Chapters (70)
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- Map
- Epigraph
- BEGINNINGS
- PART I
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- PART II
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- TRICKSTER
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- Also by Susan Dennard
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Newsletter Sign-up
“Ah, but doubt is good.” Vaness arched her spine, face cresting toward the sky. “It means we question our choices. It means we look for better solutions. In Marstok, we have a saying: They who see only one way forward are they who step off the cliff.” She glided forward as if to do just that, and without thinking—without pausing to realize that of course Vaness wasn’t going to stride off the plateau and into the sea—Vivia slung her arms around the Empress.
She whirled Vaness toward her and clutched her close. Chest-to-chest, clothes wet and faces flushed. And though Vivia ought to pull away now that she realized it had been a joke, she didn’t.
Vaness didn’t either. Her eyes moved to Vivia’s lips, and Vivia realized in a vague, incredulous sort of way that the Empress wanted to kiss her.
An earnest voice shouted from across the Well: “Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”
Vivia jolted; Vaness flinched, and as they lurched apart, heat billowed up from Vivia’s ribs, from a firepot that had gone off inside her chest and was now burning, burning, boiling through her.
“Your Majesty,” Cam called again, oblivious to the scene he’d interrupted as his booted feet slapped over flagstones and around cypress trees. He came to a panting stop before Vivia and Vaness. “We’ve … had word,” he gasped, “from the Red … Sails. They’re attacking the Dalmotti ships and want to know … if we’d like to take Captain Kadossi into our custody.”
Vivia and Vaness locked eyes—Vivia’s wide, the Empress’s razor thin. “Well, this is unexpected,” Vivia murmured. Her thoughts were flustered, her skin aflame from a kiss she’d seen in Vaness’s eyes.
“That is a vast understatement,” the Empress replied, while the iron at her wrists shivered restlessly. If she was flustered, she didn’t show it. “He could be useful to us.”
“He could also be dangerous,” Vivia countered. “And we shouldn’t accept gifts from pirates.”
“Says the woman who was a pirate.”
Vivia shook her head. Then shook it more emphatically when Vaness’s expression remained unchanged. “You cannot possibly think we should take him, Empress. The Red Sails have no reason to aid us. This is clearly a trap.”
“Or perhaps they simply know which side will win the war.” Vaness turned to Cam. “Tell the Red Sails we will take Captain Kadossi into our custody immediately—”
“Cam,” Vivia snapped, “tell the Red Sails we will not take Captain Kadossi.”
“—and then contact the Doge,” the Empress finished. “We will want to ransom the man.”
“No, we absolutely will not.” A new heat brewed in Vivia’s chest. “I will not have Red Sails or Dalmotti captains on Nubrevnan soil, Empress. This is my homeland, and we will do things my way. I believe I’ve warned you about disobedience before…” She trailed off at the sight of Cam, his face green with horror.