24

To say that Baoyi was as suspicious of us as we were of him was an understatement, though his suspicions extended to those in Shifang’s royal court, particularly toward Tansoong. There were guards stationed not only outside his room but also inside it, and the man himself was dressed for battle, with a short sword in one hand and the other twitching toward a broadsword mounted on the wall of his room. Though he and Khalad seemed to have come to a mutual understanding, Baoyi remained incredulous of our motivations until Khalad handed him the old forger’s letter.

“This is his handwriting,” he said, studying it carefully before opening a drawer and taking out another piece of paper. “This is the letter Narel sent me a few months ago, noting his intentions of visiting Yansheo. But he never arrived, and I assumed he had changed his mind. When you told me that you were searching for him, I had no idea he was in trouble.” Baoyi sounded almost accusatory.

“How do you know the old forger exactly?” Zoya asked him.

“He is an old friend of my father’s since childhood, before an asha discovered his skills in magic. The emperor tolerates him only because he returns to heal our sick. But I have known him since I was a little boy.”

“Narel is Daanorian?” I knew the forger was not Odalian or Kion but little else. “Narel isn’t a Daanorian name, and he doesn’t look Daanorian.”

Baoyi laughed. “He looked Daanorian enough when he was younger, though I believe he has Kion ancestors on his mother’s side. Old age makes it harder to ascertain one’s nationality, I’ve found. And he felt it necessary to adopt a different moniker for his new life. He was no longer a citizen of Daanoris but rather a citizen of the people. But Narel and my father remained close.” He waved at his guards and issued a few clipped orders; the room was empty of soldiers within seconds. His clerk glanced at us and asked Baoyi something in Daanorian. When he replied in the affirmative, the nervous man gathered his papers and dashed out, looking relieved.

“You are not charlatans?” Baoyi asked. “This is not an intricate plot to bewitch my emperor, and the woman you call Princess Inessa is truly who you say she is? And Narel is truly in danger?”

“And you’re not a complete jerk who makes it a point to insult and demean foreign visitors when they visit your city?” I demanded. Likh gulped. Khalad fidgeted with a few of the small gemstones that decorated Baoyi’s mantelpiece, but Kalen grinned.

“Ah—Lord Khalad, please be careful with those. They are precious jade stones dating back to the Harshien Dynasty. But I was very much a jerk, wasn’t I?” Baoyi sounded almost embarrassed. “I thought you were clever crooks who wanted to make a fool of my liege. I even wondered if the savul was a cunning illusion concocted by your spellbinding skills. We heard that the Kion princess had been engaged to King Telemaine’s son and thought it impossible that Odalia would break their engagement so easily. It did not seem likely the princess would come and offer herself to Shifang.”

“Princess Inessa has always been an impulsive girl, milord,” Fox growled.

“I haven’t seen Narel in over a year. But I shall order the guards to conduct a search in the city.”

“We have reason to believe that Usij has spies in Emperor Shifang’s court, milord,” Shadi cautioned him. “I would advise you to select only the men you trust for such an expedition.”

“Usij?” The man scowled. “We have been hammering at the Haitsa iron fortress for close to a decade now, and he has shown no signs of abandoning the place. Do you mean to tell me that he has been here in Santiang all this time?”

“He is not one to be taken lightly, milord.”

“I do not know what he plans. Princess Inessa’s wedding to the emperor takes place on the morrow. Would he do anything to disrupt it?”

“There are many reasons to oppose that wedding, milord,” Fox said quietly.

“How goes the search for Shaoyun?” Shadi wanted to know.

Baoyi sighed. “There is no trace of him. I do not know if he is in league with Usij, but given everything that has happened, I would no longer be surprised if he is. Perhaps his interest in Princess Yansheo was all a deception to gain access to her. He shouldn’t have been difficult to find—the boy dresses like a scarlet peacock and would easily stand out in a crowd. I will ask my soldiers to search for any gray jewels that may turn up, just in case.” He turned to me and held out his hand. “This is how you make peace in Kion, isn’t it?”

“What is?” I asked.

“To shake your hand and bury the hatchet, so to speak. My intentions were pure when I thought you were here to bespell the emperor, but that does not excuse my behavior. Can we be friends?”

“Of course.” Grinning, I took his hand. “I too would like to apologize. My mentor would beat me over the head and send me to scrub outhouses for life if she knew how I had conducted myself.”

“If there is any way you can heal Yansheo, then I am in your service and in your debt.” Baoyi’s face softened. “I have known Yansheo since she was a child. She is a charming, sweet girl. I would do anything to see her laughing again.”

“We’ll do our best.” Likh promised.

“Do you speak for Khalad now, Likh?” Shadi asked impishly, and Likh turned red.

• • •

Zoya was a brimful of orders when we returned to Khalad’s quarters. “Kalen, we need to patrol the palace for any behavior out of the ordinary. Tea, stay with Khalad. Keep in contact with Fox at all times. After the attack in the city, let’s not take any more risks.”

“I’m always in contact with Fox, Zoya. It’s not like I have a choice.”

But the asha wasn’t listening. “Likh, how goes the unraveling?”

The boy asha nodded, looking exhausted. “I’ve figured out where to undo the knots. One big tug and I think it’ll all crumble.” He shuddered.

“Was it your first time seeing raised corpses?” Shadi asked him sympathetically.

“I felt bad for them.” His lip trembled. “Did anyone even miss them, I wonder? That one boy…he could have been my age. There was nothing to identify him beyond the red cloth and black hair, but surely he had family and friends looking for him? The ones that looked like young girls, with their scraps of dresses and small faces…surely they all had family?”

“You’re a good person, Likh,” Khalad said, and the boy averted his gaze.

“We’re forever in your debt, Likh. Get a good night’s rest. The same goes for you, Shadi,” Zoya instructed.

But the girl folded her arms across her chest. “I am just as capable of patrolling the castle with you, Zoya. I have no inclination for either Dark magic or forging magic, and I would be quite useless here.”

“We have a long day ahead. You need sleep too.”

“And so do you. Most of my duties in Kion may have revolved around entertaining guests and visitors at cha-khana, but I am not some frail flower that must be hidden away at the first gust of wind. It was sweet of you to treat me like a princess back in Kion, where there was little danger and we could indulge. This is different.”

“Shadi, you know I would…” Zoya trailed off, realizing that they now had a rapt audience listening to their conversation with undisguised interest. “Shadi.”

“Are we still hiding us from them?” Shadi challenged her. “Are we still a secret? If there is something you need to tell me, Zoya, then raise your voice and let them hear.”

Zoya cleared her throat—several times. Then she leaned over and kissed Shadi, full on the mouth. “Shadi, my love, you know I would never forgive myself if anything were to happen to you. Surely you can understand my reluctance.”

“Haven’t I proven myself? Haven’t I shown that I am more than capable?”

Zoya gave up. “Shadi, would you like to patrol the palace with me?”

The other asha smiled happily, linking arms with her lover. “It would be my pleasure.”

“You know,” Khalad said mildly as the two left, “I’d always thought it was Zoya who made the first move. I might have been mistaken.”

Kalen stood. “I have to see to rounds myself. With the wedding tomorrow, people are on edge.”

He nodded at the others before taking his leave, glancing back at me as he did. I opened my mouth but couldn’t find the words—didn’t even know what I wanted to say. Not in front of everyone else.

“I should take a look at Fox.” I was feeling antsy, and I wanted to do something more than sit around pretending to sleep.

“Zoya wants you to rest,” Likh reminded me.

“I’m not going to leave the room—not yet anyway.” I tapped the side of my head. “If something needs my attention, shake me.”

“I’m not going to—” I heard Khalad say, aghast, but I was already off.

Emperor Shifang would not be happy to see Fox and Princess Inessa in the same room again, but the princess had never been one to take no for an answer. She was by the window, staring out, while Fox had his back toward the door, watching her watch the city.

“Move away from the window, Princess. You’d make for an easy target.”

“Is that all I am to you, Fox?” Inessa asked, turning her head. “A target? Someone to protect?”

“Move away from the window.”

Inessa obeyed, crossing the room so she stood before my brother, starting stonily up at him. “You’ve stopped talking to me after the fight with the savul,” she said angrily. “You’ve never felt pain before, but seeing you that way…and then you stopped talking to me.”

“That’s a lie.”

“After that fight, you went back to talking to me like you were my subordinate. Not like how it used to be before.”

“Brides shouldn’t talk in this manner,” Fox said quietly, an odd note to his voice. I tried to withdraw, but his emotions pulled me back again.

She unfurled her hands. “You’re doing it. Right now.”

“Enlighten me, Princess. Tell me what am I to expect of someone who, not satisfied with finding herself engaged to a noble from one kingdom, goes ahead and affiances herself to another?”

“Because I’m useless!” The sound bounced off the walls. It was not the answer Fox was expecting. He looked astonished.

“I’m useless,” Princess Inessa repeated in a softer voice. “You can train me to fight, but you will never train me in time to be as competent at the sword as Kalen or Tea or anyone else. I will always require the most saving, the most protection. Do you know how horrible that makes me feel, that I can do nothing?

“All I have to offer is my crown, my perceived value as a princess, a potential bride. I may not have had as much say in my engagement to Kance, Fox, but I certainly do with my obligation to Shifang. I know this betrothal is the only reason we are allowed to remain here in Santiang to find the forger, and I will ensure that this betrothal allows us to remain here long enough to heal Kance’s heartsglass and help the poor Daanorian princess. And if I have to wed the emperor on the morrow for us to do that, then I will.”

“But I don’t want you to!” Fox moved. Now it was the princess against the wall, Fox trapping her there with his arms. Something glinted at his collar; Inessa’s eyes gravitated toward it. It was her fox pin that he now wore.

“A thousand times I wanted to shout it to the world,” my brother said through gritted teeth, “but a thousand times I kept my peace. Because it wasn’t my place and because I knew my jealousy talked louder than my respect for your royal customs. But your wedding is tomorrow, and I have stayed silent long enough. Don’t do this, Inessa. I’m begging you.”

“Why tell me this now?” Inessa whispered.

Fox’s hand shook. “Because in my arrogance, I never thought you would wed anyone else so willingly. Not Kance and definitely not Shifang. I thought I could wait long enough for you to realize my feelings, when I should have spoken out.”

Trembling, Inessa placed her hand against Fox’s heartsglass. “I remember the first time I asked you about this,” she said quietly.

A muscle ticked in Fox’s jaw, but he said nothing.

“I thought the silver meant you were a Deathseeker-in-training. You laughed and said that being a Deathseeker would have made your life a lot less complicated.” Her fingers traveled past his heartsglass, up his chest and neck, to touch the silver fox pin. “Do you remember what you told me then?”

Fox’s mouth worked. “I asked you to trust me.”

Inessa smiled. “And then, four months later, when I told you I loved you. Do you remember what you said?”

Fox was silent, his head bowed.

“You told me you couldn’t accept my love, that if you couldn’t tell me the reasons for your silver heartsglass—”

“—then I can’t promise you what I know you deserve.”

She wept, and her tears tore at him.

“Inessa.”

She looked up, her beautiful eyes still bright with tears. They widened when she saw what he was holding out to her.

“I can promise you nothing but what I already have.”

Inessa stroked his lower jaw. “You offered me your heartsglass instead.”

“You were right to reject me.” Fox’s voice was hoarse. “I couldn’t promise you anything. I still can’t—not as a familiar. When I learned you were the First Daughter of Kion, I knew you were out of my reach. Familiar-consorts weren’t unheard of in Kion—but Kion empresses and princesses also needed heirs. I was too much of a coward to tell you what I was, knowing it would end what we had.”

“No. I rejected you because I was stupid and because I was terrified. I was raised to believe in those ridiculous storybook romances, where love was meaningless unless it comes without fear, without selfishness. I thought you weren’t willing to fight for me, that you were going to give me a heartsglass that would fade in time, to pacify me for the moment.”

“Silver heartsglass don’t fade, Inessa.”

“I know that now.” She looked back at him fiercely. “Tea told me, back at Lake Strypnyk. I saw you walking with her in the Willows once, you know. I was angry and jealous until they told me she was your sister. I was still angry, but it wasn’t because I was repulsed that you were a familiar. I was angry because you never trusted me enough to tell me.”

Fox lowered his head. “I was afraid of what your answer would be.”

Inessa closed her eyes. “I know that now too. I…can’t guarantee what my mother might think about this, Fox. But at least let us try.” She kissed his neck. “It’s your turn to trust me,” she whispered. “When tomorrow comes, promise that you’ll trust me, Fox.”

His fingers tightened on her hair. “I promise.”

The kiss was chaste for only a second, before Fox gathered her in his arms and deepened it, Inessa returning the kiss with the same fervor.

Gross. Please don’t make me watch this. Already I was embarrassed, trying to pull my thoughts back again, but this time, Fox helped me snap free.

I think it’s about time you left, Tea.

I fled his mind, knowing I also had a matter to resolve.

• • •

I found him in the gardens, the night air cool against my cheeks. We paused to savor the crisp breeze, neither of us speaking for the longest time. Kalen’s heartsglass swung, and I saw the reason for his hesitation in its silvery depths. But I didn’t want to prolong the silence. I was desperate to clear the air about Odalia, about Lake Kaal, about the dance.

“Kalen. About the compulsion…”

“I’m not holding that against you anymore, Tea.”

“But I have to explain myself!” I blurted before I could change my mind. “I was frightened.”

“Frightened?”

“Because I was selfish.” He looked surprised. I pushed on. “I wasn’t frightened about leaving Prince Kance in Odalia. But I was when you said you were staying.”

“I don’t understand.” Yet I saw glimmers of hope in his heartsglass belying the words, and I plucked up the last of my courage.

“You know how I feel—what I thought I felt—for the prince. But staying with him never crossed my mind. I could argue that I knew he would be cared for, that he wouldn’t be harmed. But that’s not completely true. I should have been as worried as you were.”

“You knew you had no choice—”

“But I gave in so easily, without putting up a fight. When you said you were staying…” I swallowed, my eyes straying to the floor. Tonight was a night for confessions. Perhaps my brother’s resolve was influencing me through our bond, giving me more backbone to do the same.

“The thought of you in Odalia, alone, scared me so much that I did what I’d sworn I’d never do. I shouldn’t have forced you to come. It was cowardly of me, even if I thought I had the best intentions.”

“Cowardice has never been one of your vices, Tea. You killed a man for me. I wouldn’t have asked that of anyone.”

I had to smile, still not meeting his gaze. “What I did to you felt worse. That doesn’t say much about me.”

“Did you know what I thought the day you made me the offer to share heartsglass? When you said you’d do anything I wanted?”

“Are you going to throw that in my face again?”

“I couldn’t accept your offer. The last thing I wanted was to force you to kiss me.”

My stare flew to his, disbelieving.

“I’ve been in love with you,” he said quietly, “since we fought the azi by the lake.”

It sounded like an accusation as much as it was a confession, but for a man like Kalen, maybe they were one and the same. His words worked the way runes did, kicking up a whirlwind of emotions around me: trepidation, shock, happiness.

He loves me. But he looked so unguarded and open, like he was preparing himself for a rejection he knew was coming, and I wanted to weep and laugh all at once. I wished he could see himself the way I saw him: strength and familiarity and warmth in a dark cloak, brown eyes as steady and as comforting as the dawn. He loves me. “You never said anything.”

“Your life was problematic enough without involving me in it.” He sounded gruff. “And I thought your affections were engaged elsewhere.”

“They’re not. Not like this.”

“Tea.” His voice was so soft and low, I almost couldn’t make out his words. “Are you still in love with Kance?”

“Why?” I had to hear him say it so there wouldn’t be any more now we’re almost even’s and you bumbass’s between us.

“Because if you are in love with him and if he stops being an idiot about it, then I can protect you both without any regrets.”

“And if I’m not?”

“Are you, Tea?”

I wet my dry lips. “No.”

There was no time for anything else but Kalen’s mouth descending on mine, his hands cupping my face, his lips and tongue going straight to my head like wine. I matched him kiss for dizzying kiss, giving back every thought and word and heart, happier than I had ever known. I felt the flicker of Heartshare still around us, a rune I’d offered and forgotten, not wanting to dissolve even this meager connection.

It didn’t matter who saw; there was only me and Kalen underneath the moonlight and the wind spinning around us.

“I can’t court you the way Kance would have,” he said much later, still adorably unsure despite all we’d shared between us. “I have no head for poetry and no patience for rituals. I can’t worship you with words or song; I never know the right ones to sing.”

“I don’t need worship.”

“Yes, you do. With my hands.” His arms tightened around me. “With my mouth.” His lips pressed against the side of my jaw, kissed me again before I could protest that he was wrong because he’d always had the right words. Then he slid down to his knees.

“Kalen,” I panted, as he pushed the hem of my dress to one side, high enough to reveal my leg. “Kalen, what are you—”

He pressed his mouth against the scar on my thigh, that ugly, jagged line of raised flesh that deserved no affection, least of all from him. The azi was my weapon, but it had also killed fellow Deathseekers and injured his friends.

“Kalen.” The words came out as a sob. “Please.”

“With my heart,” he murmured against my bare skin. “You better be damn sure, Tea. The last thing I want to be is a consolation prize. But if you want this, then to hell with Kance and everyone else because then you’re mine.” His eyes darkened. “And I’m yours.”

“I have never been so sure of anything in my life.” It was my turn to take the initiative, grabbing him by his shirt and tugging him up to me. It felt so wonderful and strange to know you are your own person but begin to understand how you could also belong wholeheartedly to someone else. “Show me how to worship you.”

Tea!

I groaned. “Oh no.”

Kalen stilled immediately, questioning.

“No, not you.” I latched on to him again. I think I’m owed some privacy, Fox. You have the worst—

There’s an Odalian army at the gates of Santiang!

What?

There are ships on the horizon—at least fifty that I can see. War has come to Daanoris, and we’re right smack in the middle of it all over again!