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She’d only seen him a handful of times since their encounter on the day he’d taken his sister riding, and always from a distance. Though she’d had weeks to get used to his choice to avoid her, the sting hadn’t lessened. If anything, it had only grown worse.
Because she didn’t know the reason.
Was he losing the negotiation with the Empress? Had he realized that escape was impossible? Or had Keris just become bored with her, which was certainly fitting with his reputation?
Why did it matter to her at all?
She was here to kill his father, which meant all of Keris’s efforts ran counter to her own, as did any form of relationship between them. It wasbetterhe was avoiding her. It was good that they had nothing to do with one another. Because it would make what she was about to do all the simpler.
Then the curtains moved, and logic disappeared as Keris stepped to the window, looking out.
God spare her, but he was easily the most beautiful man she’d ever set eyes on, and that he had a mind to match seemed unfair. Knowing that the glare on the glass of her own window would hide her, Zarrah stared at him in a way she couldn’t when subject to prying eyes. His honey-blond hair was loose, the breeze catching at it, and a yearning to brush the silky locks back from his face hit her like a battering ram.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Zarrah took several measured breaths.You must focus,she reminded herself.Tonight, you will achieve the vengeance you dedicated your life to.
Not with war. Not with raids. But by killing the man who’d murdered her mother with his own hands.
The moment she opened her eyes, her gaze shot back to the window. But Keris was gone. Biting at her lip, she rested her hands on the sill, only to have a flash of blond hair catch her attention. Keris was in the garden.
“Stay put, Zarrah,” she said to herself. “Leave well enough alone.”
Except she realized that while the gulf between them might be for the best, knowing that it was so was not enough. She needed a reason for Keris’s choice. Needed the truth, even if the truth hurt. And today would be her last opportunity to hear the truth from his lips.
Ripping off her new garments, Zarrah pulled on a gown and then hammered on the door until one of the guards opened it. “I wish to go to the gardens,” she said. “Now, please.”
Not waiting for a response, she squeezed past them, her bare feet silent on the carpet as she walked as quickly as she could, for breaking into a run would raise alarm. And she couldn’t risk them stopping her, as this might well be the last chance she ever had to speak to Keris.
To know the truth. To—though she couldn’t voice the words—say goodbye.
Shoving open the doors at the bottom of the stairs, Zarrah wove through the garden paths, then slid to a stop.
Keris sat across from Aren, who was glaring at him like he’d like nothing better than to wring his neck. They were speaking, but she was too far away to hear what they were saying. Keeping behind a hedgerow, she watched them through the leaves, ignoring the mutters of her guards.
What were they talking about?
A smell filled her nose, sour and stale, and Zarrah’s skin crawled. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder, her palms turning to ice as she found the Magpie standing behind her.
“Bold of Keris to get so close to Aren, given that the man knows of his involvement in the invasion,” he said. “Idiot is going to get himself killed.”
Involvement?Zarrah stilled herself, refusing to show any reaction. This was no idle conversation. Serin had a purpose. Yet she couldn’t help but say, “I hadn’t realized Ithicana’s invasion was a family affair.”
“Oh, yes.” Serin smiled at the corpses. “The Ithicanians never suspected the ruse because His Highness’s desire to study in Harendell was long known to their spies.”
She stood in silence as the spymaster detailed what had come to pass inside the bridge. How Keris had led a group of elite warriors, then, using duplicity and clever timing, had slaughtered his Ithicanian guards.
“Keris’s force cracked open Midwatch Island itself,” Serin continued. “Well worthy of accolades if not for the fact he was but a small piece in Lara’s grand scheme, so hardly anyone is aware Keris was even involved.”
Zarrah certainly hadn’t known he was there. Every bit of intelligence Valcottan spies had given her spoke only ofLara.
“I believe he hoped it would win his father’s favor, but His Grace was unimpressed. As he has been likewise unimpressed with Keris’s attempts to use you to negotiate. The king favors sons with steel in their spines, fighting men who won’t hesitate to take the kill.”
This was a lie. Zarrah didn’t believe for a heartbeat that Keris had led a critical piece of the invasion. For one, he would want nothing to do with it, and two, Silas would never trust him with something of that magnitude. “Is there a point to all this prattle? I care little of the grasping of a Maridrinian princeling.”
“My pardon, of course. I was merely trying to illuminate His Highness’s motivations for killing Yrina Kitan.”
Yrina?Zarrah swayed on her feet, breath driven from her chest. Yrina wasn’t here; she was in Nerastis. She couldn’t be dead. “Pardon?”
Serin pursed his lips. “I see Keris has not informed you of the casualty. The coward likely fears your reaction.”
