Ky sighs, then runs a hand across the back of his neck. For a flash of time, he looks heartbroken, but then it’s gone.
Oh. That’s why he hates it here. This is where his mother died. This is where his most sorrowful memories are kept. So his life is split between a place like this and a battlefield where he risks his life and his people perish. He clearly loves his sister. I could hear that in every word he spoke to her—and I saw his pain when she seemed unaware of it. But she’s vulnerable. She leaveshimvulnerable—and therefore his kingdom vulnerable. He hates that, too.
I genuinely didn’t think anything could be more tragic than what Asher told me about himself. No wonder Ky is so desperate for this alliance—and so relieved that we discovered the truth about the assassins.
“What else do you want to know?” Ky says to me. The sharp edge is back in his accent, emotion locked away. He’s the perfect soldier again, ready for war.
“Does she have magic?” I say carefully.
“Yes.”
My heart thumps. “So she can sketch sigils—”
“No.” He shudders. “She’s fascinated by anything vibrant, and if she knew how to summon it on purpose, I think she’d burn the whole kingdom down.” He pauses again, but this one is weighted. “But her power can flare unexpectedly. If something upsets her, if she loses her temper, if she panics—anything can trigger the magic, and without training, she has no control. Often, it’s small. But sometimes, it’s not. I can summon fire from quite a distance, so it stands to reason that she can, too. She’s burned herself, her nannies...there’s a reason I keep her down a stone hallway.”
I study him. “That’s why you were so upset,” I say. “When I tried the sigil in the settlement.”
“Yes,” he says gravely. “I know how much damage untrained magic can cause.”
“Is Victoria burning your crops?” says Asher.
Ky looks at him. Seconds tick by, and the silence is painful.
“I don’t know,” he finally says. “It might not be her. Without training, I have no way of knowing if her magic causes fires elsewhere. I can direct fire away from me, but it took years to develop any kind of precision.” He pauses. “Without rain, the land is so dry. Whether it’s Victoria or not, once a fire starts, it’s near impossible to stop.”
And all his terrifying power can’t help. I saw that myself. I think of the scent of smoke when we camped in the ravine, and I wonder if wildfires were flaring then. “Could you ban fire, the way we did in Astranza?”
“We may not have your deep snows, Princess, but it is still winter. I cannot ask my people to freeze. They already suffer enough.” He pauses, his tone grave. “And how would I justify it? How could I evenenforceit, for that matter?”
I remember our conversation about the lies rulers tell their people, how I asked what lieshetells. He didn’t answer. But as I consider his questions, I realize that there’s no good solution. I think of Charlotte bringing me the ice-cold cup of tea. A night without fire in the palace was miserable—and that was just a night.
“Could Victoria live elsewhere?” I say.
He sighs heavily. “I’ve tried—but she does not handle change well, which brings its own set of risks and challenges. She fears being in a carriage, so traveling could make her panic and cause her magic to flare. Once I was able to take her to the cliffs over the ocean, and I thought she might like it there...until she decided she had enough, and tried to walk back to Lastalorre, in the cold, in the middle of the night. We found her soaking wet, in a ravine. I had to bring her home.”
I can hear the worry in every word. He’s such a protector.
Unlike Dane...who’s not.
Ky looks into my eyes and says, “Forgive me, Princess. I asked forno lies between us, and I...I did not intend for this to be a lie. But perhaps...perhaps it was an omission. You deserve the full truth. My army is fierce. Incendar is strong—for now. I will protect these borders, and I will protect you. If Dane proceeds with this alliance, I will do my best to protect Astranza. But my sister is...my sister. Keeping her a secret was an effort to protect her, not to deceive you. But you see why I am so very desperate for your father’s help, and why I will do anything to ensure this alliance is a success.”
He’s so earnest. As always, he speaks with such conviction. I still don’t know how Dane negotiated with this man for months, because there’s a part of me that would’ve given him everything he asked for on the very first day.
But as I look into his eyes, I realize Asher is looking at me, and there’s weight in his gaze. He’s been affected by every word the king said as well.
We both know that my father can’t uphold this alliance—or if he can, it won’t be for very long.
Emotion wraps up my chest and draws tight. Maybe I’m being disloyal to Astranza, but I cannot lie for Dane anymore.
“Ky,” I say, and my voice is so soft. “My father is dying.”
He goes completely, utterly still. The fires in the room flicker and blaze for a wild moment, as if reactingforhim. For all the warmth surrounding us, his eyes have gone ice-cold.
“I didn’t know,” I say in a rush. “Dane only told me the night before you arrived, and he threatened that it would be my fault if I risked the alliance—because Astranza needs you. If my father’s weather magic cannot protect our soldiers—”
“You need mine to do it.”
He says it so quietly. This is worse than that moment when he finally broke from strain and lost his temper. I swallow thickly, then nod.
