“We found five of these… metal lotuses in total. Had three of the five not been deactivated by the Yumi, we would be dealing with far more deaths.”
“What are you trying to say?” Farin purred, his voice knifing through Elena.
The guard, emboldened, stepped forward. “All evidence proves that Queen Elena and Samson Kytuu sought to assassinate the members of the council with the help of the Arohassin operative.”
Something shattered within Elena. Her heart plummeted, like an arrow loosed. She remembered Jaya in her rooms, telling her how to sway the council. Handing her the lotus. Asking to study their Agni with an earnestness Elena now recognized as subterfuge. Had she really been blind, all this time? She had come to tolerate the gamemaster, even trust her. Butnow Elena saw the past in a different light, and everything became colder, starker. She remembered Jaya flicking off her hood. Clutching the orb with a strange possessiveness. All those details, rendered anew with the brutality of truth.
It hurt to swallow. Elena blinked away hot, frustrated tears and forced herself to hold her head high, her chains rattling.
“Jaya is no friend of mine,” she said hoarsely.
But the guard ignored her. He turned to Syla and Daz, the awful lotus glinting in his hands. “We also believe she was aided by other accomplices.”
Daz caught the accusation. Slowly, he leaned forward, resting his hands on the table. “We Yumi of Moksh were not aware of Queen Elena’s conspiracy with the Arohassin. We aided Queen Elena solely for the purpose of brokering peace.”
Kysha snorted. “She was half-Yumi, wasn’t she? She wasone of you. And she killed one of our own. Bormani sat with us not a day before. I say we give her head to Veran, let her blood seep into their soil and give Bormani’s soul justice.”
“She was no Yumi,” Rhumia snarled. “She was clipped. A blasphemy upon our Great Mother.”
Daz threw her a warning glance. “If I must stand tribunal, then I will do so to prove my innocence. Queen Elena alone conspired with the Arohassin.”
He looked at her then. There was no change in his expression, no quiver within his stoic facade. But Elena understood that he was giving her a choice. His imprisonment, perhaps even his death, rested now in her hands. If she implicated Daz, or Syla, if she even admitted they had known of the Arohassin, then they would be standing here like this. Perhaps, by giving her a choice, Daz was showing her mercy. Or hedging his bets.
Silence stretched between them. Elena squared her shoulders, forcing her voice to sound steady, convincing.
“Moksh and Cyleon had no relationship with the Arohassin. And I have deceived no one,” she said. “I came here only seeking peace. It is I who Jaya has deceived. I did not know of her true—”
Farin laughed, a high grating sound, like gears grinding together. “Did she deceive you like Yassen Knight deceived you? Or was she a woman of honor like Bormani’s failed assassin?”
Elena froze. Syla and Daz said nothing, their faces shuttered. Rhumiashifted away from her. Like animals sensing disease, they were already distancing themselves.
“You say you came seeking peace. I say you wanted to help the Arohassin end what they started,” Farin growled. “You let the terrorist into the palace. You pretended she was your aide. And when these…lotus bombswere set off, you and Samson Kytuu were found not in the palace, but at the shore, conspiring.”
“That is not true—”
“Why did you leave the palace, then, Elena, when everyone was celebrating?”
“Because I—”
I was there to give Samson to you.
And then it struck her.
This had been Farin’s plan all along.
Perhaps from the very beginning, when Samson had destroyed the mines. Had Farin signed the peace treaty knowing it would all lead to this?Hehad instructed her to bring Samson to the beach at the appointed hour.Hehad swiftly agreed to her demands of freeing both Ravence and Seshar. She had been so caught up in her guilt and regret that she had not seen his acquiescence for what it truly was—subterfuge. She had fallen into his trap, like an insect in the web of a patient spider waiting for its dinner. And now he was ready to gorge.
“I revoke the treaty between our countries,” Farin said, his voice booming through the chamber. “And I vote that we sentence Queen Elena to death.”
She stilled. All her racing thoughts, her hammering heart, her rushing fear, were muted as she watched the cold faces of the regents before her.
“I second,” Kysha said.
Daz and Syla made no move, and Elena’s gaze settled on Risha.
The tiebreaker.
The queen of Tsuana stared ahead, eyes glazed and distant. Mouth set. She said nothing for a long time. In the deafening silence, Elena felt herself weaken, buckle.
