The Road to Hell - eARC Read Free

think it may have been my telling him how close an ally King Junni’s become that made him think of Howan Fai…and remind me about him last night, Marnilay bless him! I can’t pretend even to myself that I really know Howan Fai, but at least I know I like him, and when I think about him compared to Chava’s sons.…” Her voice wavered with sudden tears. “Oh, gods, Papa, I’ve been so scared .”
    He caught her close, held her as though she were made of glass. He held her until she stopped trembling. Then held her until he’d stopped trembling. When he knew he could actually control his own voice, he kissed her brow and sat back on his heels.
    “We’ll have an amended list in your hands before sunset, sweetling,” he promised, and her eyes softened at his use of her childhood nickname. Shadows of the fear she’d just admitted lingered in them, yet it was a fear she’d conquered. One which could no longer conquer her , and his heart swelled with pride in her.
    “I don’t feel particularly sweet at the moment, Papa,” she told him, and she smiled that smile again. The one any hunting lioness might have envied. “At the moment, I feel positively wicked.”
    He let go a genuine laugh. “You’ve earned the right, child. More than earned the right.” He lifted her hands, kissed each one in turn, then said, “Enjoy the sunlight and the breeze, Andrin. I have a few things to see to, this morning.”
    He walked briskly back across her bedroom, reaching the doorway in four long strides. He nodded once more as he crossed the sitting room, passed Andrin’s saluting bodyguards, and stepped back into the hallway, but this time it was a very different nod and he had to remind himself to maintain the grimly inexorable stride with which he’d arrived. There was no point pretending Chava wouldn’t have sources within Calirath Palace’s staff, and the last thing he could afford was for one of those sources to see him bounding along with the eager, anticipatory buoyancy which had replaced his morning’s earlier despair.
    It took him less than five minutes to reach the chamber where his Privy Council had already gathered, despite the earliness of the hour. There were extra armsmen in the green and gold of the House of Calirath outside the council chamber’s door, as well, and they snapped to attention as he strode past them.
    The assembled councilors rose at his entrance. Their faces were uniformly grim, most of them pale and worried. Partly that was the lingering shock of the news of the crown prince’s death and the knowledge that the mysterious Arcanans—the Arcanans who, it seemed, truly did use what could only be described as magic —had conquered no less than four entire universes in barely two weeks. But it was also deeply personal, he realized. The grimness of men and women who understood what marriage to one of Chava Busar’s sons would do to Andrin yet saw no more way to avoid that fate than he had.
    He looked at them, recognizing their grief and treasuring their devotion to his house and family, and then—finally—he let loose his own ferocious smile.
    “Shamir!” he crowed, thrusting the list into the First Councilor’s astonished hands. “Get this thing properly completed immediately. I want the names of every unmarried Uromathian prince from Eniath, from Hinorea, from every damned royal family of Uromathian culture this ball of rock ever produced. Even the ones who’ve emigrated to the colonies. Andrin’s done it, by Vothan! She’s found the way out. Well don’t just stand there gaping like ninnies! We’ve only got a few weeks to whittle that list down to a candidate who’s actually worthy of her hand!”
    Shock at his smile had stunned all of them motionlessness while they listened to him. But now answering smiles—wicked, nasty, delighted smiles of sudden understanding—blossomed on every face.
    “And need I remind any of you of the need for absolute secrecy on this subject? If Chava