Page 25 of Heart of Night
“Ephegos wasn’t joking when he said he has a better punishment for me than death.” She smooths her skirts with an efficient hand.
“He said that?” The last thing I remember from before I blacked out is that he told her he should end her.
“And that I’ll loathe serving the human I intended to murder. Which means you, by the way.” The expression on her face tells me she finds it funny. “Of course, he took all my weapons first, and just like Jeseida, he believes I’m not a threat—especially with Herinor standing guard.” She glances at the door.
I’m not convinced I find any humor in the situation. “And?”
“And what?” She raises a brow at me, closing the door behind her and marching across the room to the bathtub, graceful like the warrior she is.
“And were you trying to kill me?” I can’t be certain with anyone…
“No.” Dipping one hand in the water, she rummages through the shelves filled with soaps and oils until she finds what she’s looking for.
“No?” I glower at her back. “That’s all?”
“No, I wasn’t trying to kill you, Your Majesty.” She winks at me over her shoulder in an impressive display of defiance and nonchalance for the topic at hand … and the bruise blooming on her cheekbone where Ephegos struck her. The light filtering in through the window emphasizes her injury by casting shadows. It can’t be more than a day or two since it happened.
How long was I unconscious, asleep, or in whatever state the poison puts me in?
“You don’t need to call me?—”
“Your Majesty? I know.” She opens the purple flask in her hand and sets it on the edge of the tub. “But there is something about your love story with the Crow King that makes me want to acknowledge you as the Crow Queen.” Humor shimmers in her eyes when they meet mine, but something more lingers beneath. Something I can’t name. “And before you ask: No, I don’t have plans to kill you anytime soon either. I wanted Ephegos to believe I did so he’d take me along.”
Digesting the news takes a moment, but when I finally do, things fall into place.
“You knew he’d make you a lady’s maid?”
Kaira shrugs. “Suspected. Since I overheard him speaking about the lady’s maid he already sent ahead to King Erina’s court, I assumed he wouldn’t bring me if I offered. He’d be suspicious of my reasons, and I’d be stuck at the estate forever. Not good enough, in Jeseida’s eyes, to do anything worthy of a Flame…” Her voice trails away as I sway on my feet, and she’s next to me in a heartbeat, arm wrapping around my shoulders as she guides me back to the stool I’ve abandoned. “Here, sit.” She shoves me down and starts undoing my braid. “I keep forgetting you just woke from another forced sleep. You must feel horrible.” Her fingers brush my forehead in a motherly gesture. “Let’s get you something to drink.”
“No.” The stool almost topples over as I shrink away from her touch, but Kaira just catches me by the shoulder, stabilizing both me and the chair, and smiles.
“No poison. Promise.” She gives me a nod, inviting me to mimic the movement, and damn my head, it bobs once. “Good.” Her fingers slide off my shoulder, and she turns to the sink but stops mid-motion. “No attacking the window again. Even if you managed to break it, you wouldn’t get out. And we’d be left with more shards to work around in here.”
She grabs a cup from the shelf beside the mirror and fills it with water before returning to my side. “Here. You must be parched.”
Now that she mentions it… I drain the cup in a few greedy gulps, yet my throat remains dry. After days of drinking only a few sips of that poison water, I can’t even remember how much fluid I should be having in my body. The returning dizziness tells me not enough.
“So, what’s the poison for? Other than making me miserable,” I wonder, grateful that this time I am not vomiting my guts up. It’s a small mercy.
Kaira shrugs again. “Do you really think Ephegos tells me anything? He barely tolerated me at the estate, let alone now that he believes I wanted to kill his leverage…” She stops herself, realizing she said more than she intended to.
Naturally, the sentence she didn’t finish is the only thing my brain can focus on. “Leverage? Leverage for what?”
Kaira shakes her head. “I haven’t figured that one out yet.” The way her brows lower into a line of determination tells me she is ready to dig up all the secrets.
“And he’s willing to let you near me if he believes you want to kill me? Doesn’t sound logical to me.” Unless he found a way to force her hands to stay well away from anything capable of ending me.
The haunted look entering Kaira’s eyes tells me that’s exactly what happened. “He’s powerful—even more so since you broke the curse. All Crows are. But he’s particularly dangerous since he believes himself to be a Flame now.”
“A Flame without fire,” I amend, and in response, Kaira’s grin returns.
“Despicable bastard, isn’t he?”
“The worst.” I’m not surprised at the conspiratorial look she gives me, like we’re two friends planning our escape from a cursed fortress rather than … enemies? Unlikely allies? I’m no longer sure what we are, but we’re definitely not on opposite sides of a war here. We’re more of right in the middle of a war we never signed up for. It’s nice not to feel alone for once.
“I told you I wouldn’t let you go alone.”
I don’t fight her when she gestures for me to get into the tub but strip out of my dirty clothes and slide into the luxurious heat. A sigh falls from my lips as the water swallows me up. I haven’t washed since we left the estate, and I reek of vomit and sweat and dirt from the journey. The fact that I stank up the carriage cabin while either Herinor or Ephegos were riding with me gives me astounding satisfaction.