AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She grieved you, she had told Zaina. Turning to my wife, I piece together everything else I know, putting it in objective terms.
“You told me yourself what happens to anyone who gets on her bad side,” I tell Aika.
“And it did,” she reminds me darkly.
“But she let you go, even after she knew you lied to her,” I say as gently as I can. “She healed Damian, knowing he had betrayed her orders. And she doubted Zaina’s loyalty enough to use the rest of you as leverage, but she kept her around, too.”
When no one immediately contradicts me, I go on.
“What would have happened to anyone else who…” I stop before I can use the word betray, but Aika flinches like she heard it anyway. “Who disobeyed her?” I say instead.
It’s a rhetorical question, one we all know the answer to.
Zaina sits back, her arms crossed, her imperious brow furrowed in thought, and Einar pours us each a glass of whiskey.
“Because she needs them,” Einar suggests, but his features are dubious.
“Not Mel,” I remind them. “You said she considers Mel useless, yet she’s still alive.”
“But the rest of us…” Aika trails off.
“Do you really think she couldn’t have found anyone else to bribe or threaten into doing the things she needed?” I press.
The room sits on that for a moment, only the playful sounds of Khijhana and Pumpkin breaking the silence.
Zaina finally clears her throat, her eyes tumultuous when she meets my gaze. “It’s an interesting theory, but it doesn’t explain Rose.”
I’ve thought about that since the night she first told her story about this sister, but I don’t think she’ll like the conclusion I’ve reached.
“You said she killed Rose because she wasn’t useful?” I ask.
She nods. I take another fortifying sip of whiskey before asking my next question, steeling myself for her response.
“Was she ever, though? Useful? Or is it possible that Madame only acquired Rose to keep you in line?”
The blood drains from Zaina’s face so quickly that I’m afraid she might pass out. She puts a delicate hand to her mouth like she might be sick, and Einar covers her other hand with his.
Aika is the one who finally breaks the silence, her voice quiet with horror as she addresses Zaina.
“You never tried to leave again after that. Never doubted her threats.” She shakes her head like she’s ridding herself of the emotion.
My jaw clenches as I watch Aika. For all that I’ve wanted her to understand what a terrible person Madame is, to want to go against her, seeing the full force of it hit her still breaks something inside of me.
“Even if you’re right,” she says hesitantly, “how would we use that?”
It’s Einar who answers her. “We’ve needed a way to distract her long enough to trap her if we can’t…kill her. This might be the key to that.”
Zaina nods her agreement, still looking haunted.
“Anything can be killed. It’s a matter of figuring out how to do it,” she goes on, her fingers steadying around her glass as she speaks, like repeating the information is calming her. “She isn’t invincible, but she is stronger than the average person.”
“And faster.” Aika draws the word out like she’s thinking, her eyes fixed on the faraway wall.
“Which could be tonics,” Einar suggests. “I’m more curious about her youth. Jokithans do look older, just slowly, but Zaina says she hasn’t aged a day in the entire time she’s known her.”
Zaina makes a humming sound. “She wears thick powders to court to give the appearance of age, but the rest of the time, she could be as young as Mel.”
“So how old is she?” I ask.
