If only he could survive this brutal winter night, he might overcome this. He would break this tower apart brick by brick if he had to; he would not be left here to rot; he would not be dragged from this pit to an unjust execution.
Hesworethis to himself.
And then he wondered, as he shouldered the weight of his present failure, how long Hazan would wait for him at the docks tonight before giving up. He wondered whether anyone would ever realize where he’d gone. It was then, as he had this grim thought, that he seemed suddenly able to hear them.
Or hear something, anyway.
The sounds of the world around him dimmed in a disorienting, unnerving sea change; a hush soon filled his head in incremental, staticky fits and starts, this warbling birth of sound and vibration generated as if from nowhere, and which haunted him then in that eerie darkness. The white noise evolved into whispers that stroked cold fingers along the inside of his head, making him want to tear his skin from his body; the soft tremors grew steadily louder, crawling forthfrom an unformed, senseless hush into a swarm of voices that clamored in his eardrums, attacking him with a forceful resonance, shouting and fighting to be heard all at once—
Kamran clapped his hands over his ears, falling hard on one knee as his head exploded.
“—have any idea that the nobles were reconsidering his right to the throne? How cruel—and in the wake of his grandfather’s murder—”
“I don’t know, miss, his grandfather wasn’t a very good person—”
“Oh, I only meant that it must be hard for him, you know, to deal with all these revelations—”
“Where is it?! I know you know where it is, and I demand you tell me—”
“I can’t believe I’m helping you hooligans. I was supposed to be at home hours ago—”
“Kamran, you idiot. What have you gotten yourself into now? Come along then, pet, thank you for telling me—”
“—can’t just leave him in there! Omid, do you remember which way they turned after that?”
“—already searched the king’s rooms! I couldn’t find it!”
“At least that horrid housekeeper is no longer with us—”
“Yes, miss, I followed them all the way up—”
“—didn’t see you? How did you manage that?”
“—a long time, sir, being a street child means learning how to disappear in plain sight and I—”
“Hazan!”
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here—”
“Why are you protecting him? Where did you takehim? Why are you willfully jeopardizing the future of this empire—”
“—the hell are you two doing here? And—aren’t you the apothecarist?”
“Your cloak weighs heavy tonight, sire.”
“Yes, I’m an apothecarist. Who areyou?”
“—saving the prince!”
“It’s my duty to assume control of the throne! You must tell me where it is! It’s my right! It’s my—”
“You should turn out your pockets, child, and unburden yourself.”
“—what have you done with it?Where did you put it?”
“Turn out your pockets, child.”
“Turn them out.”
