have come straight to Rolan weeks ago and struck up this deal yourself. Don’t pretend you think these empire lords would be too afraid to do it—we both know an ambitious man would marry you in a heartbeat. Why come for me instead?”
Val seemed taken aback at the question. “What do you—I told you. Together, we could—”
“Yes, yes, I know,” Veronyka said, waving away Val’s words. “We could be powerful. We could remake the past and rewrite your legacy.” Val’s mouth was open in outrage. She clearly did not appreciate Veronyka’s mocking interruption, but Veronyka ignored her. “You became so fixated on that, you put me above the empire you so desperately covet. You don’t need me by your side to achieve your ambitions,” Veronyka said, smiling as she shook her head. “No, but you want me there. You want it more than anything…. You want it more than the throne. You’re weaker and more cowardly than the rest of us put together, because all these years later—a lifetime later—and you still haven’t learned to stand on your own. You were too afraid to rule alone when my mother was alive, and you’re too afraid to rule alone now.”
Val slapped Veronyka across the face.
She looked utterly shocked when she did it, as if she were the one who’d been struck, and had apparently forgotten the warning she’d just given Sidra.
Veronyka’s head snapped back again, but Val had hit her opposite cheek, causing new pain to flare up and her brain to rattle around her skull. She stumbled backward into the wall and leaned there, gathering her breath.
It had been worth it, though. She’d never seen Val look so shaken.
Panting, Val slowly gathered herself, smoothing her hands over her tunic and pushing her tangled hair out of her face. Piece by piece she put herself back together, her steady, unfeeling mask in place.
“You’re wrong. I have always been separate from you and your mother. I have always stood alone. I have suffered much in my lives, but why would I suffer the indignity of a marriage to a valley governor when I could pass that off to you instead?”
The words were sensible, her logic sound… but Veronyka knew Val and could tell she was lying even without shadow magic.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s you or me,” Veronyka said, still propped against the cold stone to keep herself upright. “The council will never allow it. Besides, one governor can’t overtake the empire—if they could, they’d have done it by now.”
“You’re forgetting the Grand Council meeting,” Val said, tone back to her usual brusqueness. “Once Rolan convinces them that the Phoenix Riders are a threat, the empire will send its armies into Pyra. They will send thousands, ensuring they finish what they failed to do seventeen years ago. And while they are gone and the capital is vulnerable, we will send our allied forces into Aura Nova and take the Nest.”
It could work, Veronyka realized with numb horror. The empire was so preoccupied with Phoenix Riders and Pyra, it wasn’t prepared for an attack from within. If a single governor focused his attention on Aura Nova, he could easily retake the Nest, the literal and political center of the empire. Holding it would be another matter…. But if a rightful heir were crowned, the council would have a hard time undoing it. It wouldn’t be illegal as much as against their own personal interests.
Lord Rolan would become king—or so he believed—although neither he nor Veronyka would ever actually rule. As soon as they had the Nest, Val would crown herself. Surely Lord Rolan knew that? And would the governor’s forces stay loyal to Val once their acting general had been betrayed? It was the empire’s gold, not the governor’s, that paid their salaries after all. They’d be foolish to desert or attempt to remain loyal to their spurned governor—in fact, Veronyka was quite certain Val would kill the man and install someone of her own choosing in the position. Perhaps Sidra. Would Rolan’s soldiers remain faithful to the empire itself, whoever was in charge of it?
“Yes,” Val said, obviously delighted with herself and her deceptions. “You will wed Lord Rolan of Stel, governor of Ferro and descendant of King Rol the Betrayer himself, and I will take back what is mine. I’ll enjoy sticking a knife into the back of a born backstabber.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Veronyka asked. Val never revealed her grand plans to Veronyka…. Growing up, she rarely revealed