Page 96 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin

Rabin inhaled a deep breath and explained how he’d been overwhelmed.

When he was finished, her jaw was hard. “She betrayed you. I’ll kill her. I’ll kill them both.”

“Zarya, can you feel your magic?” he asked.

She blinked as if it had just occurred to her and shook her head. “I can’t. Did he take it away?”

They watched each other over the narrow space that felt like an ocean keeping them apart.

“He said Row was right,” he confessed as his heart twisted in his chest.

She yanked again, making a sound of frustration before she gave up and stared up at the ceiling.

“Zarya,” he said, after a minute of silence. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault.” He turned to find her facing him. “I brought us here. I was so fucking sure everything would be fine.”

“It’s not your fault,” she said. “Something tells me he planned this all along. When he found me with my mother, he said he knew who I was from the very start. He would have found me no matter what.”

His brow furrowed at the despondency in her voice. He opened his mouth, about to say something else when the door to the room opened.

Zarya’s head whipped over at the sound, her entire body tensing. A shiver traveled over her arms and legs, both from fear and the air chilling her exposed skin. First, Abishek appeared. He paused and stared at her, their eyes meeting. Following him were Kishore and then Ekaja.

That bitch. She couldn’t believe she’d betrayed them. She’d pretended to be Rabin’s friend, and now she was standing with Abishek like his obedient pet. Kishore had given her the creeps from the moment she’d met him. She wasn’t at all surprised by his lies.

And Abishek… maybe a part of her had known they’d end up here all along. Maybe part of her had run towards him to get it over with. Without this confrontation, she would have lived her entire life with one eye peering over her shoulder, and that would never have been a life.

Maybe a part of her had always known it would be her or him.

Abishek stopped at their feet and looked down, waiting. She refused to give him the satisfaction of lifting her head. It was a pointless defiance, but it was literally the only thing she had.

Rabin’s anger rumbled in his chest, the sound echoing through the room as Abishek regarded them both.

“You’re probably wondering what’s happening,” the king said. He moved between them, and Zarya shivered as the fabric of his cloak brushed her hand. “I’ll tell you the story, shall I? My dearest Zarya, I knew you existed from the beginning.”

She blinked, trying not to react. She wouldn’t give him this satisfaction, either.

“Your mother had a special gift of her own.”

He paused, and she couldn’t help but frown.

“Everyone believed that an oracle shared the prophecy of your birth, and she spent her life convincing everyone else of that, going so far as to leave you a message telling you the same, isn’t that right? She couldn’t risk anyone knowing the truth; even her precious Row didn’t know the full story.”

Zarya’s hands and feet were turning numb despite the roaring fires. From the corner of her eye, she noted Kishore and Ekaja watching silently. Ekaja with a dispassionate expression, and Kishore wearing a smile of smug satisfaction.

“She was a powerful nali. An incredibly rare gift amongst Aazheri.”

Nali. Zarya shook her head to indicate she didn’t understand.

“A nali is a conduit between our world and the heavens. They can speak with the gods. She concocted the lie about the Oracle as nalis have a violent history in our world. They were often captured and forced to offer predictions for those who sought to control them.

“Though some nalis can see the future as it relates to those around them, some are limited to something specific. Asha only saw the future as it related to herself and her offspring. Or, more specifically, one offspring in particular—a daughter yet to be born.”

Zarya’s jaw tightened.

“I’ve never fully understood her reasons for revealing the information about your nightfire. I suspect it was to bolster her position. During the Khetara Wars, she lost favor after so many setbacks at Daragaab’s hand.” He gestured casually to Rabin. “I believe she did it to make herself appear more powerful and that she was here to deliver her people to salvation.

“But as the years waned, she gave birth to four children, all without the gift she had promised.”

Abishek turned and walked around them, stopping on Zarya’s other side.