Page 29 of Of Bargains & Betrayal

“And you’re the one pretending like things aren’t tempestuous here as it is. I’m managing by the skin of my fucking teeth, and I will be damned if I let some princess who lost her way be the unraveling of it. The other council seats are absolutely ravenous to find out what we’re going to do with our esteemed criminal, and there isn’t a chance in any of Mina’s realms that they would take nothing as an answer.”

And truthfully, Jasper had no one but himself to blame for that.

If he and Eilir had shown up with her anywhere but the war room during the middle of a negotiation with two of the least amenable seats of the Wilds, we’d be having a very different conversation at this point. Hundreds of rooms in this fucking keep, many of which begat the discretion needed, and he chose the room that was occupied more often than not.

Sometimes, I questioned exactly what made me decide he deserved the promotion to my right hand.

At Jasper’s continued silence, full of tense judgement I had little patience for, I felt the need to fill the air. “Her brother or someone in his court clearly tried to kill her, and it’s as plain as fucking day.” I threw my hands out to either side of me. “Let’s lay out the facts, shall we? A sham marriage contract. Half of her party killed, the rest vanished. We have a dozen damned battalions stationed along the wall, and no one, not even the sprites, saw a party traveling across the Wastes, yet they are dumped on our border? Right beside the woods and the Wilds? No matter how you dissect that, it reeks. If we smuggled her back, how long before it happens again? I’m doing this as a courtesy to her⁠—”

“Don’t you dare.” Jasper jabbed a gloved finger at me. “It’s never just a courtesy with you. It’s always a goddess-damned debt that can never be paid.”

My brows climbed, and a smile tugged at my mouth. “Is that so? I’m certain I’ve made it abundantly clear your self-imposed debts have been paid a thousand times over, but you seem content to keep holding your post. If you’ve changed your mind, though, I’d be happy to release you from your duties and find some other pain in the ass mage to stew away in that crypt and dip their toes into Mina’s life source.”

That was actually the last thing I ever wanted to do, and I was fully prepared for him to call my bluff. The circumstances that brought Jasper to being not only my high mage and advisor but my closest friend were ones I never felt like replicating, and I was certain I’d never be able to trust an advisor without those same years of hell.

But he didn’t call me out.

“So you’ll extend the same courtesy to her, then? The princess just needs to nearly die for you once or twice? Just needs to hope she doesn’t have this,” Jasper gestured to his face as he spat that word out, “happen to her, and then you’ll release her from her ‘duties’? Maybe pop out a couple of healthy heirs along the way for you too? Or does the decency of a tangible debt only get extended to me, and only when you feel like it?”

It took everything to keep my composure as I pushed up from my chair. We rarely discussed the circumstances that led to Jasper’s comfort with hoods—or what I lost on that cursed day—and we certainly weren’t going there now.

“You’re impossible. You know that, right?” I said, reaching to snatch the velvet satchel of Frost from between us on the table.

Jasper ignored that. “And what are you planning on doing with all of that?”

I tossed its modest weight around in my hand before slipping it into my coat pocket. “I suppose it’ll be her fourth option out of her predicament,” I chuckled.

“What do you mean, her fourth—” The confusion on Jasper’s face morphed into something downright disgusted. “Max. You wouldn’t.”

I shrugged. “Maybe I would. I’ll sleep on it. See how benevolent I’m feeling. It’d be a hell of a way to go, I’m sure.”

We both knew I’d never encourage anyone to end their own life. Despite my sometimes loose morals, I had firm lines. But there was just no downplaying how entirely unlike myself I felt and, unfortunately, Jasper’s company was the safest place for me to work through my polarizing thoughts without risking public embarrassment.

Jasper was clearly in the mood to mind his words, because he moved on.

“You should send Eilir to see her.” He swung his legs off the chair arm and rose, tugging his hood and that shadowy glamor back up. “See if they can persuade her into making a sound decision that doesn’t involve the gallows.”

I huffed a beat of dry laughter. “That woman seems more stubborn than a fucking mule; I doubt there is any persuasion anyone can do. And besides…” I leaned back on the table, gripping its edge. “This is a decision she should make entirely on her own.”

Jasper could call me whatever names he felt like, or be as mad as he felt about it all, but I’d be damned if I didn’t let the princess come to her own decision. Were her options all pretty terrible? Absolutely. But they were options, choices to be made, and there was something to be said about going ahead with something of your own free will, even if it was only the lesser of a few pretty shit evils.

“So you’re just going to leave her in that cell to rot for three days and hope she makes a sound decision?” Jasper scoffed. “While her body is trying to finish healing and purging all that Frost?”

“I’ll pay her a visit in the morning,” I said. “See how she fares then. Maybe I’ll even get Gallan to take her for a walk if she behaves.”

Whatever Jasper muttered under his breath before he stepped over to me couldn’t have been pleasant. He reached into one of his plethora of pockets and extended another small velvet bag towards me. “Take this with you tomorrow. I’m sure it’s of personal value, and I know how much you love to have a bargaining chip.”

I gave the pouch a scrutinizing once-over before loosening the string and dumping its contents into my palm.

Out fell a rectangular gold pendant on a leather cord. Its back was blank and slightly marred with scratches, but its front held a stamped emblem with a ‘W’ and a small garnet stone set into the center.

Glancing back at Jasper, I tipped my head.

“The Wynn family crest,” he said. “I think it belonged to their late king. Can’t be certain, but—” He shrugged. “Won’t hurt for you to bring it.”

I let the necklace dangle between my fingers for a moment before slipping it back into its bag and tucking the entire thing into my pocket, right beside the pouch of Frost.

Many bargaining chips indeed.