“After the news broke this morning, I followed your brother to the temple,” Jarek answered. “He led me straight tothis.” He waved a hand around the room, then bent to pick up a scroll, handing it to Asha. She didn’t need to unroll it, of course. She knew what it was.
Leave it to Dax to lead the commandant straight to the evidence of his own treachery.
“News?” Asha took the scroll. “What news?”
Jarek’s eyes narrowed, suspicious. “No one told you?”
She shook her head. She’d been in the Rift all night.
“The scrublanders took Darmoor last night by force. Your father got word this morning.”
Asha thought of Roa and her hawk. Thought of the way Dax always leaned toward her. Like she was a moon and he was a moonflower.
Thought of the way Roa didn’t seem to notice him at all.
Asha looked to her brother, who refused to meet her gaze, staring at the floor instead.
Oh, Dax.
The scrublanders had betrayed him twice now.
“Your brother’s guests”—Jarek saidguestslike they were something vile—“have disappeared. Their presence here was a ruse. Adistractionwhile their army invaded our port.” Jarek turned back to Dax, towering over him. “This is further proof he’s not fit to rule.”
Asha moved to protect her brother from Jarek’s ridicule, but Dax met her gaze, then looked sharply and meaningfully to the lute.
Get rid of the evidence,said the look in his eyes.
But how was she supposed to do that, with Jarek standing in the room?
“If Dax is toofoolishto know the difference between a friend and a foe, how can he protect a kingdom? If he’s toostupidto notice me tracking him through the streets of Firgaard, how will he notice his enemies plotting against him at his own table?”
Dax’s fists uncurled, the fight suddenly sucked out of him. It was no longer Jarek’s voice he heard, Asha knew, but the voices of their old tutors.
Foolish. Stupid. Worthless.
“He had one task: to appease the scrublanders and put down their insubordination. Instead, after he spent three months treating with them, they deceived him. I’ve sent half our army to deal with the insurgents. He’s jeopardized the safety of the entire city.” Jarek shook his head in disgust. “And now there’sthisto contend with.” He gestured to the scrolls. “The old stories, outlawed by your own father.”
Jarek’s gaze roamed the shelves, then the rest of the room. It was about to settle on the cot behind her when Maya came out of the shadows, snagging Jarek’s attention.
“You,” he said, “will be removed from your position immediately.” Jarek took the torch from one of his soldats, motioning for the man to arrest Maya.
It would be mere heartbeats before he discovered the cot and his slave’s lute. If he did, it would surely mean Maya’s life.
Asha stepped forward. “Wait.”
Everyone looked at her.
“If you arrest her, you’ll widen the Rift between the palace and the temple.” Which would only weaken the king’s rule.
Jarek’s gaze wandered along the damp shirt she wore, tracing the shape of her through the thin fabric. Asha backed up against the shelves, putting space between them.
“Force isn’t the only way to strike a blow,” she said.
A smile stretched across Jarek’s face, turning her spine to ice.“Is that so?” He stepped closer, trapping her against the shelf, his gaze devouring her in the orange glow of his torch. “How about a proposal, then?”
Dax moved to help his sister. The soldats restrained him.
“We could forget this ever happened.” Jarek put one big hand on her scarred cheek. “You could offer me something in exchange.” His hand moved down her face, then her throat, then ever farther. “If you came with me now, I could overlook the incident with my slave....”
