Only Netra’s terrible hunger was capable of moving Anzi from her post by the infirmary door where she could keep an unblinking eye on both Kai and his suspicious ‘companion’ Neb Minnakhet. Just a couple of hours after exiling herself to the hallway, she was forced to go in search of something for the dragon to eat.
The kitchens were only too happy to supply the imperious white dragonet with all the meat she could possibly stuff into her gullet—how was she growing so quickly?—while Serqet wandered elsewhere, bumping into corners and exploring the tiny dust bunnies along the walls. The younger hatchling wasn’t nearly as demanding and seemed to be able to go days without nourishment. And even when she was hungry, she seemed content to search for it on her own in the form of lizards, insects, and whatever else she could find rather than begging (screaming) for a meal.
Such polar opposites. It made her wonder even more about drago
Tet paced back and forth. He hadn’t stopped once in the past hour. The palace maids had dismissed themselves long ago, making sure to remain bowing deep at the waist as they walked backward so as not to look upon the Emperor’s countenance. They had taken the ladders with them as well, and the friezes remained half-polished for now. They would come back only after the monarch had taken his leave. The guard who had scurried off to the dungeons was another story. He had no choice but to drag back the prisoner and stand in the presence of the Emperor upon his return, sweating buckets. He wasn’t merely starstruck, Anzi knew. If the Emperor realized he was the same man who had been guarding Kaizat when it all happened, he was as good as dead. She didn’t intend to betray him. She would never have trusted anyone but herself to do the job right anyway. As far as she was concerned, Bisset was the only one who needed to bleed for this, and the p
Anzi didn’t know how to describe the terrible swell of emotion that rose up inside her, if she could even call it something so mundane as emotion. Relief, anger, frustration, helplessness in the face of everything that had happened, all of it coalesced into a crippling weight that filled her up like molten metal poured into a cast. And underneath it all, she could feel the haunting shadows of pain in her belly and chest and knew without question they belonged to Kai. The bond he’d said they shared, the bond she hadn’t had time for, the bond she couldn’t afford to accept because it only made everything so much harder than it was already—it was here now. Looming larger than life and taking up the whole of her vision, her senses, planting itself in her path and forcing her to acknowledge it. So what choice did she have? What could she say anymore? Do? “You almost died,” she said dumbly. “You might still.” “No.” His voi
“Don’t push yourself. You’ll split your wounds open again.” Kai looked up with a smile, perched on the edge of the bed. “I was waiting for you.” “You were supposed to be resting.” “But you came knowing I wouldn’t.” He stretched out his hand toward her. “Do you want to help me leave this place? I’m sick of it. And so are the little ones.” She followed his gaze to the corner where Netra and Serqet were currently fighting over something—oh, no. “Get that out of your mouths!” “Leave them. They should enjoy the time they have.” “That’s yours,” she said hotly as she whirled back around to shoot him a dirty look. “Why are you letting them play with it? You’re teaching them bad habits.” “They’ll never outgrow it. They say dragons love gold.” She ignored him and stomped toward them, but instead of displaying any hasty remorse over
They didn’t have a moment alone, ever. Anzi couldn’t so much as look at Kai without Alain and his fellow damned spies pinning her with the most intent of stares. And it was deliberate. Maybe Tet trusted her more now than before, but he must have told them to make it clear she was every bit the pressed prisoner she’d always been. Kai knew it too, although his restlessness appeared to come from a different direction than mere frustration at being watched. “They reek,” he snarled on the morning of the festival as she turned him around and wrapped fresh linen bandages around his waist. “How long is he going to keep them around you?” “They’re watching you, too. And they smell fine. Stop saying they smell like—sex, you don’t just go around saying that in front of people. It’s crass. This isn’t the lower districts, we use our nicer words here.” That was enough to make him peel his fierce glare away from t
When Anzi withdrew from the gauzy curtains, Bisset was watching her from where he stood flanking the palanquin. He wore no expression, stone-cold and emotionless as always, but behind the marble indifference lay an insidious spite directed at none other than her. She knew. So did he. He wouldn’t be looking at her otherwise. He was sending a clear message he knew she would decipher behind his inscrutable face. And she would have gone for his head for that if not for one thing: she had to stay alive to protect Oza. And Letti, too, if Bisset knew about her. And why wouldn’t he? It seemed all he did now was seek out her weaknesses and threaten them. She should have known he would act quickly. She had thought she could stall until she was no longer under close watch and move then. This was her fault. A flurry of suspicion slipped through her. She still believed he had a greater hand in plotting Kai’s attempted
Before Anzi could demand an explanation, the clanking of metal from behind made both of them turn. Two soldiers outfitted in the signature armor of the Emperor’s personal guard appeared at the top of the winding steps with the monarch right behind them. He was wearing something different than usual, robes of soft gold and white thread rather than Imperial red. It made him look even more unearthly, if that was even possible, or maybe it was how he stood more than half a meter taller than his guards as he grinned and plumped his garment around himself. “Greetings!” he exclaimed. “Things are going fantastic. We’re doing wonderfully, everyone.” He clapped his hands once, and his two guards as well as the harem men standing nearby bowed and backed away out of sight behind the crimson curtains. “Great, we don’t need to stuff this place with so many bodies. Ah, Oza, come out here.” Anzi’s breath caught in her chest like an ugly clot of tangl
It happened before Anzi had even the slightest chance to react. Not only Kai’s sudden, brutal assault on Tet, but what happened next, too—the explosion of the translucent, swirled dragon glass that made up the top half of the far wall looking out over the city. And as countless shards showered over the entirety of the great domed hall with a piercing, shattered cacophony, the dim sky darkened, far more quickly than any sunset could cause. Shadows! The shadows of wings as two large shapes crashed in, then unfurled, revealing winged dragon-like figures, half reptile and half-man. They deflected a hail of arrows before flaring their wings again. And although they were on the distant end of the great hall, Anzi felt it the instant they raised their heads and stared at her. No, not her, at them—everyone on the balcony. Their wings beat twice, gaining air as they prepared to fly straight toward them. “This is it, then!” Tet shouted over the
Anzi hit the ground so hard it made her teeth rattle, but she managed to land on her feet and tuck into a roll to protect her knees from the impact. In truth, it was easier than it should have been—just a half-year ago, she would never have considered leaping down from such a towering height, but she was desperate and determined as she shoved through the crowd to find that flash of pink she had seen a moment ago. If she had wasted even a single second longer for fear of her own safety, she would surely lose Letti. But desperate or no, the aching pain that throbbed in her calf and foot was a bitch. She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, cursing Bisset for crippling her, but there was no time to be bitter about it for long. There—! She wrenched Letti back by the shoulder and found bright blue eyes staring back at her, wide and panicked. They were filled with no small amount of fear and hostility, but as soon as she recognized Anz