It must show on my face because he pushes himself up on his elbow and presses a soft kiss to my lips. My pulse races. I want to ask him about our friends, about the last moments of battle, but I’m terrified of the results. Who else didn’t make it? The words don’t come and I look at him helplessly.
He reads the question in my eyes and answers. “The Illustrians surrendered. But Catalina refused to concede defeat. She’s being held prisoner—”
I bolt upright. “In the dungeon?”
Rumi pulls me back so I’m once again lying on the pillows. “In a bedroom with guards at the door.”
“Tell me everything.”
He starts with the moment Suyana found him right before the wedding. “We couldn’t stand by and do nothing about Atoc’s order to execute the princesa, so we went ahead with our plan. Even without the ghost army.”
“What did Suyana tell you?” My voice catches. “Is she alive?”
He nods. “She said you were one of us. When Atoc tried to kill you, when you refused to give up my name … I couldn’t let you die, and then you saved Tamaya and battled the condesa. I fought and fought knowing that I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. It was the hardest thing, giving you that sword and not being able to tell you how sorry I was.”
I remember the brush of his lips. The look in his eyes. “I knew.”
He closes his eyes and nods once. Then he reaches for my hand and kisses the back of my wrist.
“Then what happened?”
“I’ve been attending to as many people as I can. My cousin—”
I cup his cheek. He was my friend too. “I’m so sorry. I saw it happen; there was nothing we could do.”
His eyes clench, his shoulders tense, fighting to keep the tears at bay. He breathes in and out, controlled breaths that soften the tight lines around his eyes. He reopens them to look at me. “So many perished. After the battle, Catalina was allowed a funeral for the Illustrians who died.”
I wound the sheet around my fingers. “How many died?”
“Lo siento,” he whispers. “Catalina told me to tell you, but I can’t—”
My voice goes flat. “How many.”
He ducks his head. “Fifty-two.”
Tears drip down my face. Rumi wipes them away and holds me as I cry. She’ll never understand what I’ve done. And because of that, she’ll never be able to forgive me for it either.
“Te amo, Ximena,” he says against my hair.
“Yo también.”
Rumi lets out a contented hum. His lips are soft against my skin.
I pull away and wipe my eyes. “Then what happened?”
“Umaq is gone,” Rumi says bitterly. “He left on a stolen horse with plenty of notas from Atoc’s treasury. I’m told he’s headed for the jungle.”
The Yanu Jungle? You’d have to be out of your mind to enter.“Why?”
Rumi shrugs. “Who cares? I never want to see him again. I’ll kill him if I do.”
“Whatever lies in the jungle will do that for you.”
“Dios, I hope so.” His voice becomes hushed, careful. “Now all that’s left is Catalina’s hearing. Tamaya insisted you be awake for it. Are you up for it today?”
I sink deeper into the pillow and shake my head. I can’t face her yet. “Mañana.”
“Whatever you want,” he says, his eyes soft.
