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“I was answering a question, Your Highness. There is a reason the first Captain Blakemore was sent as a spy and not as an emissary.”
“Maybe you’ve been in Ostriary for too long,” Harristan says. “My father was highly regarded among the people here.”
Rian spreads his hands. “Again, you asked why. I can only offer my own observations.”
Harristan looks at Lieutenant Tagas. “You’re an Ostrian citizen. What are your observations?”
She glances at Rian. “I am a sailor. I did not move in royal circles. But Rian is correct. In years past, the Kandalan king was not seen as an advantageous ally. Rumor said we were sent faulty materials in exchange for our …” Her voice trails off for a moment, and she casts a glance at Rian. “Resources,” she finishes. “The trade was bad. That’s why the final ship was attacked.”
“What resources?” I demand.
Rian lifts one shoulder in an unassuming shrug. “I’d rather not say.”
He’s either fearlessly brazen or just plain impudent. I raise my eyebrows. “You’d rather notsay? You claim to be an agent of the king, and you’d rather not reveal what you’ve learned?”
His eyes flick to Harristan. “I wasn’t an agent ofthisking.”
I draw myself up, ready to … to … I’m not sure what. Have the guards drag him out of here. Throw him to the ground and demand answers. Hold his feet to the fire, quite literally.
A dark light sparks in his expression, and I can tell he’s thinking of the moment he mentioned my reputation. His shoulders are tense, his eyes locked on mine.
He’s not afraid. He’s ready.
But I think of Tessa, how I promised to be better. My muscles are tight with a need for action.
If I were Weston Lark, I would fight. Demand answers. Something.
But Weston Lark is dead. The King’s Justice can’t pick a fight over a few barbed comments.
Harristan speaks into my silence. “So you won’t say what Ostriary had to offer. What did Kandala?”
“Steel,” Rian says easily, as if we weren’t just staring each other down like men preparing for a duel. “Ostriary has very little access to iron ore. The mines here are plentiful. There’s an entiresectornamed for it.”
“Steel City,” I say.
He nods. “The inter-island bridges of Ostriary are constructed of Kandalan steel. Faulty steel, in many areas. They are beginning to fail.”
“So they need more,” I say.
“Yes,” says Lieutenant Tagas. “Quite a bit.”
Rian gives her a look, and she shrugs. “We do.”
“What is your goal here?” I say to him. “Have you become an agent for Ostriary? Is that the reason for all your secrecy?”
“I’d be a fool to say so, wouldn’t you think?” he says. “But I have spent six years there, and I can understand their caution. Their country is not without its problems.” His eyes don’t leave mine. “Neither is yours.”
No, I definitely don’t like him.
“Fine,” says Harristan. “Ostriary needs steel, yet they have nothing to offer. They haven’t sent an emissary of their own, just the son of a spy who doesn’t bear a clear allegiance to his home country. Regardless of the letter you bear, I have no reason to believe a word you’ve said. Tell me why I shouldn’t commit you to the Hold and send these Ostrian sailors back where they came from.”
“Oh,” says Rian. “I didn’t say Ostriary hasnothingto offer.” He stands.
All four of Harristan’s guards immediately step away from the wall. Two of them have hands on their weapons.
Rian freezes. He lifts his hands.
“I’m unarmed,” he says to the guards. His voice is quiet. “I have a key to the chest. Allow me to show you.”
