Page 118 of Storm of Ink and Blood

“He’s your paramadhar?”

“He is, and my magic is completely different now.”

Vikas appeared around the corner. “Zarya?” he asked. “You did it?”

He looked thinner, his skin ashen and dark circles ringing his eyes. It was obvious how much the worry about his parents was weighing him down, and she hoped this news would make a difference.

“But I need to try it on a vanshaj collar to be sure.”

Vikas spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “We’re trying, but no one will listen.”

She blew out a frustrated huff. “How do we convince them we only want to help?”

Her question went unanswered as Yasen barged through the back, his hair flying wild and his chest expanding with shortened breaths. Behind him came Suvanna and Apsara, both bearing grim expressions.

“The palace,” he said, panting with his hands on his knees. He was so meticulous about his training that Zarya didn’t think she’d ever seen him winded. He must have run very fast.

“What about it?” Vikas demanded, already picking up on the gravity of the situation.

“The prisoners,” Suvanna said. “They’re about to be executed.”

“What?” Zarya said as her blood ran cold. “We have to stop it!”

She wasted no time and went tromping out the door.

“Zarya!” Rabin called, chasing after her. “What are you planning to do?”

“I don’t know,” she called over her shoulder. “But we have to do something.”

She didn’t wait to see if anyone followed, but she knew Rabin was right behind her as she wound her way through the streets, her skirt bunched in one hand, running as fast as her legs would carry her.

Eventually, the others caught up as they made their way into the heart of Ishaan. Using the twisting alleyways as a shortcut, it didn’t take long before they rounded a corner and came to an abrupt halt.

The palace courtyard was packed full of people, standing elbow to elbow, shouting and screaming, as the entire mass writhed like a snake without a head. She jumped up and down, trying to snatch a glimpse above the crowd.

“I can’t see anything,” she said to Rabin. “Can you?” He was a giant. Surely that was useful for something. Not waiting for an answer, she charged ahead. Her feet carried her past the wide gates and into the courtyard. Against the wall, she spotted a drainpipe and hoisted herself onto one of the brackets for a better view.

“Zarya, you can’t stop this,” Rabin said as he held out his hand and helped prop her up a bit higher.

“I know,” she said, taking in the incomprehensible sight spreading across her view.

The plaza was a sea of dark hair and colorful scarves, where hundreds of vanshaj stood shoulder to shoulder with the free citizens of Ishaan. Against the wall of the palace stood a raised platform where a dozen shaking men and women waited with slack nooses looped around their necks. She recognized Vikas and Nitin’s parents as she wiped away the sweat building on her forehead. This couldn’t be happening.

The royal family stood on a high balcony stretching across the palace’s front facade, observing the chaos like they were all nothing but scuttling insects to be crushed under their boots. That same conflicted tug she always felt in their presence pulled deep in her chest. Her plans had gone entirely off course when she’d arrived in the city, and the family she’d so desperately wanted to meet now stood as her greatest enemies.

She watched her half-sister Dishani approach the edge of the balcony, placing a delicate hand on the railing as she surveyed the crowd with a detached, imperious tilt to her chin. On her other side stood Miraan, the second oldest and her closest advisor. He stood with his hands behind his back and his spine stiff, his expression completely blank. Kabir, the king consort, came up a moment later and whispered something in Dishani’s ear that caused her to nod.

Zarya returned her attention to the prisoners before scanning the plaza.

“Rabin, what should we do?” she asked.

“I’m thinking.” His jaw hardened as he looked out across the scene, calculated thoughts flitting over his expression. Yasen, Vikas, and Ajay now stood on her other side.

“Vikas,” Zarya said, reaching out a hand. He took it, and she could feel how cold it was. He was shaking from head to toe, and she wondered if they should get him somewhere else and away from all of this.

“Any ideas?” she asked the others as her gaze wandered back to Dishani.

Zarya then noticed Apsara and Suvanna slip onto the balcony before Apsara approached the princess. She could tell by their hand gestures and body language that they were having a heated discussion. Apsara gestured to the prisoners and then swept an arm over the crowd as Dishani shook her head.