Page 51

ROYO

ROSE PALACE, GAYA

W hy the fuck did we let Mikail go alone? Yeah, he has the scepter, and yes, he’s deadly, but he’s still one guy. Enough people, and they could get the jump on him.

We don’t learn a thing.

We sprint past the courtyard with its roses, then past the massive empty throne room, huge banquet hall, and shiny ballroom to the other side of the palace.

Fuck, why are we always running someplace?

But we don’t stop until we get to the servant quarters where the sound came from. We reach an intersection and idle. No one knows which hall to take, but then there’s another short scream. The five of us race toward the sound, flying into the kitchens.

I run in, my heart pounding, my muscles ready to swing my axe. But as we push through the doors, we’re just in time to see Mikail slit the throat of a third woman. Two already lie dead on the ground, their blood flowing into the drains.

Well, at least that explains the screaming.

I lower my axe.

“I thought you weren’t going to kill anybody,” I say.

Mikail’s eyebrows go up. “When did I ever say that?”

He dumps the girl onto the floor. She lands clutching her throat but bleeding out on top of the others. She’s the one who served him the poisoned plate.

The three guards Mikail had sent into town show up at the outside kitchen entrance. Mikail wipes the blood off his sword and sheathes it as they take in the scene.

“Attempted regicide by poisoning.” Mikail points to the women and curls his lip with disgust.

“We’ll add them to the funeral pyre, then,” one of the guards says. He snaps his fingers, and the other guards get to work moving the first body out.

Mikail turns to the rest of the household staff.

Three dozen or so huddle together on the other side of the kitchens.

“The rest of you may continue to serve me, but you now know the cost of treason. I will free this island and bring glory to the realm. Gaya will be independent again, but I cannot do it alone. And it won’t happen if I can’t be safe in my own house. Be loyal or leave now.”

The staff shuffles back into the palace, except the ones who work in the kitchens. I don’t know how many will quit—they’d be announcing themselves as traitors, but it would be better than bleeding out on the floor.

Mikail leans with his palms against a steel table. His whole body shakes as he grips the edge. What’s happening to him?

I look at Aeri, whose eyebrows are raised in concern. Sora takes a step closer, but then Mikail relaxes. Everybody pretends like nothing happened as he drinks a glass of water rimmed with salt and filled with limes. He doesn’t complain, but it’s clear he’s in a lot of pain—in his head and body.

“Hana, are you still working for Rune?” he asks.

She shakes her head. “No. Have a man follow me, if you want proof. I have nothing to hide. When you escaped from Rahway, Rune stopped being useful to me, and our deal was off. The only reason I gave him information was because I wanted to help you and Sora.”

I rub my temples. These scheming women make my head hurt, too.

“Lie to me, and I promise you’ll end up like them,” Mikail says, gesturing to the two women still on the floor. He sounds more exhausted than anything else.

He steps toward us and then stops by Hana. “Come with me. We have other things to discuss.”

She nods and follows him. Sora watches her leave out of the corner of her eye, but she doesn’t say anything.

The four of us stand quietly in the kitchen.

“Well, I could use a bath,” Aeri says. She slaps her hands against her legs.

I turn and look at her—always the weirdest person in a room.

She stares back at me and darts her eyes over to the doors.

She wants us to leave. I look at who’s left, and I realize she wants to give Sora and Tiyung a minute alone.

They haven’t spoken since he showed up here, and I’m sure there’s plenty to say.

“I’ll scope out the room,” I say.

Aeri smiles that joyful grin, and my chest feels lighter. She brushes against me as we pass through the doors. That spark I feel when we touch flows along my body. It’s almost enough to make me forget that fresh blood continues to trickle down the drains.