“Of course I’ve tried! Why do you ask such stupid questions when we’re desperate?”

Her bedroom door opened and Aidan walked in. “I’ve got Caswyn to bed,” he announced before dropping into a nearby chair. “And then I had to escort Zoya back to her room from Uther’s. I don’t know what she was planning but . . . I know I don’t want to think about it.”

Brannie chuckled but Keita was focused on her current issue.

Leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees, Keita asked Aidan, “What should we do about the Riders?”

“Well, poisoning is out. That never works on Daughters of the Steppes.”

“Again,” Brannie repeated, “killing the sister of my brother’s mate is not an acceptable suggestion.”

“I think we should bring them with us.”

Keita straightened. “You do? And how do we explain their presence to the Empress?”

Aidan shrugged and smiled. “Tell the truth. They attached themselves to us and we couldn’t get rid of them. The Eastlanders know all about our Riders and they have their own, led by some human named Batu . . . or something. They trade with them. Plus, your cousin is mated with Kachka’s sister. Her insisting on also protecting you because she doesn’t trust the males to do it is a story any monarch would believe about the Cadwaladrs and the Daughters of the Steppes.”

He yawned and used both hands to scratch his head. “Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to have the backup of two raging warriors and a disturbingly evil witch.”

“She is evil, isn’t she?” Brannie asked. “It’s not just my imagination.”

“No. It’s not.”

Standing, Keita began to pace for a minute or two. Then she stopped, nodded her head. “You’re right, Aidan. This might work to our advantage. We’ll bring them.”

She smiled at them both, then left.

Brannie smirked at Aidan. “She actually thinks she had some say in that shit.”

“She’s a royal. Of course she thought she had some say.”

Now yawning herself, Brannie fell back on her bed. She was exhausted. Perhaps too exhausted to even take off her boots.

She felt the bed dip and looked to her right. Aidan had stretched out beside her.

“Before you complain about me being here . . . I need your protection.”

Brannie grinned. “From Zoya?”

“I’m the only one not too drunk to speak. And now that she’s been fed, I’m sure she has”—he shuddered—“other needs.”

“Doesn’t she have, I don’t know, ten thousand husbands?”

“Close.”

“Where’s the loyalty?”

“Apparently their husbands are supposed to understand that when they’re away from the tribe to do battle, they will get their needs met by others.”

Brannie snorted. “My mother never did that to me da and she was off in battle all the time.”

“They’re dragons. Completely different.”