The footsteps of the sedan-bearers stopped with a flourish of chimes; the thunder of mammoth footfalls persisted like a dwindling pulse.
In a whisper of satin and a cascade of silvery-white hair, Queen Rhusana glided out from the curtains of the sedan, drawing herself up to her full height. The shadows of mammoths rose behind her like a tide.
A shallow smile sliced across her face like the birth of a waxing moon.
“I’m here to make a deal,” she said.
CHAPTER NINE
NEVER
The last time Fie had been in Draga’s tent, Khoda and Steward Burzo had knelt before them.
Now she was the one on her knees, a knifepoint pressed between her shoulder blades to keep her there. Jasimir stood at her side between her and Tavin. Both lordlings had been allowed to stay on their feet, but their hands were bound behind their backs like hers, with a half dozen Hawks just waiting for either of them to make a move. Lanterns pressed muted light against the canvas walls, the daylight long fled.
“I have to admit, I’m proud of this one,” Rhusana allowed as she slipped through the tent flap. The master-general herself stood at guard outside, face rigid and blank. “Your aunt wants so much, Jasimir, and yet hurting you… not an option.” She shook her head, drifting to a halt before the three of them. Chimes in her headdress tinkled,swaying with thick snow-white braids that hung in intricate loops along the sides of her skull, crowning a long, sleek fall of unadorned hair. “She doesn’t even want her own son on the throne. It took somerealcreativity to find a way in.”
Sweat was beading along the queen’s upper lip. Rhusana might be a witch like her, but they were both still human. A display like this had to be pushing her limits.
“You can’t hold the whole camp like this much longer,” Fie spat.
Rhusana locked eyes with someone behind Fie and inclined her head. The tip of the knife sank, just a hair, into her back. Fie yelped and jerked forward.
“When I want a parasite’s opinion, I’ll ask the Peacocks,” the queen said, smooth as silk, and nodded again. The tip of the knife dug into Fie’s back once, twice, less than a knuckle deep but far enough to draw blood.
“STOP—” Tavin jolted forward only for a Hawk to lodge their spear between his knees. He stumbled to the ground. The Hawk pressed the spearhead to his throat.
“She’s right,” Tavin snarled into the grass. “You can’t keep Mother in check forever. She’s fighting you, isn’t she?”
Rhusana glowered down at him. “You always did underestimate me. She may not want to hurt Jasimir, but killing him would hurt the king’s legacy. Believe me, her desire forthatruns deeper than a god’s grave. And once I feel like letting her go…” She flicked a hand and the spear lifted from Tavin’s neck. “I have hostages. So if we’re done with the pleasantries, we have business to discuss. Believe it or not, I’m not just here to show off.”
“Which of you killed my mother?” Jasimir rasped, the first time he’d spoken since they’d been captured. “You? Or Father?”
Rhusana rolled her shoulders. “I didn’t ask him to do anything he didn’t want. But that’s in the past. It’s time to think of Sabor’s future.”
“What do you care about Sabor?” Tavin pushed himself back up onto his knees, eyes burning.
“It’s my home,” Rhusana answered, “whether it wants me or not. Something I thinkyouof all people would be familiar with, as the king’s toy bastard. Regardless, this”—she waved a glittering, gem-armored hand at the walls of the tent—“isn’t good for the country. Asking them to pick sides, asking them to choose a new queen over a worn-out dynasty. No one wants a civil war; they just want to go about their lives like always. They want stability.”
“And how does fouling up plague outbreaks helpstability?” Fie spat.
She heard the knife shift in the grip of the Hawk behind her and braced for Rhusana’s wrath. Then Tavin barked, “Touch her again and I will die stopping you. Try keeping your hold on Mother then.”
The Hawk behind her went still as the queen’s silver-clawed fingers curled into a fist.
“The outbreaks,” Rhusana said slowly, “are a reminder that every caste fears the same thing. I want to unite the country as it has never been united before, beyond our outdated divisions, by uniting us against a common threat. We will no longer be twelve castes but one nation.”
A chill ran down Fie’s spine.
“I’m not following. You’ll unite Sabor against the plague?” Tavin asked.
“Against the Crows.” Fie wanted to laugh; she wanted to scream.
“Both, really,” the queen admitted. “Most of the country can’t tell the difference. They’re already on my side, whether they know it or not. Everything they lose to the plague, they’ll blame it on the Crows, and nothing brings people together like a common foe. In the meantime, they’ll adapt to handling plague-dead on their own, and any Crow with an ounce of sense will find some other nation to pollute.”
Jasimir stared at the queen a long moment. Then he said, “I don’tknow what you’re going to offer us, and I don’t care. I don’t want any part of it.”
Some part of Fie eased at that, even if she didn’t want to own to it. It didn’t change that they were prisoners with enemies at every side, but if she’d lost Jas, she’d lose all hope.
