I returned to my desk, pretending to study the map of the lower mountains, where I knew it was rumored the Red Jasmine camp was.
But Faisal stayed in my office, his heavily perfumed scent filling the doorway.
My nose wrinkled. “What do you want, General?”
“There are rebel spies in this palace.”
“Not this again.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “They aren’t able to get in and out without alerting me. I know everyone in this palace.”
“And you’ve interrogated everyone? Even in the kitchens?”
I blinked up at him, tilting my head. “By interrogate, you mean torture.”
He slammed his fists down on my desk. “I’ll be informing the Viceroy how little you actually care about the rebels who successfully took down two Salt guards last week, with a magic we’ve never seen before.”
I stood from my chair with a calm I didn’t feel, knowing that Faisal would step back once I towered over him.
“Careful. The rebels haven’t infiltrated the palace before, and the first time they do, you and your soldiers being here are the only difference. I would be hesitant to explain to Reza how there’s a rat in our ranks when you are among them.”
“Careful yourself, boy,” he growled, though the fear he meant to invoke was dimmed by the wariness that had entered his eyes. “I have the allegiance of Salt on my side. You are River scum who will be snuffed out at the slightest opportunity. Don’t make the mistake of thinking yourself important.”
“You don’t make the mistake of thinking you know this Court better than I.” My palm pressed to my chest, a humorless smile lifting my lips. “My blood runs through River. Iamthis land. There’s nowhere the rebels can hide from me. Soon I will snuff them out, and you’ll be eating your words.”
“Not soon enough.”
He stormed out of my office, and I stared at the door he slammed behind him. Rubbing my eyes, I leaned against the window looking out over the forests of the River Court.
I am this land.
He didn’t know how true that was.
But still, my distraction with Baghisha’s key had sped up the timeline. If I didn’t have something for Reza soon, the Viceroy would come down hard on the Court.
I was still no closer to finding a way to bring our magic back, or a plan to fight Reza when we couldn’t raise a hand against him. Anger flooded my veins, and thick green vines with heavy thorns curled against the windowpane. I moved from the window and out into the hall, thoughts of the general’s words in my head.
You’ve interrogated everyone? Even in the kitchens?
I didn’t find anything when I’d looked through her bag, but perhaps it was time I questioned the little human who had found her way into the kitchens. She certainly didn’t seem like a dangerous spy—she seemed less trained in physical combat than a forest fawn.
But shewashiding something, and if she had Queen Azari’s bracelet, she potentially had a way to find the Queen’s vault.
I strode through the palace toward the kitchens, not relishing the conversation I was about to have with her. When I was almost there, the human in question stepped out from the kitchens and into the corridor. I stepped back in the shadows, observing her.
“Are you done, Yaseema?”
“Yes, Zafreen asked me to fill another bucket.”
She walked by me in the hall carrying a large tin bucket. Her footsteps were unhurried, and she didn’t even glance my way when she passed. She was back in her human clothes again today, her long skirt hugging the curves of her hips and drawn in tightly at the waist, the white blouse contrasting with her dark hair which she’d braided again. A moment later she put the bucket down, empty, and swept her gaze back and forth down the darkened hallway.
She wouldn’t have seen me—from what little I knew about humans, they didn’t have great eyesight in the dark. Though I wasn’t sure what that golden jewelry on her face did for her vision, as she seemed to require them for sight. She seemed in a rush to get somewhere else.
The girl strode down the hall heading to the west side of the palace. I stayed in the shadows while following her, my curiosity pulling me behind her more than anything. Where could she be possibly going in the palace?
I’d searched every inch of this building myself, and there was nothing she could possibly want.
When she reached the east wing, she ducked into a room—a small library barely ever used—leaving the door ajar. The hallway was cast in darkness until a strange golden light emitted from the room, casting an eerie glow to where I was standing.
I pushed the door open slightly and nearly stumbled back in shock. Bright threads, like golden chains, curled around the air. It was as if my vines had flooded the library, lit up from within with magic—like a golden web that covered the entire room.
