“Amma? How much do you know of the prophecy? I met a diviner who told me that I would be the host for the twin god. But the queen said that Javed would be. Which is it?”
“I don’t know, my love,” she says. “Elonian prophecies have always been open to interpretation.”
“She said that Javed has to consummate our marriage and take my heart,” I say. “What does that mean, besides the obvious?”
“A Starkeeper is the ultimate sacrifice to Fero, but if Javed lays claim to you and the akasha in your precious lifeblood, he can command a god’s power for his own.” Amma’s eyes cloud over and then she groans, clutching her side. The groans turn into a series of wet coughs.
Amma is not going to last much longer as a prisoner. And the moment that Javed performs the ritual and gets what he wants, her life will cease to be important. I have to figure out a way to free us before that happens. My fingers graze her brow. “Try to get some rest. I’ll figure this out.”
“Suraya,” she coughs. “This magic, I don’t know much about it, but from what my sister told me, it straddles the space between the truth and the lie. The space where akasha thrives. Do not let yourself be deceived or you will fall prey to the darkness. Seek the truth.”
I sigh—if only it were so easy. Truth is one of the hardest things to determine.
“Sleep now, sweet Amma. I’ll find you and I’ll bring us home, I promise.”
Moving away, I decide to try to find Roshan, if he is somehow here in Kaldari. It’s possible my magic will stretch that far.
However, as soon as I think his name as I’d done with Amma, I feel something contract sharply in the core of my abdomen. The sensation is like an itch I can’t locate, burrowing under the skin around my navel. Mymortalskin.
Gasping, I snap back into myself in the blink of an eye, my supernatural form merging with my physical body, and open my eyes to see a commotion in my room. Laleh is shaking my shoulders, surrounded by a dozen chattering women and an outer circle of guards.
“What are you doing?” I mumble dully, batting her hands away.
“Oh, thank the maker, you’re awake. They were going to summon the king. I couldn’t bring you out of your trance. I didn’t know what to do.”
“I’m fine. I was meditating, trying to get calm.” I glance around, my eyes falling on the yards of silky fabric being carried in. “What’s all this?”
“The queen has instructed us to prepare you,” one of the handmaidens whispers.
I frown. “The wedding is hours away.”
“It’s tradition,” a cold voice interjects. Everyone drops to the floor as Queen Morvarid sweeps into my room. Dread and terrified silence follow in her wake. She waves a hand and activity resumes, onlynow there’s an unnatural frenzy to it because of her presence. “Come, child, let us make you a bride.”
I collect myself, watching her warily. Now that I know about her part in my mother’s death, I feel nothing but a bone-deep anger. Laleh has a similar expression of mistrust on her face, and I take her hand in a reassuring squeeze. I’ve never been one to give in to bullies, and I’m not about to do so now. Not for this woman, no matter who she is and who her son is. I am someone to fear, too. “I’m no child and I’d rather get ready on my own,” I say.
Every breath in the room is caught and held. The queen’s gaze swivels to pin me, and I can feel Laleh wither from the sheer force of it. Morvarid has perfected that look for so long that it’s as effective as a hard slap, but I refuse to quail, squaring my shoulders and meeting her stare head-on. My heart thunders against my rib cage, adrenaline and sweet, glorious heat filling me.
I am a Starkeeper. Not the same country girl from the courtyard whom she can coerce and intimidate. My chin juts forward, and darkness roars to life in her eyes. The tension in the room is so thick that no one breathes. They are all waiting for her to punish me. But, of course, I know she won’t.
“It’s an Imperial House tradition,” she hisses.
“I am not of your house.”
“Out,” she says, and the room clears faster than it had when Javed had issued a similar command.
I grasp Laleh’s hand, keeping her firmly by my side. Who knows what will happen to her out there because of what she means to me? “She stays.”
“Who do you think you are, you insolent ingrate?” the queen snarls once we’re alone, her face contorting with rage.
“You know exactly who I am.”
My calm answer makes her mouth tighten, her furious gaze faltering for a second. “You think you can insult me and get away with it?”
“It was not meant as an insult, and if you take it as one, then that falls on you, not me. I simply want to prepare on my own.” I stare at her pointedly. “Without you.”
“The king will hear of this.”
“And what exactly is your weakling of a son going to do?” Growing weary of the verbal games, I step forward until we are nearly nose to nose. “I know what you are,” I say. “And I know what you have done to your poor husband. My special gift allows me to see everything, and I see you. You will pay for your wrongs, Morvarid.”
