Asha stared at her brother. For a moment, it wasn’t Dax standing before her in the middle of the street. It was her mother, standing at the window of the sickroom, gripping the ledge with her sapped strength, willing it to bear her up as the same harsh cough racked her body.
No,thought Asha.
Jarek turned to see why the soldats stopped, but by then, Dax’s coughing subsided. The heir wiped his mouth and Asha looked for blood on the gold sleeve of his tunic. He tucked itout of sight before she could see.
When they arrived at the towering door set into the caramel-colored wall of the palace, Jarek issued an order to the soldats on the other side. Before Asha could pass through the arching doorway next to Dax, Jarek grabbed her arm, forcing her to face him.
“My offer still stands,” he said, his voice a low rumble. “Iwillfind that slave and finish him. Or you could accept, and I’ll forget about him.”
Asha twisted free and caught up with her brother. “Hunt him to your heart’s content,” she said over her shoulder.
“The moon wanes, Asha!” Jarek called after her. “Why prolong the inescapable?”
But her father had given Asha an escape. Jarek just didn’t know it.
Once she and Dax were both through the gateway, Asha moved quickly through the shaded arcades, leaving her brother behind. The sound of cascading water chimed from the fountains as mist evaporated in the heat of the sun.
“Asha,” Dax said, jogging to catch up with her. “Talk to me. Please.”
“Talk toyou?” She stopped walking and spun to face him. “You who put those scrolls in that room? Who brought enemies into our home? I’m not telling you anything. Jarek’s right. You’ve put us all in jeopardy.”
Slaves going about their daily tasks stopped to eavesdrop on the two royal siblings in the middle of the arcade. When Asha shot them warning glances, they quickly moved on.
She thought of the old stories, written in Dax’s handwriting.
She lowered her voice. “The stories on those scrolls. Did you write them?”
His eyebrows shot upward. “I’m surprised you think me capable.”
That wasn’t an answer.
She studied him. His cheekbones jutted out too far. His clothes hung too loosely. As exasperating as her brother was, she couldn’t bear to lose him.
“You look just likeshedid,” said Asha. “Right before she died.”
A wild emotion flickered across his face. But it was gone as soon as it arrived.
“Not everything is as it appears, Asha.” His gaze flicked over her shoulders, checking for soldats and slaves. Satisfied that they were alone and unwatched, he stepped in close and lowered his voice.“When darkness falls, the Old One lights a flame.”
Asha stepped back. “What?”
“It’s what Roa says.”
Roa?The girl who betrayed him?
Was he serious?
Asha didn’t have time for this. Her brother was a lost cause. She needed to steal the sacred flame so she could get back to hunting Kozu.
She moved past her brother, heading deeper into the palace.
Dax’s footsteps rang out behind her.
“The realm is divided against itself!”
She ignored him and kept walking—through shady galleriesand bright courtyards, through gardens full of date palms and vines of white jasmine creeping up the walls.
Dax followed her.
