“Save us,” Rafaela said.“They spared us so that we would become their eager puppets.”
“Which we didn’t.”
“Which we didn’t,” Rafaela agreed.
“We fought them with everything we had,” Alonso said.“We didn’t stop until it was just us against them.And then Rafi and I surrendered, but only because it was best for our subjects.If not, they’d have been submitted to the emperor’s direct rule, and it would have been far, far worse for them.”
“And Teo?”I asked.
“He refused to submit.So he was exiled.I feared they’d kill him instead…”
“Where?Where did they exile him?”
“To Orania.”
“Orania?”In all the Opalese World, Orania was the farthest from Zaraga—from everywhere, really—the most mysterious and least inhabitable.“Why Orania?”
“We don’t know.”
“How could Teo even search for me from there?”
Alonso’s eyes skittered to Rafaela, and she said, “You know Teo.He found ways.Even though Junot made it very unpleasant for him.”
“How?”
“In every which way.”
“How?And how do you know he never gave up on finding me if he was all the way out there and you were here?”
“Just because we were”—her lips rolled with distaste—“conquered … doesn’t mean we’ve been completely without resources.There are many still secretly loyal to Zaraga.We’ve never been without our spies.We aren’t the only ones holding out for a return of our kingdom.”
I wanted more information, more remnants of Teo to hang on to, but Rafaela was already speaking again.
“And behind the siege of House of D’Arco?Alobaz Hawxley.”She drew out his name, emphasizing its harsh consonants.It befouled the air of her smoky parlor.“We were only the beginning of Junot’s takeover.After that, he pushed to conquer every other kingdom and queendom.Alobaz led his armies and left utter devastation in his wake.”
“Only the Wonderwater kingdoms managed to resist his forces,” Alonso said.“The creatures and even the monsters of the seas fought alongside the people.They alone retain their sovereignty.
“The Razer, that’s what they call Alobaz.He’s the general of the emperor’s forces.Any attack, he’s behind it.He plans and executes them all.”
“If Domdurro controls the entire Opalese except for the Wonderwater continents, then why’d the emperor send Teo to Orania of all places?They would have had to sail through the Black Sea to get him there.”
“Not necessarily,” Alonso said.“They could always sail around.”
“But that would take ages.And it’d be dangerous.The ship would have to skirt the edge of the Opalese.They might fall off.No ship ever comes back from that.”
Rafaela pursed her lips.“But they didn’t.Who knows how Alobaz thinks?He’s a beast.A monster.And Junot pulls his every string.”
“Where is he now?Alobaz?”My tongue slithered along thez; I was a serpunta readying to strike.
“We’ll get to that,” Rafaela said.
“Where?”I grit out.
“Don’t push me, Soravelle.I’m still your mother.You will wait until you hear the rest we have to say.You need to be prepared.So much has changed while you were gone.”
“The demigods?”
She scoffed.“As defeated as the rest of us.”
