The Traitor Queen (The Bridge Kingdom, #2)

by Danielle L. Jensen

Lara. His wife. The Traitor Queen of Ithicana.

Only once he was off the seas and beneath the heat of the Maridrinian skies did he get his wish: the blindfold removed. Wishes were the dreams of fools.

Run, Lara. And don’t ever look back.

“I never understood it. Never understood why he would want to be anywhere but here.” “Because,” Lara answered softly, “he knew there’d come a time when he wouldn’t be allowed to leave. Just like you knew there would come a time when you wouldn’t be allowed back.”

“You fell in love with him, didn’t you? The Ithicanian king? Told him what you were sent to do and tried to undo the damage you’d done, and Father found out? Something like that?”

“You screwed up, and now Father has both your kingdom and your husband in his clutches.”

“And let me guess, you’re here because you need our help getting them back.”

I don’t want my child growing up with this legacy, Lara. I want them to be proud of their mother. And their aunties.”

“eat your fill, then pack your things and hit the road. It’s time the Veliant sisters had a little reunion.”

“Ah. The inadequate heir.”

“She’s my sister, you know.” “If you meant that to be a great revelation, I’m afraid I have to disappoint you.” A soft chuckle, but Aren didn’t miss how the prince’s eyes swiftly scanned the garden, the first crack in his façade of amused indifference. “Not my half sister. We have the same mother, too.”

To remember how, when she was caught and dragged back, my father strangled her himself in front of us all. As punishment. And warning.” Lara’s mother was dead.

“I sense that you’re considering removing yourself from the game. I ask that you might reconsider.”

Seeing that the other woman was readying to slap her again, Lara added, “You got your piece. Try it again and I’ll break your wrist.”

Lia pulled out one of her knives and set it on the table, the edge razor-sharp. Sarhina picked it up and used it to slice her roll in half, though Lia snatched it back when she started using it to butter the bread.

And if there was one thing Lara knew for certain, it was this: The Veliant sisters had very good aim.

The young Valcottan woman lifted one brown shoulder in a graceful shrug, but next to her, Keris’s knuckles whitened around the stem of his wineglass, seeming to take issue with Zarrah’s life being threatened.

Wild things better off untamed. More beautiful because of it.”

Aren said, “Visit the florist, my lady, and tell her Amelie Yamure’s grandson sent you.”

“You didn’t honestly believe I was going to let you handle this job without supervision, did you, you conniving little twit?” The old healer pulled off her cloak and tossed it at Jor. “Not given your prior history of botching things.”

From behind Lara, there was the scrape of chairs pushing back, blades hissing out of sheaths as her sisters rose. Sarhina stepped between Lara and Nana. “Mind your tongue when you’re speaking to my sister, old woman, or you’ll soon find yourself without one.”

“One night of passion and I’ve been evicted from the pretty-face pack? It’s so unfair. Is it the belly? Or the spots? I’m told they’ll both disappear when the baby comes.”

“Watch your mouth!” Lia jerked her knife out, eyes bright with anger. Bronwyn tapped her own knife against her chin, smiling devilishly. “Who are you again?”

“Enough with your babbling, woman. I only have so much time. Now tell whatever Ithicanians you’re harboring that Amelie Yamure’s grandson sent me.”

Aren ignored the mockery. “The Maridrinian people don’t want the bridge.” “That they do not. They’ve gained nothing from it, but it has cost them a great deal.”

Trade had dried up. The bridge was empty.

How long would the Maridrinians accept paying in blood for something they didn’t want? Something that yielded them nothing? How long until they pulled Silas from his throne and replaced him with someone more aligned with their way of thinking?

“The coffers, I’m afraid to say, are completely dry.”

“Zarrah.” Keris gave the slightest of nods. “You want me to arrange for her escape.” Another nod. “Why do you believe I’d risk my own people to save her when I’m not even willing to risk them to save my own skin?” “Because,” he answered, “if you do it, she’s promised Eranahl will be supplied with enough food to outlast my father’s siege.”

“The harem won’t help me free Zarrah. But they will help free you.” Keris smiled, his eyes gleaming. “Which is why you’re going to use them to help orchestrate your own escape, and when you run, you’re going to take Zarrah with you.”

Silas was right: Aren was nothing like him. And it was time Aren remembered how to think like an Ithicanian.

“Forgive her. She loves you.” He dropped the old woman’s arm, feeling Lara’s gaze on him. Knowing she was listening. “She doesn’t know what love is.” “That’s why you should forgive her.”

Cresta laughed softly. “I’m grateful not to be going with you two. There is nothing worse than being the third wheel in a lovers’ quarrel.”

You will sit on your throne again, mark my words. My father pissed off the wrong woman when he pissed off your wife.”

me make myself abundantly clear, Your Grace,” Sarhina hissed, the only thing visible in the darkness the whites of her teeth. “You will never speak about my sister in that way or it will be you whose throat is slit. Understood?”

“You mean nothing to me. You are nothing. The only reason that the rest of my sisters and I agreed to help you was because Lara loves you, and we love her. Never mind that we owe her our lives.”

But please understand that her coming to trust you at all is nothing short of miraculous. She’s as much a victim of my father’s machinations as you and Ithicana. Though unlike you, she isn’t willing to let him win. Lara remains queen of Ithicana even if you’ve given up on being its king.”

“He hates me.” Despite herself, a hot tear burned down Lara’s cheek, which she brushed away angrily. “I thought—” She broke off, shaking her head. “I don’t know what I thought.” “That he’d forgive you because you rescued his ungrateful, albeit rather perfect, ass?”

She understood then, in that moment, what fueled the anger in his eyes. Not her. Not what she’d done. It was himself whom Aren truly blamed.

Keep going. You are the goddamned queen of Ithicana! You will not be defeated by sand!

Lara’s capacity to endure hardship was nothing short of astonishing, and that surprised him and yet somehow…didn’t.

Willpower. That was what kept her going. Sheer force of will and a stubbornness to match.

Would trick me into believing they had you. And I was terrified because I knew if they ever succeeded, I’d tell them anything they wanted to know.”

“We need to wait for Her Majesty to return lest we foil her precious plan.”

Lara’s chin trembled as she struggled not to sob, then she clamped her teeth down hard. She was a queen. A warrior. But more than that, she was the little cockroach. And she had no intention of dying.

“The sort who’s had his fill of backstabbing pricks,” Aren replied before sliding his blade across the man’s throat. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get my wife back.”

“Lara, no matter where you are in the world, if you need me, I’ll come for you. Please know that.”

“I’m fine, Aren.” “I know you are. And I know you can do it yourself. But let me do it for you anyway.”

She was everything. Mind, body, and soul, she was everything he wanted. Everything he needed. The queen Ithicana needed.

She was right, and he knew it. But in his heart, he knew that even if he never saw her again for the rest of his life, it would never be over. She would always be his queen.