A whimper escaped her lips at the taste, and her control fractured.
Barely chewing, she swallowed mouthful after mouthful, gnawing at the bones to get the smallest scraps, her belly aching from the onslaught, but she didn’t care. Didn’t care about anything until the gull was nothing more than a pile of cracked bones in front of her.
Zarrah stared at the mess, cursing herself for her gluttony when she might have stretched the bird into three or more meals. “Idiot,” she muttered, picking up the bones to dispose of them outside of the camp.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Zarrah,” Saam said as he walked through the camp, a roughly made handball under one arm. “You’ll soon remember how to think of things other than food.”
That seemed a dream, but as Zarrah walked away from camp to bury the bones, her belly so full she had to clench her teeth to keep the precious sustenance down, thought did return to her head.
What it delivered to her was questions.
doing the same.” Catching hold of Zarrah’s elbow, she tugged her in the direction of the camp. “But to Knowing that the island was full of rebels who thought the worst of her, why had her aunt
give in is to allow the bitch on the throne victory over us. She wants us to devolve into beasts with no imprisoned Zarrah here? Surely she had to realize that rather than causing Zarrah to rediscover her loyalty, being around these people would only cause her to hate her more. Did she not know they were all alive and, if not thriving, at least surviving?
It didn’t make any sense.
She glanced over her shoulder at Daria, who was laughing at something Saam had said to her.
Perhaps what didn’t make sense was how quickly she’d learned to trust these people, to take them at their word, to see their actions as kindness rather than a form of manipulation.
be her damnation. But only if we keep our focus, only if we hold on to human purpose, and that”—she When she cared for someone, Zarrah was blind to their flaws. To deny that would be to deny her ignorance of how ruthless her aunt truly was. Or how much Keris had been like his father, willing to sacrifice everything to get what he wanted. I prepared you for life in so many ways, but I neglected lurked, she found her steps calm and steady as they approached the camp. Some of the prisoners were to teach you of the devilry of men. Zarrah flinched as her aunt’s voice filled her thoughts.
Was she making the same mistakes again? Who was to say that Daria didn’t use this promise of rescue as a way to control her tribe? As a mythology that bound them all together and made them courts. Zarrah had been to matches as a child, though her aunt had detested the game and banned it not
strong? Doing so didn’t make Daria precisely a villain, but if it was all a lie, then Zarrah needed to seek another way to escape.
Though she’d have to be mindful. Daria was dangerous, and if Zarrah incurred her wrath by
questioning her mythology, she might not find herself long for the world. Better to glean what she could from others while pretending to believe every word Daria said, to stay on her good side while she made her own plans. Better to—
A wet crunch filled her ears, followed by a gasp of pain. Zarrah jerked her head up in time to see one of the rebels falling backward, a spear punched through her chest.
Zarrah reached instinctively for her own spear.
Only to find a worn boot standing upon it. Her eyes raced up to find Kian standing next to her, gold teeth glinting.
“Hello, lovely,” he said. “We’re here to save you.”
remained on her knees next to the fire while the bird cooked, her eyes and mind entirely fixated on the meal to come, though she waited until it was fully done. Grease burned her fingers as she pulled loose the first bite, but she didn’t feel the heat as her teeth sank into the first real meal she’d had since being into three or more meals. “Idiot,” she muttered, picking up the bones to dispose of them outside of the
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Zarrah,” Saam said as he walked through the camp, a roughly made
strong? Doing so didn’t make Daria precisely a villain, but if it was all a lie, then Zarrah needed to seek another way to escape.
Though she’d have to be mindful. Daria was dangerous, and if Zarrah incurred her wrath by
questioning her mythology, she might not find herself long for the world. Better to glean what she could from others while pretending to believe every word Daria said, to stay on her good side while she made her own plans. Better to—
A wet crunch filled her ears, followed by a gasp of pain. Zarrah jerked her head up in time to see one of the rebels falling backward, a spear punched through her chest.
Zarrah reached instinctively for her own spear.
Only to find a worn boot standing upon it. Her eyes raced up to find Kian standing next to her, gold teeth glinting.
“Hello, lovely,” he said. “We’re here to save you.”
DARKNESS FELL OVER them as the boat surged into the cave, the echoes of the surf bouncing off the walls deafening.
Yet the place was not entirely without illumination.
Placed on shelves in the rock were jars of some sort of glowing substance, and Keris curbed the urge to reach out to grab one so that he might discover what was inside.
“We’ve got company,” Dax muttered.
Farther down the tunnel, two figures perched on outcroppings, each holding a bow leveled at the longboat. Their faces, tanned by the sun, would have blended into the masses in a Maridrinian market, and something about that unnerved him. Beyond them, a thick steel portcullis blocked their path, the metal shiny and newly forged.
Pull out the damn gate! Aren’s scream echoed through his mind, the memory making Keris shiver as he looked up, seeing deep gouges in the rock from where his father had done just that.
Because you told him to.
The Ithicanian archers remained silent as Dax and the sailor ceased rowing, but a heartbeat later, a rattle cut the air, the portcullis rising. Seaweed dangled from the bars that had been submerged, water dripping in torrents, and to Keris, it looked for all the world like some great beast opening its maw.
He’d been so goddamned confident that Aren wouldn’t risk killing him. But now … now he
couldn’t help but wonder if revenge would be worth it to the other man. Because Keris had no doubt that it would be worth it to his wife.
If you’re dead, you can’t help Zarrah, the voice whispered. Turn around. Go back to Maridrina and find another way. “Row,” he growled, and the boat moved under the spikes of the portcullis, water raining down on his hood with heavy splats.
More armed Ithicanians watched silently as they passed, and it struck Keris then why he was unnerved by their faces. This was the first time he’d seen Ithicanians without masks. He almost wished they still wore them, for it would hide the anger. The hate.
You deserve it.
Fuck off, he silently screamed at the voice. The battle had to happen, one way or another. I just changed the ground on which it was fought.
You set your father on the place where Ithicana was protecting its innocents.
“And Ithicana won,” he growled, giving his head a sharp shake when Dax shot him a look.
It wasn’t lost on him that he was arguing with himself, and part of Keris wondered if he was going mad. If the lack of sleep and the anxiety and the endless, endless guilt had broken some critical part of his mind.