“Yes, actually. If you were to come to my home in the mountains, you’d probably be in for a fight. But after you proved yourself with a blade, you can be sure you would receive a fine welcome.”
“You have an interest in swords, and you bested my sister’s attackers. You spoke to me at the palace about how your mother taught you to fight. It seems as if you’d be a skilled opponent yourself, though you don’t give that impression.”
I felt the sting of anger, which I tried to tamp down. But even though Sanaya might be, Dania wasn’t the kind of girl who guarded her anger.
“A girl can’t know how to fight and dress well?” I asked, arching my brow, telling myself I was supposed to be agreeable and compliant, the very opposite of myself.
His mouth popped open and he appeared momentarily speechless. “Not at all,” he rushed to say, for the first time abandoning his self-assured tone. “Just that it surprises me.”
“Why?” I said harshly, and a few guests looked over at us. I gave them a tight smile and kept walking with Mazin.
“Why?” he asked blankly.
“Why should it be a surprise? You taught your sister to fight. I’massuming you’ve seen other.… girls fight? We are no different from you. Putting on a pretty outfit doesn’t mean we can’t slit your throat.”
I winced, my words cutting a little too close to what Dania would say. But everything else about me was so different—from my eye color to the curve of my chin. There was no way he would suspect me based on a turn of phrase.
He smiled then, and the smooth Mazin was back. I felt a pang of disappointment. I wanted him unsettled, I wanted his real self when he spoke to me, not this unshakable man with shadows in his eyes and false smiles.
“I’ve seen other women fight, yes. I’ve fought alongside one of the greatest swordswomen for many years. But I didn’t mean to offend you. Only that I find your interest in it refreshing.”
I was brought up short by his mention of the greatest swordswoman.
Was he referring to me? He must be. I looked at him from the corner of my eye, but he still watched me with that same smooth mask.
“I’ve had some training with a blade,” I said with a laugh. “But I’m no expert. I prefer to admire them, collect them, yes, but I’m not the best wielding them.”
“I’m not sure I believe that—we’ll have to have a bout sometime.”
I swallowed thickly, my fingers burning to grab the hilt of my dagger, which was strapped to my thigh, and engage in a fight with him right there. But if we ever fought, he’d know exactly who I was.
And if he entered a bout with me with a blade, he wouldn’t get out of it alive. I wanted him alive for what I was going to do to him.
I leaned forward on the banister overlooking the entranceway. We’d made it upstairs, and could oversee everyone who entered the house from this angle. I looked down, keeping tabs on which guests arrived and waiting for one person in particular to show his face.
“I’m afraid I wouldn’t make it very long with a heavy sword. I’m just happy to collect them, really.”
“It’s a pity what happened to Casildo’s sword collection—stolen immediately after he was arrested. I went to the house and it was completely gone.” Mazin’s voice was rough. “There were some knives in that collection I tried to buy from him. I would have liked to have them.”
My eyes narrowed, wondering if he was talking about my father’s swords. I had to bite my tongue to stop from telling him he would never have them.
Not as long as I was alive. He didn’t deserve to own anything created by my father.
“I was heartbroken,” I said, allowing my voice to crack slightly. “Such beautiful swords, lost.”
I didn’t mention that the entire collection was currently safe in the cellar of this house.
“I cannot believe what I heard about Casildo after he was arrested. Thievery, extortion, bribing city officials. Thankfully he’s in the work camps where he belongs. It seems I’m not a very good judge of who is trustworthy or not.” I rubbed the back of my neck, looking chagrined.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. Casildo fooled many.” He looked away from me.
“He seemed to be held in high esteem. It was where you and I first met, after all. I certainly didn’t expect a man respected by the emperor to be such a rogue.”
“Sometimes it is those we trust the most who will betray us,” he said softly, still not looking at me.
I paused at the words, a near-exact echo of the ones Noor said to me when we were in prison together. I pressed my hands against the banister to still their shaking. Or to stop myself from reaching out and strangling him.
“What do you know of betrayal?” I tried to soften my voice, but it still came out clipped and forceful, an accusation instead of a query. As if I were saying he couldn’t possibly understand what it was to be deceived.
