Page 8 of The Queen's Shadow

“Talk,” Cassandra said.

His gaze narrowed. “As you know, Medira has an . . . interest . . . in what Ineti is doing in our lands.”

An interest. Cassandra almost snorted. “The marriage to the Inetian emperor’s daughter. I’ve heard.”

Arphaxad’s gaze skittered from hers for a moment, then snapped back. “I suppose I would have lost respect for you if you hadn’t known about that.”

Her lips curved. “Glad I’m not a disappointment.”

“You never disappoint me, Cass,” he said.

Warmth pooled in her belly. The queen’s words came back to her in a rush. “You are quite blind when it comes to him. Don’t do anything rash.” Her hand tightened on the dagger. Her sister was wrong. She was not blind when it came to him. He was arrogant, sly, and not to be underestimated. There wasn’t anything to be blind about.

“What do you know about Ineti’s presence here then?” she asked. “I’d expect the king’s nephew to have some insight.”

Arphaxad gave a dry chuckle. “You would think that, wouldn’t you? But as I said before, I know just about as much as you.” He paused, eyeing her for a moment, as if weighing his next words. “I think we can help each other.”

Help each other? Her brows shot up. They had never once been on the same side. That was just not what they did.

“Work together,” she repeated dumbly. “With you.”

“Oh, come now, Cass,” he said, his mouth quirking. “I’m not so bad.”

She couldn’t keep from snorting this time. “So, I’m to help Medira secure an alliance with Ineti? That doesn’t sound like something I’d be interested in, Phax.”

He spread his hands. “On the contrary, I think it would be mutually beneficial. With the entire hoard of Sorothi chanters down there who wield who knows what kind of magic as well as unknown Inetian caravanners, we could both use a little back up.” He paused. “Besides. I have...doubts...that whatever we uncover will lead to Medira following through with this alliance.”

Cassandra’s eyebrows rose further. “So, you want my help to...end the alliance with Ineti?”

“Which can only be a good thing for Rendra.”

She couldn’t argue with that logic. They both wanted to understand what was happening in that valley. And if he thought it was something that could break Medira’s pending marriage alliance with Ineti, then it had to be serious.

“I still have no reason to trust you.”

He met her gaze for a long moment. "You don’t. And I have no reason to trust you. It’s a choice.”

Her heart gave a sudden thud. A choice. She had allowed him to get the best of her too many times. But there was truth to what he was saying.

And there was a part of her that really, really wanted to play the game he was asking her to play.

“Besides,” he said, “you know that if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here at all.”

Her cheeks flamed. If she hadn’t been so stupid back in Medira and let him get his hands on that letter...“Is that a thank you I hear?” she said, pushing back her embarrassment.

A muscle twitched in his jaw. She almost burst into a surprised laugh. For once, Arphaxad Ilin Serra had not known about something going on in his own kingdom. That delighted her far more than it should.

She grinned at him. “Well, then,” she said sweetly. “It seems you do have me to thank for this.”

He arched a brow at her, and her grin widened.

“It’s only polite to offer some sort of thanks for a favor, I believe.”

“Is it?” he said, leaning forward so that his neck brushed the edge of her knife. Their gazes locked. She would not be the first to look away.

An earth-shattering boom rocked the valley below. Cassandra was tossed away from the ridge like a rag doll, her knife flying from her hands and skittering away into the forest. Her shoulder slammed against a fallen trunk as the world turned white, and the breath was knocked from her lungs.

For a moment, she lay still, trying to get her bearings, to figure out what had just happened. Arphaxad. She scrambled to her feet, swiftly drawing another knife from her boot.