He walked toward me with his sword drawn and I realized what he was doing.
He’d have to fight his way out with me.
We’d have to make a run for it, then figure out who killed thewarlord. I couldn’t take on all these soldiers. But with Maz by my side, we could give ourselves a fighting chance. The benefit of this warlord’s death to the emperor wasn’t lost on me. But I wasn’t about to go down as his scapegoat.
And at least I would have Maz with me.
I cast him a grateful smile, but he didn’t return it. Instead, he stared at me with inscrutable eyes and remained standing alongside the guards.
“Dani…” His voice was soft and low.
“What are you waiting for?” snarled Darbaran, leaping forward. “If you don’t arrest her, I will.” He looked me up and down, eyes narrowing. “And if she resists, I’ll use force.”
“Touch me and I will cut your disgusting hands off.”
“You won’t have hands yourself after this, girl!” he shouted back.
“Mazin!” I screamed at him, trying to get a reaction out of his stone face.
I wanted him to snap out of it, to leap forward and take me by the hand so we could both escape together.
We’d get his sister, then go back to my village and tell my father and Nanu to pack our things.
Then we’d run.
I met Mazin’s intense gaze. That wild, dark look had entered them, the same one from the night he’d come to my room and told me Vahid had killed his mother.
But if we run, we’ll be on the run for the rest of our lives.
And suddenly I understood.
He was never coming with me.
He wasn’t going to fight this together.
I was on my own.
The bottom dropped out of my stomach. My mouth turned dry. I moved it, but no sound came out. I lifted a hand to my lips as if by touching them I’d remember to speak. But the only thing I remembered was Mazin kissing me just that morning. The warm press of his mouth as he had smiled against my skin.
But now, his eyes were cold, oddly vacant, taking on some sort of dark determination I’d never seen from him. I clutched my talwar like a novice, desperately looking around the room. The windows were too far to jump from, and the guards were blocking the only other exit.
I couldn’t make it. Not against twenty guards and Mazin. Not without him.
“Dani.” His voice was soft, as if he were coaxing a wild desert stallion, calming it right before he slung the rope around its neck.
That wasn’t going to be me.
“How dare you?” I growled at him, pointing my sword in his direction. If he wasn’t going to join me, then I would do this myself.
Mazin’s face grew shuttered, his eyes narrowing on my blade. Then he turned to the guards at his side.
“Arrest her.”
My lungs collapsed, my heart freezing in my chest.
He’d finally chosen, and he had chosen Vahid.
He’d chosen the man who had raised him, who had killed his mother. And suddenly, the dead warlord at my feet made much more sense. It wasn’t an accident, them finding me here. It was all part of a plan.
