her one chance to see how the Ithicanians repelled invaders from the inside, and she was missing it because of a poor vantage point.
Lara found herself running. Down the stairs and into the clearing, her eyes trained on the path Aren had taken, trusting it would lead her to where she needed to go. The jungle was nothing but a blur of green as she ran, the humid air heavy in her lungs as she leapt over rocks, slid in the mud, caught her balance and kept going. The water wasn’t far, and it was downhill.
The path burst out into the open, cutting along the edge of a cliff. Far below, the ocean slammed against sheer rock. She veered around a bend, finding herself at the top of a steep slope. Lara paused, taking cover behind a rock.
She spotted a cove that she hadn’t been able to see from the watchtower. With a white sand beach and turquoise waters, it was hidden from the ocean by rocky cliffs, the opening to the sea beyond a gap barely wide enough for a small boat. The gap was currently blocked by a heavy chain connected to stone buildings on each side.
The beach was full of soldiers. Lara’s gaze went to the strange boats sitting on the sand, which showed no sign of going anywhere, before shifting her attention to the Ithicanians standing atop the cliffs overlooking the sea, Aren’s tall form among them.
Frowning, Lara peered around the boulder, trying to determine where the catapult the Ithicanians had used against the ship was located, when she heard loose gravel sliding down the path behind her. Then a voice: “. . . hardly worth the stones we lobbed at them. A brisk wind would put that decrepit piece of shit on the bottom of the sea.”
Her heart skipping, Lara searched for a way to escape, but the beach was crawling with soldiers, to her left was a tangle of jungle vines, and to her right was a sheer drop onto the jagged rocks jutting out of the ocean. The only way to keep from being caught spying was forward.
Stepping out from her cover, Lara picked her way down the steep slope and onto the beach, ignoring the startled expressions of the soldiers.
One man put his fingers to his lips and gave a sharp whistle, causing those standing on the cliffs—including Aren—to turn. He was not so distant that she couldn’t make out the surprise, and subsequent irritation, that crossed his face.
Before the soldiers could stop her, Lara circled the cove, climbing the steps carved into the rock that allowed access to the cliff overlooking the sea. Aren met her at the top, clearly not inclined to allow her to watch what was going on. “I told you to stay in the tower, Lara.”
“I know, I—” She pretended to lose her balance on the narrow step, hiding a smile as he caught hold of her arm, pulling her onto the clifftop and giving her an unencumbered view of the bridge and the ship sinking next to it. “What’s going on?”
