From the top of the kancha steps, Kasik surveyed the grounds once more, taking note of where the walla stood guard, most of them strategically placed by himself to allow for a quick escape. The path to the achipumas’ enclosure was mostly clear, with the majority of the security focused on the kancha where the emperor would be. The plan was for Nina and Kasik to walk straight out the main doors and retrieve Capac, if they had the chance. If not, the other walla would take good care of the achipuma in his absence. It was the best he could do, given the circumstances.
The doors to the receiving room were wide open, the din of conversation and music joined by the commotion outside the room, where tables were set up underneath the stars for those who hadn’t been invited inside. Master Wara wasn’t there, which was not unlike him. The man hated crowds more than anyone he knew.
Atik was also nowhere to be found. His tayta was known for disappearing and reappearing only when he was most needed, but he never missed an opportunity to flash his status in public.
The murmur of conversation quieted, and Kasik knew why before he walked the few steps to the open doors. The wind blew over him, icier than normal for this time of year, and the fur on his shoulders tickled his neck. A chill went down his spine, but it was Nina in the torchlight, all eyes on her, who did it.
The dress she wore was molded to her body, encasing her like a living statue that had been dipped in blood and hung to dry.
It wasn’t the dress that made him shiver. It was the look in her eyesas she beheld the room. It had been three days since he had last seen her, and he barely recognized her.
Kasik watched her smile transform the shape of her face and the set of her shoulders. Her eyes were ringed in darkness, and her lips were bright red and glistening. The last time she had looked so full of life was when she was with Shayim, dancing under the moon with the fire at her back.
From across the room, she was an entirely different person, one who was powerful and deadly. He had seen it before, but it was easy to forget the two personas coexisted. The Nina he knew who wanted nothing but to be free of these people and find her family, and this Nina who held power within her that could shatter a person’s body and mind.
He kept one hand on the hilt of his blade at all times, watching as Nina was led along the edges of the room to sit beneath the bloodred tapestry at Emperor Maicu’s table. Maicu stood when he saw her, the appreciative glint in his eyes clear enough for Kasik to see. The man knew of his plans, and still he wanted her.
Nina bowed, and then she sat to his left. Chaska and the mamakuna were on his right. Atik and Master Warashouldhave been beside Nina, but those seats remained empty. Kasik had refused a seat with the excuse of keeping a closer eye on the crowd, and now he was grateful for the foresight.
It was easy to lose track of time in the receiving room; there were no windows, just like most of the kancha, and the torchlight never ran down. A trick of the Ikara, he assumed, which he had never questioned before, but it made it so that the revelries began and ended only when the emperor decreed it so.
One hour passed, then two. Kasik walked the length of the room, his eyes never straying too far from Nina, even as he searched for Lord Anri.He hadn’t been able to ask about Samaq with his tayta nearby, but with Atik not there, Kasik was desperate to know more than what Chaska had told him.
Of all the faces Kasik searched, none belonged to Lord Anri. Eventually, he gave up and returned to watching Nina. Remembering, hoping, fearing. There was doubt in him, somewhere beneath the certainty he felt when imagining their future, but he couldn’t tell if it was because of his own insecurities or her total and utter comfort with the lie she was wearing like an old cloak that threatened him.
She sat as if she were made from stone, fearless and unflappable and unfamiliar. As if she had planted roots and intended to stay and rule.
A flash of movement from the emperor’s table made him turn. Nina’s hand had moved from the arm of her chair to her forehead, a light touch with furrowed brows that made Kasik’s heart pound harder. He was at the farthest edge of the room and still he could see a look of confusion cross her face.
Something isn’t right.He began making his way toward the front, navigating the long tables set in rows, the chairs that were pushed back to allow clear lines of sight for rowdy conversations.
This time, when he sought Nina’s eyes, he found her staring back at him.
Emperor Maicu bent to whisper in Nina’s ear. Kasik tried to read his lips, but his head was turned away and Kasik could only see red as he watched Maicu’s hand land on Nina’s thigh.
A resonant chime cut through the air. What followed was a silence thick enough to cut, until the emperor rose from his seat to face the crowd.
Kasik was forced to stop. He held his breath lest he scream Nina’s name.
“My friends.” Emperor Maicu’s voice was profound in the quiet.“Before we continue the festivities, I wanted to present to you three gifts.” He held up a hand with three fingers, gold rings flashing as he swept them through the air.
The crowd roared with applause. Kasik could have sworn the torches burned brighter in response. A thin film of panic crawled over his skin—this hadn’t been a part of the plan.
“This first gift,” the emperor continued. He paused dramatically, and then he flourished his hand to his left.
Kunay Atik appeared from a small door set into the stone wall. In front of him was a hooded and hunched figure. Unrecognizable, and yet Kasik’s heart squeezed at the sight of them walking toward the center of the room.
Emperor Maicu rounded the table to meet them. They were directly in Kasik’s line of sight, but there was no clear path forward. Atik kicked one of the figure’s knees, and they hit the floor with a painful thud.
The room leaned forward in anticipation. Withhunger. Kasik swallowed the urge to vomit and slowly crept closer.
“This gift is for those who would think to betray me. May it serve as a reminder of the might of the gods.”
Atik yanked the hood off, and it was as if the air had been sucked from the room.
Before him was a face he had come to know better than his own tayta’s. A man who had spent hours teaching him how to read quipu and social situations. Raised him when his tayta had no interest. Loved him when nobody else seemed capable of it. His eyes burned as he refused to blink or look elsewhere. Kasik forced himself to stay where he was, to witness Master Wara’s fate, even as every fiber of his being screamed in agonizing protest.
Distantly, he heard the gasps of the crowd. He looked at the table behind Emperor Maicu. Surely, someone would stop this. Whateverwas happening could not be allowed to continue. But Nina was barely propped up over the table, her eyes cloudy and distant, and Chaska was frozen in her seat.
