Somehow, it all amounted to a more terrifying image.
“My companions and I know of a planned attempt to steal from the Flying Palace.”
This seemed to interest the Regent. Her other eyebrow hiked up to join its twin. “A heist? I love a good heist. By whom?”
Risa shrugged.
She wasn’t going to give upeverything. Not when Javi and Amina were still being held somewhere else and were at the mercy of the Regent’s officers.
“And how did you come by this information?”
She shrugged again.
The Regent sighed. “We’re not getting anywhere with this interrogation, are we?”
“Not really.”
“Would you be more amenable to a discussion if your companions were to join us?” The Regent looked at her thoughtfully as she rested an elbow on the arm of her chair, chin in hand.
The thought of Javi in the room made Risa’s chest ache all over again. It was selfish of her to want him close by only so that her pain from Brunhilda’s curse would go away. To hear him huff with exasperation, watch him roll his eyes at something she said, have him close enough that if she were to reach out, she might graze his hand.
She had to stop being so selfish.
The Regent watched her intently, no doubt trying to read her face like she’d attempted to a moment earlier.
“No. Probably not.”
Javi and Amina had a better chance of escaping if she wasn’t with them. She just hoped they had taken the opportunity and were already hopping on an airship back to ground level.
It was at that precise moment that Brunie perked up, ears alert, and bared his snaggletooth. Some kind of commotion was happening outside, footsteps pounding against the floor. There was a scuffle at the door before it opened and Javi stumbled in, disgruntled and out of breath. He pressed a hand to his chest as he doubled over. Amina shouldered past him into the room without her hood, beads of sweat dappled along the line of her forehead, dark curls falling around her face.
“Curses, this place is a maze.” Javi searched the room. When he saw Risa, he straightened. “Risa! You’re safe.”
His timing was dreadful.
She was about to tell him so—despite the immediate effect of his gaze making her nearly burst into flames—but was interrupted by the Regent spreading her hands wide. “So good of you to join us.”
Within moments, Amina had her daggers out. Javi squared up, hands fisted for a fight.
But then he lowered them. And the Regent, in response, squealed.
“Oh,” Javi sniffled. “The Regent is my great-aunt.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREEIn Which the Trio Learns a Thing or Two About Balance
“Look at you!”
The Regent was halfway across the room before Javi took a tentative step forward. He still watched Risa, perhaps transfixed by the world’s first ever display of human combustion.
It wasn’t until the Regent wrapped her arms around him that Javi closed his eyes with relief and sank into the embrace. Exhaustion weighed heavy on his shoulders, the fire casting dark shadows beneath his tired eyes. The Regent nestled him close to her chest as she patted the back of his head, then pulled away to grip his face and plant a kiss on each of his cheeks.
Risa had never seen such a show of affection; Barrow was a cold place, and she always figured the rest of the world had to be the same.
“Tia” was the only word Javi managed to get out before beingsqueezed once more. When his aunt released him, he gripped her arms to ward off further embraces.
The Regent was stronger than the prince, and at least a head taller. She pulled away from the hug and began to turn him this way and that, scanning for injuries. “You’re all skin and bones. Does your father not feed you? What happened to you?”
“Everything.Been nearly killed at least sixteen times.”
