“Nothing in comparison to you,” he replied. “Tell me, what other skills do you possess?”

“There’s too many to count,” she replied coolly.

“For the sake of your people and mine, let us hope exoneration is one of them,” he said pointedly. “You’ve three months to prove Marghazar was not behind the summit attack.”

Durkhanai bit her tongue. “The innocent needn’t worry about the swarming of vultures—the truth always reveals itself.”

“The sooner you find out, the sooner we can all leave,” he said, voice bored.

Despite wanting that outcome herself, she couldn’t stand his indifference to the privilege he had of being in her lands. “Why would you hasten your departure? Was it not you and your zillas that begged for the chance to be allowed entrance into my home?”

“Only to ensure there’s no fabrication of evidence,” he replied. “The chance to negotiate is a plus for the others, but Jardum and I couldn’t care less about the famed Marghazar. We’ve had great success without you for all these years and have no need of you now.”

“Oh, please,” Durkhanai said. “Marghazar has twice the resources of any other zilla.”

“Yet you withhold,” Asfandyar replied.

Durkhanai faltered. “We spend our resources on our people.”

“And what of the other tribes?”

“Their leaders should take care of them.”

“But you just stated Marghazar has twice the resources of everyone else—don’t you think that’s unfair? We can’t help the lands we were born to, after all. Haven’t you considered that trade would help the other zillas and their people, as well as your own people? Isolation is a barbaric notion.”

“Well . . .”

“No, you haven’t considered it. For the same reason you didn’t attend the summit: you are a haughty, selfish lot.” Asfandyar shook his head. “At least we have one another. With our joined forces, we’ve been able to hold back the Lugham Empire on all of our borders, and no matter how strong Marghazar is, that strength cannot last forever. Especially if Marghazar cannot prove its innocence and there is war. Yes, you are strong—but a triple-frontier war? Even Marghazar will crumble.”

There was merit to what Asfandyar was saying. Durkhanai had never considered it like that before. Perhaps he would be a useful ally after all, though she was doing a poor job at trying to make him one.

“Is that why you are here?” Durkhanai asked, keeping her voice level. “To convince Marghazar into your talks of unification?”

“No, that is not why I am here.”

“Then?”

Asfandyar cut her a sharp grin. “For you. I came for you.”

“What?” She didn’t understand, but it didn’t stop her heart from racing as the space between them narrowed. Her stomach twisted. He balanced her chin on his index finger and lifted her face to meet his.