He held out a hand. After a brief pause, Nomi shook it, biting back a gasp as his large warm palm enveloped hers. His grip was strong, stronger than she’d expected for a man recovering from a murder attempt.

Then Malachi turned to Serina and shook her hand as well.

“I’ll write it all down,” Nomi said suddenly, with the sense that somehow this would make it more official. That the words, written by own her hand, might quiet her unquiet fears of betrayal.

“There’s paper and ink in the Commander’s room,” Val offered, the first thing he’d said since they’d entered the infirmary. Nomi had forgotten him almost entirely, in fact. She glanced his way, surprised he hadn’t inserted himself into the negotiations.

Serina said, “We’ll get the paper, and Nomi will write down our agreement. Then it will be up to the women of Mount Ruin to decide.”

“What do you mean?” Malachi asked, his brows drawing together. “I thought we had just decided.”

Serina lifted her chin. “I am not Commander Ricci. I will not force these women to fight. This isn’t just about your future, Your Eminence. It’s about theirs too. I’ll put it to them, and they’ll vote.”

Malachi’s jaw clenched. “Fine.”

It wasn’t as if he could argue. Here, Serina held the power. It was afterward, if they won, that Nomi worried about.

Serina squeezed Nomi’s shoulder again. “I’ll get some food for you too.”

With a last thoughtful look at Nomi, Serina turned and headed for the bright rectangle of light at the other end of the room. Val followed.

Nomi sat down beside Malachi and leaned against the wall. Not too close. Her mind still whirled. Would it happen? If the women of Mount Ruin took the palazzo, took back Malachi’s throne, would he really change the laws? What would it be like for women to have the freedom to learn to read, to choose their own employment, their own husbands? To choose their own futures?

And Renzo… with this plan, they were counting on him hiding, keeping himself safe, for as long as it took the ship to come and for them to attack the palazzo. Was that too long?

It didn’t matter, not really. Even if they knew exactly where Renzo was, how could she and Serina leave now in their little boat, when Malachi had promised the women of Viridia a new world?

“Damn.” Malachi swore, but with more fatigue than anger. He shifted uncomfortably, disrupting her line of thought.

“Are you in pain?” she asked.

“Of course I’m in pain!” he snapped.

Nomi moved to stand up.

He put out a hand toward her. “I’m sorry,” he said more calmly. “Don’t go. Please. I am… frustrated by my own weakness.”