“No one deep enough to provide anything useful,” she answered.
“Get Ashlyn on it,” Jaren commanded. “Tell her to send in her best, someone who can think quickly and adapt as needed. Navok is both cunning and perceptive — he’ll smell a spy before they even set foot in Zadria, so whoever goes in needs to be crafty.”
“I’ll dispatch a messenger tonight,” Yisari promised.
“Knowing Ash, she’s probably already got someone on the inside who we don’t know about,” Jaren said, passing the letter to his mother. “But if she doesn’t, she’ll make it happen.”
“And until then?” Horeth asked.
“We watch,” Jaren said. “We listen. We wait.”
“If they make a move, we’ll stop them,” Queen Ariana said in a hard voice. “No one threatens my family and my kingdom and gets away with it. No one.”
Kiva trembled at the fury in Ariana’s voice, the words repeating in her ears long after the Royal Council moved on to talk about the other items on their agenda. Foreign trade negotiations, city maintenance updates, guild requests . . . all matters that were inconsequential to her. She soon grew bored, the discomfort of her physical condition becoming more obvious, her muscles aching and her backside numb.
Just when Kiva thought she wouldn’t be able to survive another minute in the claustrophobic space, Jaren and Ariana rose to their feet, declaring the meeting over. She nearly wept with relief when the councillors followed them out into the dark passageway and the door sealed shut behind them.
Unwilling to risk discovery now, Kiva waited long enough for them to have returned aboveground before she finally opened the cabinet — and toppled straight out onto the hard stone ground. Lying there, she bit her lip against the pins and needles, waiting for the pain to ease.
It didn’t.
She blamed Caldon and his torturous morning workout, though it was hardly his fault that she’d crammed herself into a cupboard for the better part of the afternoon.
It had been worth it, she reminded herself, gritting her teeth and standing to her feet. Not even Naari had been allowed in the room. Hell, not even Mirryn was privy to all the council’s secrets — only the queen and her heir.
And today, Kiva.
Now she just had to find a way to communicate what she’d learned to Torell and Zuleeka.
An unpleasant feeling hit Kiva’s stomach as she began her painstaking journey out of the room. She tried to convince herself that it was from hunger, and not because of how thoroughly she planned to betray the Vallentis family.
How thoroughly she planned to betray Jaren.
The last thing I want is to make her feel like she’s trapped in another kind of cage.
His words echoed in her mind, her stomach twisting even more.
Right now she deserves the chance to live her life and follow her dreams.
If only it were that easy, Kiva thought. If only the last ten years had never happened. If only she weren’t bound by duty, by love, by family.
I can only hope she’ll grant me the honor of being by her side on that journey.
He would be by her side. Right up until the crown fell from his head.
Kiva had to stop in the middle of the darkened tunnel, the agony of that image almost too much for her to bear.
And then she continued on.
Because she had to.
But despite her best attempts to ignore it, the twisting pain stayed with her all the way up to the palace, lingering for what remained of the afternoon and long into the night, a steady ache that refused to fade.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Kiva was burning.
Falling.
Drowning.
Water. So much water. She couldn’t breathe.
Her skin was on fire. It burned. It burned.
Down she fell, the wind ripping her apart, the cold shredding her skin.
The thwack of a whip. A quiet, masculine moan.
Blood flowing into a drain.
Darkness — so much darkness.
She couldn’t breathe.
SHE COULDN’T BREA —
“Wake up!”
Kiva gasped and shot up in bed to find a dark outline of a man hovering over her, gripping her shoulders. She shrieked and threw her fists at his naked chest, thrashing wildly to get free. He made an oomph sound but only held on to her tighter, trapping her arms. She opened her mouth to shriek again, but then —
“Kiva! Kiva! It’s me!”
Jaren’s voice finally penetrated, causing her to freeze.
“It was just a nightmare,” he said, holding her firmly against his warm, strong body. “You’re safe. I’m here.” He stroked her sweaty hair away from her face and repeated, “I’m here.”