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“Hardly the most pressing question.” Otis scanned the dark gardens, his face barely visible in the shadows. “What were you thinking? If you were caught, Father would gut you like a fish.”
Keris felt the blood drain from his face. “Caught doing what, precisely?”
“Don’t play coy. Not with me.” His brother leaned closer. “I followed you out into the gardens to talk to you, but you disappeared. Only Iknowyou, so I had a mind to look up. Orlistenup, as the case might be.”
Horror filled Keris’s stomach, his palms turning to ice, because if his brother had heard what he and Valcotta had been doing…
“Only you would have the bloody audacity to cuckold Father in his own house. Who was it?”
Cuckold…The word sent a rush of relief running through him, because his brother thought it had been one of the harem wives. He crossed his arms. “It’s hardly your business.”
“Tell me, or I’ll ask Coralyn whose window that is.”
Fuck.“Fine. It was Lestara.” The most believable of any of the women, as well as the most palatable, given she hadn’t given birth to one of his half siblings. “I hope you’ll do me the favor of keeping your mouth shut.”
Otis snorted. “For her sake, I’ll keep silent. But if you’ve got any sense in you, you’ll end it. There are countless women in Vencia who’d be happy to warm your bed without the risk of Father chopping off your most offending member.”
Thank God for small mercies,Keris thought, relief nearly causing his shoulders to sag.And large ones.“For once, you speak wisdom.” He slung his arm around his brother’s shoulders. “Care to venture out for the night? Find some women and wine and a game of cards?”
“Would that I could, but Father wishes a report on the state of Nerastis.”
“And what is the state of that shithole?”
Otis exhaled a long breath, allowing himself to be led in the direction of the tower. “Quiet as a grave. The Valcottans are sticking to their side of the Anriot, and when we raid, they defend but don’t pursue. They’re up to something, mark my words.”
“Or they recognize that antagonizing those who have their princess is an excellent way to get her killed.”
Otis’s voice was tight as he said, “I heard about your plans to negotiate your way into Father’s good graces.”
Otis’s anger wasn’t unexpected. His brother wasn’t interested in negotiating with Valcottans, only slaughtering them. “The situation with Ithicana is dire, Otis. Father has bankrupted himself, including running up an enormous debt with Amarid, in order to secure a bridge that is making almost no money. We need Valcotta to resume trade at Southwatch, and this negotiation could achieve that.”
Otis snorted. “It won’t work, you know. Valcotta iswealthy—just for spite, the Empress will sacrifice a hundred ships to the Tempest Seas rather than pay us a cent.”
Kerisdidknow, but admitting so was counterproductive. “The Empress is beholden to her people. I don’t think they’ll be willing to sacrifice so much for the sake of pride.”
Silence.
“It’s never the simple path forward for you, is it?” Otis said bitterly. “I say cut off the Valcottan bitch’s head and stake it on the gates.”
The threat sent anger twisting through him, but Keris forced himself to laugh as the guards opened the doors for them. “The Empress would retaliate, and with Father embroiled with holding Ithicana, he wouldn’t be able to send reinforcements. I’d lose Nerastis, which I’m fairly certain would seemyhead spiked on a gate.” Casting a sideways glance at his brother, he added, “You allow your hatred for Valcottans to cloud your judgment, Otis.”
He instantly regretted the comment as Otis scowled. “Easy for you to say, given you don’t seem to hate them at all.”
This was dangerous ground. The Valcottans had killed Otis’s wife when they sank the ship she sailed upon, so for his brother, this was no political grudge. It was every bit as personal as Valcotta’s, and Otis hadn’t half her empathy for those who were harmed in his path for vengeance. “I know this is a bitter tonic for you, brother, but I can’t afford to allow my senses to be muddled with emotion right now.”
They climbed the stairs, Otis silent and Keris’s thoughts twisting over how close he’d come to being caught. His brother would hold his tongue—the consequences of doing otherwise were far too high, for both Keris and Lestara. But it meant that he needed to keep his distance from Valcotta at least until his brother departed, which would hopefully be soon. Otis knew his habits too well, knewhimtoo well, which meant he wouldn’t be fooled for long.
Reaching the door to his room, Keris paused. “Do you want me to come with you to meet with him?”
Otis leaned against the stone of the stairwell. “No, it’s better you don’t. I’ve not your mastery of composure, and I hate listening to his mockery of you, which I know is inevitable.”
Guilt soured Keris’s guts, because his brother was so cursedly loyal. Even when Keris didn’t deserve it. “When you’re through, seek me out. We’ll go find some entertainment in the city.”
“I’d settle with wine and a well-padded sofa. My ass has been too long in the saddle.”
Keris laughed. “I’ll send someone to raid the cellar and then leave my door unlocked. Good luck.” He watched as his brother climbed the stairs two at a time, knowing it wasn’t Otis’s luck that he needed to worry about.
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