“I’ll come with you,” I agreed, and glanced to Nabil. “You’re not going to abandon me now, are you?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, bared his canines. “Lead the way. Just know, I’m accompanying you under protest.”
“Noted.”
CHAPTER 53
AMEIRAH
The dizziness returned before we even reached the manor gates where the illusion of a park gave way to a sprawling white house. It hadn’t changed since the last time I was here, which seemed impossible. So much had happened since, but there it stood with its columns intact, so much purple wisteria covering its exterior that the building itself looked alive.
“You’re a shit healer,” Nabil told Liwei as I leaned on him heavier with every step up the path towards the manor. My ancestral manor. My mother’s home.
My stomach twisted into knots. What if Mingyue’s eyes had lost that softness I’d remembered every day since the last time I was here? What if now they’d darkened with hatred, sharpened with reproach?
“I told you it was temporary,” Liwei sniped, matching Nabil’s glare as he held the door open for us.
With my head a blur and weakness ravaging my muscles, I stepped through. But it wasn’t just Mingyue standing in the atrium. She leaned on a walking stick made of luminous jade, carvings covering every inch of the precious stone except for the polished handle she gripped tightly as our gazes locked.
“I’m so sorry,” I blurted, tearing my eyes away from my grandmother to look at the others who’d gathered. There were nine of them, most younger than her except for a man with long silver-white hair slicked back from his face, smile lines cut deep around his mouth and eyes. The others were all of varying ages, some my age, some older, some younger, but they regarded me with the same surprise I watched them with.
“Sorry for what?” Mingyue asked with a note of laughter as she came forward, leaning on her cane and trailed immediately by the white-haired man. “For surviving the dark queen? For living? You’re right, how positivelyawfulof you.”
She was amused, not accusing, but I couldn’t let it go. “I ran away. I left you.”
“You were thrown over that strapping man’s shoulder and dragged away like a sack of flour if memory serves.” Amusement glimmered in her violet eyes. “And here is yet another young man.” A wicked smile split her face. “Good for you, girl.”
I spluttered, my ears burning. “No, they’re—Kamaal is my brother-in-law and Nabil is—”
“A prick,” Liwei said under his breath, but loud enough for us all to hear.
“Takes one to know one, asshole,” Nabil hissed.
“Stop flirting with our guest,” chided the man who had to be Mingyue’s husband by the way he held onto her elbow. “It’s very impolite.” There was true warmth in his eyes when he smiled at me, as if I wasn’t a pariah or a coward. “Hello, Ameirah. Shall we move into the lounge? We have so much to tell you.”
I threw a glance at Nabil, because I had no idea what was happening and I needed the reassurance of someone familiar. He shrugged, jostling me. My dizziness flared until the ground threatened to collapse under me.
“Healing first, talking after,” Nabil barked.
I whacked him with the back of my hand. “Be nice.”
“Tell me that as much as you wish; it won’t change anything,” he muttered, giving the family, my family, a suspicious glare.
We were ushered into a large room full of soft green sofas, elegant glass lamps, and a fireplace that was made entirely of marble. Above us, a chandelier glittered with jewels in purple, pink, and green, throwing confetti lights over everything. A low table between the sofas overflowed with cups that Mingyue filled with green tea, sliding one across to me.
“I can’t stay,” I said, frowning when my voice slurred again. I took another sip of tea, as if it would magically restore my ability to speak. “My husband needs me. He’s fighting a war.”
“Can we send reinforcements with them?” Liwei asked Mingyue, perching on the edge of a sofa beside a big woman who had his exact face. Kind smile, keen violet eyes, and a rigid posture. His mother, it must be. My… aunt?
“How bad is it?” Mingyue asked Nabil and I.
“Bad,” I answered, my tongue thick, heavy.
“They have wyverns ridden by Zalaam commanders,” Nabil explained succinctly, sitting beside me on one of the tufted sofas. “And half a dozen towns under their command.”
“And the wall,” I slurred. “It’s gone.”
“The Wall of Hydaran?” I peered at the man who spoke, but my vision was turning spotty again and all I glimpsed was silver wings and a broad chest. “If it’s fallen, the river is exposed.”
