Roshan touches my arm. “Come, wecan’tbe found here. We need to go.”
I nod in assent; he’d answered my questions, and I have no other options. I follow him along the narrow corridor to the servant stairs. We descend for endless minutes, until he comes to a stop at the entrance to a storage room. As far as I can tell, we’re back on ground level. The scent of baking bread hits my nose, which hints that we’re near the kitchens. A long table covered in bags of flour and grain splits the space in half. We thread our way quickly to the far end, where Roshan pushes open a door. Immediately, the stench of deathand fire fills my nostrils, and I have to stop myself from recoiling back. Shouts and the sounds of artillery ring in my ears.
“We can go through the gardens to the castle wall,” he says in a low voice. “The carriage is close by, on the outskirts of the city, but I need to make sure we can get there in one piece first. Stay put until I come back. You’ll be safe enough here.”
“What about Clem?” I ask, clutching at his shirt. “My friend. She’ll be in the chosens’ quarters. She was sick tonight.”
A flash of something—awareness or unease—crosses his face, but it’s gone before I can make sense of it. “That side of the palace was undamaged. If she was there, she won’t have been hurt.”
“I can’t leave her.”
He nods. “I’ll see what I can do.” With that he vanishes into the chaos.
Adrenaline fading, I can only inhale and slump against the nearest wall, wrapping my arms about my knees. My brain is a mess of confusion and dread, and my heart feels like I’ve just run across the desert. I close my eyes and try to soothe my rattled senses, but my body flinches every time there’s the shudder of an explosion beyond the walls, and I start to wonder whether Roshan will make it back at all.
Just when I think I’ll go mad from waiting, the door cracks open and I jump to my feet, relief pouring through me.
But it’s the wrong prince who greets me.
Prince Javed closes the door behind him, his hands clasped behind his back. “Found you.” The two words are soft and ominous, making my flesh crawl.
My gaze flies to the door, but I know that there will be guards beyond it. My only escape is the narrow hallway at the other end of the room, but I have no idea where that leads.
He senses my thoughts, lunging toward me and grabbing my wrist. His tongue snakes out as if tasting the air or the memory of my skin.
“Tricky, tricky, the illusion suppressing the runes guarding your magic. I tasted the lie on your skin, you know.” His ice-cold, almost maniacal smile sends a rush of bile to my mouth.
“Magic?” I burst out in a panic. “I don’t have any magic. Or runes. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Let go. You’re hurting me.”
He exhales, cocking his head at me, greed in his gaze. “My mother said Nasrin was powerful, but to hide you like this within the runic wards of her own essence. Genius.”
I’m frozen at his words. Nasrin. That’sMama’sname. “What are youtalkingabout?” I grit my teeth and shove him with all the strength I can muster, but his grip on my arm is relentless.
“Fero will relish your fight,” he murmurs, pale stare glittering with avarice.
Fero?The old god of death? But my thoughts flip to pain as his fingernails dig in hard enough to puncture my skin. I scream in agony, and suddenly, the outer door bursts open on its hinges. Roshan is a blur as he slams bodily into his brother, dislodging his painful grip on my arm. Both men glare at each other as Roshan places himself between us.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he demands as four royal guards storm into the room behind him. Two of them are bloodied—Roshan’s doing, I gather—but they’re armed and we are outnumbered. Six more enter from the opposite corridor. Javed laughs and holds up a finger, making them halt.
“Claiming my future.”
“She’s not a prize to be taken, Javed, for whatever twisted game you and the queen are playing,” Roshan says, palms wide as he changes tactics, knowing our odds with the guards. “Let her go.”
But Javed’s smile is pure evil as he draws a dagger from the sheath at his waist. “As usual, you know nothing, brother. But having you here as well is simply too good a windfall to pass up. Restrain them both,” he orders the guards.
The guards grab Roshan by each arm, and one rests a blade acrosshis neck. I move as if to help him, and another guard grabs me and yanks me back. I can only stare in mute horror as the crown prince steps forward. Lifting his blade, he cuts the shirt from his brother’s chest, drawing the dagger down slowly, a thin trail of blood welling in its wake. I see Roshan’s slight flinch, but he doesn’t make a sound. His fists are clenched at his side as Javed cuts again, a little more deeply this time, right above his brother’s heart. The wet strokes make a crude outline of the letterB.
“Bforbastard.” Javed finishes with a flourish, digging the tip of the dagger in, and Roshan makes a guttural noise of pain as blood leaks from the wound.
“Please, don’t,” I beg.
Cruel eyes flick to me before sliding back to his brother. “What if I press a little harder here? What if this dagger slips between his ribs? It would be an accident, or better yet, we can say an assassin killed him. Another victim of the vicious Dahaka. That will set the houses in an uproar.”
“Don’t do this,” I plead, fear clouding my senses.
But Javed is nodding as if pleased with his plan and grips the hilt of the dagger. He signals to the guards holding Roshan and takes a few steps back. “Keep him still. I want him to see it coming.” Midstrike, he pauses with a thoughtful noise and turns to me, malice dancing in his gaze as he cocks his head. “On second thought, maybe my altruistic brother might enjoy hearing you whimper first.”
Roshan’s eyes fly to mine.Fight, run,they’re telling me, but I’m frozen.
