I’d made a bargain to be here, but the Viceroy could kill me at any moment, and hishunting doghad taken a keen dislike to me.
The only thing I could focus on was finding the Queen’s crown. I just needed a way to steal it and escape without getting caught. I took a sidelong glance at the fae captain beside me and suddenly couldn’t get the image of him standing in the woods, naked from the waist up, out of my mind.
As if he noticed my attention, he turned to face me. His eyes flicked to the Viceroy, who was talking to an advisor on his other side, and then back to me.
“Can I help you with something?”
“I know you remember me,” I said, my voice low, unable to stop the words from tumbling out. “We met in the woods with the...” I paused, thinking of the word, “halmasti. You killed it.”
His mouth firmed as if he didn’t want to talk about the night we’d met. As if he wanted to pretend it had never happened. “I see you didn’t scare off, despite you running through the woods as if your hair was on fire.”
“You’d just gutted a giant wolf. I think I was entitled to be a little terrified.”
“I saved your life,” he growled, reminding me of the wolf in question.
I cleared my throat, determined to get more out of him than just accusatory growls. There was no doubt in my mind that he was the one who had taken the haath phool from my satchel. But he had also returned my mother’s bangles to me, which left me not knowing how to feel about him.
If I was going to figure out a way to find the queen’s crown and steal it, I needed to get to know those I was meant to be working with. Even if he only spoke in monosyllabic grunts.
“I heard you were captain of the Salt Guard. Were you tracking rebels in the woods?”
Kiyan leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands behind his head, affecting the appearance of nonchalance, but I could tell from the tightness in his jaw he was anything but.
“Not that evening. Unless you are one of them?” He cocked his head, his dark eyes burning into me. And yet, something told me he knew I was not part of the rebellion.
“No.” I shook my head. “As I told you, I’m not a rebel.”
Not on this side of the River, anyway.
The others at the table began eating and I turned my attention to my food, managing to scoop a little of the gravy and rice from my plate with a piece of the bread. Then I let out a exhalation of surprise. What we were eating in the kitchens was good, but this was food like I’d never tasted before.
It was as if every spice was enhanced on my tongue; the turmeric was somehow more earthy, the pickles sharper. Dishes were placed in front of me—roasted meats, salted river crocodile, flower-stem curries, baby pumpkin stew, deep red pomegranates. I almost choked in my rush to get the next bite in, unable to suppress a low moan with every mouthful.
“We mustn’t have fed you very well in the kitchens.”
“Thinking about your own execution really builds an appetite,” I said between bites, scooping up more flower-stem curry.
The ghost of a smile touched the captain’s lips.
“And what we ate in the kitchens really didn’t compare to this.”
It was the truth, but what I didn’t say was thatnothingI’d eaten before compared to this. Not the husk of a boiled mango or thin lentil soup Nani would make in the evenings. This food stuck to the insides of my stomach and made me feel heavy in a satisfied way. It was as if my body had woken up and finally remembered what eating good food was like.
Kiyan leaned forward, his eyes flickering between the bread in my hand and my lips. His gaze was so intense, just like it had been in the forest.
I’d never met someone who looked at me so wholly before—as if no one else was in the room and he could only focus on me. It was disconcerting, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his.
“What was the magic you used to find the book?” he said, his voice low, pulling through me like a caress. “The Viceroy said he’d never seen it before.” His curiosity had overcome his usual frostiness, and I blinked at the change of subject.
“I’m a scholar. And yes, I happen to have magic, which is what the Viceroy saw me use. I only really use my powers to find things—usually in books.”
“I’ve never seen a human with magic before.”
“It isn’t common,” I said, not bothering to tell him I hadn’t either. “But I’ve studied Queen Azari’s pieces and I knew what I was looking for.”
“Yes, you had her bracelet.” He angled his head, his eyes touching on my empty left wrist and hand, where it had once been. “Queen Azari’s lost haath phool.”
“Which is no longer in my personal items. I want it back.”
