KINGSLAYER

♕ 9 | 2 ♕

"Is this what you called me here to discuss? If so, I am going to bed."

He sobered. "Over tea, you asked me what I want. Now I know."

"Oh?" Jaylah arched a brow.

"I want to hunt slavers." As if expecting her to be skeptical, he went on. "What happened to those children in Paragonia was not an isolated incident. Most slavers aren't actually concerned with returning escaped war slaves. There's not enough that escape to keep them paid. It's just a cover for bad men to take children off the streets to put them to use."

Put them to use. It sickened Jaylah to know there were infinite possibilities as to what that meant, and that he likely had experienced more than one.

"It is a noble idea," she said, shifting her weight. "But difficult to execute, given their disappearances would warrant attention from their presumably rather dangerous connections." A sigh. "You and I both know their operations run much deeper than a surface-level job. We will be pulling up roots of things that will fight to stay hidden. Violently so. I will be fine, but you could be killed."

"I've been in danger my whole life." His body language did not shift, but his tone took on a more vulnerable note. "Jaylah. I need to kill them. No one saved me. I need to be for someone else what I spent years begging the stars for. This fate...it's hell. It really is."

Out of instinct, Jaylah nearly said, 'I know'. But she did not know that kind of dehumanizing suffering. Most of her own problems were self-imposed. So she said, "It will be done, I will make sure of it. We can work out the logistics later." She hated how soft it came out of her mouth without being forced.

"I have information," Alexander said suddenly after eyeing her for a moment. All hints of his desperation were gone, though she knew it always existed within him. He had simply chosen to let her see a glimpse of it—why, to determine whether she could be trusted with what he had to say next? "Ermalai's known the Kalingi were coming here for weeks. He's been scheming alongside them because they want to annex the Southern Isles into Fas Kaling before Oceana can."

Jaylah frowned, lowering her candle hand a bit in shock. "What is in it for Ermalai besides the obvious?"

"Besides cutting you off resources that run rampant on the islands? He gets severe tax cuts on Kalingi goods for helping them out."

"I see." Jaylah's mind was already slapping together a plan to prevent such a thing from happening. If the Kalingi gained the Southern Isles, they would have the proximity to invade Oceana. And oh, how they wanted her land as their own again.

"I'm sure they're coming here to feel you out. Perhaps they'll even seek to distract you from the issue at hand. I don't know. But I do know their leader will arrive to speak with the Southern Isles chieftains in three weeks. And if they don't agree to annexation, it will be forced upon them."

Nodding, Jaylah marveled at how easily he relayed this information. Normally, she feared everything he said was a lie, but she had reason to believe him this once. He had nothing to gain otherwise. It was her manipulation at play—and it had worked gloriously. This was only the first shred of information, but she would continue to press him for more. Not pointedly, but through slow smiles and meaningful glances up through her lashes. Soon, he would be all hers. Ermalai stood no chance.

Deep in her ambitious thoughts, she had been staring at him a moment too long. "What?" he demanded to know.

"You willingly shared information that will cripple your Czar."

"Yeah, well. Don't make me regret it."

"Thank you." She let him back away first.

"Anytime, Imperatrix." His eyes were still on her, heavy as iron ingots, and she wondered for the first time if he was playing a new deception of his own.

♕ ♕ ♕ ♕ ♕

"The Kalingi have arrived and are requesting to land in the port," a soldier relayed to Jaylah as she sat on her throne. "Three schooners, no cannons or crossbows from our inspection. They are only diplomats, not armed. They say they only seek to pay their respects to the Queen."

Jaylah had made her decision. "Let them through. It has been a long time since we had peaceful discussion with our neighbors across the sea. Oceana could always use more positive foreign relations." Her head tilted to the soldier, who was pale as could be at her answer. "But if they do anything to make you suspect malfeasance, shoot arrows through their skulls."

"Yes, Your Majesty." He bowed dramatically before heading out the door. Jaylah watched him go, knowing when he returned everything would be different. But that was fine. She could be a good host.

And when they were escorted into the room, she was. She smiled and shook hands and gave polite greetings to all three diplomats. The Navrikans' stay had given her practice in dealing with people she did not want around but could not afford to treat badly. Though she secretly wished to stay on her throne and assert herself by letting them grovel for her attention, she knew that was too cold, too inhospitable.

First impressions are the most important, her mother would say. It only takes a few seconds for someone to decide whether you are worth their respect.

I will be their Queen, Jaylah recalled saying back. I will give them no other choice.

Now, she knew things were more complicated than she gave her mother credit for. Queen Euadne may not have been struggling with being hungry and vicious and...burning like Jaylah, but she still held this position. Did she have the same thoughts Jaylah had about these people or was she benevolent to her core?

Her father's line held Kalingi blood, of course, given how Oceana's first King had sailed across the sea from there to claim the land as his own. That same year was the year the Gods vanished from the earth. The Kalingi believed the new Oceanics had murdered their Gods, and it had festered into lethal xenophobia.

The diplomat in the middle stepped forward, his dark eyes glittering under the refracted light of the chandelier. "I am sure you would like nothing more than to get down to business. Our first question we bring to you is our main reason for sailing all the way here in lieu of corresponding via letter. Rex Malchus wishes to not only build bonds with Oceana, but also the Southern Isles. Given your closeness to the Isles, we simply want to be sure our visit there will not encroach upon any boundaries."

Though that was not a question, rather a politely-worded demand, Jaylah smiled. "Of course it is adequate by me. I am happy to build a better relationship with your country. We have been at odds for far too long."

The one on the right flashed teeth that were blindingly white against his black beard. "Our Rex Malchus is of the same mind. We are happy you are open-minded enough to enter discussions with us about the specifics."

Jaylah's smile did not waver as she voiced her agreement. Yes, she would allow the Kalingi to sail to the Southern Isles as a ploy to leech her own land from her. Because she was going to beat them there to make the Isles her own.