Page 77 of Rule of Wolves

Queen Makhi’s lips curled into a sneer. “I know well who your father was, Tolya Yul-Bataar. It seems treason is thick in your blood.”

Tolya’s voice was forged steel, the edge honed by years of anger. “Mayu Kir-Kaat and her brother will be brought back together. You will never separate kebben again.”

“You dare to command a Taban queen?”

“I have no queen, no king, and no country,” said Tolya. “I have only ever had what I believe.”

“Queen Makhi,” said Nikolai quietly, “please understand, I know that you will use all of your considerable cunning to maneuver back into power as soon as you return. But the intelligence Tamar’s sources have gathered, Mayu’s testimony, and Princess Ehri’s damnable popularity will not be easily denied. It isn’t Ravka’s place to decide who should rule Shu Han, and you said yourself that Ehri doesn’t want the crown. But if you don’t abide by the terms of our treaty, she’ll have the support she needs to take it.”

“There will be a civil war.”

“I know what that can do to a country, but you have the power to prevent it. Sign the treaty. Close the laboratories. It’s that simple. I will not have my Grisha hunted any longer, and we will be amicable neighbors if not friends.”

“Ehri would be a better puppet queen for Ravka than I.”

“She would. But I have no wish to be a puppeteer. It’s hard enough to rule one country, and a strong Shu Han allied with Ravka is the best possible deterrent to Fjerda’s ambitions.”

“I will consider it.”

“That’s not agreement,” said Tolya.

“It’s a beginning,” said Nikolai. “Dine with us. Do us that honor. Then we’ll have a look at the treaty.”

Makhi sniffed. “I hope your chef is more skilled than your architects.”

“And I hope you enjoy aspic.”

Nikolai’s gaze met Tolya’s as they followed Makhi back toward the palace. Tolya had risked his sister’s life to make this mission happen. Nadia had given up her wife’s presence in a time of war. Tamar, Mayu, and Ehri had all put their lives on the line for the opportunity to finally fashion an alliance with the Shu and change the world forever for Grisha. It was a wild leap, an audacious one, but they had agreed they were willing to take the risk for a chance at a different future.

“I don’t know when I may see my sister again,” said Tolya as they walked to dinner. “It’s a strange feeling.”

“There’s no one else I would have trusted with such a challenge. But I feel her absence too. Now tell me what you whispered to Queen Makhi in the chapel.”

“You should learn to speak Shu.”

“I was thinking of taking up Suli.”

Suddenly, the demon inside Nikolai howled, rearing up like a feral beast, struggling to break free. Nikolai caught a glimpse of an empty foyer, an overturned samovar, a woman’s stunned face—Alina. It all vanished in a wash of darkness. Nikolai forced himself to breathe and yanked hard on the leash that had bound him and the demon since the obisbaya. He felt his feet in his boots, saw the branches overhead, heard the comforting murmur of chatter from the wedding guests.

“What’s wrong?” said Tolya, placing a steadying hand at Nikolai’s elbow.

“I’m not sure.” Nikolai took another breath, feeling the demon snap and screech at the end of its tether. All he needed was for the monster to escape in front of half of Ravka’s nobility and the Shu. “Have we had any word from Zoya?”

“Not yet.”

Was what he’d seen real or imagined? Was Zoya in trouble? “They should be done at the sanatorium by now. Let’s send riders to intercept and lend support. Just in case.”

“In case of what?”

“Bandits. Brigands. A bad case of hay fever.” In case I sent my general into some kind of ambush. “But what did you say to the queen?”

“It’s a line from ‘The Song of the Stag’ by Ni Yul-Mahn.”

Now Nikolai understood the queen’s reaction. “The poem Makhi used to order the deaths of Ehri and her Tavgharad?”

“That’s right,” said Tolya. His eyes gleamed like coins in the last of the afternoon sun. “‘Let the hounds give chase. I do not fear death, because I command it.’”

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