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“They caught the spy wearing your face,” she says. “Unfortunately, he took his own life before we could question him. He had something on him. A poison of some sort.”
“So we have nothing?” I ask.
“Just the warning you’ve brought us. Come sit. We’re discussing a siege.”
The table is full of empty seats, but I take one next to Temra, while Kellyn occupies the chair on my other side.
It isn’t until I sit down that I find Skiro’s eyes on me. He grins, winks, and I feel hot all over again. Did he just overhear the conversation between me and my friends? Or does this have to do with how attracted he was to the imposter wearing my face?
To you, Ziva. If he was attracted to someone wearing your face, then he’s attracted to you.
“Ziva,” the prince says, and I cringe at being singled out. “I haven’t gotten a chance yet to thank you for bringing Serutha back to us. You have done me a great service, and I shall not forget it.”
I nod, unable to do anything more.
“As I was saying,” a woman I don’t recognize says, “there are just over three thousand people in the city. We can fit that many within the palace walls, but it’ll be tight.”
“Bring them in,” Skiro says. “If it can be done, then it must. It’s the only way to ensure Ravis doesn’t slaughter innocents on his way to the palace.”
“And when he reaches the castle?” a man I don’t know asks.
“We negotiate,” Skiro says. “There has to be a peaceful solution. If Ravis wants something that will spare my people, then we need to give it to him.”
Temra leans in next to me. “The man is Saydan, and he oversees all the guards in the palace and city. The woman is Bida. She’s a sort of caretaker over the city and its people. She’s been helping Skiro’s Territory find its feet when the land was split. She knows numbers, food, trade—all of it.”
“And the last woman in the room?” I ask.
“Isulay. She is the person who keeps the castle running. She knows who lives here at any given time, servants and all. She’ll be working closely with Bida to prepare for the siege.”
When I look back up, Kellyn is speaking. “Ravis doesn’t want to negotiate, Prince Skiro. He has every intention of claiming all of Ghadra for himself. Ziva and I were there. We saw his forges and armories. We saw his army. I don’t think he would bring so many if he intended to talk.”
“That’s possible,” Skiro says, “but I know my brother. He’s reasonable, even if he is ambitious. And if we can come to some sort of arrangement, then we have to try.”
The man, Saydan, nods in agreement. “There are only some one hundred trained men in all of the city. We do not have the numbers to withstand a battle of any kind. Negotiation must be attempted.”
“And if not,” Skiro says, “we wait him out. We can withstand a siege indefinitely.”
Thanks to the portals, I realize. They can make supply runs as needed.
Except, they have no hope of keeping these walls intact long enough.
I count to five before forcing myself to speak. “I don’t think a siege is possible.”
“And whyever not?” Saydan, the older man with graying hair and a face buried in wrinkles, demands.
I reach under the table for Kellyn’s hand and slam my eyes shut. “One of Ravis’s men has a war hammer that turns everything it touches into powder. He’ll slam through the gate with a single swing.”
“Really?” Skiro asks, his tone one of fascination, rather than horror. “How did you—”
Petrik coughs gently, which seems to do the trick and keep his brother on track.
Skiro says, “We have sharpshooters among my ranks. We’ll keep them near you on the wall. Anyone who tries to approach with the hammer will fall.”
He makes it sound so simple, as though I didn’t do something terrible by empowering the enemy. Is truly no one angry about what I did?
“Is there anyone you can call on for aid?” Kellyn asks.
The prince says, “No one else has a standing army. There hasn’t been time to recruit since Ghadra was split. I don’t know how Ravis managed it.
