Soul of Ice

Chapter Thirty-Five

It was the same room she'd been in just a day before for the Peace Conference. It was windowless, but the lanterns on the walls had already been lit.

Carina entered the room and immediately sat herself down at the head of the table, where the king had presided over the conference. The guards behind Astra shoved her into a chair three seats away—far enough to ensure she couldn't touch the wind wraith without getting out of her seat—and checked the restraints that had been tied onto her wrists again before binding her to the chair with another length of rope. They shoved the Solasian prince in a seat the same distance away from Carina as Astra, even though the latter was sure he wouldn't be a threat to the wind wraith.

"Perfect." Carina simpered at the two of them. She said to the soldiers, "Thank you. You can get out now. I'll handle it from here." To showcase the fact, she started twirling a dagger in her hand.

Awkward, Astra thought. Carina wasn't as familiar with real weapons as she was—it was clear in the dagger's stilted movements through the air. It made sense, too. Whenever she'd seen her, Carina had always relied on her magic.

The soldiers quietly exited the room, and the door behind them clicked shut with a soft, ominous snick.

Carina slammed the dagger's blade into the table. "Now, who wants to go first?"

Astra seethed. The gag was still in her mouth, so it wasn't even a question.

"We'll make this simple." Carina pulled out the dagger again and stared at the metal, admiring her reflection, Astra presumed. The wind wraith adjust a piece of hair that had flicked over onto the shaved side of her head. "Now that I'm Queen of Auxerre—" Astra snorted and rolled her eyes "—I should have you killed considering you're a national security risk. Who knows if you're the retaliation sort." Carina studied her. "You seem the type."

Astra didn't bother affirming.

"However, the darling prince would be an excellent bargaining chip, though if rumors are true, your sister doesn't care much for you." She peered at Dalen.

He gave a one shoulder shrug. "You're not wrong. Miestra has been trying to get me killed since she took the throne."

Astra cut a glare to him, but he didn't bother acknowledging it. Was he trying to get himself killed?

"Hm." Carina tapped a finger to her lips before cutting her gaze to Astra. She got out of her chair and grabbed a corner of the gag, plucking it out of her mouth before Astra had the chance to bite down on her hand, and tossed the wet, wadded up piece of fabric on the table before making her way back to seat.

"You're—" Astra began, a vicious insult rising to her tongue.

"As for you," Carina interrupted. "A spy's mind holds useful information. It would be a shame for you to die without divulging that information with me first. Besides, I could hardly kill you now and get blood on my dress, now can I?" She smiled at Astra like she was doing her a favor and started flipping her dagger again. "Let's start with your allegiance to Varaly. Tell me about that."

"Did you ally with Anwealda because you knew you couldn't capture Auxerre yourself?" Astra asked instead.

Carina's jaw clenched, and she got up again to slide into the seat next to the prince. She grabbed his right hand, and Astra tensed, but Carina only cut the bonds tied around his wrist. She lifted his hand up to show Astra before clutching it tight. "Here, I'll add some incentive then. We all know a prince of Solasia has plenty of aides around, so I don't really think he needs all ten fingers."

"You wouldn't."

"Would I?" Riviera simpered. "If I recall, you visited Wren in the healing ward. She took her bandages off for you, didn't she? Not one of my masterpieces by far, but—" she shrugged "—decent. Clean cut."