Page 50 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin (The Nightfire Quartet #4)

FORTY-NINE

Rabin coasted over the miles as they watched nairatta snaking down the mountains. He flew as hard as he could, pulling ahead until they finally disappeared from view.

After several long days and nights, Ishaan appeared in the distance. He looped over the city to witness the destruction of the past few weeks.

The sky-blue palace stood pale against the smoky sky where a red sun bled across the horizon. His nostrils flared at the acrid scent of smoke curling in the air. He dipped, sailing over the buildings and the palace, where he spotted the courtyard filled with hundreds of soldiers wearing black.

Andhera’s army. Abishek had betrayed everyone.

Rabin dropped into an empty square, waited for the others to scramble off, and then quickly transformed into his rakshasa form.

“Did you see them?” Yasen asked. “That shithead king was planning to release an army of demons, and he just left his people defenseless ?”

Rabin was already stalking in the direction of the palace.

They all stopped when they reached the gates and stared at the army arranged into neat lines.

“Should we be standing here?” Yasen asked. “This feels a little dangerous.”

“We have to warn them about the nairatta,” Zarya said, though there wasn’t much confidence in her statement.

Rabin nodded and once again focused on the front of the plaza, where he recognized a few of Andhera’s generals. Gods, how could he ever forgive Ekaja for any of this?

Several people stood on the royal balcony, including a woman wearing a veil over her head; Kabir, the king consort; and the younger of the two Madan siblings. Someone was speaking—a man dressed in the silver-white uniform of the queensguard.

“Gi’ana thanks you for your assistance!” he shouted. “The rebels have ruled this nation for too long, and it is time to bring order to our land!”

He bent down to confer with the veiled woman, who Rabin assumed was Princess Dishani, before addressing the crowd again. “The queen is in your debt! Head into the forest and root them out! Let no one be spared. Man, woman, or child—deal with these rebels without mercy!”

His words rang against the stones as hundreds of soldiers pressed their fists to their chests.

“Queen,” Zarya whispered. “She is no queen. She is a tyrant.”

An Andheran general began shouting orders before the soldiers turned in unison.

“No!” Zarya screamed. “They can’t do this. We have to stop them!”

“ Ready! ” came the call. “ March! ”

They stomped on the spot for several beats before moving towards the gates.

“No!” Zarya screamed. “Stop this!”

She ran into the square, skirting through their lines as Rabin followed with Row and Yasen on his heels.

“Stop!” Zarya shouted as the soldiers marched. The army ignored her as they simply curved around her like water against a rock in a stream.

The soldiers bled into the streets of Ishaan while Zarya and Rabin continued pushing their way through. “Please!” Zarya screamed as they approached the balcony, where the royals looked down at her with surprise.

“Arrest her!” shouted one of the queensguard, recognizing her immediately.

Zarya didn’t hesitate, using a thread of magic to silence him. He grabbed his throat, his mouth gaping. “Listen to me! You are all fighting one another when the real threat is on its way.”

The royals all shared wary looks until Kabir finally approached the railing and peered down with a curious look.

“The nairatta are loose,” she shouted. “They’re marching across the mountains and will be here in a matter of days, if that. The resistance is not your enemy. The collars are off. You’ve lost this battle. Gather your army and protect the city, or we’re all dead! Do you hear me?”

Rabin watched Dishani the entire time. He couldn’t make out her face, but the angle of her head told him she was listening intently.

“You have to listen!” she screamed when they hesitated. “They’re coming and will destroy everything .”

Rabin watched Kabir confer with the queensguard.

“Do you speak the truth?” shouted Talin, the younger Madan brother. Rabin watched him glance at Yasen before addressing Zarya.

“I do! Why would I lie about this?”

“I will speak with them,” he said to his family before pushing away from the railing and disappearing off the balcony.

Rabin and Zarya exchanged a wary look as they waited.

A minute later, Talin appeared in the doorway, flanked by his guards. Then another figure appeared, and Rabin heard Yasen’s soft gasp.

“Miraan,” Zarya said. “What are you doing here?”

“Our father convinced my sister not to kill me, though she continues to resist any and all efforts to hear out the Rising Phoenix. I tried to stop this.” Rabin noticed the prince share a look with Yasen before he took a step closer and leaned in to Zarya. “Are you the reason for the collars?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

He breathed out heavily and ran a hand through his hair. “How?”

“I’ll explain everything if we survive but freeing them also released the nairatta. They’re coming.”

“We held them off in Andhera for now,” Rabin added. “But only because they didn’t hit us with their full strength. You must rally every able-bodied fighter you can. Prepare for a battle on a scale none of us could have ever imagined.”

“Nairatta,” Talin croaked, his pallor turning ashen.

Miraan held out his hands. “And what will you do?”

“We must gather the Chiranjivi to end this,” Zarya said. “I don’t know how long it will take or if our plan will even work, but if we’re lucky, we’ll kill them all.”

“Then we’ll do everything we can to hold them off,” Miraan said.

“I’ll help you,” Yasen added, and Miraan nodded.

Zarya reached out to squeeze Yasen’s hand before he drew her closer. “Whatever you do, Zee, you’d better come back to me.”

She looked up. “I’ll try. But if I don’t, just know how much I love you, Yas. Thank you for being my first best friend.”

Yasen wiped a tear from her eye with the tip of his thumb.

“And thank you for being the very best friend a man could ask for,” he whispered.

She tipped her head and studied him. “Not your second best?”

He smiled and shook his head. “You were never second, Zee. You’ve never been second.”

At that, she burst into tears and threw her arms around him. He returned the hug and kissed the top of her head. They stood like that for several moments.

“Zee?”

“Hmm?”

“There’s an army of demons marching this way.”

“There is.”

“So, we should all probably deal with that.”

She laughed and pulled away, wiping the corner of her eyes. “Be careful out there. You’d better come back to me, too. And thank you for saving me.”

“You did it yourself, Zee.”

“I don’t mean just today.”

Yasen pressed his mouth together, looking like he was trying not to cry.

Rabin had never seen him like this before, but Zarya had a way of drawing out the parts of yourself you were too afraid to share.

“I would do it again a hundred times, Zee.”

They hugged for another moment and said their goodbyes.

Then Rabin left the courtyard with Zarya and Row. As they passed through the gates, he glanced over his shoulder one more time.

Abishek had lied to them over and over again.

He’d felt almost nothing when Row had killed the king. He wasn’t even angry. Just numb.

They hadn’t talked about the fact that Zarya was asking them to kill her. He couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t. He didn’t care about himself, but the world would be darker without her.

She met his gaze as they prowled through the streets, planning to make their way to the hideout in the forest.

As if reading his mind, she offered him a soft smile. “Everything will be okay.”

“I don’t think so,” he answered.