I couldn’t afford such emotion, not for a human like her. Not when her power gave him a way we could lose all hope of winning against the Salt Court.
She tucked her large cloud of hair behind one rounded ear and readjusted the golden jewelry on her face. I followed the progress of her hands, the way they delicately traced her skin when she pushed back her hair.
She wouldn’t survive here. Not with how soft, and trusting she was.
I remembered her eyes when the halmasti was upon us, how wide and frightened they were.
And yet, she still withdrew your dagger. She still slipped it between your teeth, no matter how badly her hands were shaking.
And she still fought it with a tree branch when your magic failed.
I walked toward her as if being pulled by one of her golden threads, unable to keep away, to stop myself from talking to her.
She was in this now, just as I was. We were both one of Reza’s puppets to use.
And she would never find a way to cut the strings.
Chapter 26
The birthday of our Empress has been commemorated in Astola since the very first Empress, Lorna I, claimed the Kingdom for the Empire. It remains the most joyous and celebrated day in Astola. The Astolan natives are particularly enthusiastic in their celebrations, with only a handful of counterprotests every year, which are swiftly squashed.
—The History of Astolaby Henry Wiltshire
Yaseema
I found Mishah standing at the back, surveying the festival with a strangely angry expression.
“Aren’t you going to dance?”
Her face wiped clean of her previous emotion, and she turned and gave me a wide smile.
“The kitchen staff have their own celebration, I was just here dropping off the food.” Her hands twisted together, and she seemed nervous. I wondered if she was uncomfortable being back near the Viceroy after what the general had tried to do.
“You are safe here, Mishah,” I reassured her gently. “The Viceroy gave me his word that no harm would come to you as long as I helped him.”
For a moment her eyes were dark. “We aren’t safe anywhere, Yaseema. Remember that. Not when the Salt Court are in charge.”
She turned and walked away before I could call after her.
Instead, I stood awkwardly in the middle of the festival, watching the dancers whirl around me. If we were leaving in a few days I needed to pack and prepare. And I still needed to think of a plan to steal the crown when we found it.
After my conversation with the Viceroy, I knew he wouldn’t let go of Azari’s power easily.
I was so absorbed in that thought that when a dancing couple knocked into me, I was thrown completely off-balance, landing against something hard. Solid arms steadied me.
“Thank you—”
Dark eyes, the color of fresh earth looked down at me. Kiyan’s silver hair formed a curtain around his face, his hands gripping my elbow. His long fae ears peeked out from underneath his hair, enhancing his otherworldliness. He studied me for a long moment, as if we were suspended in time, with everyone else spinning around us, intoxicated by the festival.
My heart thundered in my chest, his brown eyes pinning me to the spot. It felt as though he had stopped my lungs too, constricting my chest with his stare. I wanted to know what he was seeing, to understand the reason he seemed so absorbed.
A scream pierced the merriment before I could speak, and the intoxicated joy around us turned to panic. I whirled around, but Kiyan caught me by the forearm and dragged me to him.
The screams grew, and festivalgoers began running in every direction, pushing each other out of the way, clawing over each other to escape.
But escape what?
A howl erupted in the hall, a sound like I’d never heard before—a thousand screams and guttural moaning drowning out the shouts and fear.
