“What about her?” Akeylah set her teeth on edge behind her careful smile.

Ambassador Ghoush laughed. When Akeylah didn’t join, she sobered. “Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say that four days’ time seems more than sufficient for a cursory review of the evidence. Is there enough to imprison the girl or not? My people are in an uproar.”

“Mine as well.” Ambassador Perry grimaced. “Some have gone so far as to call for her head, even in spite of her noble birth. Ambassador Danton, I’m sure you understand, given the Eastern Reach suffered grievous losses in Burnt Bay, too.”

“It’s funny,” Danton replied, without his usual swagger. “More Easterners died in Burnt Bay than any other Reach, and yet, I don’t hear these barbaric cries for execution from my people.” His voice went sharp.

“Well.” Akeylah leaned forward in her seat, eager to avoid an all-out fight. “I’m sure we can all appreciate the high emotions involved. Many people lost loved ones on those ships.”

Danton narrowed his eyes. “So you agree with those baying for your sister’s blood.”

She flinched. Danton had always been the one ambassador she counted on for support. His relationship with Ren, fraught though it may be at times, usually made him agreeable to the sisters’ suggestions. “Of course not, Ambassador. I’m merely suggesting we all feel strongly about the situation. We must take care so that our emotions don’t lead us to false conclusions.”

“So your father doesn’t plan to put Florencia on trial.” Ghoush’s mouth thinned.

Akeylah swallowed hard. Here it was. She should agree to a trial. It’s what the heir demanded. Seas knew the heir could ruin her as easily as they had her sisters. By this time tomorrow, it could be Akeylah’s head these ambassadors were demanding. Or worse.

Ignore me, and I’ll make those you love suffer in your stead.

She thought about her father. About Ren, or even Zofi. Would Zofi still think to shield herself, out on the road? And there was Rozalind, of course. At least the queen shared no bloodline with the heir, couldn’t be cursed. But there were other ways to make people suffer.…

But giving in to the heir’s demand meant sacrificing Ren, and for what? The brief illusion of safety. After she subjected Ren to a trial, there would be another demand, and another, until the heir took the throne at last.

Could Akeylah really be so easily controlled? Was she a puppet after all?

“We don’t believe there is sufficient evidence to justify a trial,” Akeylah said. “Yet,” she added, when it looked like Ghoush was about to protest again.

Danton, who’d relaxed at her first statement, tensed at the final word.

She avoided his eye and cleared her throat. “Now, if we can return to the agenda. The crop blight is our first item of business.”