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“You didn’t want her on the team because of some prophecy that may not be about her?”
“No. It’s because we don’t know who she is. I don’t think she even knows. Her magic is raw and unbound. It’s too much of a risk.”
Elisa curled her fingers over my knee. “I thought you said you… liked her though?” I placed my hand over hers and let the warmth of her flesh bleed into mine. Maybe I was like Sai in this. I’d never thought much about romance or life-partners before Elisa. My life was survival before that. A thief that struggled to come up with her next meal didn’t have time for romance. From the moment I met Elisa, though, I knew I’d never want to be with another. Perhaps Sai felt the same about Lira.
“My personal feelings cannot lead in this situation,” he said. “They’ve done that too much. What I want doesn't matter.”
“I disagree,” Elisa said, her voice sharp, and I pressed my fingertips over her knuckles. Her breath caught, and she nodded. Sai was obviously hurting. Yes, this was all tangled up with this job which was frustrating as hell. He’d always supported our relationship, though, even when it was inconvenient for the work. If he didn’t believe Lira was harmful, then I would heed his perspective. Five years of working together had made me trust him implicitly. Sai was the type of man who’d abandon a job—no matter how important—to protect any member on our team. He was the kind to spend a rare afternoon off listening to his younger sister’s music despite lack of personal interest solely because it made her happy. He added the Memoria Globe to this mission when his brother’s zevar was on the line for Luz’s sake. Sai would sacrifice his own desires to help others without hesitating. Now he’d just destroyed the only genuine connection he’d had with someone in all the time I’d known him and done so for our group.
It hurt me for him, and I regretted my harsh protesting of Lira. We had to keep our guard up, though. It wasn’t unfounded to think the King would spy on our team. Seeing Sai hunched in the shadows of the jailer's cart, regret a cloak on him, made me hate myself for it.
Nothing to do but focus on the job for now. We had to finish this grab and then we could deal with the emotional fallout. “Doesn’t it seem foolish of the King to take us in like this? He has to know we’re more formidable than this.”
“We don’t know what magic their guards possess,” Sai said.
I tucked my hair behind my ear. “I believe he may have his own plans in play.”
“Ideas on what?”
“If the rumors about this metal that subdues magic prove true?”
“Then we’ll have to rely on Luz.”
“And if Luz fails?”
“Luz doesn’t fail.”
“If they do?”
Sai released another breath. “Then we’ll have to rely on my mother’s negotiation skills to get us out, I suppose.”
I’m sure the Maharani would love to receive a thrush carrying that missive. I could imagine her expression, the sharp appraisal and glitter of concern in her eyes. She’d be unhappy but she wouldn’t hesitate to help us. Whenever Sai brought one of us into the group, she pulled us into her court and family as though we were born to belong there.
I remember meeting her for the first time, Sai and Elisa at my side. My footsteps had echoed across the painted tile floors and echoed back from the arched ceilings. My eyes felt like they couldn’t take in the enormity and beauty of the palace.
“Are you hungry?” Sai gestured to a doorway.
I bobbed my head. A few weeks before, I’d been on the streets and half-starved. I was always hungry. We walked into a dining room dominated by a low table laden with rice and richly scented meat that perfumed the air. Sai’s three siblings and his parents sat cross-legged on silk cushions. Every person at the table wore richly colored fabrics that draped over them while their jewelry and makeup glistened in the candlelight.
At the head of the table, the Maharani rose.
Sai and Elisa bowed, and I stumbled over myself to follow them, my heart thundering.
“You’ve brought someone new?” the Maharani asked.
Sai smiled as he gripped my arm. “It’s my pleasure to introduce you to Neia.”
The Maharani’s eyes drifted down to me, and she gestured to the cushion next to hers. I startled and looked back at Sai, suddenly regretting getting caught up with him. He offered me a nod. We were only newly acquainted then, and I still didn’t trust a soul. Sai had been good for his word so far. Plus, staying with him had meant steady meals and comfortable beds. I walked over and took the seat.
The Maharani gestured to the table and everyone dished out portions of food onto glistening emerald leaves that sat in front of them.
“Tell me about yourself, Neia,” the Maharani said.
Heat burned my cheeks. I didn’t know what to tell the Queen of the Prasanna about myself. I was nobody, and I certainly didn’t belong in this palace. An impoverished-born girl who’d grown up not knowing her father, with a drunk and abusive mother, who had lived her life half-starved and thieved her way to survival. There was nothing I could pull from my past that seemed appropriate to share. Sai had sat with Shaan, and they laughed about something together. Elisa had settled at my other side and offered me rice. I nodded before answering the Maharani. “I’m afraid there isn’t much that’s interesting about me, Maharani. It’s an honor to be a guest of yours here and—”
“Please, don’t.” She smiled, her dark eyes reminding me of Sai’s and easing my nerves some. “So much of our lives is standing on formality but those who join us in this room are like family.”
The nervousness returned, and I gulped a breath. “Oh, perhaps that was a mistake for me to join then. I only work with Sai… er… Prince Sai, and…”
