Page 184 of Burn Her They Said
He shakes his head and releases my hands. His eyes shift erratically, and he turns to stomp in the opposite direction. I hazard a few steps to follow him when his fingers aggressively tear through his hair, and the tightness in my chest robs me of breath.
“You know what this means, don’t you?” Terror flickers across his features as he spins around to face me. “Fuck!” He braces his hands behind his head as his whole body folds, bending his knees to balance over the balls of his feet.
His spine curves while his head droops low between his shoulders, and I close the distance to drop down beside him. His body trembles as I wrap my arms around him to pull him closer. I glance up at Malin, and he nods in confirmation that he will alert me should anyone arrive at the door.
Varic’s arm curves behind my back until he fits his hand around my waist, bracing me, communicating his need as we hold one other, and I shift to lovingly cradle his face to my chest. He leans back to make eye contact with each of my Guards before pinning me with a look of fear while his arms tighten around me.
“You don’t need to do this,” he whispers.
“I’m going to, regardless.”
His stomach tenses with a laugh. “We should stand.”
He flexes his fingers over my side four times before releasing me. We rise and hesitate then step apart, with the small space between us feeling much more vast, tugging on my heart with the lack of contact.
“You attend every meeting with the Emperor, correct?” Varic asks.
“As far as I know, aside from those here in Annovia.”
“Do you recall hearing any whispers of an uprising?”
“Not in so many words. Only the general discord around the rising cost of our resources.”
“There were Generals speaking their concerns at the last General’s dinner before—” Lars’ voice cuts off, allowing us to fill in the rest as he clears his throat, and Malin gives him a look. “What? This superior hearing is good for something.”
“I’m mostly surprised you remembered,” Malin admits, and Lars lets out a scoff.
“I might forget conversations I overhear about military strategy, but this seemed connected to the attacks on Tasch, so I took it into consideration.”
“Thank you, Lars,” Varic sighs. “The bordering lands have been trying to claim what was once theirs for longer than I can remember; however, there have been more rumors that the leaders of each are working together to overthrow the Emperor.”
My brow furrows. “But do they not care that the Dragons would reign with his failure to name an heir?”
“I do not think they fear it the same way we do,” Varic says. “Since it would only occur within our borders, and they may believe they have more of a chance to negotiate for access to the shores. Or perhaps their intention is to find a way for a different leader to take his place, since from what Minea says, the Dragons generally do not enjoy ruling. They much prefer a magical being to do so in their stead, but they have a hard time coming to a consensus.”
Lars raises his hand to draw our attention. “Historically, the Dragons who ruled after the dwarves were run from the area, negotiated with the other lands just fine, because even though Dragons are known to be greedy, they do not seem to relish in responsibility. I wish we could let the bordering lands remove the Emperor and work with the Dragons to appoint someone.”
Fray shakes his head. “Sutrea has explained how the Elder Dragons seem to know something they refuse to let on to when it comes to the Emperor’s demise, and she does not seem confident about whether they would appoint someone or not.”
Cirrin looks from Fray and over to me. “Then the other leaders must be willing to take a calculated risk, hoping they can negotiate with the Dragons, because they know they cannot with the Emperor.”
My gaze drifts downward as I try to find the words. “I have been a target ever since he began boasting of my power decades ago, while his referring to me as ‘the Empire’s greatest asset’ could not have helped. So, if all of this is true, and they are working together to try to get to me in order to access him, then they must despise our Empire enough to move past the issues they have with each other to try to settle this.”
“They despise our Emperor, not our Empire,” Varic corrects. “They despise the colonizer of the western coast who charges them too much to access the ports and resources he stole.”
“Which matches Prince Auden’s claim,” I say, and something crosses Varic’s expression. “But why now? He has used my power to manipulate rulers and diplomats for years. Why would they be more aggressive in their assassination attempts more recently? Do they have any more reason to kill me because he increased the cost of goods?”
Varic’s eyes rise to pin mine. “No. I do not think they mean to kill you, Tasch. I think they mean to keep you very much alive.”
My stomach twists as logic sets in. Of course no ruler would dispose of my supposed power. Of course they would exploit me, as I have to assume Annovia would were I to accept their offer of ‘refuge’.
Cirrin braces his chin over his fist. “If they mean to keep her alive, why set off a firebomb on the balcony? Why use such lethal means if their intent is to take her instead?”
“I have wondered the same,” Varic says. “Especially since whoever planned the attack would know Lars or Fray could have escaped with her by the time they set off the largest bomb after setting off the smaller ones first. And as the rest of us have discussed at length, the tin bombs were so small, they couldn’t have been intended to cause any damage, making the most likely scenario one where they expected one of you take her somewhere, leaving them only one Guard to contend with while the rest of us caught up. They most likely expected Fray to fly off with her toward the Dragon dens, where they could have taken her before the rest of you arrived. Or for Lars to speed off with her through the halls where they could capture her anywhere along the path to her bedchamber.”
Lars’ face falls. “If you hadn't been shielding her—if you hadn’t prevented me from grabbing her when I first tried—it’s possible a group of them could have been waiting inside to disarm me and steal her from my arms.”
Malin walks to Lars and places a hand on his shoulder, and my heart constricts when his blue eyes cast up to meet Malin’s hazel. They share a small smile with each other, and I can’t help but mirror them, despite the seriousness of the topic.
