Page 25 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin (The Nightfire Quartet #4)

TWENTY-FOUR

Zarya couldn’t get the image of her mother out of her head. She was convinced it hadn’t been a dream. But what could she do with this information? Was this something that had happened a long time ago? Or was it still happening?

Her mother had disappeared shortly after her birth. No one knew where she’d gone. What if Zarya had uncovered a buried truth?

What if Asha was still alive?

“There was a hallway with black stones and worn tapestries,” she was telling Rabin the next morning. He remained skeptical it had been anything but her mind playing tricks, but he was also humoring her for now.

“I don’t know of any place like that,” he said. “Why would he have worn tapestries in the castle? He’s meticulous about making sure everything is perfect.”

She blew out a frustrated breath as she paced back and forth. “Then we need to search the towers. She’s in a tower.”

“Is she?” he asked, seated on the divan with one arm propped on his elbow. “Zarya, I know it felt real, but is she really here?”

She rubbed a hand down her face. “I don’t know. Maybe. Or she was here, and now she’s gone. In that case, we have to find out why. And, more importantly, what happened to her.”

She stopped pacing and then turned to him as tears pressed the backs of her eyes. “What if she’s alive somewhere? What if…he’s hurting her?”

Rabin pushed himself up from the divan and wrapped his arms around her. “Why would he do that? What would be gained by locking her up?”

“I have no idea, but I know what I saw. I need to search the towers.”

“There are probably a hundred in this castle,” he said.

“Then I’ll search a hundred. I have time. We’re stuck here until Kishore can fix this.” She gestured to her shoulder. “If you don’t want to help me?—”

“No,” he interrupted. “That’s not what I’m saying. I would help you if there were a million towers, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

She blew out a sigh. “I won’t.”

“Zarya, they’re already up.”

She huffed. “Fine. I will try to temper my expectations and delusions, okay?”

He shook his head. “Then where do we start?”

Rabin trailed Zarya as they combed through the castle for the next two days, searching through long corridors and winding halls, up spiraling staircases leading to countless towers. Some ended in opulent rooms offering sweeping views of the endless landscape, while others ended in small, empty spaces covered with cobwebs.

What they didn’t find was a prison keeping the queen of Gi’ana.

Zarya was convinced she was here, but it seemed impossible.

He hoped. That same itching worry pricked at the back of his scalp that something wasn’t right.

On their second day, the king invited them to dine with Kishore, but Zarya claimed she wasn’t feeling well, so Rabin went in her stead while she used the opportunity to continue searching the castle. He didn’t want to let her out of his sight but told himself he was being foolish. She was perfectly safe here. He was the one who’d promised her that. So why couldn’t he shake this?

As they continued hunting, he watched her frustration grow with each dead end. He understood how much she wanted this to be real.

At night, he lay awake listening to her whisper in her sleep, begging for her mother, pleading for her to be somewhere she could find her. It cracked a fissure in his heart. He wanted this for her, too—not whatever Abishek had done, but for Asha to be alive.

If Zarya’s visions were, in fact, visions, then what she’d described was horrific. If Abishek had locked Asha away, why would he treat her in such a brutal manner?

Rabin feared that troubling feeling in the back of his head was worming its way into the cracks of his faith in his mentor. He’d based the last twenty years of his life on his belief in the king of Andhera. On the man who had rescued him from the brink of death. Had he not found him on that ice where Rabin lay dying, he wouldn’t be here now.

But something had shifted in the past months.

It started when he’d forbidden him from having a relationship with Zarya, and doubt started working its way in. That feeling that had been dogging him since they’d arrived wouldn’t go away, and he was almost ready to say fuck it and fly her out of here once and for all.

Forget Ishaan. Forget Dharati. Forget Andhera. He’d fly them over the sea and find somewhere far from here where no one could ever hurt her. They’d find someone else to fix their bond.

Except Rabin himself had revealed Zarya to Abishek, and if the king had sinister intentions, he already knew there would be nowhere they could hide. If Rabin was wrong about all of this, he’d never forgive himself.

“Rabin?” she asked as she turned another corner. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” he answered. It felt like he was saying that a lot lately. He wasn’t fine. His body ached. His mind was clouded. He’d never experienced anything like this before. It almost felt like he was dying.

They stood in yet another castle corridor lined with the usual bright, vibrant tapestries, none faded or worn as she’d described.

Another round staircase led them up another tower.

Zarya flung open the door, exhaling a sound of frustration at finding yet another room that clearly hadn’t been used in a while. The bed had been stripped of a mattress and sheets, and dust covered the wooden furniture.

She stomped over to the window, gripped the ledge, and pressed her forehead to the glass. He gave her a moment to gather herself.

Slowly, he approached from behind, keeping his eyes on the horizon.

“Where is she?” Zarya whispered. “Why can’t we find her?”

“Zarya…” He stopped himself from saying anything that might hurt.

Asha probably wasn’t here. If she’d ever been here, then it was more than likely that she was already dead. But he couldn’t voice that out loud. Zarya wasn’t a fool. She already knew it, but her single-minded sense of hope kept her moving forward.

“When did you arrive here?” Zarya asked a moment later, her gaze sweeping over the snow and mountains.

“About twenty years ago,” he said. “But you know that.”

“But when exactly?”

“Just shy of that. Almost nineteen years ago.”

She paused. “So, after I was born.”

A beat of silence passed between them. “Yes, I suppose. Why?”

“And after she disappeared.”

Again, Rabin hesitated, wondering where she was headed with this line of questioning.

“I’m not exactly sure when she disappeared, but yes, it likely happened before I arrived.”

She didn’t answer as she continued looking out the window.

“Zarya, why would he do this?”

She huffed out a sharp breath before she pushed away from the window.

“I don’t know,” she answered. “Let’s keep looking.”

Then she stalked out of the room.