If I was able to get Kole and Jere to speak freely with me, then maybe I could get her to as well. But only if we were alone.
“Gregorios, Felaf, Letti,” I addressed them quietly. “Would you mind stepping outside the observatory and giving us some privacy?”
Felaf leapt from the chair, horror written on her face. “Raithe, don’t?—”
“Relax, I’m not going totortureher. I think I can get her to speak to me. We all want the truth, don’t we?”
Felaf nodded.
“Whatever you’re up to, go easy on her,” Gregorios said as Felaf and Letti reluctantly guided him out of the room. After the large doors groaned shut, I faced Rahzlyn, who had curled into herself whilst gulping for air.
“The wind,” she choked out. “It’s the only thing that soothes me.”
There was hardly any wind in Scorpio these days with no queen to produce storms. “Breathe in the air around you.”
“I… can’t…”
“You only think you can’t. But you can.”
“It’s not working. I need Basil,” she pleaded, tears spilling over her cheeks. “I need my brother.”
“He’s not here. It’s you and me.” I approached her, crouching to her level. “Look at me. I need you to breathe.”
“Why are you—” She hiccupped. “Helping me?”
“I’m testing a theory to get you to tell me the truth.”
“You won’t… believe me… unless your seer’s Blood Sight confirms it.”
Smart woman. Still, my instincts implored me to hear her out. “What I want is the truth. You said you weretryingto tell us. What were you trying to say?”
She looked up from her messy curls, and the words came pouring out as fast as her tears. “That I’mnotan apostate. Not by choice. Allory and Markus are the ones who forced that brand on my foot to coerce me into doing their bidding. I had no idea Serpentine was real until my—a friend took me there. I’d heard rumors of a dancer, but I didn’t know who or what she was. I didn’t know about the Black Rose, but something about my hair made me the perfect candidate tobeher. I wanted to dance and prove…” With a sniffle, she swiped at the moisture gathering around her nose. “Markus made me seduce him. Not all the way, but enough to prove I could seduce King Zephyr and steal his talisman.”
“For what purpose?”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m giving you a chance to be honest here. You should take it.”
“I am!”
“You risked all that, just to save your brother?”
“It’s my fault they took him,” she sobbed.
I froze, looking down. She’d latched on to my arms.
“I swear, I don’t know what they wanted with it. They branded me, likely to ensure I couldn’t reveal their names or plans to anyone. I thought the previous Black Rose’s name was Yarah, but apparently it was Thusiah. This brand prevents anyone from divulging an apostate’s name. Please, Raithe, you must believe me. You’re the only one I’m able to tell this to.”
I recalled the moment Jere led me into Serpentine. The guard had muttered the name Andreas, and both men were pleased that he’d been able to. Perhaps Andreas was the guard’s name, and there was truth to what Rahzlyn said. The only caveat to the theory was that I didn’t have a brand on me.
But it wasn’t that recollection that gave me pause.
Please, Raithe.
Dozens of emotions swam in her eyes all at once: a storm of fear, rage, worry, resentment, hope, despair—so many that I hadn’t experienced in a long time, if ever. They poured out of her freely. I found myself momentarily stunned by her vulnerable candor, not a trace of deceit to be found.
I shook my head to clear it, demanding, “Why is that?”
