Page 18 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin

“He confirms the same,” Yasen said. “But their situation is tense. It turns out someone within the Phoenix’s ranks betrayed us to the Jadugara. It wasn’t an accident they discovered the collars the morning of the execution.”

“Gods,” Zarya breathed. “Why?”

“Money,” Yasen said. “The reward was too much to resist, I suppose.”

“What about Operation Starbreak?”

Yasen shook his head. “They’re currently evacuating vulnerable vanshaj out of the city and setting up a temporary encampment. Ishaan isn’t safe for them. The Jadugara have been conducting sweeps, trying to track down any Taara Aazheri.”

“Taara Aazheri?” she asked.

“That’s the name Vikas came up with,” he said. “To refer to those who once wore the collar.”

“What about those without magic?”

“They all have it,” Yasen said. “Vikas said it’s just taken time for some of them to find it.”

Zarya expelled a quiet breath at that. They all had it.

Taara Aazheri. Something to signify their change and honor the lives they’d escaped. Something that heralded the people they’d been and the people they now were. She loved it.

“Are they still breaking collars, then?” Zarya asked.

“They’re pausing for a bit,” Yasen said. “Vikas and Farida thought it best.”

Zarya bit the corner of her lip, worried for everyone left in Ishaan.

“We’ll find somewhere safe to hide,” Miraan said. “I have friends in the city. At least until we understand what’s happening and figure out how to approach my sister.”

“Have you heard how she’s doing?” Zarya asked, her tone somewhat uncertain.

She couldn’t get the image of Dishani’s ruined face and body out of her head. Rabin had done it to avenge Zarya, and anyone might argue that Dishani deserved it, but Zarya couldn’t deny her complicated feelings for her half-sister.

“In bad shape,” Miraan answered. “But they aren’t in immediate danger despite the target on their backs. The palace is well-guarded to withstand any sort of attack. Still, I worry because even the nobles are withdrawing support. I’ll be the first to admit they’re fickle when the winds of power change, and no one wants to be left on the wrong side of history. My family has earned everything they’re getting and worse. We all do, but I still worry for them.”

They sipped their chai silently for a few minutes, lost in their thoughts.

“I’m to meet with the king today,” Zarya said. “I want to discuss my magic and tell him more about the collars.”

Miraan gave her a skeptical look. “Do you think that’s wise?”

She shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not sure, but I have questions I need answered, and I think he might be the only one who can give me that. If he doesn’t react the way I hope, we’ll leave and return to Ishaan. How does that sound? I also understand our reasons for fleeing, but you’re right, and we can’t abandon them.”

Miraan nodded. “And what if he’s amenable to it? What if he agrees with our cause and is willing to do something about it?”

Zarya took a sip of her tea and peered up at her brother. “Then perhaps a powerful king on our side would help us end this once and for all.”

SIX

Yasen and Miraan stayed for breakfast, but it was a quiet affair with everyone lost in their thoughts.

Amongst her many worries about Ishaan, Zarya couldn’t stop thinking of how she’d been cut off from the mind plane or the strange dream with her mother. And who was that glowing woman she’d seen in the corner?

She considered sharing the details of her dream with Miraan but stopped herself. He was already distressed, and what if she was wrong? What if it was someone else?

Besides, something about saying it out loud felt ludicrous. He’d known Asha. She’d been his real mother. He’d loved her and been loved by her, while Zarya had little right to claim a connection with the woman who had borne them both. Miraan had been the one who’d lost her, while Zarya had never even met her.

When they’d all had their fill, Yasen and the prince stood, prepared to return to their rooms, though Miraan was still clearly agitated and struggling with his guilt.