She nodded at my expression.
Yes.
She knew what I wanted. Because she wanted the same thing, for the same crime. The answer to what my next steps would be was as clear as day.
Nanu watched our exchange with a tilt of her head, as if seeing our bond for the first time.
But she hadn’t yet answered my question.
“Casildo?” I repeated. “Where is he?” My words were barely a growl, but the air changed with the force of them. Anger and anticipation sat heavy in the room, and I curled my fingers around my father’s little pocket dagger.
Nanu narrowed her eyes. “Casildo is back in the city, still a respected merchant. If anything his betrayal advanced his position with the emperor. But before he went back, he raided your father’s smith. Took all his swords. Helped himself to everything he could get.”
Why didn’t you stop him?I wanted to scream at her.
But I knew the answer to that. My grandmother was no warrior, and with me arrested and my father dead, there would have been no one left to defend.
“Is that why Casildo betrayed my father? For his swords?” My voice rose, the words too loud in the silence between us.
My grandmother smiled faintly. “Casildo claimed he was afraid of the emperor and that is why he turned your father in. But I know he’s been showing off your father’s knives in his armory ever since.”
“My father’s death for a collection of swords.” I shook my head.
“Dania, I had no idea your father was heading to his death.” My grandmother’s eyes were shadowed.
“I don’t blame you, Nanu.” I gentled my voice, even though the old familiar rage was flooding my veins, the dam breaking wide open. “I blame the people who put me in prison.”
Mazin’s cold face flitted through my mind. The memory of Darbaran’s smirk nearly had me spitting. Emperor Vahid had orchestrated it all to take out an opponent without inciting a civil war.
But now I could add Casildo to that list.
Casildo, who I thought was our ally and became just another betrayer.
“And I blame the man who deceived my father while pretending to be his friend.”
“Don’t do anything foolish, Dania,” cautioned my grandmother, but without any heat. Maybe she was tired of fighting with my father for all those years, and didn’t want to waste the energy on me. She knew it would be no use.
My lips lifted, a humorless smile. “Whatever I do, it will not be foolish.”
Vengeance was what I wanted, and Noor had the access to make it happen.
I could tell by Noor’s pursed lips that she expected my next words. She wanted to right the wrongs done against hers just as I did mine.
“We will stay here a few days to rest, and then Noor and I will continue our journey.”
I didn’t explain to my grandmother where we were headed or what we were seeking. If I mentioned the zoraat to her, it could be tortured out of her. It was better that she be kept in the dark.
“But you cannot leave now.” Nanu took a step toward me, her eyes darker. I blinked, wondering if it was concern I heard in her voice, or something else. Nanu had never been the type to show her emotions. “I thought you were dead,” she continued, her voice pleading.
Something tugged at my heart, but I had already made my mind up. My blood had turned to steel now, as if I were one of Baba’s weapons, and with his death my purpose had been forged.
It wasn’t about me or Nanu anymore. It wasn’t about justice.
This was about revenge.
“We’ll stay for a short while, but I can’t risk anything else. Not with news of my escape likely reaching Vahid.”
She nodded, and I could feel her disappointment. She wanted me to stay, but I couldn’t. Not now. I would never be able to live with myself if I didn’t do something about my father’s death. I couldn’t let that go unanswered, couldn’t let his betrayer roam free, nor those who had played a part in betraying me. I was unleashed, and all the dark parts of me were clamoring to get out.
