I looked up into Rade’s eyes and squared my shoulders. “What do I have to do?”
“Does… does that mean you’ll help?”
“Yes.”
Velka yipped joyfully, clapping her hands on her thighs. The tension drained from Rade’s shoulders as a wide smile spread over his face. “Thank you,” he breathed, voice thick with emotion.
But when I looked at Keir, he was silent, face utterly blank and yet probing. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
Three weeks. I just needed to last three weeks.
NINETEENAMUNET
When my eyes fluttered open the next morning, it took me a moment to figure out why I felt so strange. The bed beneath me was cozy enough, blankets all the way up to my chin. It was still early enough that the insufferable heat had yet to take hold. My mind felt pleasantly drowsy and…
Silent. No tapping or scratching. And the itch at the back of my neck was little more than a distant hum.
Maybe Shaya didn’t hate me after all, if he’d provided this small reprieve.
Gentle, gray morning light trickled in through the windows, outlining Jasim in its soft, silver glow. He sat beside the bed in a wooden chair that didn’t look particularly comfortable, picking out twigs from my wig. I took a moment to just look at him.
His brows were pulled tight, eyes trained with singular focus on his task. There were small bags beneath those eyes, but that was the only sign of exhaustion. His gaze was clear, body upright. The sleeves of his ratty tunic were rolled up, and I ate up the sight of those powerful forearms, the veins that ribboned them like vines. His bottom lip was snagged between his teeth as he worked. For some reason, the sight made me smile.
The morning possessed a quiet, almost dreamy quality. Maybe I was delirious with relief to finally not want to claw my skin off, ormaybe I was just a nosy bitch, but I found myself asking, “Where’s your family?”
Jasim jolted, nearly dropping the wig. He swore, “By the Trench.” His head whipped to me with a huff. “A little warning, my queen.”
I grinned and snuggled deeper into my pillows. “You must have them, right? A family, that is. But you’ve never told me about them.”
“You never asked.” He rubbed a hand down his face.
“I’m asking now.”
Jasim looked at me, a searching glint in his eyes. Ihadto be delirious, because I felt completely at ease beneath his gaze. “You feeling better?” he asked. “Last night, you…”
“I feel fine.” The back of my neck buzzed with slight discomfort, but I could easily ignore it. Without the racket in my head, I felt better than I had in almost two weeks. “Tell me, Jasim,” I murmured. “Please.”
He was quiet a moment. A light wind ruffled the thin curtains over the windows and blew a few stray curls across his cheek. “Yes,” he said eventually. “I have a family. They live in Masser, near the dam.”
“That’s far.”
He nodded.
“Do you get to see them?”
“Not often. Twice a year if I’m lucky. Guarding the Gods-Chosen is a full-time job. But they write to me every week.”
I frowned. It made me sad he didn’t get to see them. An odd feeling. I think I’d felt it once before, when I’d learned of King Zaid’s death. But I didn’t try to stamp it out. I asked, “What are they like?”
He studied me again, those chocolate-brown eyes scouring my face. Quietly, he asked, “What is this, Amunet?”
Now I knew I was delirious: I smiled at my name. If I were in full use of my faculties, I’d have waved him off and changed the subject. Gone to look for Nasir and demand we leave for my father’s temple immediately.
If I were kinder, I’d have left Jasim alone.
But even half mad, I was not kind.
“I want to know.”
