Page 135 of Storm of Ink and Blood

“Then we get back to work,” she said. “And hope it’s enough.”

For the next week, Operation Starbreak moved at full tilt, working through every hour of the day.

They devised a system of assigning groups to the house in batches. Each one spent about thirty minutes inside, having their collars broken and their temporary tattoos applied. Then they left one by one, and the next group was welcomed in. In this way, there were no lineups or clusters hanging around outside that might attract too much attention.

It wasn’t a perfect system, but the Madans were distracted with their raids and the factory and were paying little attention to the operation happening under their noses.

Miraan also reported the royal soldiers were hunting for Zarya, but he’d done his best to steer them away from this area, offering up false tips delivered by his network of contacts that placed her anywhere between the Dakhani Sea and the Pathara Vala Mountains. She kept to the house, relying on others to run any necessary errands.

Thanks to Miraan’s intelligence, they could also predict what areas the royal soldiers would hit each night and warn the residents. Of course, the royals would catch on to this coincidence soon enough, if they hadn’t already, but the Rising Phoenix had to press any advantage they had.

Rabin had moved on from security, putting someone else in charge as he, Yasen, and Row started training their new recruits, now dubbed the Army of Ashes.

With a steady supply of weapons thanks to Miraan, they spent hours in the courtyard training freed vanshaj in the basics of fighting and the use of their magic. None of it was ideal and what they all wouldn’t have given for months instead of days, but it would have to suffice.

Vikas kept up the stream of communication between Operation Starbreak and the council, making collaborative decisions to the greatest benefit of the movement.

It was a delicate house of cards with the potential to topple on every side, but all they could do was keep going, holding their breath.

While Zarya worked on a young woman one afternoon, Rabin came in and sat down next to her. “The factory is nearly complete. The Jadugara are using their magic,” he said in a low voice. “They’re sparing nothing to speed up its completion.”

Zarya sent out a tendril of magic as the woman watched, her gaze flicking to Rabin as he spoke. Zarya nodded. They tried to keep bad news between them, hoping to alleviate everyone’s worries. They all had enough on their minds.

“Will they finish early?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t think so, but they won’t be much longer.”

Zarya turned to the woman and affected her most reassuring smile. “You’re all done. You can go see the artists now.”

The woman hesitated for a moment, her gaze flicking between them.

“Thank you,” she said before she stood.

“Come to me in the courtyard when you’re done,” Rabin said to her. “You look like you’d be good with a spear.”

The woman paused again, jerked her chin, and threw her shoulders back. “Okay,” she answered before heading for the room’s opposite side.

They continued in the same way for the next week until there were only two more days before the proposed execution. Miraan had returned earlier, confirming the plan was still the same. The Madans would announce it that morning: the execution would be taking place in the palace square. They’d chosen to give little notice, hoping to catch the resistance off guard while also gathering as many witnesses as possible.

They, too, were walking a delicate line as their control slipped further and further.

When Zarya had finished the last person of the day and could barely sit in her seat any longer, she tidied her station and trudged up the stairs, her eyes on her feet, willing them up one by one.

She rounded the corner with a hand on the wall when she came to a stop.

Miraan had Yasen pressed to the wall, their mouths locked and their hands roaming all over each other. She opened her mouth in surprise before it morphed into a mischievous smile.

She could have quietly slunk away and pretended she’d seen nothing. But where would be the fun in that? Yasen would never walk away from an opportunity like this.

She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall with a smug look, wondering how long it would be until they noticed her standing there. She was pretty sure a royal parade could have wandered through here, and they wouldn’t have noticed due to the way they were nearly eating each other’s faces.

When Yasen tugged on the button of Miraan’s pants and thrust his hand under his waistband, she decided she should probably make her presence known.

She cleared her throat as loudly as she could. That did the trick. They both went entirely still and turned towards her. Yasen with a grin and Miraan with a rabbit-caught-in-a-trap look on his face. She watched his cheeks heat and the tips of his ears turn pink. It was probably the first time she’d seen him be anything less than one hundred percent composed.

“Zarya… we uh… were just discussing…” he stammered.

“How far you can get your tongue down his throat?” she asked innocently, and he turned even redder.