Free The Iron Princess by Sandra Lake Page B

and slaughtered? How exactly will that make any difference?”
    “They will not kill me as long as you do not tell them who I am, as long as we don’t get caught. I have already learned vital information to report back to Tronscar, after I . . .” She stopped herself before she revealed anything more
.
“I am serving my country the only way I know how. Can you say the same?” She tilted her head, returning his piercing stare.
    He looked away from her and down the dark corridor. “We don’t all have powerful jarls for fathers who indulge us in our every whim.” He let out a frustrated breath. “Specter Company sometimes sells their swords to the latest contender for the empire, because we are not all floating in a warlord’s splendor. I am here with Lars, Fist, and Valen.”
    “So you are a traitor then?” She seethed.
    “Would you shut up and listen? Prince Andrei invited every swordsmen in the Baltics to come hold tournaments with his men, and a fat purse of gold goes to the victors. I’m here because the pretender, Emperor Frederick is tearing apart Saxony and Bulgaria at the moment. He is an expensive man to have as enemy, and his power and influence over the Holy Roman Empire grow daily.”
    “So go back home and protect your people. What are you doing here playing around, wasting time in tournaments?”
    “Prince Andrei declares he desires peace and wishes to forge support for his claim to the Rus throne, but at the same time he schemes against Frederick’s growing power. Andrei wants the power for himself. Having the sons of Saxony, Angli, and Flander in his ranks helps boost his claim with Rome that he is a ruler for peace.
    “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Even a spoiled princess must have learned that from her father’s counsel.”
    “Save your worthless philosophy for your confessor,” Katia said. “Prince Andrei plots to take Sweden’s throne while the country’s houses are distracted by fighting over who
they
want to see as ruler. You knew this day would come—have you been plotting against us that long?”
    “Your kinsmen have sunk just as many Slavic merchant ships as the Slavs have sunk Swedish.”
    Lies, all lies, and grounds for treason toward the Swedish throne. Now Katia was really mad, “How convenient for you, to simply claim false friendship with everyone. This way you do not have to pick a side to fight on.” She shoved past him. He yanked her back, easily overpowering her with the strength of his one arm. He pressed his lean, warm body into her to keep her in place.
    Searching her eyes, he spoke in a softer tone. “It is more complicated than you think.”
    “Or perhaps, it is plain and simple,” she responded angrily. “Just over a month ago, a most trusted friend in Finland warned me that the Rus were coming after Sweden, making moves into the north of Finland. He told me that I must warn my father of their plans to first wipe out Norrland, crippling Sweden’s defense. Andrei wants all of the Baltic shore. All of it, Lothair. And he is going to try and use his influence with Rome to get what he wants. If Rome supports him, then he truly could take over the Baltics. Andrei has spread lies of Norrland aggression to undermine our support from the archbishop. If he weakens our support with the church, Norrland could—” She was out of breath, panicking for a moment at the thought. Her homeland, both of her homelands, would be embroiled in bloodshed and war by next spring.
    “How do you know this?” His grip on her shoulders eased and his warm breath washed over her face. He was so close—his lips were just there, inches from hers. His chest pressed into hers. She swirled in a complex sea of fear, exhilaration, and reckless abandonment. It felt like tomorrow may never come, like they only had this moment.
    Everything had changed since the last time she saw him, since the last time she had been kissed—the same rules no longer applied. If Tronscar fell, if her