Page 6 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin (The Nightfire Quartet #4)

FIVE

Zarya awoke to the sound of frantic pounding on her door. She’d slept surprisingly well, given all of her worries and reservations. She’d fallen asleep to the image of her mother’s haunted eyes and the sound of the wind howling off the mountaintops, lulling her into a deep, dreamless sleep.

“Zee!” came Yasen’s voice. “Zee!”

“What!” she shouted. “I was sleeping!”

The door swung open, revealing Miraan and Yasen. Her half-brother clutched a piece of paper.

“I didn’t say come in,” Zarya grumbled as she tucked the blankets around her to ward off the morning chill. When she’d fallen asleep, the fire had been roaring with the crackle of logs, and now, it sat smoldering with glowing embers.

“We received a letter from Ishaan,” Miraan said. He scanned the page while pacing back and forth, running a hand through his dark hair. He’d been so stoic and composed the first time she’d seen him, but she was learning that was all a front. He wore his emotions as strongly as she did.

“And?” Zarya asked. “What’s wrong? Has something happened?”

“The city is in chaos. They’re tearing down buildings. My family fears for their lives.” The distress in his voice was evident as he continued pacing, still reading the note as if he could find answers hidden between the lines. “I did this. I caused this mess.”

Resigned to the end of her slumber, Zarya pushed off her blanket and stood from the bed, reaching for her robe. “You didn’t. This is all a result of their actions, not yours. We were only reacting to the situation they created.”

“But I was a part of building that,” he mourned. “I allowed this cruelty to flourish unchecked for years before I tried to do a damn thing about it. I am complicit, too, and when things couldn’t possibly be any worse, I upped and left .”

“I’m no expert, but I probably wouldn’t say stuff like ‘couldn’t possibly be any worse,’” Yasen said as he dropped into a chair by the fire.

That earned him a glare from Miraan while Zarya blew out a breath, conceding that some of what Miraan was saying was technically true. But he was already beating himself up enough.

“So, what do you want to do?” Yasen asked, sitting forward in his seat.

“We must return,” Miraan said, running a hand down his face. “I understand our initial reasons for fleeing, but I can’t abandon my home to this chaos. None of this would have started if I hadn’t been funding the Phoenix.”

Yasen’s mouth pressed into a line, and Zarya noted the worry flashing across his grey eyes. Miraan had come to mean something to him, even if he’d probably refuse to admit it.

“Dishani will kill you if you go anywhere near Ishaan. You confessed your role in funding the resistance. Like a complete fool, I might add,” Yasen said.

Miraan gave him a miserable look. “I had no choice. I couldn’t hide it anymore, and I can’t sit here like a coward while my home is on the brink of collapse. I couldn’t live with myself if the city falls or if anything happens to my family.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Yasen argued. “You’ll get yourself killed.”

Miraan exhaled a breath of frustration as he dropped into the chair opposite Yasen. He tipped forward and planted his elbows on his knees before gripping his hair, the letter crumpling under his grip.

Another knock came at the door, and they all looked up before Miraan fell back, covering his eyes with a hand.

Zarya walked over to find a vanshaj servant on the other side.

She had to discuss their situation with Abishek. What would he say when he understood the true strength of nightfire? How would he react if she asked to start freeing vanshaj while she was in Andhera?

“Breakfast, Your Highness?” the woman asked, standing behind a cart laden with silver-covered dishes and a pot of tea.

Zarya nearly tripped on her tongue. “Highness?” she croaked.

The woman blinked, a wrinkle forming between her brown eyes. “You are the king’s daughter, yes?” she asked, her question somewhat tentative. “That’s what they’re claiming in the vanshaj wing.”

Zarya exhaled a breath. “I…yes…I suppose I am. But that doesn’t make me anything.”

The woman straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “It makes you a princess of Andhera,” she said matter-of-factly.

Without awaiting further instruction, she pushed her cart into the room. Yes, technically, Zarya was a princess, she supposed. But that was only on paper. The very thought was too far-fetched and bewildering to comprehend.

The woman stopped the cart in the center of the room, placed her hands at her heart, and dipped her chin. “If you need anything, I am here to assist.”

“What’s your name?” Zarya asked.

“I’m Urvi.”

Zarya returned her bow by pressing her hands together. “It’s nice to meet you, Urvi.”

“Your Highness,” Urvi repeated firmly before she departed the room.

When Zarya turned around, Yasen wore a shit-eating grin, his eyes dancing with amusement.

He pressed his hands together and adopted a high-brow expression. “Your Highness,” he said in a snooty voice.

“Oh, shut up,” she said. “We’re just visiting. I’m not staying here, and I’m not a princess.”

Yasen snickered. “Whatever you say, Zee.”

“Tea?” she asked.

Miraan was still slumped in his chair, an elbow propped on the arm as he stared listlessly at the fire. She brought him a cup, and he turned to look at her, blinking as if shocked to discover he wasn’t alone. Then he accepted it.

“Thank you.”

Zarya finished passing out cups and food and sat on the divan.

“What do you want to do, Miraan?” she asked. “I want to return, too, but I’d like to spend at least a few days here. I have some questions for my father.”

Finally, he sat up. “I know we said we should keep our distance from Dishani, but I didn’t expect things to turn this bad. I hoped the rioting would settle, and we’d have time to let her cool off.” He rubbed a hand across his face.

“Have we heard from Vikas and the others? How are things with the Phoenix?” she asked.

“He confirms the same,” Yasen said. “But their situation is tense. It turns out someone within the Phoenix’s ranks betrayed us to the Jadugara. It wasn’t an accident they discovered the collars the morning of the execution.”

“Gods,” Zarya breathed. “Why?”

“Money,” Yasen said. “The reward was too much to resist, I suppose.”

“What about Operation Starbreak?”

Yasen shook his head. “They’re currently evacuating vulnerable vanshaj out of the city and setting up a temporary encampment. Ishaan isn’t safe for them. The Jadugara have been conducting sweeps, trying to track down any Taara Aazheri.”

“Taara Aazheri?” she asked.

“That’s the name Vikas came up with,” he said. “To refer to those who once wore the collar.”

“What about those without magic?”

“They all have it,” Yasen said. “Vikas said it’s just taken time for some of them to find it.”

Zarya expelled a quiet breath at that. They all had it.

Taara Aazheri. Something to signify their change and honor the lives they’d escaped. Something that heralded the people they’d been and the people they now were. She loved it.

“Are they still breaking collars, then?” Zarya asked.

“They’re pausing for a bit,” Yasen said. “Vikas and Farida thought it best.”

Zarya bit the corner of her lip, worried for everyone left in Ishaan.

“We’ll find somewhere safe to hide,” Miraan said. “I have friends in the city. At least until we understand what’s happening and figure out how to approach my sister.”

“Have you heard how she’s doing?” Zarya asked, her tone somewhat uncertain.

She couldn’t get the image of Dishani’s ruined face and body out of her head. Rabin had done it to avenge Zarya, and anyone might argue that Dishani deserved it, but Zarya couldn’t deny her complicated feelings for her half-sister.

“In bad shape,” Miraan answered. “But they aren’t in immediate danger despite the target on their backs. The palace is well-guarded to withstand any sort of attack. Still, I worry because even the nobles are withdrawing support. I’ll be the first to admit they’re fickle when the winds of power change, and no one wants to be left on the wrong side of history. My family has earned everything they’re getting and worse. We all do, but I still worry for them.”

They sipped their chai silently for a few minutes, lost in their thoughts.

“I’m to meet with the king today,” Zarya said. “I want to discuss my magic and tell him more about the collars.”

Miraan gave her a skeptical look. “Do you think that’s wise?”

She shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not sure, but I have questions I need answered, and I think he might be the only one who can give me that. If he doesn’t react the way I hope, we’ll leave and return to Ishaan. How does that sound? I also understand our reasons for fleeing, but you’re right, and we can’t abandon them.”

Miraan nodded. “And what if he’s amenable to it? What if he agrees with our cause and is willing to do something about it?”

Zarya took a sip of her tea and peered up at her brother. “Then perhaps a powerful king on our side would help us end this once and for all.”