“I received word a few weeks before from a certaindealerthat Jangir was a Jantari spy. In fact, she gave me the reports, urged me to release them. But I hesitated because something about her was so very strange.”
Elena continued to drink her chai, but her heart began to pound. She met Varun’s eyes, voice cool. “And what was so strange about her?”
“She did a trick in a club,” Varun said. “A move from the Unsung practice. At first, I thought she was a soldier, one of the elite raiders of His Majesty’s army. But then, at the arena yesterday, there was a fighter who movedjust like her.” His eyes met hers as Elena went still. “Like you, Your Highness.”
“I find that quite unlikely,” Elena said, but then Varun reached into his pockets and pulled out two holopods. Suddenly, the room became smaller. Varun slowly, so slowly, turned over the pods, revealing the insignia of the Phoenix.
But what made Elena stiffen was the emblem of crossed slingswords beneath one of the pods.
An emblem that only royals could wear.
“I believe, Your Highness, that this is yours,” Varun said.
Stupid, stupid. You stupid fool.Elena could only stare. She had kept a paired pod to Varun’s, in case he called, and like every pod she owned, it had been marked by the symbol of her family: the crossed slingswords.
She had forgotten when she had slipped the pod in Varun’s pocket.I should have thought ahead. Mother’s Gold, I should haveseenthat.
But she hadn’t thought ahead. Not the way Leo did.
Elena set down her chai, smoothing her sari. She forced herself to look away from the pods, to meet Varun’s eyes. This time, the gold cap was no longer smiling.
“What is it that you want, Varun?” she asked.
“I want your support. Against Leelat,” Varun said. “When you are crowned queen, I want you to invite me to Palace Hill before everyone so that they can see who the queen favors.” He patted the pods. “And I want Jangir to get the death penalty.”
For a while, Elena said nothing. Varun sank back in his seat, but he no longer fidgeted. He merely sipped his chai. Dipped another biscuit. She listened to him eat, and as she did, the unease, the fear that she had seen in Yassen’s eyes and felt coil in her stomach, slowly unspooled.
“I will do no such thing,” she said.
Varun stopped mid-bite. “Then I will tell the entire kingdom how the princess conspired against the gold caps. How she engineered false reports to indict an innocent man. My contacts at the RI say that Muftasa’s seal was stolen and then mysteriously returned. And I’m sure Muftasa herself will not stay silent and let an innocent man who served your father well be hanged.”
“You just asked for Jangir to receive the death penalty yourself.”
“Jangir and I have our differences,” Varun said. “But still, he is useful. And many gold caps loved him like family.”
“Claim all that you want,” Elena said. “Muftasa will not speak against me. I will soon be her queen.”
“And your father?” Varun leaned forward. “Will he stay silent and not speak against you?”
Elena thought of her father, how he had looked at her with such disappointment when he realized what she’d done. She would have preferred if he had been angry. If he had shouted at her like before. But Leo had remained silent, and now he would not speak to her.
Varun smiled. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Your Highness. And I believe that your bets on certain people fell short.” He stood, pocketing the pods. “Think on it.”
Elena watched him stand, and as she watched, she thought of Eshaant with his chest ripped open, the protestor screaming in the streets. Yassen’s eyes as he held her hand and said she believed more than anyone. And then, slowly, she was standing. Varun could not leave with those pods. Not after all that she had done.
Swiftly, Elena crossed the space and grabbed Varun’s arm, pinching the nerves as she had before. Varun cried out, crumpled.
At the sound, the doors flung open, and Ferma strode in.
“Elena,” she gasped.
But Elena twisted Varun’s arm, slamming him against the wall as she withdrew the pods from his pocket with her free hand.
“Ferma,” she said calmly as Varun struggled. “Throw Varun in with Jangir. They can keep each other company.”
She let go, and Varun sagged against the wall, whimpering. The fire hissed as she approached. Elena tossed the pods and the flames leapt up at once, biting the air, but she did not stumble back. She watched as the pods burned, and Varun’s proof with it.
“This—this is injustice!” Varun cried. “This is wrong!”
