“Apologies,” Cleo said a moment later, “but I’ve been traveling so long my feet feel as if they may drop off of my legs if I don’t sit down immediately.”

Amara waved a hand at a nearby chair. “Please.”

Cleo sat down heavily. “I’m not here to waste any more time. Your words the last time we spoke may have been encouraging, but your actions have never given me much hope for an alliance between us. Do you really blame me for how I reacted, no matter what I was promised?”

“I appreciate your bluntness. No, I suppose the longer I’ve had to think about it, the less I blame you for nearly shattering my skull.” She smiled tightly. “I believe I would have done the very same thing had our positions been reversed.”

“I’m sure you would have.”

Amara absently swirled the wine, looking down into its depths. “I was never your enemy, Cleo.”

“You wanted to possess the Kindred and were willing to do whatever it took to claim it.”

“True.” Amara considered her for a moment. “You proclaimed Magnus king during your speech to the Paelsians, despite his family stealing your throne. Why?”

Cleo’s expression shadowed. “Because I hated his father for giving Mytica to you so easily. The Limerian people weren’t ready to accept me as their queen yet, so I presented them with a slightly less distasteful king than Magnus’s father.”

“So it’s not because you’d fallen in love with him.”

“Amara, you want me to be blunt? I’ll be blunt. Politics and love should have nothing to do with each other. Do you disagree?”

“I don’t disagree.” She regarded the blond girl for a moment in silence. “Why are you here, Cleo?”

“Because I’ve heard that you don’t trust men—any men. Yet it seems to me that you’re surrounded by them. Very few women hold important positions in this world, other than being the wives or mothers of important men. I believe that should change. You control a third of the entire world now, a fraction that is sure to grow over the years and decades to come. I believe you will need help with that.”

“And you’re offering me that help.”

Cleo raised her chin. “That’s right.”

“Or . . . perhaps this is just a ruse to distract me.”

“Distract you from what?” Cleo said evenly.

“From demanding your head. You march in here like you have any right to be within ten paces of me. Are you that desperate now, that you would risk so much by coming here and expecting me to be kind?”

“Kindness is not something I expect from you, Amara. If you spoke to me with kindness today, I’d assume you were lying. Very well—what can I do to prove my worth to you?”

Amara considered this carefully. “Information. Tell me something I don’t already know that may adversely affect my reign as empress.”

Cleo chewed her bottom lip while Amara waited as patiently as she was able to. Then the girl’s aquamarine eyes rose to meet hers.

“Your brother Ashur is alive.” Cleo took a moment to observe Amara’s shocked expression. “I take it he hasn’t arrived yet.”

Amara chest tightened at the possibility, but her eyes narrowed on the princess. “Impossible. Of all the lies you could tell, that was not one that will serve you well. My patience with you is finished. Guards!”

The door opened, and Amara was surprised to see Carlos, not a regular guard. “Empress, I’m here to announce that there has been another arrival at the gates,” he said.

She frowned. “Send them off. I don’t want to see another unexpected visitor. And take this deceitful creature away. Put her with the others while I decide how I want her to die.”

“As you wish, your grace.” Carlos hesitated, but only for a moment. “But I think you should see this visitor.”

“Whoever it is can wait.”

“He won’t wait, your grace.” Carlos’s gaze turned to his left before he immediately fell to his knees, bowing his head.

And then Amara watched with utter disbelief as her dead brother walked into the room.

CHAPTER 28

CLEO

PAELSIA

Amara stared, still and silent, at Ashur for so long that Cleo thought she’d turned to stone.

“Sister, I’m sure you’re surprised to see me,” he said before turning a raised black eyebrow to Cleo. “And here you are as well.”

“Yes, here I am,” Cleo confirmed, her heart pounding hard. “I seem to have beat you here.”

“You did. Then again, I didn’t rush. I needed time to think.”

“How odd. Thieves are usually in much more of a hurry.”

He frowned at this. “I’m sure they are.”

“Emperor Cortas, what would you like me to do with the prisoner?” the guard asked.

Prisoner. Cleo’s gut wrenched at the thought that her journey would be cut short before she had a chance to make any difference. She had to think, to figure out a way to deal with this outcome. Manipulation was her best weapon. She needed to gain Amara’s confidence, to get close to the most powerful woman in the world so she could help to destroy her.

“I want you to—” Amara began, then frowned. “Did you say emperor?”

The guard ignored her, his attention fully on Ashur. “Emperor?”

“Leave us to speak in private,” Ashur told him.