I fluttered my hand in an imitation bow. “I have acquired quite the array of skills under your tutelage. After considering the benefits of Vaida’s offer, I have decided they do not outweigh its hazards. Namely, living in a second kingdom torn apart by war with Nizahl.”
At this, Arin broke out into a grin. My heart, which had done an excellent job of beating for my nearly twenty-one years of life, stuttered at the sight. The wonders of tonight would never cease.
“You were so concerned the royals would lay invisible traps for you. Here you are, seeing right through them.”
Not as quickly as him, Hanim said. He figured out Vaida’s plan while you were still speaking.
I raked lines into the chair’s padded arm. I couldn’t appreciate the compliment; I had hoped to be wrong. Had Vaida gone mad? “If she violates the Zinish peace accords, Lukub will be ravaged. Omal and Orban will join forces with Nizahl to uphold the treaty.”
Arin lifted a shoulder. “Not if Nizahl violates the treaty first. After the Lukub Champion becomes the Victor, I imagine she will bribe a Nizahl soldier or struggling Nizahlan council person to murder him. The act of killing a kingdom’s Victor is its own declaration of war, and Vaida’s ready armies will move on Nizahl.”
The insidious cruelty of Vaida’s plan sent revulsion shivering through me. She would set in motion a devastating war… for what?
Arin remained unmoved. He had already witnessed Nizahl obliterate one kingdom out of existence. “She will never win a war with Nizahl,” I said. “Not if she spends three lifetimes preparing.”
“Something has convinced her she can.”
“But why? Why risk it?”
“Perhaps she blames the Citadel for her mother’s death. Perhaps she doesn’t care if her soldiers die in droves. It matters little. The wisdom of Vaida’s actions is not at issue.” Arin tilted his head. “The wisdom of yours, on the other hand… What have you come to bargain for, Suraira?”
I had ruminated over this inevitable question the whole journey from Vaida’s wing. There was only one answer. I had given a promise, and I intended to see it through.
“Marek and Sefa’s release,” I said promptly. “If you grant them leave to return to Omal after the second trial, I will stay our course.”
Unlike Arin, my disposition did not lend well to long periods of stillness. I fidgeted with the tasseled cushion and tried to consider what he could be thinking.
When I was seven years old, one of my tutors fell ill. Soraya had attempted to lift my spirits by constructing a maze out of Niyar’s thickest books. We sprinkled rice in the winding tunnels and folded bits of discarded fabric to create dead ends. After we finished, Soraya gathered crickets to race through our maze. Of the nearly two dozen competing, only one succeeded. It leapt to the top of the books and peered around, studying our haphazard creation. Instead of descending into the mass of sparring crickets below, it hopped on the books’ spines, cutting straight through the maze.
“He cheated!” I had cried, cupping it in my skirt.
“Maybe so.” Soraya picked up the cricket and balanced it on her finger. “To win a game, you must consider it from every angle, amari. Otherwise, you cannot rise above the commotion and secure victory.”
Arin finally spoke. “I will suffer a forfeiture and gain nothing in return. Your duties are unchanged, regardless of your options.”
Dread skittered along my bones. “Speak plainly. What do you want?”
“Kill the Lukub Champion during the first trial,” Arin said. “If he dies, you eliminate the possibility Vaida will use him to instigate war.”
He is a worthy adversary, Hanim said, reluctantly pleased. An efficient conclusion to a potential problem.
Efficient. Always efficient. I pushed from the chair, rounding to the window overlooking the courtyard. From this height, I could see past the bounds of the Ivory Palace, beyond the noble towns clustered around it. Snowcapped mountains studded the horizon like crooked teeth.
“If the Lukub Champion loses the first trial naturally, he will not become Victor. Why kill him and upset Vaida further?”
“Vaida will not know you killed him. No one enters Ayume except the Champions. The first three Champions to cross the forest and climb the bluff advance. The Lukub Champion will simply never reach the bluff. Tragic, but hardly unprecedented in the Alcalah.” Arin appeared beside me, gazing out at Lukub. “Vaida will not have chosen a weak Champion. Without your interference, he will almost certainly advance. If you merely sabotage the Lukub Champion, he will inform Vaida upon arrival.”