“My hand?” I echo dully in shock. “You want tomarryme?”
“I did make that clear before the Dahaka attack at the palace, if you recall.”
“That... that was a farce.”
“No, my bride-to-be, that was real. You will be mine in all ways. Body and starlight soul. You will comply, or I’ll carve the meat from my brother, one bone at a time. You’ll be surprised at how long a person can last while parts of them are cut away. Just ask any of our flesh-mongering hosts.”
“Suraya, no,” Roshan chokes out against the blade. “Not for me.”
Javed rolls his eyes and sighs at my horrified silence. “Of course she will, brother. Women, so transparent when it comes to matters of the heart. She’ll offer her troth to save you, and a Starkeeper’s bond can never be broken.”
I rear back in surprise, and then I remember the text Aran had had me read in Nyriell, the one that spoke about birth chart verticesand bonds. Was this the same? I wish I could ask him now, but betraying my ignorance would make me even more vulnerable.
“What is it you hope to accomplish?” I ask him. “I won’t kill innocent creatures beyond our borders to satisfy your lust for power. There are worse things at stake than your fragile, spoiled ego.”
“What kind of things?” The quiet question is from Vogon.
I study him, recalling that he was once Elonian. Does that mean he is familiar with the prophecy? If he can unsettle Javed, it’s worth the risk. “There is an Elonian prophecy, told by the diviners from the House of Fomalhaut, that the Starkeeper will summon an ancient god who will bring nothing but destruction in his wake.”
“Heresy,” Javed says, his hand jerking and making a fresh trickle of blood descend the column of Roshan’s throat. My heart crashes against my rib cage.
Ignoring him, I focus my efforts on Vogon. “Once the Dahaka have been dealt with, do you think your people will be immune from the yoke of his reign? You’re too much of a threat to him. And now, you have your own runecasters, jadu, and a sizable army. Do you know what he and the queen have been doing within the four houses ever since the king died? Eliminating any hint of a threat, just like they got rid of the king. If they’re capable of regicide, what do you think they will do to you?”
“She seeks to weaken us, Vogon,” Javed growls. “My father died of heart failure during a Dahaka attack on the palace.”
“You fuck,” Roshan snarls. “I saw him alive!”
“Shut up!” Javed hisses, and pressed down with the blade hard enough to make Roshan stiffen in pain. I clench my fists as more blood trickles down his skin.
“I have witnessed what she can do.” Vogon’s calculating pale eyes fall to me, and I hide the triumph swelling in my chest—the enemy of my enemy is my friendhas never rung truer. “And now, Your Majesty, my terms have changed.”
Rage ripples across the king of Oryndhr’s face, pulling at his burns and making him look even more gruesome. “The agreement has already been met.”
“You dealt in bad faith by concealing vital information. Her power is worth far more than the negotiated price. And since you are in my territory, I offer you a chance to consider new terms.”
“Name them,” Javed grits through his teeth.
“All the mines east of the Dustlands.” Vogon purses his chapped lips. “And your vow that you will not bring the magic of the Starkeeper against us.”
The gasp is mine. That would mean more than half of the jadu-producing cities. Javed can’t want me that badly to give up so much control to the Scavs. But of course he does. He’ll do anything to drive the Dahaka insurrection into the ground. And he’ll take out the Scavs, too, despite whatever he says here. I know it.
“Done,” Javed snarls with an irritated glower. “Now, Lady Suraya, your answer? My brother’s life for yours.” He bares his teeth. “And just in case you don’t think I’m deadly serious, here’s a little more incentive for you.”
He points to the communications mirror, which shimmers slightly... and then the smoking embers of Coban fill its surface.
The gruesome image is like a kick to the gut, making me double over as tears spring to my eyes. The entire town has been razed. I see the charred remains of Saab Inn, half of it still standing, the other gone. The market square looks like an explosion has been discharged at its center.
Is it real or a cruel illusion?
“What have you done?” I whisper, knees nearly buckling.
“I told you—I’ll do anything to convince you.”
Is my family alive? My fingernails dig into the flesh of my palms so deeply that blood wells into the crescent-shaped wounds, but the sharp pain serves to tether the grief welling within me. The enragedsimurgh in me wants to lay waste to every monster in this fortress, starting with Javed himself.
“How could you?” I burst out. “They were innocent.”
“I am their king. Their lives are mine.”
