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And was rewarded with a muttered curse as her aim struck true.
“I need to talk to you.”
The gardens, with their pathways and topiaries and illuminated fountains, were empty, but there’d be guards on patrol and servants moving about, so a conversation shouted up three stories seemed ill-advised. “Go away.”
The shadows moved, but instead of departing into the gardens, Keris started scaling the wall, the only handholds the places where the mortar had eroded between blocks of stone. But that appeared to be enough, for he swiftly rose the side of the building, the shadows hiding him from sight.
Reaching her windowsill, he caught hold of the bars and pulled himself up so that he was perched on the narrow ledge, the scent of spice filling her nose and sending her pulse racing. Annoyed with herself, Zarrah snapped, “What do you want?”
“To see if you were all right.”
She couldn’t see his face in the darkness, only the outline of his shape against the ambient light of the garden. Broad shoulders and trim waist, his coat strained tight over the muscles in his arms. “Defineall right.”
He waited in silence, and she closed her eyes, listening to his breathing, which was rapid from the climb.
“The harem has been courteous, and I’ve been given everything I need. Your food is terrible, though. Someone needs to inform the cook that with salt, less is more.”
Keris laughed softly. “He cooks to my father’s taste, and everyone else’s preferences are inconsequential.”
“Does your father have any redeemable characteristics?” Not that there was anything that could redeem him in her eyes.
“None. Though that’s probably just as well, given that you’re planning to kill him.” And before she could answer one way or another, he added, “Don’t bother denying it, Valcotta. Even if you hadn’t been radiating murder when you saw him, you do have something of a reputation.”
“He deserves to die.”
“You’ll get no argument from me on that, but it’s not such an easy thing to accomplish. He never goes anywhere without his bodyguards, who areloyal,and even if you did manage to get him alone, he’s an accomplished fighter. And he’d be armed, whereas you’ll be lucky to get your hands on anything more dangerous than a butter knife.”
“Then give me a weapon.”
“I don’t have one to give you—I’m the crown prince, and even I’m not allowed weapons within the inner sanctum. Believe me, Valcotta, when you are as universally reviled as my father, you either become very paranoid or you find yourself dead.”
“What about poison?” It disgusted her to use such a method, but if that were the only option…
“Everything and everyone who comes in those gates is searched. He has the best tasters in the kingdom, dogs that are trained to sniff for poisons, and he has the habit of changing dining plans at the last minute. He’s also recently become very obsessed about his cutlery being tampered with, which is why he brings his own to every meal.”
She glared at him, though he wouldn’t be able to see her expression in the dark. “For someone who says he’d like to see his father dead, you aren’t particularly helpful.” And despite what he’d endured at his father’s hands, she didn’t trust that Keris wasn’t trying to protect his father.
“If killing him were easy, he’dbedead.” Keris shifted his weight so that he was sitting on the ledge, one arm hooked through the bars, sleeve pushed up. And she found her eyes drawn to that pale expanse of skin. “While I’ve no doubt you’re capable of finding a way, Valcotta, I’ve no confidence that you’d survive long enough to enjoy your vengeance. Andyourlife matters infinitely more to me thanhisdeath.”
Her heart flipped, and Zarrah silently cursed herself for a fool to be so moved by pretty words, especially given she’d seen how easily he lied. Biting the insides of her cheeks, Zarrah considered her response for several long moments before deciding on silence.
Keris exhaled a frustrated breath. “I’ve sent a letter to the Empress with proposed terms for your release.”
Zarrah listened as he explained the proposal, knowing that there was little chance of her aunt agreeing to such steep demands and that she would likely counter. Yet admitting so would be folly. Her longevity depended on her having value, and because killing Silas would be no easy task, she needed to keep the Maridrinians convinced she was worth more alive than dead. Especially Keris.
“The Harendellian ambassador is facilitating the negotiations, given that your people have a habit of sending our messengers back without their entrails, but it will still take weeks for us to receive a response.”
Weeks.
That was how long she had before her aunt inevitably countered, which she suspected would see Silas past the limit of his patience, and her subsequently executed. A few weeks to kill a man who expected death to come from every angle, most especially from her.
Keris was watching her with an uneasy expression, likely motivated by her silence, so she said, “You grew up in this place. There has to be some way to get out.”
“If there is, I never found it.” He was silent for a moment. “It was designed as a prison. For close to two hundred years, it’s served as the home of the king’s harem, and not every woman brought here comes of their own volition. Their fathers and brothers and uncles force them into marriages to secure alliances with the crown or for financial gain or for political favors. Or because the king saw their face,” his voice turned bitter, “and decided he had to possess them. Which means for two hundred years, women have been trying to escape this place. Every possible avenue has been discovered and removed, and with the Ithicanian in residence, it’s even worse. Because now they aren’t just containing unhappy noblewomen; they are containing a renowned warrior who probably knows a dozen ways to kill a man without a weapon.”
Sheknew a dozen ways to kill a man without a weapon, but Zarrah said nothing.
“And despite all of that, I’d invite you to try. Except my father has made it clear that if you are caught pushing your boundaries, hewillkill you.”
