AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’d told her that.
Didn’t follow it myself, to my detriment.
Elisa slipped a key out of her sleeve. It shimmered with magic.
“Where did you get that?” I asked.
“Lira.”
“What? She said…”
Neia released a breath and clutched Elisa to her side, before kissing her cheek. Elisa smirked. “Turns out she’s an excellent actress.”
“I’m not sure how much of that was acting.” Neia shot me a look before nuzzling her nose into Elisa’s neck again. “It was a relief to believe you’d possibly get out of this, Lis.”
“The King never would have granted a pardon for me. I’m not foolish. It was decent of Lennox to consider it, though.”
Anger rumbled through me. “He was lying to comfort Lira. Look at how he treated Shaan.” The group quieted. “If anyone was a play actor in that scene, it was Lennox. Avoid him at all costs during this job.”
I remembered Shaan returning home the previous year, embarrassed and lacking his zevar. The shame that burned on his cheeks as he explained to our mother and her council what had happened. The way he’d avoided dinners and public appearances.
I’d found him once a few weeks after he’d returned, sitting in front of a reflection pool, his kurta wrinkled even more than normal for him, his bare foot dipped in the water. I dropped beside him. “Why are you avoiding our parents and sisters?”
He looked away, and the wind ruffled his dark hair. “I’m surprised Mother didn’t exile me over this. I’ve brought enough embarrassment on our family.”
“Mother and Father both forgive you, you know that don’t you?”
“Well, they shouldn’t.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I acted as a fool, Sai. That’s why. I let my heart take over and I’ve created an international issue over it. I should have known everything Lennox ever said to me was a lie. Instead, I wanted to believe it. I wanted to”—his eyes took on a sheen, and he blinked rapidly, clearing them—“trust that it was real.”
“I’m sorry.” A grebe landed in the pond, splashing water about that flickered like golden drops in the morning sun. “I’m going to get your zevar back.”
Shaan huffed. “How? The Seelie palace is impenetrable.”
“I’ve yet to meet a challenge I couldn’t overcome.”
His dark eyes reflected the ripples of the water. “Yes, because you’re the wise, talented, magical brother, not the useless one who has humiliated our family and people.” He rose and walked into the morning mist. It ripped my heart out, to watch my younger brother fade into the distance, his posture hunched with embarrassment. If I ever met Lennox…
That brought me back to the present in the cell that hummed with magic. I’d met Lennox several times now and let him walk away, because this was about more than personal feelings. “The job.”
Orman and Ishir sat up. I crouched where the four of them could huddle in closer so I could push a ward out to protect our conversation. Luckily the guard had avoided us since Orman’s antics. I trembled to draw the magic, sweat dripping down my spine with that cursed metal so close.
It bolstered me that Lira was on our side, though. I didn’t understand why, but the few minutes of her standing in front of the cell, pointedly avoiding my gaze, nearly broke me. Even when I’d thought she’d betrayed us, there was a part of me that longed to hold her, smell the roses in her hair, brush my hand along the velvet she wore and follow the track of her curves.
“The plan?” Neia asked, annoyance pitched in her voice.
Of course. I could think about Lira later.
“Attendees will arrive at sunset.” I looked at the corridor that remained empty. “Luz is searching out the most likely places Lennox may have stowed the zevar, starting with his bedroom. Orman and Ishir, you’ll take out these guards… no deaths, though. We aren’t inciting a war here today and I promised the Naga we wouldn’t kill anyone.”
Orman dropped heavily against the wall. “You take all the fun out of everything, Sai.”
“If we find ourselves in a situation”—Ishir strummed his fingers against his thigh—“where it’s kill or be killed?”
“Don’t find yourself in that position.” I blew out a breath. “Worst-case scenario, I want you alive, whatever the cost. The Maharani doesn’t wish for us to leave casualties, either, however.”
