The image rose before I could prevent it. Arin on his knees, steadfast and resolute. Chin tilted forward to accept the fate he would be dealt. Or maybe he would be wild for the first and last time in his life, eyes desperate and seeking. I bit the inside of my bottom lip until I tasted blood. I should have never followed her here and given her the chance to fill my head with her poison.
“Enough about the Heir. I have something to show you.” Vaida slid the ring onto her finger and pressed it into the emerald wall. A hiss of released air blew dust into my nose as the center of the wall swung inward, revealing a stairwell leading into a void. I skidded away, my world ricocheting off its axis, searching for an item I could turn into a weapon.
“That was magic!”
“Not mine. Baira’s magic still manipulates parts of the palace.” She held up the ring. A Ruby Hound snarled on its surface. “Come along. You are safe with me.”
She did not wait for my answer, stepping into the hole and descending into darkness. I yanked at the doors to her chambers. They were fastened shut. I braced my foot on the door and heaved. Nothing.
She is not going to kill Nizahl’s Champion in her own palace, Hanim murmured. Go. See what the Sultana has to show you.
Cursing doors, guards, and royals, I gingerly stepped into the opening. The drifting scent of mold only grew stronger the lower I climbed into the void. I trailed my fingers across the damp wall, listening for Vaida. What if she killed me and sealed the evidence?
Your neck is thicker than both her arms. If she manages to best you, you deserve to die, Hanim said. I frowned, resisting the urge to check the circumference of my neck.
The stairs flattened into a small landing. A light flickered to life, revealing Vaida holding a candle. I could only see a few feet in either direction. The darkness at the edges roiled. Alive. Hungry. My skin crawled. I felt like an intruder, violating the sanctity of a space only meant to be occupied by the woman in front of me.
“This hideaway belonged to Baira. Every Sultana after her inherits this chamber, and the darkness shapes itself to the will of its new owner. If you think it’s daunting now, you should have seen it when my mother commanded it.” She raised the candle higher, and my attention fixed on her ring. A ring that essentially doubled as a key to the Sultana’s most private hideaway. The seed of an idea took root in the back of my mind.
“Why am I here?”
The lights flickered over her smiling mouth. Behind her head, strips of parchment were stuck to the wall, dozens and dozens of them, names scrawled across each one with black ink.
“I need a favor from you, Sylvia.” She spoke my name with a familiarity reserved for lifetime friendships. “You have to lose the Alcalah.”
I paused. She lured me into a dungeon teeming with malice to ask if I would forfeit the Alcalah? I picked through possible replies, searching for the most respectful version of “I would rather choke on a muddy sandal.”
“Can you read?” Vaida asked abruptly. She held the candle toward the wall, sending shadows over the pinned names.
I was fluent in every kingdom’s native language, even the ones rarely used anymore. A skill Arin had discovered by tricking me into reading the scroll on his table. Our languages blended into uniformity a century ago, and only a few villages spoke anything else.
“No.” A village orphan would have traded literacy for labor.
She glanced over her shoulder, assessing me for dishonesty. Apparently, it was only Arin whom my stoicism could not fool, because she turned back without arguing. “These are names. Members of Sultana Bisai’s council. Palace staff. Everyone who played a role in murdering my mother is on this wall.”
Sultana Vaida moved to the left, illuminating an entirely new set of names. “These are suspected Nizahl spies in Lukub. There are many I cannot locate. Spies sent under Supreme Munqual’s reign have been in Lukub for decades. Supreme Rawain instituted a practice early in his power where Nizahl orphans were trained and sent into foreign kingdoms. They could grow older there, become part of the community. Supreme Rawain planted children in our kingdoms to spy on us, left those insidious seeds to take root and drain our resources.”
The light shifted for an instant, outlining rows and rows of different names before Vaida spun around. “Do you think I killed my mother?” She sounded vaguely entertained, like a child asking their parent to guess a number.
“I saw the wells in Essam Woods,” I said. “The people you left to rot within them. If you are asking me whether I believe you are capable of killing your mother, I am afraid you will not relish my response.”