❛the ends justify the means.❜
( part two of deadwater kings )
The board is set and Shabina chose her side. The better world she dreamed of is finally within her grasp, but she struggles when the path to victory seems to be paved in blood. The long...
"I am a prisoner of a fairy-tale. My own softness chokes me."
— Anna de Noailles
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Giving the letters to Zeke had been a brilliant idea.
That way, Shabina had some time to brace herself for whatever terrible news he had to deliver. Zeke fiddled with the paper and looked from her face to his shoes with irritating frequency. He was the only one of them standing. Shabina and her closest advisers all sat around a wood dining table on mismatched chairs. A bare lightbulb shuddered on and off over their heads.
Teak arrived late, flanked by two of her men as she seated herself between Kiara and Razo.
Ealy straightened in her seat and scowled at Teak, looking more stern than usual with her light brown hair slicked back and her glasses sliding down her nose. "This is for your ears only," Ealy signed.
Teak lifted an eyebrow and looked around.
"She says to leave your men outside." Kiara squared her shoulders, using her sheer mass to back her point.
On Teak's other side, Razo resolutely ignored the small conflict in favor of picking at his nails.
Shabina shifted uncomfortably when Teak's grey eyes settled on her. She gathered up what little courage she had and held her gaze, mutely challenging her. After a few moments, Teak rolled her eyes and waved off the two men who'd followed her into the room.
They were underground now, without windows or thin walls. The guards closed the door behind themselves, a final type of silence wrapping around the small group.
Zeke cleared his throat. "Can I go ahead and..."
"Yes," Shabina said. "Just say it."
He nodded. "Good. Good. Excellent. It's from King Yelena."
Teak scoffed. "Is she surrendering already?"
"No," Zeke said. His eyes skittered across the room. "Well -- maybe. She wants an alliance."
A chorus of snorts and whispered curses breezed through them, Kiara loudest among them as she said "Trap."
Shabina herself remained silent. She lifted a hand to quiet the others; their voices filled her head to the brim and left no room for her own. Reluctantly, they did. Shabina swallowed and shifted her weight. "Against whom?"
Zeke inhaled and lifted his eyebrows, looking at the letter as if it had changed since the last time he'd read it. "Uh -- a new enemy. Doesn't say who exactly, but this is thirdhand. It isn't direct to us; she knows we have spies in her fleet, it was spread as a rumor from the top down."
"So we're not even sure it's a real proposal?" Ealy signed. "Let alone whether it's a trap or not."
