dull fear pulsed through her veins as he added, “Legatus, it is long past time the Maarin were brought to heel.”
Lydia’s hands turned to ice, her breath catching in her throat. Teriana, her mother, and the rest of the crew of the Quincense were in danger, and they needed to be warned.
Then the rustle of paper caught her attention, and Lucius said loudly, “Behold, the Dark Shores of Reath.”
No. Impossible.
Lydia inched slowly upward until she was peering over the lip of the window frame. The two men had their backs to her, slightly obscured by the gauzy curtain. Carefully, she eased the curtain open a crack, her stomach plummeting as she took in the expansive map laid out on the table in front of them. The eastern half containing the Empire was deeply familiar, but the other half … the other half was entirely new to her. Yet there was no denying what it represented. Lucius had found proof of the Dark Shores’ existence. The Maarin were not his primary target: they were merely the means to a far greater end.
Dropping back to her hands and knees, Lydia listened to the two men speculate as to how, precisely, the Maarin traversed the seas, bile rising in her throat as Lucius chuckled about information that had allowed him to charge the Maarin with paganism, which had enabled him to search their ships. Which had allowed him to detain them. And to torture them.
“Even as we speak,” Lucius said, “our navy is moving to intercept several influential Maarin ships. They have the information we need; it’s merely a matter of extracting it.”
The Quincense was an influential ship.
Panic snapped at Lydia’s heels like a whip, and she crawled toward the wall, barely feeling the bits of rock that dug into her palms and knees. Clambering over the wall, she sprinted through the neighboring property, past caring about stealth. She needed to get home. Needed to tell her father what she’d learned, because he’d have the power to stop this.
Her dress was glued to her back with sweat as she shoved through the front doors to the Valerius villa. “Father!” she shouted. “Where are you?”
There was a flurry of steps; then her father appeared, his eyes widening at the sight of her, sweaty and scratched, her dress torn and soaked, her hair disheveled. “What’s happened?” he demanded. “Who’s done this to you?”
“Nothing’s happened to me.” Grasping his arms, she said, “It’s Teriana. The Quincense. They’re in danger. Lucius has sent the navy to capture Maarin ships because he thinks they have information he wants.”
Her father stared at her, silent, then finally asked, “How is it that you came in possession of this information?”
“I went to Lucius’s home,” she said. “I overheard a conversation between him and the Thirty-Seventh Legion’s legatus. He’s bribed them. That’s why they voted for him.”
“Have you lost your mind, Lydia? You trespassed on Cassius’s property? Eavesdropped on a private conversation? What if you’d been caught?”
It was her turn to gape. “How is that your concern? He bribed nearly five thousand men for their votes! Surely that invalidates his victory?”
“It’s not that simple,” her father said slowly. “It would need to be proven in the courts, and it would be your word against theirs—”
“There’s no time for that,” she snapped. “Teriana’s in danger. He’s already captured other Maarin crews. Tortured them for information.”
“He’s done what?” Her father turned away from her, wiping sweat from his brow. “The Maarin have an agreement with the Senate, and such behavior is in flagrant violation of the terms. For him to do this, he’d need the Senate vote, and I can’t imagine a circumstance where such a thing would be forthcoming. He’s broken the law.”
Vibius’s voice cut across the room. “No, he hasn’t. But the Maarin certainly have.”
Lydia whirled, watching as her father’s nephew sauntered toward them, his arms crossed behind his back. “The Empire’s agreement with the Maarin specifically states that if a Maarin ship is found in violation of the Empire’s laws they forfeit the autonomy and protections ceded to them by the agreement.”
“One ship’s misstep does not invalidate the agreement with the entire Maarin nation,” her father responded, his tone icy. “And from your words, Vibius, it would appear that you are complicit in Lucius’s crimes.”
“If I’m complicit in anything it is in the protection and enforcement of the Empire’s laws.” The smile on Vibius’s face grew, revealing teeth stained by wine. “This crime was not perpetrated by a singular individual. Or