Shadow Heir

gift.”

That normally would’ve brought a smile to my face, but thinking of Dorian only served to remind me of the trouble he was in because of me. The image of him being punched in the face was etched in my mind.

“We have to expedite things and get out of here,” I said. If Kiyo had talked to Alea, she probably would’ve mentioned me telling Spots that I would free her king. But, obviously, there was a lot more to the plan that Kiyo needed to be caught up on. I quickly explained about the other captive monarchs and how Volusian had been in contact with them. Kiyo’s eyes were aglow as he listened.

“That’s brilliant,” he said. “So long as they haven’t been badly treated, they’ll be a huge force to have on our side.”

I nodded. “Volusian didn’t give me the impression that they’d been physically harmed ... just that some were kind of defeated mentally.”

“Understandable,” said Kiyo. “But if they can fight, we may not need to figure out the key to the enchantment around the objects. You guys can just overpower it.”

“We talked about that too. It’s an option. Still, if there’s any edge we can get, I want it. I don’t want to go down there with my little posse of six or so, only to find out Varia used six hundred to cast her spell and that we can’t even come close to matching that.”

“I can ask Orj and the rest of the Hemlock group about it. Along with some dissidents from other kingdoms, it seems Varia has a number of malcontents within her own borders.”

That was a surprise. “Everyone I’ve met sure seems devoted, though. She’s massively powerful and controls lots of other kingdoms. Seems like her subjects would be happy about that.”

“They’re devoted because they’re afraid of her,” Kiyo pointed out. “And from what I’ve been hearing, the people in her own kingdom don’t always fare much better than those she subjugates.”

That also surprised me, since I regarded protecting my subjects as my main job as queen. Of course, Varia and I were coming from very different points of view, seeing as I also didn’t really feel the need to blackmail the innocents of other kingdoms with death and suffering in order to expand my empire. So, it was reasonable she and I would have different ruling styles in general.

“Well, find out what you can,” I told him. “One thing I know for sure—we need to get Dorian out before we launch our master attack.”

Kiyo shifted uncomfortably. “We might not have time for that. We can get him once everything else is taken care of.”

“We may not have the chance! The whole reason she’s holding him is to ensure my good behavior. If we start some commotion up here, he could end up dead before we get back to him.”

I admit, part of me had been a little amazed this whole time that Kiyo and I had been having such a civil conversation. It was almost—almost—like we didn’t have this history of blood and betrayal between us. Nonetheless, I think I’d been subconsciously waiting for something to pick a fight over, some reason for our tenuous alliance to fall apart. Kiyo, to his credit, seemed to take his time in forming a civil response.

“If you go after Dorian beforehand and something goes wrong, you could end up dead before you ever get a chance to free the hostage monarchs and go after the objects. Or, even if you bring the monarchs with you, there’s still the chance something could go amiss.” He gave me a wry look. “You aren’t all- powerful, Eugenie. You keep talking like all you really need to do is walk out of here, and everything will be taken care of. You’re a badass, but this place is packed full of magic users and soldiers. That can wear even you down.”

He was annoying because he was right. It was entirely possible we could achieve everything—destroying the talismans and freeing Dorian—but the former had to take first priority. We couldn’t risk losing our shot at that. It’s what Dorian would want. And yet ...

“I just can’t abandon him,” I said in a small voice.

Kiyo studied me for a long time before responding. “I’ll rescue him.”

I looked up sharply. “What?”

“I’ll rescue him. You don’t need me for when you break this group out, and really, you don’t need me when you go after the objects. You need magic users for that, not a fighter. In fact, if I go after Dorian when your breakout starts, it might pose a neat distraction to take the heat off you. I can even probably recruit some of the rest of the gang to help me—though you’d probably be better off if Jasmine and Pagiel were with you.”

I stared at him in amazement. “You could be killed.”

Kiyo gave me a dry smile. “I knew that when I set out from the Willow Land.”

“Yeah, but it’d be on Dorian’s behalf. I can’t really say I saw that coming.”

“My priority’s always been the mission. There’s nothing personal about Dorian—that’s what I tried to tell you when he was in the dryads’ trance. If I can save him and help us achieve our goal at the same time ... well, then. So much the better.”

“Thank you,” I said. “That ... that really means a lot.”

Kiyo arched an eyebrow. “You care about him a lot, eh?”

“I always have,” I said, not meeting his eyes. “Even when we were mad at each other over something, we’ve always been there for each other.”

Until those words left my mouth, I hadn’t realized how powerful they were. When Kiyo and I had disagreed on things, it had almost always resulted in a breakup—hence the on-and-off-again nature of our relationship, and its eventual degradation into way off. I’d noted in Alabama how idyllic things were with Evan ... how peaceful and easy. And they were—because we never disagreed. He never contradicted me or told me what to do. Some might argue that’s a good thing, but I wasn’t sure it was a realistic thing. Of course it’s easy to like someone who always agrees with you. The trick is still standing united with someone who will tell you things you don’t want to hear. That’s how Dorian and I had always been. With very few exceptions, we’d always worked as a strong team, even when totally pissed off at each other.

If Kiyo knew the thoughts churning within me, he didn’t let on. He switched back to strategy. “The trick’s got to be in the timing. We need to sync up rescuing him and the other monarchs—but still allow enough time to see if we can figure out the key to the enchantment.”

“Not too much time, though,” I warned. “That bitch wants to execute him for her dinner entertainment.”

“No watches or clocks to go by either.” Kiyo glanced at the small window. “And you don’t have much of a sense of the sun here either. That window’s really not good for—wait. The falcon. We’ll send Alea’s falcon.”

“Spots?” I asked.

“That’s his name?” Kiyo asked incredulously.

“You have cats named after the Four Horsemen. What’s wrong with Spots?”

Kiyo shook his head, having no time for such debates. “I have to see the Hemlock gang anyway. I’ll make arrangements for Alea to send, uh, Spots here when we go in to rescue Dorian. So, when the falcon arrives ... wait, oh, ten minutes and then go for it.”

It was as good as we were going to get with our limited options. Kiyo and I hashed out as many other details as we could in our time together, including very specific directions on how to get to the palace’s lower levels from here. We talked until we finally heard my door unlock. Quickly, he transformed into the rat-fox again and crawled onto the plate, just in time for me to put the lid down and hand the covered tray to the servant doing cleanup. Kiyo had seemed pretty confident that he’d have no trouble getting out of the kitchens, so I had to trust him from there.

The servant swapped the tray for a new one, which I realized was for my midday meal already. Time went a lot faster when you had company and weren’t staring at the walls. Once I was alone again, though, I recalled Varia’s comment that every minute I delayed meant more time for Dorian in the hands of the torturers. A good part of the day had gone by, and as more of it passed, I grew restless wondering if she’d be calling me for her deadly ultimatum.

Time passed, though, with no word from her. Maybe she had changed her mind. After three hours, I was actually starting to get worried for a whole other set of reasons. The light coming in my window still told me we had plenty of day left, but if Kiyo was going to make good on his word to rescue Dorian, he needed to act soon before the “dinner show.”