I can’t argue with the logic of that, though my stomach sours at the word dowry. It was a custom in the Kalovaxian court as well, girls being sold off with a pile of gold to show their worth. It bothered me then, when it was girls I didn’t really know and whom I disliked on principle. Now, though, I am the one being sold off, earning a profit not just for Astrea, but for King Etristo and presumably Dragonsbane as well. I feel like a thing instead of a person, the way I always felt around the Kaiser.
“What of the hostages?” I ask Anders, trying to push the feeling away and focus on the present. “Are they willing to turn spy for us?”
“They’re willing to not be executed,” Anders says, words clipped, but Dragonsbane is already shaking her head.
“No,” she says. “It was a ridiculous plan befo
