She didn’t say what would happen if Roa didn’t comply.
The answer was sitting inside a brass box.
Roa returned to the palace feeling numb. The crowds packing the streets made it nearly impossible to pass back through the city, so Roa and her guards took the long way around, using streets farther from the center and therefore less crowded.
The whole excursion took most of the day, and now it was nearly sunset again. The halls of the royal quarters were quieter than usual, with hardly a soldat in sight. She walked, flanked by her guards, thinking of the key hanging around Dax’s neck. Thinking of the things he’d admitted last night. Of how wrong she’d been about him.
She thought of stealing that key and giving it to his enemy.
What am I becoming?
She shook the question away, thinking instead of Essie, wingless and cowering in a cage. What was this one small betrayal in light of what she must do in the end? Before the Relinquishing was over, Roa would be guilty of the worst crime: killing the king.
When she opened the doors to her rooms, Roa halted at the threshold.
It smelled like flowers here. Like home.
Jacarandas,she thought, breathing in the sweet scent.
Jacarandaseverywhere.
They were scattered all across the floor like a pale purple carpet, the smell of them filling the room. Roa took a step inside, letting the doors swing shut behind her.
Someone should let him know you prefer jacarandas,Dax had told her, nights ago now.
She should have hardened herself against the sight of them. But everything hard in her had broken at the sight of Essie’s wing.
Roa picked up one of the flowers. She lifted its soft petals to her face and breathed in the soothing scent. Sinking to the floor, she reached for more, gathering them into the linen of her dress.
Her pulse beat loud and hot in her veins as she rose, walking through the spilled jacarandas, trying not to crush their petals, and stepped out onto the balcony.
The sky was a smear of orange and pink as she looked across to the king’s quarters, where Dax sat on the flat marble surface of his balcony’s semicircular balustrade, his shoulders pressed against the wall, facing her rooms. As Roa’s gaze met his, he raised the goblet in his hand in greeting.
But he didn’t smile. And his brow was furrowed. She’d left the palace earlier without any explanation for last night. He thought she’d gone to Theo. He’d been worrying about both things there on that balcony, she could tell.
The king and queen watched each other for a stretched-out moment as the sun sank lower in the sky. Like two opponents across a gods and monsters board, both awaiting the other’s move.
Dax went first. Tipping back his goblet, he drank deeply before pushing himself down from the marble ledge. Even from this far away, Roa could see the key hanging around his neck. Holding her gaze, he fisted his hand over his heart in a scrublander salute, then disappeared into the orange glow of his rooms.
Roa took a deep breath.
She knew what she had to do. Knew that if she didn’t do it, there would be a second wing in a second copper box—or worse. Knew that before this night was over, her heart was going to be broken no matter what choice she made.
It was just a question of what heartbreak she could live with.
Thirty-One
Roa didn’t bring a lamp with her. She knew the way to Dax’s room by heart now. But this time, as she walked through the dark passage, her fingers trembled as they trailed along the walls. Her stomach felt full of knots.
She stood before the hidden door, pressed the latch, and pushed it open.
The dragon king was alone, stretched out on his bed. His elbows were crooked and his hands were cupped behind his head. His mouth curved down and his forehead pinched into a delicate frown as he stared up at the ceiling.
At her presence, Dax didn’t sit up. Merely turned to look.
His gaze swept over her. She wore a kaftan this evening. He himself had given her this one. It was dark purple—the color of bruised storm clouds—and the silk was so sheer as to be almost translucent. It matched the jacaranda tucked behind her ear.
The way he was looking at her now was all tenderness. His face was wide open, letting her read him. Letting her know everything he was thinking and hoping and wanting.
