Thud.
The world swam, the ground seeming to rush up to meet him, and his stomach lurched. This is That was true, but he also had a great deal of work to do before morning. “It’s fine. Just check your nothing to you, he silently snarled. A climb a child could make.
Yet he couldn’t move. Couldn’t unfreeze his limbs, every instinct in his body screaming that he was going to fall. That he was going to smash into the ground below, gasping out his last while his blood pooled on the damp earth.
Sucking in a ragged breath, he forced himself to climb back over the rail and immediately went inside to retrieve the wine from where he’d left it on the desk. Returning to the balcony, Keris flopped into the wooden chair, water immediately soaking his trousers. Cursed wet country.
Drinking directly from the bottle, he stared up at the sky visible between the clouds, wondering if Zarrah was staring at the same stars or whether her view was wholly different. Whether they’d ever look at the same stars again.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Keris drank several long gulps, feeling the alcohol move into his veins.
Dragging him down and down.
Only a fool falls into his cup when his back is exposed, Coralyn’s voice whispered in his head, but he ignored her and finished the bottle, setting it next to his feet. He needed to sleep, and though this wild and deadly nation was likely the last place he should let down his guard, Keris’s instincts for danger were quiet for the first time in as long as he could remember.
Leaning back so that his head rested against the side of the palace, he opened his eyes to stare again at the glittering sparkles of silver. “I’m fixing things with Ithicana,” he told Zarrah softly, willing the words onto the wind, hoping they’d carry south. “There will be peace.”
immediately set to writing. First, a note to Lara informing her of Bronwyn’s request to join her, which Paid for in blood, Zarrah’s voice replied. And your efforts are self-serving.
His mouth curved up in a smile. “Not entirely.” Hesitating, he added, “I have what I need now to come for you and succeed. Please just hang on a little bit longer, Valcotta.”
Silence.
“Zarrah?” Keris’s voice cracked on her name, his chest tightening as he waited for his imagination to conjure a response so that he might hear her voice. But whether it was the wine or exhaustion or his own mind bent on punishing him, she remained silent, leaving him alone until sleep finally took him.
small balcony. Rain misted his skin, but the wind had died down, and between the clouds, silver stars stone that the majority of the buildings were constructed from. As though knowing that every aspect of To see how this mysterious nation of people lived, what they ate, and what they talked about, because Yet he couldn’t move. Couldn’t unfreeze his limbs, every instinct in his body screaming that he was inside to retrieve the wine from where he’d left it on the desk. Returning to the balcony, Keris flopped
Squeezing his eyes shut, Keris drank several long gulps, feeling the alcohol move into his veins.
Dragging him down and down.
Only a fool falls into his cup when his back is exposed, Coralyn’s voice whispered in his head, but he ignored her and finished the bottle, setting it next to his feet. He needed to sleep, and though this wild and deadly nation was likely the last place he should let down his guard, Keris’s instincts for danger were quiet for the first time in as long as he could remember.
Leaning back so that his head rested against the side of the palace, he opened his eyes to stare again at the glittering sparkles of silver. “I’m fixing things with Ithicana,” he told Zarrah softly, willing the words onto the wind, hoping they’d carry south. “There will be peace.”
Paid for in blood, Zarrah’s voice replied. And your efforts are self-serving.
His mouth curved up in a smile. “Not entirely.” Hesitating, he added, “I have what I need now to come for you and succeed. Please just hang on a little bit longer, Valcotta.”
Silence.
“Zarrah?” Keris’s voice cracked on her name, his chest tightening as he waited for his imagination to conjure a response so that he might hear her voice. But whether it was the wine or exhaustion or his own mind bent on punishing him, she remained silent, leaving him alone until sleep finally took him.
ZARRAH LAY ON her back, staring up at the stars, wishing that the constellations held less meaning than they did. Wishing she could look at them and see glowing specks of light rather than shapes with stories told to her in Keris’s voice.
But no matter how she tried to force him from her mind, thoughts of Keris crept in. His velvet voice filled her head, each blink of her eyes showing images of him reading from a book, every inhalation bringing the phantom scent of spice that she’d recognize for the rest of her life, and in every life to come.
Her aunt’s voice rose in response, hissing, The rat knew you were Valcottan. That you were a soldier. Your speech would have told him you were from a certain class, and therefore a certain rank. All of which made you a challenge worthy of his attention. A prize to be claimed, and a prize to be used once he learned just how valuable you truly were. The words tarnished her memories, giving them new and darker meanings, and Zarrah bit her lip. Had those clues about her identity been the reason that Keris had continued to meet with her? Had she been a challenge in a sea of women who were no challenge to him at all? Was that what had attracted him to her?
No. She gave her head a sharp shake. It was because we were like-minded. Because we both saw the same flaws in the world and were impassioned to fix them.
You are Keris Veliant’s victim. Zarrah could almost feel her aunt stroking her brow. Consoling her.
It made her stomach turn.
Scrubbing at her eyes, Zarrah rolled on her side to stare at the flames. Daria and Saam sat on the far side, playing some sort of game with rocks, but she ignored them and pulled the ragged piece of salvaged sailcloth higher on her shoulders against the chill. There was frost in the air. Saam had mumbled earlier about how it wouldn’t be long until the snow was thick and food even scarcer than it was now, but Zarrah didn’t want to think about that any more than she wanted to listen to her aunt pick apart her time with Keris.
Finding a way to escape. That was what mattered. And not just her, but all these people her aunt had unlawfully imprisoned. Waiting for the rebel commander to decide they warranted the risk of liberation wasn’t good enough. That could be months. Years.
It could be never.
Across the fire, she watched Saam lean in to kiss Daria, but she only laughed and shoved him away. “You’re not getting out of patrol that easily,” she said, and Saam groaned and rose to his feet.
Leaning down, he kissed her again. “Later?”
“If you’re lucky.” Daria watched him leave, a faint smile on her face. Noticing Zarrah was watching her, she said, “Did you have someone before your murderous ways got you tossed into this shithole?”
“Was already over at that point,” Zarrah muttered.
“Who was he? Or she?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Daria leaned forward to warm her hands over the fire. “It’s important to remember life before you were trapped in this place. To remember who you were, so that when we escape, we can be those people again and not starved animals with no memory of humanity.”