Hehad? I don’t give any credence to the fluttery feeling in my belly. Not only had he known who I was and what I did for Vasha, but he’d seen the dagger I’d made and kept. The one ironically marked with runes of my own. “The symbols on the azdaha were different,” I say. “They were ones of... control.”
“Yes. Though, I admit my knowledge of runes is limited. If you are interested, perhaps you should have Aran teach you.”
I don’t need his approval, but I’m glad for it all the same. “He offered to. And I said yes.”
We fall into a strange, heavy silence, but then Roshan clears his throat. “I forgot to tell you that I sent a man loyal to me to Coban. Your family is secure, and your father is aware of the threat. No one from Kaldari has shown up at the inn. They’re safe for now, Suraya.”
This man.The weight that had been crushing me at the thought of my family is alleviated slightly, and I fight the urge to burst into tears... again. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I clear my clogged throat. “Have you heard anything else from the palace? Clem... my friend...”
“She’s still alive,” Roshan says after a beat, and relief fills me.
As we stand there, staring out at the strange underground city, the sound of laughter drifts up, and I find myself smiling. I miss that, too. The sound of children playing outside the tavern in Coban, their innocence always a joy.
“Did they surprise you, too?” I ask, pointing toward the happy group down below. “Seeing children here? I didn’t expect to see whole families. I mean, I thought the Dahaka were just an army of vicious militants.”
Roshan angles his head toward me, his warm brown eyes nearly orange in the refracted light of the gems in the cavern walls. “And what do you believe now?”
“I don’t know what I believe anymore,” I confess softly. “The newspapers reported that they sacked mines all over the kingdom and brutally attacked the monarchy’s troops stationed in the cities, troops that were there to protect the people. That they were full of rage and hate.”
His low, mocking laughter chills me. “When my father got sick,the Imperial House elected Javed to take charge of the jadu trade. At Morvarid’s prompting, of course. It was unanimous. That’s why I keep track of the suppliers in each of the major cities.” Roshan’s lips curl, latent fire coming to life in his eyes. I wonder if that is what he offered to the commander. That kind of knowledge would be priceless to the Dahaka. “As you’ve seen, my brother and the queen are not above using brute force to get their way if any of the aldermen dissent. Many of the people in Jaxx, Veniar, and Xersten fled for their lives after being forced to work for a pittance in the mines. When they resisted, their families were threatened and their children taken to provide incentive. Most of what you know as the Dahaka are refugees fighting for a better life, not a militia of mercenaries.”
I frown, remembering the attack on the palace and Kaldari that had sent us fleeing for our lives. “Even so, they’re not innocent. They kill innocent people, Roshan. I saw that with my own eyes in Kaldari. They set the explosives in the palace.”
“And how many of the dead were royal soldiers?”
I hesitate, recalling the bodies I’d seen on the streets, like the ones we’d taken the uniforms from. Most had been guards, true, but some had not been wearing royal insignia. They’d been ordinary citizens caught in the crossfire, just like with the palace explosion. “They started the war.”
He laughs humorlessly again. “The truth is the kingdom was already on the brink of warbecauseof what it has become. People gorge to excess in Kaldari, while others elsewhere die of starvation. Javed’s bride pageant was a perfect example of his abuse of power. And, well, you saw what the Dahaka thought of that. It was a message, pure and simple—they can’t be manipulated, pacified, or silenced.”
“Is that what the commander spoon-fed you?” I shoot back.
His jaw hardens. “Careful.”
It’s a clear warning—he’s still a prince of the realm after all—but I don’t back down. “So, you’re just going to stand by and do nothingwhile a bunch of revolutionaries destroy the mines because of some skewed notion of egalitarianism? Oryndhr is your home.Myhome.”
A dark look flashes across his face. “What do you expect me to do?”
“Defend your people. Just because Javed is a tyrant who only cares about himself doesn’t mean that the people of Oryndhr don’t need a champion. We have families, too. What about Coban? We have a few jadu mines—we could be the Dahaka’s next target, if that’s the information you choose to share.” I wave a hand. “Regardless of what we see here, they are still the enemy. You said it yourself—theenemyof my enemy is my friend.”
His eyes shutter. “Don’t you get it?Javedis the villain here, Suraya, not the Dahaka.” Pinching the bridge of his nose with a thumb and forefinger, Roshan blows out a frustrated breath. “As long as he controls those mines, he controls the people. None of the houses will openly oppose him. The aldermen all value their way of life too much and don’t wish to fall out of favor, so they sacrifice what’s needed to placate him.” He gestures to the people milling about on the floor of the cavern. “You heard Aran. These refugees only want their freedom, the ability to choose. To live as they want to. To raise their families in peace.”
“And you think the Dahaka intend to redistribute any of the wealth they reclaim?” But my argument feels brittle now. “They’re selfish, as dangerous as the Scavs.”
A low, furious hiss rips from his chest, shocking me. “The Scavs are drug-addicted criminals and outlaws. The Dahaka are fighting for something.”
Ashes below, he cannot be this brainwashed already!
“What? Freedom?” I scoff, feeling inexplicably provoked by his skewed logic. “They’re already free.”
“But their version of freedom comes at a terrible cost.” Roshan scrubs a hand through his hair, face tighter than I’ve ever seen it. “And there’s more to it than that. The Dahaka attacks started out as attempts to dismantle the monarchy’s power—disrupting trade andhitting the crown where it hurts the most, the royal coffers. But then they noticed that the crown’s focus was entirely on the jadu mines, even the small, barely producing ones.”
“Wait. How do you know this?” I interrupt.
His brows draw down. “I told you, the commander and I came to an arrangement. When we were in the Indraloka.”
