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CHAPTER

Sixty-Three

A BBESS RIVENNA GLORREN was very quiet, and very calm.

“Let us walk together,” she said, to Ruko.

The storm had caused extensive damage to the Tiger palace gardens. Surprisingly, the abbess did not seem to care, and Ruko did not mention it. They walked side by side, in silence. She wore her hood up, shrouding her face.

Eventually she spoke, her voice little more than a whisper. “When you entered the monastery, I put a spy in your dormitory. You know this.” She stepped over some fallen debris. “The boy who watched you said—in the day he is strong. But at night, he cries himself to sleep.”

Ruko bowed his head, acknowledging the truth of it.

“I summoned you to my rooms. I asked you—what makes you so strong in the day, and so weak at night? And you honoured me with your secret.” She made a gesture. Honour me again.

“I told you of the voice.” The one he’d heard when he’d sat upon the marble throne, telling him— This is how it should be . And afterwards, reassuring him. Feel no shame, feel nothing. You did what was necessary . He had carried that voice with him to the Tiger monastery. In the day he heard it clearly. But at night, in the dark, it left him.

“The voice of the Tiger. Offering you its counsel, its protection. What did I promise you, that day?”

“That I would win the throne, and rule Orrun, if I listened to that voice. And to you.”

Rivenna tilted her head. Yes. Beneath her hood, the gold beads in her hair clicked lightly against each other.

They turned a corner, passing a line of statues. One of them had fallen and broken into pieces on the path. They walked over it.

“Do you remember your first lesson?”

“The boy,” Ruko said flatly. The one she’d sent to spy on him. She had brought him out and said—“He knows your secret. He has seen you cry like a baby for your mother.” She’d handed Ruko a dagger. “What does the voice tell you to do with him?”

Was it the voice, or was it Rivenna, prompting him with the dagger? Either way, he’d plunged the knife into the boy’s heart. His first kill. It had made him sick. Not the blood, but the look in the boy’s eyes. The light, as it left him. He’d run out of the room afterwards, thinking he would throw up. A white blank of horror. The blood on his hands. But the sickness had passed, and the voice had come back stronger. He spied on you. He watched you cry. You did the right thing. Feel no shame. Feel nothing.

Every time, the voice came back stronger.

And the abbess had been pleased.

They had come to a fountain. Small jewel birds scattered from the rim as they approached, darting for cover in the hedges. Rivenna lowered her hood, a signal that she wished to stop. The fountain was not working, it was quiet here, and no one would be foolish enough to pass by.

They faced each other, the abbess and her contender. Her Guardian-son. She placed a hand on his chest, stroked it softly. Ruko eyed it warily.

“Tell me,” she said. “Did the Tiger bid you to save the Oxwoman?”

He looked at her. She knew it did not.

“Oh…” she breathed. “I see. You followed your heart. How touching.” She toyed with her abbess ring, an eternal eight holding her middle fingers together. If she squeezed them tight, retractable fangs would release from the ring, dripping with her poison of choice. She would not do it, she would never harm him. She needed him. It was merely to emphasise her displeasure.

“Eight years,” she said, letting her hand drop. “And now you falter, when it matters most.”

“I will beat Cain on the platform.”

“No. You will kill him.”

“That is what I meant.” Even a clear win would leave them tied. Ruko would not risk a Dragon Trial.

“But it is not what you said.” Rivenna narrowed her eyes. “This is a flaw in your training. I kept you apart at the monastery. And now these contenders.” She laughed softly. “You think they are your friends.”

Ruko drew back, offended. Embarrassed.

Embarrassed. She saw it. “He is not ‘Cain.’ He’s an obstacle in your path. Nothing more.” She hissed softly. “I should have seen it, when you failed to kill the Raven contender.”

“Her death was unnecessary.”

“Unnecessary,” she repeated quietly. “Remind me. Who kept you from second place today?”

Ruko frowned, accepting the truth. “She did.”

“No. You did. You stayed your hand against her, and now you suffer the consequence. This new-found compassion of yours.” She laughed again, scornful. “Do you think they would show you the same consideration? Whose side were they on, do you imagine, when you fought the Visitor? Do you think they would mourn your death?”

Ruko did not answer.

“You have lost your edge, Tiger warrior. Let me sharpen it for you. As you’re so fond of Tala Talaka, be warned. If you do not kill the Fox contender, I will kill her .” The abbess released the fanged needles in her ring. “Before the day is out. This I swear on the Tiger.” She retracted the fangs. “I trust that gives you the focus you need.”

Ruko smothered his anger. He had promised to despatch Cain— the obstacle —and that is what he would do. Was his word not enough?

“You will thank me for this, when you are named emperor.” Rivenna lifted her hood; their conversation was over. “The path to the throne is narrow.”

“And must be walked alone.”

They bowed to each other—and went their separate ways.