He leaned back into the cushions, linking his arms behind his head. “I have a meeting tomorrow with someone sympathetic to our cause.”
“Who?”
“A powerful enemy of Dax’s. They wouldn’t give me their name. I think they’re afraid I’ll inform on them to the king. Once I determine if they can truly help us, I’ll send for you, and we can decide how to proceed.”
Roa rose from the sofa, sheathing Essie’s knife. Her hands trembled. For several heartbeats, Theo’s gaze followed her back and forth as she paced.
“You can do this, Roa.”
Could she? Plot against the one she’d fought beside mere weeks ago?
“You gave up everything for him, and he’s thrown it in your face. You said it yourself: Dax is not the king you thought he was. He has no interest in lifting the sanctions. Under his rule, people—and not just scrublanders—will continue to suffer.”
Roa stopped pacing and pressed her hands to her face. She already knew these things.
More quietly, Theo said: “He’s the reason she’s dead, Roa.”
Roa dropped her hands, clenching her fists as she stared him down. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” he asked from the sofa.
“Talk like I don’t know exactly why she’s dead.”
“Ever since you left to fight a war at his side, you’ve forgotten those of us you left behind. Why not her too?”
Anger flickered like lightning through Roa. Howdarehe say that.
“You could have come with me!” She strode back to the sofa, standing over him now. “It could have been you fighting at my side!”
Theo rose to his feet, tipping the scales, glaring down at her. “And watch the one I love give herself to the man I hate? No, Roa. Refusing to go with you was the best decision I ever made.” He looked away as he said it, his mouth thinning into a sharp line, his eyes shining with regret. “It should have been Dax who died that day, not Essie.”
“You don’t think I know that? I think it every time I look at him!”
He turned his face sharply back to hers, his eyes dark. “Thenthis is your chance to make things right—for Essieandfor scrublanders.”
It was Roa’s turn to look away.
“You can save her,” he said. “Don’t you think that if the situation was reversed, she would do whatever it took to saveyou?”
Roa bit down hard on her lip.
“Yes,” she whispered.Of course she would.
Roa wished Essie were here to tell her what she should do.
But Essie wasn’t here. And Theo was right—about all of it. Dax was a weak king, easily manipulated by his council. He didn’t care about keeping his promises or alleviating their people’s suffering. He was a king who took what he wanted and didn’t care who he hurt.
By refusing to act, by refusing to do what was necessary, she was no better.
Roa—who hadn’t seen her sister in days, who could feel the hum fading away within her—needed to make a choice. She was losing her sister. If she didn’t act, and act swiftly, Essie would soon be gone for good.
Roa couldn’t let that happen.
This was her chance to be the queen her people needed. To be the sister Essie needed.
Dax was a dangerous king. Dax was the reason her sister was dead.
The exchange of souls would be just.
