“No, she didn’t,” Zuleeka said. “And you didn’t save her.”
Kiva looked up again sharply. “I —”
“— healed some random child instead.” Zuleeka sneered. “Well done, sis. Way to put your family first.”
“No.” Kiva shook her head. “No, that’s not — Tipp isn’t — It was too late. I wasn’t there when she died. There was nothing I could do. I can’t — I can’t bring back the dead.”
“And what about Father?” Zuleeka shot back. “Were you in the middle of an Ordeal when he died, too?”
Kiva turned to Torell, who looked like he was about to jump in and rescue her, but he hesitated, the grief on his face raw as he waited to hear what she would say.
“Papa made me promise,” Kiva whispered. “I swore not to use my magic. Not even on him.”
“And now both our parents are dead, and some boy — sorry, Tipp — is alive and well?” Zuleeka said. “Sounds fair.”
“All right, that’s enough,” Tor finally stepped in, though his words were quiet.
Ignoring him, Zuleeka kept her burning gaze on Kiva and said, “One decision, that’s all it would have taken. What’s the point of having magic if you’re too afraid to use it?”
Tears prickled Kiva’s eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. She had been afraid. She was still afraid. But even so, when the time had come to act, she’d put Tipp’s life before her own, unable to watch as he —
“Wait, how do you know about Tipp?” Kiva asked, her voice thick. “No one else was in the infirmary.” No one but Tilda, who was already dead.
Zuleeka drew a finger along the rim of her mug. “One of my rebel contacts inside Zalindov was under orders to protect Mother until we could rescue her. When the riot broke out, she hurried to the infirmary, but someone else beat her there. She saw the boy on the ground in a pool of blood, knew it was a mortal wound. But later she saw you running toward the front gate with him in your arms. She thought you were being sentimental, had no idea you were escaping with him in tow.” Zuleeka paused. “My spies at the palace confirmed the appearance of the kid, but they said he was perfectly healthy. It was easy enough for me to put two and two together.”
There was a lot to unpack there, but Kiva only asked, “Your contact inside — are you talking about Cresta Voss?”
Zuleeka nodded. “She’s doing great things for our cause, even behind those walls.”
“Pity she’s stuck in there until she dies,” Kiva muttered under her breath. She and Cresta had never seen eye to eye, despite her having saved the antagonistic quarrier’s life shortly after her arrival at Zalindov. “You know she hates me, right?” Kiva said, louder. “She threatened Tipp’s life, said she would kill him if I didn’t keep Mother alive.”
Zuleeka shrugged. “She didn’t know who you were. And she was just following orders.”
Kiva clenched her teeth. “I didn’t need the extra motivation. I never would have let Mother —” She broke off at the triumphant look on her sister’s face.
“Die?” Zuleeka offered. “You never would have let Mother die?”
“Let’s move on,” Tor interjected before Kiva could raise another defense. He looked to her and said, “You have your answers, Mouse. Now —”
“Wait,” Kiva cut in. “The other night, you told me you came to rescue us.”
Tor nodded slowly. “I tried, yes. Until we were called back.”
“But what about this Galdric you mentioned? You said he wouldn’t let Mother risk any rebels coming to free me, so what made him change his mind?”
“He didn’t.” Tor’s face darkened with sorrow. “When Mother decided to go to Mirraven, she didn’t tell anyone. She took off in the night, leaving only a short note explaining where she was going, and why. From what we’ve managed to piece together, Galdric was the first to realize she was gone, and he went after her, probably trying to stop her. But he — he never came back. All we found was his cloak, covered in blood.” Tor’s throat bobbed. “Too much blood.”
Kiva sat back. “You think — she killed him?”
Tor looked down at his hands. “She wasn’t in her right mind, toward the end.”
That was all he said. But Kiva heard the heartache in every word, enough to know Galdric had meant a lot to her brother, and Tilda’s actions, unwitting or not, had caused him deep pain.