He nods, a faint gold illuminating his irises. “He is one of the liaisons for our Master of Sails.”
“The rebels want to kill you and replace you with one of their own. You will need to do an entire overhaul of your advisors and the nobles living here,” I add, shaking my head. How would he even determine who was truly on his side and who wasn’t?
“Who else?”
“Tua.” A small flare of distrust flashes in his gaze, hardly longer than a blink, but it’s enough for me to take a step back from him. “I’m not lying,” I grit out, gripping on to the back of one of the couches for support.
“I didn’t say that you were. Am I not allowed to be surprised by that information? By finding out that the man that has guided my journey as king since I was forced into the role has actually been plotting against me?”
“I tried to warn you,” I bark back. “Tua told me about your father, claiming Noa didsomethingto your mother while she was pregnant with you. He didn’t say what, only that the magicyoupossess is a direct result of whatever he did. Whatever he learned. As is Jahlee’s inability to shift.”
Kai’s brows furrow as a desperate look crosses his face.
“I know you won’t believe me, but it is the truth. Tua is leading the rebel movement and has been for a very long time.His connections and relationships with your advisors have given him the power that you, as king, should have. Magda, Haloa, the burning of Adrian’s business and murder of his son? They were all punished because they supportyou.” I draw my hands down my face, hissing in pain as I do. “He’s been trying to kill me since the ship left the Mage Kingdom. I wasn’t seasick; I was beingpoisoned. The attack in the forest and the ambush in my room were both planned by him. And he knew from the very beginning that I didn’t have magic.”
Kai grits his teeth together, his features rippling as he fights the urge to shift. I can’t imagine how it must feel to be so betrayed by someone who held so much of your trust. My deception had compounded that. I limp over to one of the velvet-wrapped chairs, sinking into it with a grimace. Kai follows and, to my utter surprise, gets on one knee in front of me.
“Do you want me to bring Lana to you? She’s our best healer,” he says softly, but I shake my head.
“I’m fine.”
“Bahira—”
“Don’t,” I cut him off, tears threatening again despite the fact that I’d rather not feel anything at all. When the silence lingers, I push down the way it slices me between my ribs. “I need to ask you for a favor.” Holding my trembling hands out in front of me, I watch silently as he drops his pensive gaze from mine down to them. His brows rise towards his hairline when he takes in the state of my thumbs.
“How?”
I lift a shoulder, my head falling back against the chair. “Shackles were easier to remove this way.” A low rumble leaves him and travels directly to my low belly.Stupid fucking body. Kai cradles one of my hands in both of his, carefully moving so as not to jostle it more than necessary. I squeeze my eyes shut as my breathing begins to quicken. “What are you going to do aboutTua?” I ask, knowing that I have no right to the information but desperate for a distraction.
He gives me no chance to stew in my fear before he pops my thumb back into place. A whimper that I’m too weak to stop slips out as my head swims in stars. Kai lifts my tingling hand up to his mouth, placing a kiss I barely feel on top of my thumb before he lays it in my lap.
“I’ll need some time to figure that out.”
I open my eyes to find his already on me. “You may not have a lot of it. This seemed to be Tua’s final stand, and once he discovers the rebels’ bodies, he’ll know that I’m the one who did it. He’ll immediately be suspicious that I went to you.”
He nods and then quickly sets my other thumb. His figure blurs into many bodies before settling back into one while my chest heaves. “You will have to stay hidden.” I shake my head and lean forward to argue with him, but the dizziness makes me wobble back. “You and Jahlee will wait in my rooms until you’re healed, while I figure out if I have any allies.”
“First, you can’t tell me what to do.” His lips twitch at that. “Second, how do you know who you can trust? What if he tries to kill you while—”
Kai laughs, cutting off my panicked rambling. “Despite what you think, I’m not acompleteidiot. I’ll let Tua think that I’m ignorant to everything. Let him assume that you escaped and left the island altogether.”
Ashehad assumed. That unspoken truth settles between us, but neither of us dares to speak it. Kai stands, extending his hand out to me to help me up. He wraps an arm around me and guides us to the door and out into the hall.
“Were these your father’s rooms?” Remnants of dried blood from the shifters who were slain in this wing of the palace stain the rugs and walls, the scent of iron still heavy in the air.
“It was.”
I refrain from asking why the fuck there is a secret dungeon attached to the king’s chambers.
We make our way down the long hallway and turn, Kai holding the majority of my weight as I limp along next to him. We pass the door I recognize as his and head towards mine, the wood splintered and hanging ajar. My stomach sinks when I push the door the rest of the way open to see that my entire room has been ransacked, clothes and papers strewn about and discarded carelessly. Shards of glass litter the floor, as well as the ancient mage journals from home.
“Bastards,” I fume, letting go of Kai to kneel down and inspect the journals. Luckily, the magic from home appears to have kept them from any damage.
“Grab some clothes and whatever you want to keep yourself entertained and then head to my room. I’ll send Jahlee there next.” I nod, gathering the journals in a small stack before standing. Kai’s steps crunch over the glass and the debris from the shattered door, but he stops just before exiting the room. Looking over his shoulder at me, sincerity softens his expression. “I am sorry.”
I don’t know what he’s apologizing for exactly, and I can only nod again, both too many words and not enough strangling me into silence. I wait until I hear his steps fading down the hallway before I gather my things, and I contemplate what the hell I’m supposed to do next.
Jahlee is already waiting for me when I open the door to Kai’s room. While I’m happy to see her, it’s what she’s holding in her hands, twirling it irreverently, that has a smile lifting my cheeks.
