Thread of Ash and Fire

Ch. 5: Hate That I Want You

Anna broke off, staring hard at the light filtering through the crack in the door. Her eyes burned. For a moment, the only sound in the room was her ragged breathing. The skin of her back seemed to burn. Vos es nuqum. I am nothing.

"No," Ryne said finally. "I don't understand. And I'm sorry."

She braced herself. "But?"

"There is no but," Ryne said, holding out his hands. "I'm on your side, Cidarius. Tell me what you want to do."

Something punched her in the gut. A mix of gratitude and relief, and maybe even surprise. She really hadn't been expecting Ryne to give in, Anna realized; in fact, now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure she'd ever seen Ryne give in to anyone before.

But here they were.

"You're right," Anna admitted. "We don't have the resources to win a fight. But what if we didn't have to?"

"I don't follow," Ryne said.

He looked like it pained him to admit it. Anna set down the quill.

"Imagine a bee's nest." She drew the shape of it in the air with her hands. "If you try to take on hundreds of bees at once, then you'll be overwhelmed. They're too strong en masse. But if you kill the queen..."

Understanding flickered. "Then the colony dies out."

Anna nodded. "Then the colony dies out."

"You want to assassinate Eris," Ryne said.

His expression was thoughtful. He was turning over the situation in his mind, examining it like a game of chess. It should, Anna thought, have been disturbing how easily Ryne could discuss killing a family member, but it didn't surprise her. He had the unique ability to detach from situations. It was both his greatest strength and biggest weakness.

"It'll be difficult," Ryne said finally. "My cousin is terrible, but he's not stupid. He'll surround himself with whatever resources he has left."

"I know," Anna said. "That's why we'll begin by gathering information. Speaking with people that know him." She hopped on to the desk, legs dangling above the floor. "Eris must have a weakness. Something that we can exploit." Ryne was looking at her with an odd expression, and she frowned. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

"Delafort." Anna narrowed her eyes. "What is it?"

Ryne smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I was just thinking that I was jealous of Tristan earlier."

Surprise flitted through her. "Of Tristan?"

Ryne blew out a breath. "You should hear the way he speaks about you. It's such an— an uncomplicated love. And I thought, imagine loving her like that." He laughed, but there was no humour in it. "Like it was the simplest thing in the world."

Her mouth went dry. "Delafort..."

Ryne drew closer. His green eyes were painfully bright in the dim light. He smelled of dust and hay, mixed with something uniquely Ryne, something that made her think of spiced whisky warming your stomach. He cupped her jaw, his thumb stroking her cheekbone. Her eyes fluttered closed.

"I hated being in that throne room with you," Anna whispered.

Her heart pounded. She immediately wished that she could take the words back, crumple them up like a paper ball. Even now, Anna thought, it was difficult to tell Ryne the truth; she no longer thought Ryne capable of putting a dagger between her ribs, but there were other ways to hurt someone. Infinitely more terrible ways.

"I know," Ryne said.

Her voice was ragged. "I hate that I want you."

Ryne rested his forehead against hers. "I know, little thief. Better than anyone."

Anna lifted her head, her mouth finding his. Ryne made a low noise — something between a curse and a groan — and his hands threaded in her hair. She pulled herself closer, tighter, fusing their bodies into a single form. Heat rushed through her.

Anna wrapped her legs around his waist. She could feel Ryne's heart slamming in his ribcage, racing to meet her own. He was kissing her neck now, murmuring her name, his eyes so dark that they looked almost black. I love him, Anna thought, and it felt dizzying and terrifying, like clinging to a capsizing boat. I love him so much that it hurts. She wanted him closer, wanted him everywhere, on this desk and the bed and the—

A thought struck her.

"Wait," Anna gasped.

She shoved Ryne back. They were both panting hard, their harsh breathing intermingling in the small space. Anna wiped at her mouth.

"Bees," she said.

"Bees," Ryne echoed, looking slightly dazed.

Anna pinched the bridge of her nose. "When you destroy a colony — when you kill their ruler — then they'll try to find a suitable replacement. Someone to lead the hive. It's the only way they can survive."

Ryne leaned against the cot. If it was anyone else, Anna thought, they would have been justifiably irritated that she'd been thinking about strategy whilst kissing them. But Ryne's green eyes glittered, and there was colour in his cheeks. Anna shivered. If anything, he was looking at her like...

Well.

Hungry wasn't the right word, exactly, but something very like it.

Ryne leaned back on his hands. "You're suggesting that we put someone on the Lucernian throne after we kill Eris."

Anna nodded. "Better one of ours than one of theirs."

He ran a hand over his stubble. "Interesting."

"But who?" Anna asked.

It was the one piece of the puzzle that she wasn't sure about. Ryne would never agree to Sophie, just as Anna would never agree to Penny. They needed someone neutral. Someone that made sense. Ryne dropped his hand. He was wearing an expression that Anna knew well; an expression that said he had the world in checkmate.

"I have just the person," Ryne said.