I sank to the floor, my back against the tent pole. “The peris of River only know me as the one who hunts them. Who takes their family members from them. Who kills and tortures. They’ll never accept me as leader, no matter my lineage.”
“We’ll explain to them why you did it. We’ll show them all the ways you’ve helped us. Loosen my bonds, and we’ll escape together.” He nodded to the opening of the tent.
I closed my eyes, wanting to do what he suggested, wanting to no longer work for a megalomaniac who tortured and killed indiscriminately. But if I left now, what would become of Yaseema? The Viceroy would hollow her out, use her until she was a husk too.
And I couldn’t stop thinking about the way she’d stood up to him, when she thought he’d curse me.
And, though the rebels had the crown, we still didn’t have a way to properly fight Reza. Any advantage we had gained by my being here would be lost if I left now.
“I can’t,” I said finally, regret poisoning my tone.
“Why?”
I stayed silent, looking at the wall of the tent, grinding my teeth together.
“I knew it. It’s her, isn’t it?”
I chewed the inside of my lip, searching for an answer that described what I was feeling. “Yes. And no. Leaving now wouldn’t serve any purpose, not when we still can’t attack Reza outright and all of our magic is limited. Me being here means I can stay close to him. It means that when we find a way to destroy him, we can do so without as much loss of life.”
Tal laughed. “Even at the expense of your own soul?”
I tilted my head and looked at him. “I don’t have much of one left.”
There was silence.
Then he cleared his throat. “She’s human.” Talal looked genuinely surprised. “I mean she has magic somehow, but there’s no mistaking her scent.”
Parchment, ink, mangoes.
“Yes, I did notice that,” I snapped at him, massaging my temples. “It’s fairly obvious, Tal. Thanks for pointing that out.”
“You think that’s a good idea?”
I huffed a laugh. “Probably not. But bad ideas have certainly never stopped you.”
“True. There was a particular soldier I would fight in the ring just so afterward we could—”
“Not the time, Tal.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Are you ever serious? You nearlydied. Worse than that. He nearly cursed you. He cursed Bisma, you know. The rebellion will have to find her before Reza does so his soldiers don’t execute her.”
Tal finally went quiet at that. “There’s enough seriousness in our world right now, Kiy.”
I blew out a breath and tipped my head back against the tent wall. “So the rebels have the crown. And Reza will tear down this Court to find it now. He won’t rest.”
“That’s better than wiping us all out.”
“Trust me, if you think he isn’t going to do that under the pretense of finding the crown, or the pretense of punishing for attack, you haven’t been paying attention. He will burn towns to the ground. He will execute people in the street. He won’t stop.”
“And we are supposed to lie down and let him do that?”
“No. That’s the one thing I will never do. But we have to combat him in a way we can win. Getting our power back is the best plan to not only strike Reza, but the entire Court of Salt. If you think more won’t come when he’s gone, you’re a fool.” I bit off the last words, my resentment and anger that had been boiling inside me since I was left alone to deal with the massacre of my Court threatening to overflow.
“I can’t leave her here. And escaping won’t help us with anything. We’d still need to destroy the King’s crown.”
Talal whistled low. “Never known you to get this worked up over a girl before, Kiy.”
“It’s not just about that.” I met his gaze. “And it’s been a long time since our days on the streets.”
“Not that long, brother.” He gave me a sad smile. For a moment I remembered us, sleeping in doorways back-to-back to protect ourselves from Salt soldier patrols. Fighting in the pits alongside each other for scraps.
