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Chapter Eighteen

W hat’s happening? I thought I was done living on the run...

I never expected to run from Adir.

Yet, I couldn’t get away fast enough. All the guards stirred back to life, raising from their bows to obey their prince. I wasn’t certain if the prince’s wish was controlling them or if they were simply doing their jobs, but they were relentless nonetheless.

“ Kya! Run!” I could hear Kipu squawking overhead, but I didn’t dare look up.

I darted between a pair of guards, making use of the blind spots their helmets gave them.

This wasn’t the first time I’d needed to escape a hoard of guards, but this was the first time that I was on their turf.

I tried to dash out of the courtyard by slipping into the palace, but the guards anticipated my escape and blocked all the exits.

I tried to turn around and ended up smacking my face against a stout guard’s bulky chest. He immediately restrained my arms, and three other guards rushed over to help pin my wrists behind my back.

“Let me go!” I squirmed, but there was no use in trying to escape so many of them. “Adir! What are you doing?”

I called out to the prince, my voice pleading with him, yet I found no trace of the friend I’d made on the rooftop. Adir twisted the ring on his finger, his eyes shadowed by a heavy look of betrayal that I couldn’t understand.

Is he angry that the ring isn’t working on me?

“Kya!” Jet pushed through the crowd, but the guards blocked his path like an iron wall. “Adirion, let her go. This is madness!”

Adir didn’t even bat an eye at his uncle. Instead, he stepped off the podium as calmly as he’d climbed it and walked back into the palace without another word. His servants followed behind him, along with a slew of guards.

Before I could question what would happen to me, the guards dragged me in through another door, pulling me farther away from Jet, who was still trying to elbow his way through to me.

He shouted my name one final time before his voice vanished behind a closed door, and the pit in my stomach deepened.

“W-where are you taking me?” I asked the guards, but they didn’t even bother to look at me. They dragged me like I was a rag doll, not even caring if I could keep up with their pace. My sandals scraped against the floor as I fought to keep my footing.

When we passed the hall that led to my suite, I immediately assumed the worst. Images of the murky dungeon flashed through my mind, and I tried to enjoy my last few glimpses of sunlight as we rushed past the open windows.

I could have sworn this would be my last breath of fresh air, until the guards started dragging me upstairs instead of down.

We climbed up to what must have been the tallest tower, until we reached an old wooden door that looked completely out of place in the lavish palace.

One guard kicked the door open, and the other pushed me inside.

I stumbled into the room, taking a moment to catch my breath and notice the towering view outside the lone window that was sealed shut.

I could see the entire kingdom from up here, but what was even more interesting was what was inside the tower.

Bookshelves lined every wall, nearly bursting to the brim with worn journals, leatherbound books, and stacks of unorganized papers.

A strange workstation was nestled in the corner of the room, and my breath caught when I saw the glittering treasures piled on top of it.

Hundreds of diamonds, both fake and real, were littered across the desk, making it look like someone had scraped a net across a starry sky and dumped its contents over the worn wood. I took a cautious step toward the glittering display, but paused when I heard the door swing open for a second time.

“Well, that certainly was awkward, wasn’t it?

” Adir’s voice cut through the air like the scrape of metal against stone.

I turned to face him, my body going rigid as his guard sealed the door behind him and stepped in front of it.

“You really had me convinced, Kya. I knew you were tricky, yet I still underestimated you.”

He pulled the ring off his finger and examined it with a disgusted curl of his lip. He stepped over to the desk, then flicked the ring into the pile of discarded gems. The precious stone clattered against the others, disappearing into the sea of jewels.

“What are you talking about?” I inched back a step, the threat of his tone enough to make the hair on my neck rise.

“That lovely show you put on back in my suite,” Adir said with a casual tug of his cuffs.

“It’s quite remarkable how easily you made me believe that your little wishes had come true.

After so many duds, I finally thought I had the real diamond in my palm.

..but it was all just another lie.” He rolled his shoulders back, his jaw looking painfully clenched.

“I should have expected as much from Jeteran’s spy. ”

“Spy?” I blinked at him. “I’m not a spy.”

“Come now, Kya...” He made a wide circle around me, moving toward the workstation where all the scattered diamonds were.

He stepped on the fallen jewels, bending the soft metals that were embedded in under his boots.

“Haven’t we lied to each other enough? You don’t really expect me to believe that you got into the vault on your own. ”

He brushed a few of the diamonds aside, the sound like shifting gravel as he picked out a specific cluster of gems. He lifted up a diamond-encrusted hilt that supported an ivory blade.

The dagger looked more ceremonial than lethal, but I knew that a dulled knife was often more dangerous than a sharp one.

I gulped. “It’s true that Jet let me into the vault, but I’m no spy.”

“Why else would he let you roam free in the palace after being caught?” Adir asked as he tested the blade on the edge of his fingernail.

It sliced off with ease. “No... It all makes sense now. Why he was always watching you, why you were able to break into the vault, and why he let me believe you were something special. This was all his plan to destroy my credibility.”

He stepped out from behind the desk, and the space suddenly felt too small. There was no corner for me to hide in, only the sealed window and the door that was blocked by the guard. I stepped back toward the bookcases, my breaths growing shallower the closer he came with that blade.

He can’t really think I set him up, can he?

“Adir...” I said his name like it was a wish, pleading for a miracle that I couldn’t even articulate.

“I don’t know why the ring didn’t work for you, but I swear it’s real.

” He stopped his pursuit, his lips pressed tight, but his eyes thoughtful.

“It granted my wishes time and time again; it even made me a princess. I gave you that ring because I truly believed its power could help you.”

He toyed with his knife, his gaze drifting toward the discarded pile of gems where he’d tossed the ring. I wasn’t sure if he would believe me, and honestly, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted the ring’s power to be real anymore, but I wished he would at least believe I was telling the truth.

“Then why...” he seethed, glowering at the jewels before snapping his gaze back to me. “Why would it work for you and not me?” He closed the distance between us, and I pressed my back up against the bookcase. “If it’s real, why didn’t it work for me?”

He raised the blade to my chin, and I tried not to look at it. Would he really kill me?

“I...I don’t know,” I stammered, trying to focus my gaze on the window instead of the fire blazing in his eyes.

“Did you switch the ring on me?” he accused.

“What? No!” I tried to shake my head, but the blade was too close for me to attempt to move.

“Does Jet have the real one?” He grabbed my shoulder, pinning me in place and digging his nails into my skin. “I know he’s been hunting for it. Tell me, Kya. Where is my wishing diamond?”

Tears pushed at the back of my eyes, but I wasn’t ready to let them claim me. I swallowed back my fear, meeting the furious eyes of the man I’d once adored.

“I wish I knew.”

The words were barely a whisper, but they felt like they weighed more than the mere breath that carried them.

I didn’t know why, but my gaze was drawn back to the window at that moment.

The world seemed to move in slow motion all of the sudden.

My bright blue eyes reflected back at me in the window’s glass, catching my attention right before a blur of grey came flying into view right before it crashed through the glass.

The window shattered, flinging shards of glass everywhere, along with a few grey feathers, and a familiar lamp.

“ Kya!” Kipu had smashed through the window by throwing the heavy chunk of metal through it then charging headfirst behind it.

He screamed at the top of his little lungs as he shook the glass shards from his wings.

A few small cuts stained his soft grey feathers, but the brave little warrior didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. “Kya!”

“Kipu!” I gasped.

“What?” Adir lower his blade, his grip loosening as his attention was stolen by the squawking bird. “Get that bird out of here!”

The guard moved from the door to chase after Kipu, and I took full advantage of the distraction.

I pushed Adir back, slipping out of his grip before he could grasp any of the chaos around him.

There were no other weapons in the room, so I grabbed the biggest shard of glass I could find and held it up like a sword.

“More games, Kya?” Adir hissed. “I thought we were friends.”

Friends.

I looked at the knife that dangled in the hand of my friend , my head swimming and heart pounding with a fresh rage.

“I know who my friends are.” I dashed for the door, swiping the blade of glass in his direction to keep him back. He dodged the glass but still lunged after me. “And they don’t wish for me to bow to them! ”

He was hot on my heels, and my heart felt like it was all the way up in my throat. I reached for the door, begging for one last chance at escape for me and Kipu.

The door opened before I touched it, and instead of reaching the door, I ran into the arms of the one man who had never failed to stay by my side.

Jeteran pulled me against his torso with his left arm, swinging his right arm forward with the slash of a wicked blade. My heart pounded against his, my breaths short and fast as I heard Kipu land on his shoulder with a whoosh of air from his wings.

“Don’t come any closer,” Jet growled, his voice raw and breathy.

Jeanie...

“Jeteran,” Adir huffed. “I didn’t expect you to come back for such a lowly spy. Have you grown that fond of your pretty little trinket?”

“She’s no trinket,” Jet fumed. “Nor is she a spy. The little display you put on is no one’s fault but your own.

I wish you knew how foolish you truly were— Wait!

I—” He muttered an unsavory word that I prayed Kipu didn’t pick up on.

I looked up to see his teeth clenching as he adjusted his grip on his sword .

“Feeling shy to admit that you care about the girl?” Adir chuckled. “You can have her, for all I care. She may be pretty, but she’s nothing more than a—”

His voice cut off, and I looked back at the prince to see what had silenced him. He dropped his blade, the echo of it hitting the floor with a deafening clatter.

“What have I done?” Jet hissed under his breath. “Forgive me, Kya...”

I blinked at him, unsure if my vision was blurry or if that was truly fear written on his face.

“That wish you just made...I understand now. She’s not your spy, is she...?” Adir gaped, his eyes widened, as Jet tightened his grip on me. “She’s the diamond.”