Rahzlyn scowled at me. “What are you trying to imply?”
“Accusing a king of being an apostate affiliate is bold. And we’re supposed to trust that no one else in your circle was aware ofanyof this? How didyoueven get into Serpentine?”
Her swallow was deafening. “A friend of mine. He got some coins and… well, I think he’d been a few times before because he knew that they were looking for another dancer.”
She must have been referring to Kole.
Was she that protective of him—or just that oblivious?
I snorted. “And thisfriendof yours happened to get inside an establishment run by the apostai, no questions asked?”
Her cheeks reddened. My questions made her uncomfortable. “He wouldn’t have put me in such danger if he knew what was going on.”
“See, I’m having a hard time believing you’re that naive.”
Her trembling chin tilted upright. Her eyes glistened slightly. “Believe what you want. It’s not the first time I’ve been called that. I’m trying to make sense of it all, like you. All I know is that King Zephyr was willing to break his oath of celibacy for me. Or Yarah—or whatever her name is.” A single tear ran down her cheek. “Was.”
“The fact that he even visits a place like that… isn’t that enough to get him in trouble?” Felaf conjectured.
“We can’t make such bold accusations about another royal,” Gregorios said quietly. “His court will demand how we evenknow about Serpentine, and we can’t share how or why Raithe was in Gemini secretly without King Zephyr’s permission.”
“You could lie,” Letti offered, her first words since Gregorios attempted Blood Sight on Rahzlyn.
“Letti!” Felaf gasped. “We most certainly could not.”
“Say that you finally got an apostate to reveal the truth to you,” Letti said, ignoring Felaf. “Don’t say where you found them. You’d have to find someone to blame it on, of course.”
“Maryn will not vouch for that,” I said. “Because she will not have seen the prisoner herself. You know how she is regarding the apostai.”
“Her word wouldn’t matter if she was simply an advisor.” Letti gestured at Rahzlyn. “If she lives through her trial and claims everything we’re suggesting, then it wouldn’t matter what Maryn thought or said—it would be the word of a royal queen. No one challenges a queen’s word.”
“Yeah, well, who knows how long that will be,” I pondered, noting the flash of disappointment in Rahzlyn’s eyes. “The next apostate we capture, get me alone with them so I can interrogate for answers to see if my theory proves right. If so, Maryn will have no choice but to believe it and notify the other courts.”
“Maryn will undoubtedly question you, Raithe, as we are right now about how such a theory is possible without you also being an apostate,” Felaf pointed out. “Knowing her, she’ll jump at the chance to implicate you.”
“And,” Rahzlyn voiced surprisingly, “what if the ones we somehow capture have no idea what Serpentine is?”
“Maybe it’s bigger than Gemini,” I said, recalling its familiarity. “Maybe it exists across the realm.”
“It does,” Rahzlyn confirmed. “There’s a Serpentine in every territory. Gemini is just their most popular location.”
If that was true, then it also existed in Scorpio. “These people, Markus and Allory, know by now that Rahzlyn wasabducted and likely believe she’s alive. They’re probably still looking for her. We don’t know how many others we’re dealing with, or what other resources beyond green fire they have.”
“You’re proposing something, aren’t you?” Gregorios prompted me.
“I need to get back into Serpentine so I can find what they use to brand their members with. Find out what the Black Rose means to them because it’s clearly something coveted. Even you have to agree, Gregorios, for why else did Gemini wantyouto find the Black Rose?”
Felaf tossed her hands in the air. “Are you fucking kidding me? You want to go into their lair, without resources, and further risk exposure?”
“You will do no such thing, Raithe,” Gregorios chided. “You will go to Geminionlyto retrieve Rahzlyn’s grandparents. We will tell Maryn that I have confirmed their existence in Pipirima, for we can’t risk her informing King Zephyr of your presence there.”
Rahzlyn chewed on her lip. “Maybe… maybe you could say my grandparents aren’t?—”
The seer held up his hand adorned in rings and jewels. His sleeve fell past his wrist, revealing his topaz bracelet. Rahzlyn’s eyes tracked the talisman and wisely said nothing else. “This is the way our world is. Every Chosen who has existed since the Astrals created Gaianos has made this sacrifice. I sacrificed my aunt, uncle, and four cousins as part of my ceremonial trial. It is what must be done, as decreed in the sacred Treaty of the Twelve that has kept our realm at peace since the First and Last War.”
I smirked. Whateverleverageshe thought she had didn’t exist.
Felaf touched Rahzlyn’s arm. “Be thankful that they can be here with you at all as you learn how to harness your power leading up to your trial.”
