“I’m glad you’re safe here.” Pa kissed Ma. “Let’s eat. Ezaara, are you coming?”
Ezaara’s smile froze. “Um, soon.”
As her parents descended the steps to the cavern floor, her thoughts sped like racing dragons. She’d seen Roberto being tortured in Death Valley, right before her eyes. Then she’d seen it again in her dreams. She’d assumed her nightmares had been brought on by her brief trip to Death Valley. But what if the teardrop was Anakisha’s dream catcher? What if Roberto really had been slashed by tharuk claws coated with limplock? Limplock took three days to act. Gods, in two days, he’d be dead.
“Ezaara.” Kierion waved at her from the floor below.
People were milling around the tables, piling their plates with food. In a corner, musicians on the gittern, flute and drums started playing. At a nearby table, Tonio was downing wine like he was dying of thirst, slamming back a glass and reaching for another.
Roberto could be dying. Ezaara rubbed the teardrop. Or dead already. She had to go now. “Zaarusha—”
“It’s dangerous on our own. The council are meeting first thing in the morning.”
“I could speak to Tonio and Lars now.”
“Good idea.”
Ezaara made her way down the steps and pushed through the throng. People clapped her on the back and congratulated her.
Kierion popped up out of nowhere, beaming. “I’ve saved you a spot with your favorite food.”
“My favorite food?”
“Fish and sweet potato.” Kierion blushed as red as a blood-beet.
Oh. At her very first feast here, to honor her arrival, she’d tripped and spilled food over her clothes—fish and sweet potato. “Ah, I’m not hungry.”
“After all those stunts? I’m starving.”
“They turned my stomach,” Ezaara lied.
He laughed. “You’re still welcome to sit with us.”
“I’ve some council business. I should sit with Lars.”
The spymaster was now in a corner, embroiled in a discussion with Ma, waving his hands around and slugging back more wine. Emotions chased across his face—joy, bitterness and anger. He folded an arm across his chest and shook his head stubbornly, then suddenly stalked away from Ma to refill his glass.
She didn’t exactly want to approach Tonio with him in such a mood. At another table, Lars was regaling people with a tale, while they listened, spellbound. She couldn’t interrupt him either. Inside her, frustration warred with social nicety.
“Come on, Ezaara, have some dinner. You’ll feel better,” Kierion insisted.
“Just let me talk to my mother, and I’ll be with you in a few moments.”
She approached Ma as she left the buffet. “Ah, Ma, do you have a moment?”
Ma’s eyes flitted to either side of them. “Sure, I need to talk to you, too.” She placed her plate on the table next to Pa’s, and led Ezaara into a quiet corner.
“Ma, I saw you talking to Tonio. Why was he so angry?”
“He’s changed, Ezaara. When I first came here and trained as one of his dragon corps members, he was fiery, but not bitter. The years have done him a disservice. His heart has grown hard.”
What was that about? “Ah …”
“Tonio has canceled tomorrow morning’s council meeting.”
“What?” That louse. “But we—”
“So, I broached him about the rescue plan for Master Roberto. I’ve been to Death Valley. Every day there is a living nightmare. Tomaaz got out, but our master of mental faculties is still there …” Ma gripped Ezaara’s shoulders, her turquoise eyes burning. “I think the wine was talking, but Tonio admitted why he hasn’t acted. Roberto’s father killed Tonio’s wife.”
Ezaara’s head reeled. “But Roberto’s not his father. His father was a mean-spirited bully who beat his littlings and broke his wife’s back. It eventually killed her.”
“Oh gods. Amato?” Ma’s face grew pale. She clutched Ezaara’s arm. “Amato did that?”
Ezaara nodded. Ma had known Amato? She’d had no idea.
“And I thought I loved him …” Ma whispered to herself, a faraway look in her eyes.
Ma had loved Amato, that awful man who’d beaten his family?
Ma focused on Ezaara again. “So, what Tonio said is true. Do you love Roberto?”
The clamor of the feast died away. The seconds stretched out like sand on a never-ending shore. Ezaara swallowed. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I do.”
Ma reached into her jerkin pocket and pressed something small and hard into Ezaara’s hand. A ring. “Then go,” she said. “Go and save the man you love.” She enveloped Ezaara in her embrace. “Use Kisha’s ring again, but be careful. I don’t want to lose you.”
§
Adelina picked at her food. It wasn’t fair to have delicious food when her brother could be lying dead in Death Valley. Ezaara had insisted the council was going to rescue him tomorrow, but what if it was too late? And why had they waited so long? She pushed back her chair.
“Hey, are you off so soon?” Kierion asked.
Shards, his eyes were so sweet—that gorgeous blue that made her want to melt inside. “Just getting a drink.” Adelina made her way over to the beverage table. She was filling her cup with grape juice when she heard her father’s name. Casually, she turned her head. At the other end of the table, Tonio was gesticulating at Marlies, his voice slurred. Adelina turned away, sipping her drink and listening. Tonio mentioned her mother—and then Ezaara and Roberto.
She’d long suspected that her brother was in love with the Queen’s Rider. No, she’d known it, but never dared discuss it with Roberto—not when the punishment for loving a trainee was banishment. Now Tonio was refusing to rescue him because Amato, her cursed shrotty father, had let tharuks capture Tonio’s new wife years ago. She didn’t blame him. She hated Amato too. But to visit that hate upon the very children Amato had beaten? And abandon her
