Most of all, though: he would fail Roa. And that was unacceptable.
It broke Safire’s heart—because she understood it. She didn’t want him to fail the scrublanders. She wanted him tosavethem. And in order to do that, he couldn’t side with her. He had to side with Leandra.
“Dax,” she said softly. “When you made me your commandant, you made it my duty to uphold the law. You made it my mission to always choose what is right and good and just.” She held his gaze. “I’m sorry I can’t prove it to you; I wish I could. But I know in my heart that to hand Eris over to the empress is to deliver an innocent into the hands of a fiend. And if that means I have to go against you, and Roa, and even the kingdom, then that is what I must do.”
Dax stared at her, his hands clenching and unclenching, as if facing down a terrible choice. “I can’t stand against her without proof,” he said, as if to himself. “But if I return to the citadel with this news, she’ll send her soldiers to arrest you. You’ll be imprisoned for aiding an enemy of the Skyweaver. There’s nothing I can do to stop it.” She could see in his eyes that his heart was breaking. “There’s only one way I can save both youandthe scrublands.”
Safire frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I’m sorry, Safire,” he whispered. “But seeing as I can no longer trust you, I hereby strip you of your title.”
She fell back, the breath rushing out of her. “What?”
“You’re no longer my commandant.”
Those words hollowed her out. “But... my place is by your side.”
Dax wasn’t just her dearest friend. He was herfamily. She and Dax defended each other, always.
He shook his head. “I won’t sabotage the alliance—Roa’s people need it too much. But nor will I watch them put you in a prison cell.”
“Dax, please.” Safire stepped toward him, wondering if it was too late to take it all back. To change her mind and do as he requested. But to do so was to go against her own conscience. “Where am I supposed to go?”
More important: what if he needed her? He would be walking into that citadel alone, delivering news the empress didn’t want to hear. What if she punishedhiminstead of Safire?
“Dax, it’s too dangerous...”
Ignoring her, he grabbed his flight jacket from where it hung on the back of a chair, then swung it on.
“Get as far away from here as you can,” he said, heading for the door. “Leave these islands, Safire. That’s a command from your king.”
Thirty-Seven
When Eris stepped back across, silence greeted her. The ghost was gone. The summoner, she assumed, had reported to Jemsin.
In the dim light of the labyrinth, Eris leaned against one of its stained-glass walls and sank down to the floor. She pressed her palms to her eyes, willing herself to go numb. To not think about the choice ahead of her.
Because it wasn’t a choice. It was what she must do if she wanted to survive: wait for Safire to return to the citadel, then follow her there. She was sure, now that Safire knew Eris wouldn’t give up hunting her cousin, that she would go to warn Asha. In doing so, Safire would lead Eris straight to the Namsara.
But as Eris waited, the emotions swirling within her grew into a maelstrom. She thought of the look in Safire’s eyes when she realized nothing had changed. That Eris was still the same petty thief she’d always been—one who would endanger the life of someone she loved by delivering her into the hands of the enemy.
Eris steeled herself against this.Who cares what she thinks of me?
But from the day she first set foot in Firgaard and ran straight into the king’s commandant, Eris cared.
She pushed the thought from her mind. If she stayed here, there was a chance she would talk herself out of this. She couldn’t afford that. She needed to actnow. Needed to get this over with.
Forcing herself to her feet, Eris went to fetch her scarp thistle darts and her dart shooter, then stood facing down a door the same shade of blue as Safire’s eyes. The one that reminded Eris of the sand on her skin and Safire’s legs tangled up with hers and that moment when she remembered—for the first time in seven years—what happiness felt like.
Don’t think about it.Just do your job.
Reaching for the knob, she pulled the door open and stepped through.
When the mist cleared and the world came back into view, it wasn’t the grand halls of the citadel around her, but worn clapboard walls that smelled strongly of fish. The air here was different, too. Dry and warm and slightly smoky.
Eris looked up to find an open window letting in the salt air. In the distance, beyond a garden full of red and yellow poppies, she could see the sea.
The sound of raised voices in the room at the end of this hall made her go quiet and still.
