She made it to the fireplace just as the door to her chamber was thrust open. Valdr stepped inside and found her gaze. There was little clue in his eyes to his thoughts, whether anything had changed since she'd been forced from Elyon's cell, whether Elyon was alive still, whether beyond all imaginings Valdr had somehow discovered Dacian's proposal.

His face was a mask as it so often was. A mask that hid his rage and his sickness, his lusts and desires. But she'd had years of practice at seeing beneath that mask. She was better than anyone else at it. Even Ravol. It was that skill that would save her now. Save Elyon.

She tried not to think of Dura beyond the door. Could not imagine the outcome for them both if he were to discover her there. This would only work if Fara played the role she had always played.

"Return to the guardhouse," Valdr spat at the guard. The guard bowed and then was gone. Valdr closed the door behind him and moved toward her, slow, calculating. When he stopped in front of her she braced herself for his fist or his palm, glancing down only briefly to see if he held his blade. He did not. She took a deep breath.

His eyes were black as night as he loomed over her. "It is truly as though you do these things on purpose. Lie to me, embarrass me, disobey me." He reached up and wrapped a hand around her throat. His touch was gentle but his fingers dug into her jaw.

She had seen no sign of Ravol outside and it was this which told her he knew nothing of Dacian's proposal.

She met his gaze, defiant, but said nothing. She saw a smile begin to spread over his mouth and she swallowed. His fingers crawled across her cheek and found her mouth and pushed two inside, resting them on her tongue. When he withdrew them he brought them to his own mouth and tasted them.

"Lies," he said softly. "You've tasted of lies since you returned to me with your Leoth," he spat. Then suddenly he was turning away from her. He shrugged off his robe and threw it over the patterned chaise then sat. "Pour me some wine and then sit. We have much to discuss, sister." It was a command. One she obeyed. She poured them both a cup of honeyed wine and handed him his before taking a seat across from him.

"No Dresyth...?" he gestured at her cup. Again she said nothing, but she felt the vial press against her wrist. Valdr drank. Watched her and drank. "Tell me everything you know of the mountain tribes. Think carefully before you speak, love. For if I taste a single lie in the air I will have that beast you care for cut limb from limb and sent back to his commander in pieces."

She nodded. Took a breath. And told him everything she knew.

She told him of how when Zybar's ships were first sighted on the Golden bay, it was clear to all that Azura's army did not have the ships or soldiers to hold them. She told him of how talk turned to the mountain and sea tribes. The mountain tribes had always lived apart from Azurian society, returning to the city for supplies before disappearing back up the Gelder. She told him of how the Sea Tribe were loyal to their king, and how Sylvan had sent a ship carrying his word off the Whitevain Straight - before the city fell - to search for the ship known as the Windswallow. But that it could not be located in time.

Valdr asked who lead the Mountain Tribe.

She told him of their leader. One they followed like a king. She knew little of him. She'd searched her mind for his name. A name she'd heard only once from queen Arielle when she'd spoken it to Sylvan. A look had passed between them that Fara had not understood, and his name had never been spoken again. She told him that though no one knew the exact number of Sun Kin, their numbers were substantial.

Even in the low light, she saw him pale a little.

She told him that their knowledge of the realm, and especially the mountain ranges to the north, was intricate and unparalleled. Where the Zybar or any outsider could not traverse, the mountain tribes could do it in the dark, blindfolded. Or so they said.

"How many of them are trained as warriors?" Valdr asked.

"All of them," she replied. 

She saw his jaw tense, saw his fingers curl into a fist. Without looking away from her he asked. "Did you know they planned to take back the city from Zybar?"

She shook her head. "Of course not. How could I know such a thing? They did not come to Sylvan's or Galyn's aid when he requested them. I thought no more about them."

She knew what Valdr's next question would be before he voiced it.

"The Leoth who collared and claimed you, what of him? I know it is no coincidence that after releasing you he killed his High Visier, fled his realm, and took our brother as ransom."

"No. I suppose it is not." She said. "But I did not know of his plans in Azura, Valdr. I promise you that."

She had not known, but she recalled something then. Something he'd said to her in the meadow of the goddess back in Leoth. Your claim on Azura's throne is stronger than any other, though you will need an army of your own to take it. Had Theodan given her an army? An army of Mountain warriors to help her hold it? By taking Azura he knew how it would destabilise Valdr and Torrik's plans.

A surge of pride rose up in her chest, her heart fluttering wildly around it. His absence felt like an ache inside her suddenly, and she felt such a desperate longing to look upon him, to be near him, to be held by him, that she could barely draw breath. While she'd been here, drowning her miserable predicament in honeyed wine and Dresyth, he'd been in Azura raising an army. For her.

Valdr's words cut through her haze of longing like a knife. "You know there are many on the council who believe you did indeed open your legs for that Leothine beast to secure your release. That Torrik's accusation in front of them was not so far from the truth."

She stared him down, unblinking. "I care little for what your weak lords believe, Valdr. They have not the smallest clue about war or how to survive it."

"That sounds awfully like an admission, sister."

"I care little for how it sounds. But if you have a question to ask me, then ask it. You will sense if I am lying, brother."

He watched her a moment, then smiled. Before holding his cup out to her. She stood, moving to pour him another. The vial of Dresyth felt hot in her palm. Timing. It was all about timing.

Her back turned to him, she took a deep breath and tried to steady her voice. "So what do you intend to do now? Send your men and your ships to Leoth regardless of the uprising in Azura? Surely Zybar will not follow you there until they win back Azura? It will hurt their pride to have lost it to a few weavers and shepherds."

He pondered her question, looking intensely at the cup she had handed back to him. "I always expected I'd meet Theodan of Teredia in battle. I dreamt about it, in fact. About how I would make him pay for taking you from me." She tried to imagine it. Valdr facing Theodan on the battlefield. Impenetrable armour or not, he stood no chance of defeating him. Her heart felt strangely torn. "Now, he is merely inconvenient to my plans."

"He saved my life. Sent me home to you. If it truly is he who holds power in Azura now, if he has indeed rebelled against his realm, then he would be a smart ally, no?" She kept her expression as impassive as she could. It was a risky play, she knew this, but it was worth it to try. Had Theodan really turned his back on his realm? She could not believe it. But with the Visier dead, it changed everything. Who controlled Leoth now? The one called the Isdar? Vala's brother.

"What interest could he have in Azura?" He pondered, ignoring her suggestion. "Why would he do this? Aid the Mountain Tribes to mount such an attack. To kill his Visier and do this without his realm's support."

"He did not kill his Visier," Fara said.

Valdr's eyes narrowed in study. "How can you be so certain?"

"There is no reason for him to commit such an act."

"He seeks power. That is why any commander kills their superior."

That was not the Theodan she knew. Theodan sought something, but it was not power.

"Then why would he flee his realm? If he wanted to take the Visier's seat?"

Valdr's gaze searched her face still, waiting for some tear in the veil she had drawn over it. "Well, you know him better than I do, sister."

"I do not know him, Valdr," she said when the silence grew too oppressive. Do you doubt my word, my Love? "He was my captor. A kind one, yes, but a captor all the same. We spoke little of war stratagems. I had no inkling to what his plans were."

"Little implies you spoke some."

"We spoke only of the war you declared upon his realm. He said it was ill-advised. He said he would see me returned to you and I promised to urge you to reconsider."

"You spoke to him of me?"

No. Never. "Only of your declaration of war. After the news came of how it was retaliation for my death, by his hand." She did not know whether this would be a mistake but she decided to say it anyway. "He did not want another war. He did not want war with Azura either." 

He raised an eyebrow at that. "What sort of commander does not want war? In fact, I thought it was what all Leothine lived for? Blood and death and human flesh? What is that rhyme we used to sing as children? They seek blood and death and human flesh, their deadly eyes and claws and breath. In the bright of the day they hunt their prey, so run and hide when the Leoth comes to play."

"That is all it is, brother. Childish rhymes." She watched him think.

"You have argued against war since your return and I still do not truly understand why. Leoth helped to destroy Azura. You hate Zybar with a ferocity I can taste, but Leoth. The realm that collared and enslaved you. The realm who imprisoned our brother. They bare none of your wrath. Why not?"

She thought of the word truth as she spoke. "I told you. Leoth treated me as a slave but never as an animal. And because I lived through one war already and I have no desire to do it again. To watch what happened to Azura happen to Calate? Of course, I would argue against it. You set your pieces in motion, Valdr but you did not see the outcome."

"I thought I had lost you, I cared little for the outcome! I cared only about his death," he snapped.

"And this time you may truly lose me, for I do not think even I could escape the entire destruction of Ethis," she said. "Which is what you bring forth with a war against Leoth. The devastation such a war would cause, it would be the end of this world as we know it."

He seemed to blanch at that. "Have you any notion of how weak I would look to our people? If I were to run from my own declaration of war?"

"Your people would thank you!" She cried. "They do not want this war either! Your soldiers desert at any opportunity because they have no wish to fight it. Because they are afraid."

"Then they are cowards," he spat though his heart was no longer in it. She felt a foolish flutter of hope rise in her. She sat forward in the chair. 

"Send an envoy to Leoth to discuss peace terms. I tell you not all voices on the council argued for it. There is hope yet to stop this. Say you are grateful for the safe return of your sister, that you acknowledge this move toward peace and negotiate with Theodan of Teredia to have Panos returned to us. You will be credited for the rebuilding of peace between the four realms, not war." 

Valdr's brows furrowed as he looked at her. She held her breath. "How entirely female you sound sometimes, sister. What do you think Zybar shall do? When they find we have struck a peace treaty with Leoth? Think you they will accept such a betrayal and leave our southern borders alone?"

"I did not say you would not have to deal with Zybar, Valdr. Of course, you will, but you have no assurances they will not turn on you anyway. Your armies are strong. Strong enough to defeat Zybar."

"So you do desire war after all? It is only Leoth you do not wish to fight?"

"I do not wish for war at all. But we will defend our realm against any and all attacks upon it. Offer Zybar something, anything. They will have a price, I am certain of it."

"And if the price is you?" Valdr asked. "A princess of Calate to marry their dog king?"

Her breath caught in her throat. Would she sacrifice herself to Zybar for peace across Ethis? Gods the notion revolted her, horrified her, but for such a cause she could bear it. Just as Arielle had borne it.

"I would urge you to find another solution... but if you could not, then I would submit to your command. If it would ensure peace for the four realms then I would accept it."

Valdr watched her unmoving, unblinking, for a moment. Then he shot from the seat and moved to tower over her. She gasped, shrinking back in the chair as his body pressed against hers.

"But I would not!" He hissed. "Just as I could not see you given to Dacian, just as I could not see you with that princeling of Azura, I will not see you given to a dog of Zybar." His forehead braced against hers, he breathed fast and hard. "No other. None but me." He pressed his lips to hers and pushed his tongue into her mouth. When he pulled back he was panting, his chest heaving. "Get undressed and lie on the bed," he commanded quietly.

She blinked, her breaths matching Valdr's. It rushed at her sudden and sickening, the command, who issued it. Who listened behind her.

"Valdr, I am tired. The news of Panos, the celebration—."

"Did you enjoy Dacian's company this eve?" He interrupted as he started to remove the silk undershirt he wore. His fingers worked with purpose. She froze. "You did not think I was going to leave such behaviour to go unpunished?"

"We spoke only of the celebration. Of the wine and the food."

"You barely moved from him the entire night," he said. "And when you were not standing next to him he was following you with his eyes. Eyes, that were he not so beloved by his army of islanders, I would have removed from his skull long ago. Now, do as I say and get undressed and lie on the bed. I shall not ask you again."

Fear licked up her spine. That familiar sensation spread dark and bitter across the pit of her stomach. He was wearing only the loose silk trousers now and they hung off the bones of his hips, his body long and lean and pale in the firelight. She stood and moved toward him, reaching out to take his cup from him. Then she moved to fill them.

The rustle of fabric and then the creak of wood sounded behind her as she refilled both cups, carefully retrieving the vial of Dresyth from the wrist of her gown, uncapping it, and tipping its contents into Valdr's cup. She swirled it once, then again, before turning back to him. He sat up against the headboard with his legs spread, naked and hard, one hand wrapped around himself as he watched her walk toward him. She handed him his cup and set her own on the chest next to the bed. Then she began to loosen the ribbons of her dress. She was certain she heard some noise beyond the tapestry - she hoped she did - before she gazed back at Valdr.

"I wonder if he will think of you as he takes her," Valdr smirked as he brought his cup to his mouth. "Or rather, as she takes him."

"I have no idea who you are talking about." Her fingers trembled as she worked them purposefully slow. Please be gone, Dura, please do not watch this. She could not help her eyes as they slid to the tapestry.

"Dacian, of course. And his wife." His eyes gleamed as he stroked himself. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Could barely command her legs to hold her up. "I attended his wedding just before I came here. A very muted occasion and I can't say the bridegroom looked overly pleased about the whole affair, but Delphine should certainly cheer him up this eve. She has enough vigour for both of them." He laughed as he drained the cup, setting it down beside him on the bed. "Now hurry up or I shall tear that gown from you. I shall have you use your mouth first, I think. Yes, it has been too long since you have done that."