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Chapter Sixteen

I was used to being weak. Ever since I was a little girl, I would be standing upright one minute and eating dirt the next.

At least in the palace, I would be eating a handwoven, incense-infused carpet instead.

..or at least, that was what I was expecting to find when I started to wake up.

Not a strong pair of arms and the clattering of shifting armor.

My eyes opened, but I couldn’t see yet. My vision was still hazy, but it was starting to come into focus enough for me to realize that I was being carried by a guard– a guard with a feather sticking out the top of his helmet and a familiar parrot sitting proudly on his shoulder.

“Kya!”

“J-Jeanie? Kipu?” I squinted at my rescuer, and he flicked his eyes down at me just long enough to see that I was coming to. He kept walking, holding me securely as we moved into an area of the castle I didn’t recognize .

Questions pounded in my aching head, but I wasn’t ready to push myself any further. That was one of the worst episodes I’d ever experienced. Was it from the heat? The stress? Or maybe it was something else? The last thing I remembered was stepping out of the servant hallway.

“Jean? How did you find me?” I asked in a groggy voice.

He tilted his head toward Kipu, causing the bird to flap its wings and let out a gleeful squawk.

“Kya! Love Kya!” He looked down at me with those funny little bird eyes that I swore were smiling at me. He must have been worried after I ran off not long after passing out in the suite.

“I see.” I smiled back at the bird. “Thanks, buddy.”

Kipu squawked again, and the sound seemed to make Jean tense up. His strong arms locked around me, and his steps quickened like he was running from something. I looked around again, trying to determine if we were moving closer to the guest suites or not. Nothing looked familiar.

“Where are we going?” I asked Jean. I reached for my ring to twirl the band, then stopped when I remembered where it had gone.

Jean didn’t answer, of course, nor did he look at me. He kept moving, not stopping until we had reached the back of a windowless hallway with a lone door. He pushed it open and carried me inside, where fresh air filled my senses. It was another suite, but this one was far from grand.

It was still a palace bedroom, but the furnishings were more functional than fancy and the décor was minimal. There was no balcony like there was in my or Adir’s suites, but there was a large window that overlooked the beautiful courtyard that held all the palace events.

Jean set me down on the bed, leaning me back on a few propped-up pillows so I could start acclimating to being awake.

The space was simple but clean, and the single bed was soft enough to be comfortable but not so pillowy that I would sink in.

Kipu hopped off Jean’s shoulder, moving to perch on my knees like he was ready to guard me head-on.

Something told me he wouldn’t let me get up again without a proper rest this time.

As soon as he’d set me down, he raced over to the corner of the room, where there was a fresh pitcher of water positioned next to some empty glasses. He hastily poured me a cup, then brought it over so fast that he sloshed a few drops onto Kipu’s head.

“Is this your room?” I accepted the glass from him and took a long gulp. The water was warm from sitting out, but it still tasted incredible. I lowered the glass, wiping a few droplets from my upper lip. “Thank you for your help, Jean. But why bring me here instead of my suite?”

Did he want to keep a close eye on me? Maybe he’d been frightened when he found me in the hallways?

“Because they won’t look for you here.”

He spoke.

I dropped the glass. The cup splashed on the bed and shattered onto the floor, but I could barely hear the sound over the echo of Jean’s voice. Jean’s voice ... He had a voice!?

“W-what?” I barely sputtered out the words, my mouth hanging open and my eyes wide as I wondered if it was Kipu I had heard instead. Except it wasn’t Kipu... It was a deep, husky voice that sounded so familiar that I could almost swear it was...

He removed his helmet, setting it down on the floor on top of the shattered pile of glass. I felt the air leave my lungs as he pulled off his head covering for the first time since I’d ever known him, revealing the full face of a man who was not my friend.

“Jeteran!” Panic shot through me like I’d swallowed a ball of fire. I sat up, my head whirling but not stopping me from wanting to flee. Kipu squawked, flying off my knees and moving to perch back on Jet’s shoulder.

“Kya, it’s all right.” Jet held his hands up to signal peace, but I wasn’t ready to fall for his tricks again. “I’m not going to hurt you. ”

“Get away from Kipu!” I scrambled off the other side of the bed, staggering back in case he tried to pull his sword. “And tell me what you did with Jean! If you hurt him, I swear, I’ll—”

I reached for the ring again, but it was still gone. My heart dropped. I didn’t regret giving it to Adir, but without it, I had no power against Jet.

“Kya...” He said my name softer, his golden eyes playing tricks on me as he mimicked Jean’s kind gaze. “It’s me.”

He reached for Kipu’s neck, and I nearly screamed at him for touching him. But he didn’t hurt Kipu...he scratched him under the chin just the way he liked it.

It couldn’t be...

“K-Kipu?” I took a cautious step forward, my heart pounding so hard I was afraid I would crack a rib.

“Jean!” Kipu said happily, ruffling his feathers with pleasure as he enjoyed the chin scratches. “Kya! Jean!”

I felt like I was going to faint again. The room started spinning, and my legs wobbled as I tried to take another step forward. Jet—or Jean , or whoever he was—noticed my unsteadiness and rushed back to my side, holding out his arms to offer help, but pausing before touching me.

“Please sit down, Kya,” he said in a tender voice that sounded so foreign coming from his lips. “Let me explain. ”

“You’re not Jean,” I breathed. “You’re Jeteran, the prince’s uncle. You can’t be both.”

He lowered his hands, giving up on trying to usher me into a seat, but still staying close in case I lost my ability to stand.

He knew my signals for when I was close to losing consciousness; as soon as my knees started shaking, he was at my side.

The only other person who had known me long enough to understand when I needed support was. ..

“I am,” he said, keeping at a distance, even though I could sense his burning desire to help me. “I always have been.”

“Always?” I braced myself on the bed post, still too anxious to sit down but needing to keep myself upright. The dizzy feeling was fading, but my shock was making it difficult to stay grounded. “You mean, always , always?”

I looked at how calmly Kipu sat on his shoulder. It was like he had been doing it for years. There was no way he was my Jeanie, but the more I looked at him, the more I saw the young guard who had pulled me out of the collapsing shop.

“Always.” He nodded, the movement identical to Jean’s mannerisms.

His yellow-gold eyes were so similar to the ones that watched me from the edges of the market.

They were the same eyes that noticed when I needed a drink of water or to a place to rest in the shade.

His gloved hands were the same ones that slipped me notes on where to find loose jewels, his stature the same height as the guard I would hunt down in the midst of the bazaar crowds.

Jeanie?

“I...I don’t understand.” I pressed a palm to my forehead like I was trying to keep my brain from spilling out of my skull. “You’re the sultan’s brother. Why would you be masquerading as a royal guard?”

“As you said yourself, I’m the sultan’s brother,” he said in a heart-buzzing tone.

It was so strange to hear a voice coming from Jean, but at the same time it matched him so much better than the voice I’d imagined Jean having.

“I’ve been given duties that no other person has.

Duties to serve my kingdom, serve my people, and protect our most valuable secrets. Secrets like the wishing diamond.”

My hand felt numb, the ring’s absence becoming more noticeable by the second.

“You don’t mean...” My heart shattered like the broken glass around the feathered helmet. “All of this Jean business was to get me to find the wishing diamond?”

Adir was right. All Jeteran ever wants is power.

“Not entirely,” Jet said, attempting to use a calming voice that had no effect on my crushed soul. “The truth is, I knew the wishing diamond’s whereabouts long before you stepped into that vault. I just needed to make sure I was right about what it could do.”

“So you used me?” I asked sharply, a hot tear clinging to the corner of my eye. “You saved a little orphan girl just to train her up into a thief?”

It all made sense now...why he helped me rob those nobles, why he let me get arrested just to let me into the vault, why he kept me around the palace despite my lies. He needed someone disposable. Someone capable of testing his theories and distracting Adir so he could take the throne.

“Kya, please let me explain.” He tried to reach out again, but I smacked his hand away.

“Don’t touch me!” I shouted.

“As you wish.” He only pressed his hands to his sides, but the look in his eyes made him appear like he was chained and gagged. I hated him for looking so much like Jean. This wasn’t my friend.

“It doesn’t matter anymore, you’re too late. Adir has the ring now,” I said coldly, my voice cracking. A brief look of panic flashed over Jet’s face, and I took some comfort in knowing that his plans had been thwarted. “Sorry to tell you, but you’ll never get to wish Adir away from the throne. ”

“Kya...” He said my name like it meant something, and it made me wish that he wouldn’t speak it at all. “This isn’t about the throne. All this time, I’ve been trying to protect you from Adirion.”

“Protect me?” I snapped. “Adir saved me. He brought me into the palace after you tried to get me arrested!”

“You never needed saving.” His tone shifted, an ominous tension building in the space between us. “Kya, Adirion is the one using you.”

Just then, a round of trumpets echoed outside the window. We both turned to look out at the courtyard, surprised to see a large cluster of people gathering in the open space.

“What’s going on?” I carefully moved toward the window, testing my legs to make sure they were ready to support my weight. I scanned the crowd, noticing a few of the princesses and noble ladies filter in with confused looks.

“Gather around!” a servant dressed in all white called between rounds of trumpeting. “A message from your prince!”

What’s going on? I don’t remember hearing about an announcement today.

Jet muttered an unsavory word under his breath. “He has the ring now... ”

I looked back at my deceiver, my heart feeling more torn the more I recognized those eyes.

“I have to go.” I turned for the door, brushing past Jet, who reached out again but restrained himself before touching me.

“Kya, wait! It’s not safe.” He followed behind me, Kipu squawking alongside him like a feathery little traitor. “He was only using you to get the ring!”

I paused with my hand on the doorknob, his words tossing around in my mind but never fully sticking.

There was no reason that I should trust him.

He wanted me to turn against the prince, who had been nothing but kind to me ever since we first met.

He’d played me for a fool, and now he wanted me to continue the role.

So why was it that my heart ached at leaving him?

“Please...” He stopped behind me, his soft pleading pulling me closer to his lies. “Have I ever steered you wrong before?”

I would have said no only an hour ago. Jean had never been wrong. He knew everything about the palace, the guards, and the best ways to get away with a clever trick.

Which is exactly why I can’t trust Jeteran.

I left. Though part of me truly wished I hadn’t.