25

It was an hour before the wedding. The tension and worry I knew the day would bring, coupled by Kalen’s kiss the night before, had made rest almost impossible. I was wide awake, adrenaline coursing through my body. Kalen and Fox kept a close watch on the approaching army; there was nothing else to do but wait and fort up in preparation of a siege.

A history of constant warfare had instilled discipline in the Daanorians—or perhaps they were used to following orders. The emperor called all officials to the throne room, us included, to give a long, sonorous speech that Shadi was quick to translate.

“Are you kidding me?” Fox was disbelieving. “He intends to push through with the wedding?!”

“He believes the Odalian army is here in protest of his engagement to Inessa,” Shadi said. “And by making their wedding official, there will no longer be grounds for Kance’s betrothal taking precedence. Let’s not dissuade him of that belief just yet.”

“This is insane,” my brother growled.

“Insanity or not, we are trapped,” Zoya muttered darkly. “An army outside and traitors within. Stuck between a rock and a hard place.” She frowned. “Still…I am certain we are overlooking something important.” She raised a hand. “Let me think. I’ll figure it out. I always do.”

Beside her, Shadi sighed.

• • •

“Baoyi can accuse Tansoong in public of his crimes,” Kalen said, “but we don’t have any evidence that can hold up to their judgment. There’s still Baoyi’s testimony, but his and Tansoong’s families have been rivals for generations. It would be easy to dismiss this as another play for power on Baoyi’s part.”

We were on top of the battlements, where we could see the docked ships and the Odalian army amassing. Kalen estimated that it would take another couple of hours for them to arrive at the gates, so Emperor Shifang had announced that the wedding would take place in half the time. I had to admire the emperor’s arrogance; he was so used to being the center of which all Daanoris revolved that he assumed Odalia would follow suit.

“I hate this,” I groaned. “We’ve got the Odalian army chasing after us again, we can’t muster any proof against Tansoong, and we still haven’t found the forger!”

Kalen placed an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. “Just another day in the life of an asha.”

“And of a Deathseeker.” I snuggled closer to him. “I love you.”

“Tea, you don’t need to say that just because I—”

I smacked him lightly on the side. “Shut up and let me finish.”

He laughed. “Go on.”

“I didn’t realize it until the day we left Odalia, when I compelled you. I didn’t know why your anger bothered me so much. I was terrified you would never forgive me, and it took me a lot longer to ferret out the real reason why.”

“I was angry,” he admitted. “But I was also angry at myself. I knew I had a duty to stay and protect Kance, even though I’d done a horrible mess of it at that point, but I also didn’t want to let you out of my sight.”

I remembered something else and started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“You. When Daisy made a pass at you back in Odalia and I intervened. I had no idea why you were acting so strangely.”

“I was stunned.”

“I thought I was doing you a good turn. But when you kissed me on the cheek…maybe I was a little jealous you weren’t being as rude to her as you usually are to me.”

“I didn’t want to be the only one out of sorts.” He kissed me now. “We’re supposed to be on watch,” he said brusquely but didn’t move away. “Are you sure Inessa intends to go through with this wedding?”

“I think she has something up her sleeve. Zoya too. She went down to the city again this morning.”

“Zoya with a plan makes me nervous. What is she up to?”

“I don’t know. She asked me if I’d told anyone beyond our group about any specifics of the sleeping sickness. I’m pretty sure no one did.”

“Odd. She asked me the same question.” He looked back at the army. “They know we have the azi on our side, that the army has no chance. Why come all the way here?”

I had no answer to that either.

• • •

It was a solemn affair, and no one but the emperor looked happy. Baoyi and Tansoong stood on either side of the aisle and traded dirty looks when they thought he wasn’t looking. Zoya and even Shadi seemed unnaturally nervous. Likh was staring at the ceiling, his mouth moving soundlessly as beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Kalen glanced occasionally at me and then out the window. Fox’s placid exterior bespoke an inner turmoil: disbelief that the marriage was taking place, worry about the growing army outside, and anger that he was doing nothing to stop either.

We can call this off, you know, I told him.

I promised her, came the grim response. I told her I’d trust her, and I will.

Daanorian wedding ceremonies were not a lengthy affair. All that was needed to cement the marriage was for the emperor to take his intended bride by the hand and declare to all those watching that she was officially his wife. And as Inessa walked serenely down the aisle, courtiers strewing roses in the path before her, she never once wavered. As she passed us, I saw her eyes stray toward Fox, and her heartsglass bloomed a rosy-red glow before she deliberately turned away.

We watched as Emperor Shifang took her hand, turned toward us, and in a remarkably brief speech, no doubt ushered along by the situation outside, officially proclaimed her his wife. On cue, the court fell to their knees, and at Zoya’s quick gesture, we followed suit. Fox was seething with grief and rage entwined.

Cries rose up from outside. The army had reached the gates. Battle was about to begin.

Emperor Shifang gave a curt order. “Send word that the Princess of Kion is now the Empress of Daanoris,” Shadi translated for us. “Prepare the troops. As soon as I give the word, we shall attack.”

Zoya stepped forward, speaking in Daanorian. “A moment, Your Majesty.”

A few courtiers gasped, and the emperor scowled. He turned to ignore her, but Inessa shook her hand free from her husband’s and stepped back.

“What is the meaning of this insolence?” Tansoong demanded.

“We have reason to believe that there is a traitor in our midst and that it is one of your own advisers, Emperor Shifang. This traitor bespelled your army and summoned the savul.”

“And who might that be?” demanded the emperor.

Zoya raised her hand. It swept past Tansoong and pointed unerringly at Baoyi. “Him.”

I was astonished. From Kalen’s and Fox’s expression, I wasn’t the only one.

“Lady Zoya?” Baoyi looked as stunned as I was. “I beg your pardon?”

“You poisoned Princess Yansheo under the guise of an Odalian duke. For your help, Usij promised you lordship over Santiang and most of Daanoris. It was you who secreted those seeking stones within the emperor’s army in the hopes it would distract our Dark asha long enough for her to be killed by the savul. You have betrayed Emperor Shifang and you have allied yourself with the Faceless.”

The man lifted his hands. “Emperor Shifang,” he beseeched. “I have served you faithfully for years. I am innocent of these accusations. Surely you do not believe these lies?”

“Let us not get ahead of ourselves, Baoyi.” I didn’t like Tansoong, but he was a master politician, quick to take advantage when the tide turned in his favor. The advisor said, “I have been keeping a close eye on you for many months, and I have many reasons to suspect that what they say could be true.”

“Is he in on the plan?” I heard Shadi whisper to Zoya.

“Of course not. He’s talking out of his ass, but at least the emperor’s paying attention.”

“They’re going to hear you,” Khalad mumbled.

“It’s not like most of them understand me. And at this point, it’s too late to be offended.”

“My suspicions began when you arrived from Tresea last year with several pieces of what you claimed were jade stones,” Tansoong continued.

“I have always been a collector, Tansoong.”

“Collector my foot. I know what jade looks like, and those certainly weren’t precious gems. After Yansheo fell sick, I pored through many magical tomes from Kion, trying to find an antidote even if it went beyond our own laws. In my desperation to see the princess well again, I came upon many magical treatises written by asha. What you call jade looked like what the asha call ‘seeking stones.’”

“You’re getting blind in your old age, Tansoong,” Baoyi accused.

“Oh, I know my vision isn’t what it used to be,” the old man drawled, enjoying his time in the spotlight. “You spirited them out of the palace as quickly as you received them, but I had my spy steal one of your ‘jades’ to confirm my suspicions. After that, I had my men deliver it, along with an anonymous letter, to your old friend, Narel, at the shack he frequents in the city. He and I had never seen eye to eye, but I knew he wouldn’t let your friendship get in the way if you were up to something suspicious.”

The realization that Tansoong was telling the truth and Baoyi was our enemy all along triggered something in my brain. I remembered Baoyi’s quarters, the jade stones Khalad had arranged on the mantelpiece. The Heartforger had piled three of them on top of the other, a careful display of balance. I had seen that somewhere else in the palace…

Baoyi shifted uneasily. “That means nothing.”

“No, but it explains many other things.” Zoya spoke up again. “The men in your army who sought to attack you, Your Majesty, were influenced by these same seeking stones.”

“Then there is all the more reason to suspect you and your group, not me,” Baoyi protested. “I have no skills for magic, and of all of us here, you would be the most likely—”

“You talked about conducting a search for the princess’s heartsglass yesterday. How do you know what heartsglass looks like?”

“I have read texts of them, that they are red in color and shine like rubies. It is common enough knowledge.”

“What isn’t common knowledge was that this particular sleeping sickness turns their hearts gray. None of us told you about this particular detail, yet you told me you had ordered your soldiers to bring back any gray jewels they might find. How do you explain that?”

Sweat beaded on Baoyi’s forehead. “Narel told me.”

“The Heartforger explicitly stated in his letter that he told you nothing to spare you from worry. Once I realized that, I focused my attentions on you. The jade you like to display on your mantelpiece are very similar in shape and size to seeking stones. How easy would it be to smuggle them under the guise of unpolished gems? The forger also mentioned a recent visit, yet you denied he ever came. Either he was talking to an impersonator—highly doubtful, since it would be too risky to have two of you in the palace at once—or you lied because you didn’t want to be the last man to see him.” Zoya was in fighting form, her eyes glittering.

“A coincidence!”

“You talked about Shaoyun, Baoyi. A scarlet peacock, in your own words. The lovely Lady Likh mentioned finding a corpse in the city—a corpse with bits of red cloth still clinging to its body. Red is an unusual color for a typical Daanorian, who prefer their grays and browns. Shadi and I took the initiative to bring back his remains. I spent quite a long time piecing together the bits of cloth he wore, which contained a crest. We compared it with his family’s herald. Shall we have the Dark asha raise him to confirm to see what stories he could tell?”

“You—you—” Baoyi took a step toward her, his face livid.

“Now, Likh!” Zoya commanded.

Instantly, I felt the wards around us disappear, as Likh forced the spell to dissipate. Baoyi’s clerk dropped to his knees, a pained howl dribbling from his mouth as a sudden rush of magic filled me, too fast and too soon that I swore that my whole body was thrumming from the power alone, a desperate need to compel everyone I saw nearly overwhelming.

But my training returned, my mind clinging to my meditation runes almost on instinct, to focus on the matter at hand, at my role in this drama playing out. Already I was completing the spell before I’d realized what I was doing, and the Piercing rune spiraled into the air toward the strongest source of magic in the room—not Baoyi but his clerk. The spell bound him like rope. I squeezed, and a ripple went through the man, like he was merely a reflection in the water.

I felt a force attempt to clamp down on my mind, trying to prevent me from going further. But I was ready. The protection stone felt hot around my neck, and the azi rose up and roared at him, barreling into his mind with all its might.

With a frantic yell, Baoyi’s assistant dropped his guard, and I surged forward. The illusion around him shattered, and the remnants of his disguise peeled away. I found myself looking at a shriveled old man, far older than even Tansoong, bald but with a full beard.

“Usij!” Emperor Shifang roared.

The man ignored him and turned to me, a slow smile spreading across his wrinkled face. “I am impressed, bone witch. I have heard of your exploits, including Aenah’s capture. Neither she nor I had ever been able to tame the azi completely. Your willpower is formidable.”

“You dare bring this foul magician into the palace, Baoyi?” the emperor thundered.

“I am no longer Baoyi of Daanoris, fool. Just as you have forsaken your kingdom for magical creatures and Kion strumpets, so have I forsaken mine to serve the Great Prince as his favored disciple.”

“How could you?” Khalad raged. “You were my master’s friend!”

Baoyi was unmoved. “Neither you nor your master know how the world truly works. Daanoris has stepped out of its self-imposed exile only to discover that we lag behind other kingdoms. Only through magic and these monsters at our bidding can we finally stand as gods before all. I bear my own silver heartsglass, Your Majesty. Master Usij found me, drew it for me, showed me the way. I could have risen to such heights had it not been for your foolish ban on runes.”

“You killed Shaoyun,” Zoya said grimly.

“As you said, your friends have already met him.” The Faceless’s smile turned my stomach. “And after all the effort we took to implicate him.”

“You filthy, loathsome man.”

“Now, now, this is not the time to trade compliments. I have conceded this battle. Let me go.”

“Preposterous!” Emperor Shifang all but screamed at him. “The hangman’s noose shall be your fate! Why should I release you?”

Still inside the traitor’s head, I sensed the sudden shift, familiar and strange, creep into his mind. I had a vision of scales and yellow eyes.

A wild cry rose up from outside the city, the scream penetrating and loud.

“My savul is at the city gates,” Druj said, “and the city shall run red with blood before the day is out.”

Then he struck. I was waiting for it; the azi took most of the blow, its shield strong enough to deflect what could have easily incapacitated me, and I could still feel my ears ring from the force. I staggered backward. Usij whirled to attack again—not at me but at the emperor.

Shifang froze, eyes strangely blank. He snatched a sword from one of his guards and turned to Inessa.

But Fox was ready. The emperor’s blade passed through my brother’s shoulder, and a deft twist of Fox’s wrist disarmed the Daanorian. Another hard blow knocked him out.

There was the sound of shattering glass.

Kalen, Zoya, and several of the soldiers rushed forward. A small net strung across the city below had taken the brunt of both Usij’s and Baoyi’s fall, and I saw several passersby—no, Usij’s followers!—helping them to their feet.

“Barricade the city gates!” Tansoong roared. “Don’t let them get away!”

“We have more to worry about now,” Fox said grimly, ripping the sword free from his body. Through the broken glass, I saw the savul heading toward Santiang, and its shrieks rattled the panes.

“Stop that!” Inessa said irritably as more soldiers drew their swords on Fox. “You’ve seen him stabbed. It’s not going to work. Lower your weapons or I will stab you all with mine.” She further demonstrated by fishing out a small knife she had hidden within the folds of her dress, pointing it at the nearest guard and then repeating the words in Daanorian.

“Your vocabulary needs work, Your Majesty,” Shadi cautioned helpfully as the trembling soldiers obeyed. “You told the men you were going to stab them with your hamster.”

“Then do the translating for me, Shadi. Tell them that while the emperor is incapacitated, I’m assuming command, as is my responsibility. Just like the Empress Kalka and the Empress Meili before me, I claim rulership of Daanoris in my husband’s stead while he recuperates. Order the army’s retreat, Tansoong. This war shall not be won by drawing human blood.”

I was already moving toward the door, brushing past the frightened guards, who made no move to confront me. The dungeons, Fox, I whispered, frantic. The dungeons!

The jade stones on Baoyi’s mantelpiece. And Khalad absently building a tower of pebbles in the Kingshead Inn—and then again at the forger’s hut in Kion.

Got the habit from Master, he had said.

The prison was just as dark and as dank as I remembered, for all appearances empty. I stopped at the farthest cell and stared into it. I could see nothing within.

I looked down at the broken debris that littered the dungeon floor. The pile of stones I had seen at my last visit was still there.

Kalen and Khalad had caught up to us. “What’s happening?” the Deathseeker asked.

“The forger is here.”

“I don’t see anyone.”

“I know.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, wove Heartsrune.

There were three people in the room. But when I focused on the number of heartsglass that I could detect from sense alone, I could feel four.

This was Khalad’s first time in the dungeons; his face was pale.

“He’s here,” he croaked. “Master’s here.”

To pierce through the veil of the Illusion rune, it is important to believe that what is in front of you is not what you truly see…

“What is in front of me,” I echoed, “is not what I truly see.”

It was easy enough to puncture Usij’s mirages when you’re certain what you are looking for. But all I had to go by here was a hunch and a pile of stones at my feet.

But there was someone in this cell, someone that a rune convinced my mind was empty. There was someone here because I could hear his heartsglass pulse and rise and fall, as real as my own. There was someone here. There was someone here!

I drew the Piercing rune, unshakable in my newfound belief, and put everything I had into that small cell. It was uphill work and slower than I imagined, like weaving thick taffy. I also felt resistance—not from another’s thoughts but from the nature of the spell itself—and forced the image of the forger that I remembered through it.

There was a sound, at least to my mind, of glass breaking.

And from what had once been empty air, the old Heartforger lay, huddled by the straw bed, unconscious.