Marcus’s heart was actually lurching irregularly. He wondered if it was the beginning of an attack. “Lease it, sir?”

“Why not? It isn’t as if they’ve got much use for it, except for keeping us away from them. If we’re leasing it, we’ll be responsible for upkeep, which they couldn’t do in any case. A tangible, fixed border will exist between us, which might help lower tensions on both sides if we can avoid incidents. And since it’s their own property, generating revenue, I think they might be considerably less likely to attempt to demolish it on a weekly basis.”

“That’s... sir, that’s...” Marcus wanted to say “insane.” Or perhaps, “ridiculous.” But...

But a blizzard was coating the land with ice in the middle of what should have been a pleasantly warm spring day.

The analytical part of Marcus’s mind told him that the logic of the idea was not without merit. If it didn’t work, in the long term the Realm would certainly be no worse off than it was now—barring a major invasion, which was already under way, if from a different direction.

But what if it did work?

He was thoughtfully staring at the ships and the distant Icemen when Magnus approached and saluted the captain. He studied Marcus’s expression for a moment and frowned slightly.

“This wasn’t your idea, I take it?” the old Cursor asked.

Marcus blinked at him. “Are you barking mad?”

“Someone is,” the older man growled.

Octavian gave them both an oblique look, then pretended to ignore them.

Marcus shook his head and tried to regain his sense of orientation and purpose. “Times,” he said, “are changing.”

Magnus grunted sour, almost offended, agreement. “That’s what they do.”

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 15

Their kidnappers had bound Isana and covered her head with a hood before taking her from the room. Her stomach dropped from beneath her as they took to the air again, two windcrafters combining their skills to summon a single wind column to support the weight of three people. Isana was not clothed for such travel. The wind was making her skirts billow out and putting her legs on display.

She had to stop herself from laughing. The Realm’s deadliest foe had just taken her from the heart of the most heavily defended city in the world of Carna, and she was worried about impropriety. It was laughable—but hardly funny. If she let the laughter start, she was not sure she would be able to stop it from becoming a scream.