He released me, but not after squeezing harder. I stumbled a step away when I finally had my arm back, the goblet still in my hand, though the water had sloshed over it when I’d tried to get away.
My heartbeat was in my throat.
“They’re going to execute him,” I found myself saying through a clenched jaw.
There was no expression on Nevin’s face at my pronouncement. A wiggle of guilt and shame moved in my chest. Why did I feel like I was betraying Alaryk’s confidence?
Because you are,I thought.
“How you’d find out?” he asked.
“From Alaryk,” I said with gritted teeth. “Last night.”
Nevin huffed out a sharp breath. “Who knew we only needed a whore to get theKarath’s secrets?”
I hid my flinch.
“Maybe you’re smarter than I thought you were,” he told me.
I couldn’t even deny his words. Was that what I’d become now? A whore for secrets? Alaryk had been between my thighs last night. I’d used him, just as he’d used me.
“Ryak didn’t want you getting close to him because he thought you couldn’t be trusted,” Nevin admitted to me. “But I disagree. I think you’ve positioned yourself perfectly.”
“I didn’t plan this,” I grated.
“But you’ll take advantage,” Nevin ended, his eyes cutting to me. “When are they planning to execute him?”
“I—I don’t know,” I confessed.
“Then find out,” he ordered, his eyes like flint.
“What are you planning?” I asked, frowning. “Surely you’re not thinking?—”
“Amaia,” came Syris’s voice. “We’re ready to eat.”
I whirled, just in time to see Syris come into view. She frowned when she saw me.
“What are you doing over there?”
“I…” I turned back to find Nevin had disappeared, likely ducked down beneath the wall. “I thought I saw an Elthika going into the mountain. I was trying to get a better look.”
“Well, come on,” Syris urged, jerking her head toward the hatchery. “Everything’s hot, and Ulin is starving.”
With one last glance at where Nevin had just been, I turned. The only evidence he’d been there at all was the throbbing along my arm where he’d grabbed me and the tightness in my throat.
I might’ve been worried about the wrong guardsman,I thought.
Chapter 25
AMAIA
If Syris or Tarkosh noticed my quiet mood at dinner, neither commented on it. In fact, the entire meal was slightly awkward and stilted, given Ulin and Moak’s presence, neither of whom knowing what to say after yesterday’s events. Any questioning by Moak, Tarkosh had cut off, eventually sending him away from the table when she’d had enough of his prying.
I didn’t want to talk about it. The hustle of the day had been a bandage, covering up a wound so I didn’t have to look at it directly. But as the quiet stretched at dinner, I knew that the wound had begun to seep.
I was relieved when Myzalla showed up, rapping her knuckles against the kitchen door, alerting us to her presence.
“Ready?” she asked. “I can’t stand out there all night.”
