Despite what she'd told Talia and Jasper, the ships weren't quite so under control as she'd like them to be. Everything had been so hectic lately that she hadn't yet gotten down to organising the ships required.
She had to go to one of the ship owners in Crimsith and get them to agree to a no-questions asked loaning of twenty of their largest ships-and each of those ships could hold five thousand people at maximum capacity. The ship-owner had to be enough of a scoundrel to do some reasonably dodgy business and not report it to the authorities, enough of a risk-taker to potentially defy the Empress and ask no questions about a major deal, yet
still be bound to their word enough that they'd keep their mouth shut to anyone who might come asking questions. As you can tell it was a very delicate operation, but Lysandra had just the woman in mind.
Taryn Gold had earned her name by running the most lucrative smuggling business in the Kallias, which was saying quite a bit given just how many smuggling operations crouched in the shadow of her mother's empire. She specialised in ships, never asked questions, took risks and kept her mouth shut. Perfect, except for...
"No." Taryn said shortly.
"Why not?" Lysandra pressed. She was wearing a mask despite not needing it with the hood draping her face in shadow. No one was going to recognise her.
"Because you want ships to transport two hundred thousand people. If it was Empress' orders then she wouldn't be going through me, so it must be rebel work. I don't get involved in rebel work. The people I bribe, the officials who are too lazy to punish me—they all come running the moment I get involved in rebel work."
"It's not rebel work," Lysandra said patiently. "You think the rebels have two hundred thousand people in their ranks?"
"Oh, I don't know," Taryn sighed. "I have no idea what you rebels are doing. Because I. Don't get. Involved. In. Rebel. Work."
"It's not rebel work," Lysandra repeated, grinding her teeth.
"Then what is it? Give me an explanation and some hard evidence and I'll give you the ships."
"I thought you were 'no questions asked.'"
"I'm not asking. I'm telling you your options. You can explain why you need twenty of my largest ships or you can find another smuggler. I keep my
mouth shut."
"I know," she remarked dryly. "It says right there on the sign. But then again, the sign also said you did any work people threw your way."
"Not rebel work," Taryn repeated. "So tell me what this is or get the summer out."
Lysandra ran through her options in her head. Option 1: Find some shady smuggler who would sell them out for a bent penny. Option 2: Teach this woman some manners.
She choose the latter and drew a blade. In an instant four men appeared from the places she'd seen them already crouching in, the shadows they thought were hiding them actually working for her. She weighed her options again. If Taryn was to work with her then she'd have to reveal her identity. She'd rather do that without also revealing that she had inherited her mother's magic.
"Lay a hand on me and the Empress will cut your throats herself," she said confidently, forcing all the arrogance she could muster into her voice. It wasn't hard.
"Yeah, right." One of Taryn's guards laughed. "Like the Empress works through us."
"On this occasion she does," Lysandra said. She flung the hood from her face and threw off her mask. Even in the dim light her face was instantly recognisable.
"Lysandra Crimson," Taryn said, laughing humourlessly. "What forces bring you to my humble abode? Empress finally decided to crack down on my business?"
"That's Crown Princess Lysandra Crimson to you. Mind your 'Your Highnesses'."
"Of course," Taryn smirked. "Your brothers died for you to add the little 'Crown' to the front of your name."
"I killed them," Lysandra said bluntly. "But I'm not hear to kill you, Gold. Not yet. Her Majesty is preparing a naval attack on the insurgents—" she spat out that word, selling this as well as she could— "and it needs to be without their little spies knowing so. So we're to go through ... unusual channels."
"I see. And you need two hundred thousand men to capture a meagre group of rebels."
"We're leaving room for some of the terrorists and their families." Lysandra smiled joylessly. "I don't want a word of this going out, Taryn." The woman bristled at the informal address but said nothing.
"Very well, Crimson," she said. "You'll have your ships."
"We'll leave under the cover of night in six days' time," Lysandra added. "I expect you to deal with bribes."
"You need to bribe your own officers?" Taryn asked. Lysandra's heart skipped a beat; she'd made a near-fatal mistake.
"Like I said, Gold, this needs to be entirely under wraps." Lysandra said softly.
"How good are these spies?" Taryn scoffed.
"Myra Isidore is free," she hissed. "That's how good they are."
Taryn shrugged. "So long as you pay up I don't care, Your Highness."
Lysandra hid her relief all the way out of Taryn's office and only indulged herself in the tiniest of smiles when she was in private.
There was still plenty of work to be done.
YOU ARE READING
Queens & Liars-Sequel to Three Broken Kingdoms (Completed)
Fantasy'She was a blade, forged in the flames that had burned her kingdom.' Book 2 of the Lost Continent Asriel and Miras have fallen. Their legendary armies are gone, their cities burnt to their ground, their people enslaved or murdered. The Empress now r...
