Page 85 of Bloodwitch

So the Adders obeyed.

Not once did Safi consider if this was what she should do—just as she would notconsiderroping herself to the mast during a hurricane. The Hell-Bards were going to die; she had to interfere before it could happen.

“Do not kill the Hell-Bards,” she blurted as soon as she was in the room. “They saved your life yesterday.Pleasedon’t kill them.”

Seventeen sets of eyes arced toward her—eight Sultanate members, eight imperial officers, and the Empress of Marstok. Though bandaged and bruised, Vaness stood at the head of the table with iron in her gaze.

“Truthwitch,” she said, her voice edged with censure. “Now is not the time.”

“Don’t let General Fashayit kill them.” Safi tried to cross the room, but two Adders peeled off the wall and intercepted her. So she stoppedand simply begged, “Please, Your Majesty. Was torture not enough? Why do they have to die?”

Vaness sucked in a long, calculating breath—as did the entire room, all attention locked on the Empress. Until at last, without breaking her gaze from Safi, Vaness waved to the nearest Adder. “Bring me the Firewitch general.Now. And Rokesh as well.”

The Adder bowed. The Adder departed.

“And the rest of you,” she scanned the Sultanate and officers, “leave.”

No one dared disobey, although some glared at Safi as they exited. Others pretended she did not exist. Most simply frowned, confused perhaps that Safi held such sway.

“Adders too,” Vaness commanded once the room had cleared. And as one, eleven Adders departed on silent feet.

Then the wooden door clicked shut, and all that remained of Vaness’s iron melted. Her shoulders wilted. She staggered to the nearest stool. “I did not command torture.” She wagged her head, urgency in her words—and absolute honesty. “Why would the general do such a thing?”

Safi didn’t respond. Her voice was hooked low in her belly, anchored by surprise. Before her eyes, Vaness had transformed. She looked ten years younger—twenty years, even. As if Safi now faced the seven-year-old girl who had been thrust into power after her parents’ death.

This was not the jagged grief Vaness had worn in the Contested Lands. This was something new. Something worse.

Safi hurried close, no concern over titles as she said, “What’s wrong?” And no concern over rules as she laid a hand on Vaness’s shoulder.

Vaness did not pull away.

“I am tired,” the Empress murmured. “I am tired and I am…” She hesitated. Then laughed, a harsh sound that set Safi’s teeth on edge. Part fearful, part amused, and part self-loathing. “I am lost.”

Safi’s heart said,True.

“I thought having you here would fix everything,” Vaness went on. “I thought you would clear the corruption from my court as easily as a tide clears the shore. But the rot is too deep, and my power too tenuous. These unknown rebels almost succeeded yesterday. Despite every precaution, they almost succeeded.”

“But they didn’t.”

“Yet.” Her head tipped back. She blinked up at the ceiling. “And who would even mourn me if I were gone? The people do not care who leads.”

“The peopleloveyou.”

“They admire me,” Vaness corrected. “And the difference is an important one.”

Safi had no response for this. The fact that Vaness needed comfort was more than Safi’s mind could wrap around. This was not the Iron Bitch she had faced in Lejna, nor the Iron Bitch with whom she’d crossed the Contested Lands. Whateverthiswas, it was more than Safi knew how to handle. It was real, it was raw, and it was messy.

Before she could summon any sort of words worth saying, a knock sounded at the door. Vaness flinched. Safi’s hand fell away.

“Your Majesty?” an Adder called. “The Firewitch general is here.”

“A moment,” she called back. Then she glanced at Safi, her face still barren and unmasked. “Tell me quickly, Safi: General Fashayit. Can I trust him?”

Everything inside Safi tensed at those words.Can I trust him?

All her life, lying had come so naturally to her. A skill she had inherited from her uncle. A skill she had honed under Mathew’s and Habim’s strict tutelage. But with Threads, with Thread-family, she had never been able to lie.Never.And after everything she and Vaness had endured together…

But does your friendship with her matter more than Habim?He was her Thread-family too. Andhecould get her to Iseult. Whatever Habim had planned, it was separate from Vaness, just as Safi’s decision to come here had ultimately been separate from Uncle Eron’s schemes.