“Can you really blame me?” Zuleeka asked, sounding weary. “Tell me the truth: are you truly willing to turn your back on the Vallentis family? I saw how much they care for you, and you can deny it all you want, but I saw how much you care for them, too. Jaren, especially. Are you truly willing to take everything from them? From him?”
Kiva’s heart started picking up speed again. She could lie, she probably should lie, but she didn’t want to. Not to her sister, not to herself.
Not anymore.
“I was,” Kiva whispered. “When I left Zalindov, I was prepared to destroy them.”
“And now?” Zuleeka asked, her expression open beneath her mask.
Feeling lost, but somehow certain at the same time, Kiva said, “You’re right — I do care about them. But I care about you, too. You and Tor — I love you both. But I just —” She inhaled deeply and made herself admit, “I don’t want to be a rebel.” Quickly, she added, “I won’t stand against you, but I . . . I don’t want to help you. Not anymore.”
The exhaustion Kiva had felt after healing Torell swept over her again, along with a heavy dose of fear. But Zuleeka’s expression didn’t change. There was no hint of the anger Kiva had expected, none of the outrage. If anything, she looked — well, not pleased, but finally happy to have the truth laid out before them.
“I figured as much,” Zuleeka said quietly. “You never were very good at hiding your thoughts. Even as a child.”
Kiva looked at the ground. “I’m sorry.”
“You can’t help how you feel,” Zuleeka said, before opening her arms and drawing Kiva into a hug. “We’ll figure it out. I promise.”
Kiva nearly cried as Zuleeka curled one arm around her waist and the other around her neck, holding her close as she repeated her promise that they would work it out, somehow. That she didn’t blame her, that she understood.
They stood like that for a long time, as if making up for ten years’ worth of lost embraces, only pulling apart when a whistle from across the room caught their attention. Kiva wiped under her damp eyes, noticing with some surprise that the bodies had all been cleared, and the men Rhess had given instructions to had returned with a stretcher for Torell. Carefully, they shifted him onto it, before vanishing with him beyond the crates. Rhessinda alone remained, striding toward where Zuleeka and Kiva stood above Tipp.
“Kodan just told me there’s a shift change soon,” Rhess said, her voice still hoarse with worry. “This warehouse is due for resupply, so it’ll be swarming with dockworkers in a few minutes.”
Zuleeka nodded. “We need to go.” She looked at Kiva. “And you need to get back to the palace.”
“But Tipp —”
“I’ll look after him,” Rhessinda said. “I’m sorry, Kiva, but I overheard what Zuleeka told you, and I agree with her. If Jaren learns what happened today, he’ll want to know how you escaped — and who helped you. We still need to uncover what’s really going on ourselves.” She shot a pointed look at Zuleeka, clearly intending to interrogate her about Tilda’s bargain with Mirraven as soon as possible.
Turning back to Kiva, Rhess continued, “That means you need to go to the princess’s masquerade and act like everything is normal. And it also means Tipp needs to stay with us, at least until you have a chance to talk to him. You’ll have to come up with an excuse for his absence, just for tonight. And then, as soon as you can sneak out again, you can explain everything to him.” She lowered her voice to finish, “I swear I won’t leave his side. He’ll be safe with me.”
Kiva hated this. But the logical part of her knew Zuleeka and Rhess were right — Tipp needed to be watched. She still didn’t fully grasp why Jaren couldn’t learn about the Mirraven abduction, but she did know that if he learned she’d been in danger, he would only blame himself, and she didn’t want to place that burden on his shoulders.
“Fine,” she said, albeit reluctantly. “But first thing tomorrow, I want to see him.”
Rhessinda pulled Tipp up into her arms, grunting slightly at his weight. “We have a safe house in the city. Until Tor is —” Her throat bobbed. “Until Tor is awake, I don’t want to risk moving him back to Oakhollow, so we’ll spend the night in Vallenia. One of us will meet you at the palace in the morning and bring you to Tipp. Does that work?”
Kiva nodded, stopping herself from grabbing the young boy and refusing to let go. “Please take care of him.”