There’s no one present to hear that admission but me. The Ashlord gods supposedly live in the underworld. Anything that comes into our world does so with their permission. That can mean only one thing: She cheated. “You know I had you. I’ll definitely tip my hat to that bit of riding you did when Bravos slammed you. Never seen anything like that. Your whip strike? It was gorgeous. But at the end, I had you.”

That brings a little of the fire back to the surface. Pippa raises her chin and her eyes look like a pair of burning coals. “I would have won either way.”

“Hard to tell with the gods tipping the scales.”

Annoyance flashes over her face. I’m surprised how quickly it bleeds into outright anger.

“You think it’s unfair? That the gods favor us? You know nothing, Longhand. You forget that the Dividian came here to make us bow. You forget that we were loyal worshippers to the gods that your people abandoned. We bowed to them so we would never have to bow to either of you. There’s a price in ruling this world. Always there has been a cost. We rule with iron and fire because it’s the only thing someone like you will respect. So tell me. Is it our fault you’re too afraid to dance with the gods?”

She doesn’t look very satisfied with her own answer, but she turns her eyes back to the window. I can tell she wants the conversation to end. She’s not wrong, but she’s not right, either. Our past is complicated. Our history is bloody. This land was shaped as much by the dying as it is now by the living. I think about why Daddy sent me in the first place. His own son. He sent me into a den of snakes to start a war, one that might avenge his beloved wife.

And then there’s the lesson I learned from Capri. The only way to beat them is to become them. We have to be as bloody, as cruel. We might even need some of their gods to pull it off.

“It never ends,” I say quietly. “You’ll hate me. And my children will hate your children. Your gods must be excited. Things are about to get bloody. Just the way they like it, right?”

I’m expecting her to bite back. Instead, Pippa turns to look at me. Her glare burns across the carriage and I can tell for the first time she has a sense of what is coming. This was more than just a race. Our world is about to burn.

And the two of us are the ones who will set it on fire.

The door of our carriage opens. Officials stand beneath the stars.

“Adrian. Come with us.”