“Lys-Akkaria grows weak,” said the queen. Yarima scowled.

When she’d gotten called to see her mother, she hadn’t been sure what it would be about. And she still wasn’t.

“You want to attack them?” Yarima asked because what else could this possibly mean? It didn’t make it sound any less insane, however.

“Now is the appropriate time,” Svytlani said, a pensive frown on her face as she sat on her throne. “My spies have confirmed what you’ve discovered—Lys-Akkaria is fighting with itself. And the situation is growing more dire by the day.”

Yarima didn’t know if she liked where this was going. This was the opposite of what she wanted, but she had to play along long enough to get enough support to manage a coup.

That was her new plan now that she knew she couldn’t take powers from the lightweaver or the shadowforger. And her main target was now Oretski.

The high-ranking members of the army respected him from what she’d heard, and many of the soldiers weren’t very happy with the new choice of kapetan, an arrogant, overconfident woman Yarima hadn’t had the displeasure of meeting.

But if Yarima and her brother could convince Oretski to stop being Svytlani’s good little slave and strike back against her, maybe a significant number of soldiers would go with him.

Surely, they all had to see that Orinovo wasn’t going to survive if it kept going like this. Yes, Lys-Akkaria was struggling with itself, but it still had a lightweaver and a shadowforger. Orinovo attacking might even unite them again, so she wasn’t so sure this was a good idea.

But she had no choice but to do what the queen asked, otherwise she might end up locked up again. Or killed. Or experimented on once more.

Yarima shivered at that thought.

“The battleplans are in the works,” her mother said, bringing Yarima out of her thoughts. “And you will be involved in them.”

“This will be a bloodbath,” Yarima argued, unable to keep her thoughts to herself in this case. “So many soldiers will die.”

The queen scowled at her. “It will be worth it. Once we kill or capture the svetlokriv and Notsisyk, there will be nothing stopping us from conquering that defiant colony once more, our country united.”

Yarima wanted to groan. Her mother’s delusions about how Lys-Akkaria was their territory, and that it being its own country with its own culture was ridiculous had grown very, very old. But Yarima knew better than to question it. There was no convincing Svytlani of anything ever.

“You will use the power I’ve given you to ensure our victory,” Svytlani said finally, nodding at Yarima. “I suggest you train while you can. Dismissed.”

Yarima barely resisted the urge to call Svytlani an insane monster. How dare she imply that the experimentation she’d been doing on her since she was barely old enough to remember it was in any way a gift?

But Yarima managed to stomp down her rage. No matter how much she yearned to kill Svytlani, there were people in the line of succession who wouldn’t hesitate to be even worse than her.

At least Svytlani was smart enough to keep the country functioning, even if heavily repressed. Some members of Yarima’s wouldn’t mind bankrupting it just for their own pleasure, and sacrificing countless lives for their entertainment.

It truly made her wonder how Denir managed to stay so nice and well-meaning. At least Yarima had a reason for being different from their other family members. But Denir grew up around them. Maybe it was through seeing what Yarima was being put through that he’d figured out early that their mother was a monster.

Yarima chose not to think about this further. It would only get depressing.

Saying nothing else since there was no need for it, Yarima turned around and left the throne room immediately. If she had to go out to fight soon, she wanted to spend time with Denir.

She didn’t think she’d die in a battle like this, mostly because she could always run away and desert her post if things got that serious. But that would prevent her from being around her brother either way, and she didn’t want to waste the time they had left together if that came to happen.

Glaring at a few guards she passed who gave her suspicious looks, she marched right to Denir’s door and knocked. If anyone dared try to prevent her from spending time with her brother, she would punch them.

The door opened a crack as usual, but when Denir looked through it at her, there was genuinely fear in his eye. It disappeared, though, when he saw her, opening the door more and waving her in.

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Yarima walked in, immediately understanding why Denir had seemed so worried when she saw Oretski sitting on the bed.

He didn’t say anything, just nodding at her, not moving otherwise. Denir meanwhile locked the door behind her, and once he was done with that he practically tackled her into a hug.

Yarima chuckled, embracing him back and ruffling his hair. “I missed you too, bratrishko.”

Denir didn’t let go, keeping his face pressed into her shoulder. “Sorry about that. I thought you were a guard. I can’t let anyone see that is Nev here.”

Oretski sighed, staring at the floor, his shoulders sinking. “It’s okay, zlati. I would have flown out the window in time. No one would have seen me on this side of the castle.”

“You don’t sound too sure about that,” Yarima pointed out, getting an eye-roll from Oretski in return. It was quite cute that Oretski called Denir such a sweet pet name, though. Yarima was sure that Denir had a dozen pet names for Oretski, but he was an excited puppy of a person. Oretski liked to brood.

“Since losing my station, I’m not sure of anything,” Oretski grumbled.

Denir let go of Yarima then and marched over to his boyfriend to hug him tightly instead. “You’re the best, most skilled fighter in Orinovo. I know you’d manage. I just worry about you.”

Yarima watched them for a moment, Denir muttering comforting nonsense to Oretski, and him doing the same in return, her heart fluttering at how sweet they were together. The fact that they had to hide this, that they had to constantly be on the lookout because if anyone found out, they might never see each other again—it enraged her.

The moment she was queen would be the moment she’d make all of this go away. And anyone who didn’t respect the fact that sometimes men liked other men and women liked other women would get a harsh punishment.

“I have some bad news,” Yarima said after giving them a moment. Oretski immediately scowled, though it was clear he wasn’t annoyed at her. “Svytlani is planning to attack Lys-Akkaria.”

She watched Oretski, waiting for his reaction. It wasn’t dramatic, especially next to Denir’s wide, horror-filled eyes, but his scowl grew more prominent. “When?”

Yarima shrugged and sighed. “Soon. She didn’t tell me anything beyond this. She wants to take out Ainreth and Fennrin for good.”

Oretski sighed while Denir hugged him tighter.

“This is…unwise,” Oretski finally said, looking as though he was fighting with himself not to say what he really thought privatly. But that was exactly what Yarima wanted to hear. “There will be many casualties if we are to attack Lys-Akkaria head on, especially their strongest soldiers. Our army has sustained so heavy loses already as well. Surely we should free our people from Lys-Akkaria’s clutches first.”

“It’s almost as if Svytlani isn’t a good ruler,” Yarima said, earning a glare from Oretski.

“I’m certain she has her reasons,” Oretski immediately said, clearly not willing to discuss this at all. “It’s not my place to question her.”

Yarima was about to throw it back in his face, but Denir spoke first, staring pleadingly into Oretski’s eyes. “Nev, myleni, you just questioned her. Because you don’t think this is a good idea. You know it’s wrong.”

For a second Yarima thought that maybe they had a chance as Oretski stayed silent, and though he wasn’t looking at Denir, he was grimacing, his brow furrowed. He almost looked torn. But all of that was gone the moment he shook his head.

“No, what I think doesn’t matter,” he said, getting up. Despite this, Yarima couldn’t help but enjoy the fact that he wasn’t denying that he was disagreeing, just that he didn’t want to say it. “I am a soldier. I do what I’m ordered to do.” Then he looked directly at Yarima. “And if you wish to protect our people, I suggest you use your many talents to follow suit.”

Denir got up and sighed as he stood next to Oretski, who turned to him, pressing his forehead to her brother’s. “I should go before anyone notices my absence. I will see you later, zlati.”

Denir kissed him and then nodded. “Okay. I already miss you.”

Oretski hugged Denir tightly, taking a deep breath before walking over to Denir’s balcony and flying out the window.

Yarima grimaced. She hadn’t wanted to cause their time together to be cut short, but it probably wasn’t just her pushing at Oretski to face the reality that had done that.

Denir sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’ve been trying, but the more I push the less he wants to listen.”

Yarima narrowed her eyes. “We’ll get him to see the truth.”

“Are you sure we can do it?” Denir sighed again, hanging his head. “He’s just so sure this is how things are and should be.”

“Brainwashing,” Yarima said, nodding. “I know. But that doesn’t mean he can resist forever. I know he can see it’s all wrong.”

Denir nodded, grimacing as he sat down on his bed again. “I hope so. I don’t…” He put his head in his hands. “What if you two get hurt? If our mother wants to battle Lys-Akkaria—”

Yarima went over to hug him, shaking her head as she sat down next to him. “We can both fly, remember? I’ll make sure the vo doesn’t get killed for some nonsense like duty.”

Denir nodded, sighing again as he clung to her. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without either of you. Now that you’re back, I…” Denir sniffled, his eyes shining with tears. “I just missed you so much. I was so worried when you two were sent to Lys-Akkaria.”

Yarima smiled at him, ruffling his hair again. Denir actually chuckled then, fixing his hair immediately.

“And we got back despite having an altercation with Notsisyk. We’ll be fine,” she assured him, even though she wasn’t so sure herself. But her brother needed to hear this.

And she’d do her best to protect Oretski, too. She’d drag him away from the battlefield by force if she had to. It didn’t matter what she thought of the man—her little brother loved him, and that meant he was staying alive and well.

“You’ll be careful, right?”

Yarima couldn’t even think of trying to be realistic with Denir when he looked like a kicked puppy. No amount of being careful would help her much in a battle, especially against an enemy who could render himself invisible. But she would do her best.

“I won’t rush into anything.”

Denir nodded, smiling, thankfully placated. “I love you, sestrinko.”

Yarima smiled, hugging him close. “I love you too, bratrishko.”

One day soon this would all be over, and they could finally be happy. And Yarima was determined to make that wish reality.

For Denir, for their people, for everyone. Orinovo would be free.