“I’m an assassin.”
His eyes shot open, and he sat up in the bath. “Truly?” I nodded. “Then I need you to do me a great service,larkial.” His voice thrummed with a strange, somber intensity.
“I need you to kill me, quickly.”
ROYA
Ithought he might ask for more food, or help escaping, or to assassinate the regent.
I hadn’t expected him to beg for death.
“No,” I said as quietly as I could, though I wanted to shout. Something about this handsome man dying made my gut twist, like I would be sick. Maybe I was hungry. I nodded to Naari, then slipped out and picked two ripe bananas, a mango, and a small papaya. My mouth watered as I carried it all back in.
Altair stared at the fruit like he might throw himself out of the bath and attack me for it. “Here’s the deal,” I told him, peeling the bananas. “I’m not going to kill you. But you tell me what I want to know, and I’ll give you fruit.” I ignored his protests and ate one of the bananas slowly, making sounds of enjoyment as I did.
Finally, he got quiet. I peeked over. His nostrils were flared, his dark eyes almost predatory. “Is that a method of torture in your lands?” he growled. “To tempt a captive with what he can never have?”
“The banana?”
He let out a bitter laugh. “It has been years since I’ve had… dinner… with a woman. And I am very, very hungry.” He obviously didn’t mean for food.
Ah. I guess I had been making rather sensual sounds. My face burned, and Altair’s head tilted slowly as he took in my blush, perplexed at my reaction.
“Sorry. Ready to talk?” I handed him the banana, and he reached out, his long fingers wrapping around mine.
“I will answer, but then you will see why you must kill me.” I waited until he began to speak before I resumed peeling and slicing the fruit with my knife. “My mother, the queen, was beloved. She died when I was still too young to rule, only four years old, and her brother, Naldor Gullen, became regent. At first, he ruled wisely. He sent me to Mirren to be tutored when I was fourteen, but when I returned four years later, the people began to demand I choose a mate.
“The few Omegas on our island had been dying from strange causes. Falls, food poisoning, accidents that never had witnesses, or at least none that lived to tell of them.
“Only a month before my mother’s death, she made a treaty with the island nation of Wyngel, sending one of her most loyal handmaidens—the Omega named Cerise—to be married to their Prince Talon, whose first wife had died only days after their marriage celebration.” I fed him a slice of papaya, and he continued.
“The bond was to usher in a new prosperity, and trade would flourish. But Cerise was lost at sea. My mother died not long after the news came that Cerise’s ship had been attacked on its way to Wyngel, and everyone aboard killed. There was much confusion about that event—there were rumors the ship had been sabotaged in advance of the sailing, that the treasure that was to be her dowry had never been on board at all.
“The treaty failed, and Wyngel declared an embargo on our island. None of our people were allowed to leave, or trade with anyone else, until we sent an Omega to replace the one we had lost.
“But our Omegas were sick and dying, almost all of them. As soon as a young girl would begin to sing—”
“Sing?”
“Ah, the maturation? When the scent, her perfume, begins to attract…” I nodded, glad Kavin had explained the lure, and he went on. “We had heard of the Omega Plagues in your lands, and it was believed that this was what had befallen us.”
“But it wasn’t a plague. It was your uncle.”
“Yes. He saw that without Omegas, I could not mate and provide a new queen for our island. He found a way to circumvent the embargo by dealing with dishonorable sea captains, who dealt in dark trade. Whisky, rum, and the sorts of plants that cause death.”
“And the sorts that can make you sleep.” I handed him a sliver of the mango, which he took with a nod. “I am very knowledgeable about such things.”
“Good. He will try to poison you, Roya.”
“He already has.” I waved away his choked protest. “Don’t worry about me. He’s a walking dead man. My teacher, Thorn, is here with me. He’s the deadliest assassin on the continent. You have nothing to fear.”
For a moment, it looked like Altair was struggling to breathe, but finally he spoke. His voice was desolate. “Roya, I asked you to kill me for one reason: if I die, our laws mean there will be an election to choose a new line. It’s the only way to stop him.”
“And he’s shown such great regard for your laws so far?” I asked, scooping away the black seeds of the papaya and handing him the soft orange fruit. He was much more lucid now, but with his alertness came anger. I needed him to calm down and think. “You’ve missed something. A solution to all your problems.”
“It’s not possible. I may have been sleeping here for most of the past few years, but I could still see—”
I put a hand over his lips, trying not to think how soft and smooth they felt, or how they might feel against mine. “You don’t need to die. Your uncle does.”
