Kazi of Brightmist … you are the love I didn’t know I needed.
I could still hear the soft flapping of the ribbon in the wind as we lifted our hands to the sky. Bound by earth, bound by the heavens, I said once we finished our vows, and Jase repeated the words.
There was no moon. Our witnesses were horses. We didn’t follow the rules, but we never had. It didn’t make our vows any less true, or make us any less married.
We had stared at each other for a long while afterward, almost in disbelief. We were wife and husband. I broke off a piece of the feastcake and placed it in his mouth, and he did the same for me. It is done, I told him, then added, almost. He skimmed his thumb along my lower lip, wiping away a crumb, and then we walked together into the ruin, the ribbon fluttering behind us.
Bound by earth. Bound by the heavens.
Wife and husband.
Montegue could never take that away.
His footsteps grew louder then stopped just outside the door.
He was here.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
JASE
Samuel told part of the story. Titus weighed in. Mason added a few words. Gunner remained silent.
With me gone, Gunner had put Jalaine back on at the arena office. They all thought it the wise thing to do. She ran the office better than anyone. That day she had run an errand, and Samuel guessed that when she returned to the office she found him and the men who guarded the door on the floor, blood running from their heads. Samuel had drifted in and out of consciousness. He saw strange men rummaging through drawers and closets, trying to find the day’s revenues. He figured that Jalaine had walked in, spotted the intruders, and then saw him lifeless on the floor, and had run.
“By then the whole arena had been overrun,” Titus said. He and Gunner were trapped in the apartment when it happened, with unknown attackers banging on the barred door to get in. They had both looked out the apartment window trying to figure out who the attack was coming from. They saw Jalaine run to the tower above the office where the Valsprey lofts were kept. She disappeared inside and then she was at the terrace wall releasing one of the birds, but arrows began flying through the air. One of them brought the Valsprey down.
Was this the bird that had somehow managed to reach Kazi and me? Why else would Jalaine release the bird unless she was sending a message?
“The next thing we saw was—” Titus paused. His lips rolled over his teeth. “We saw Jalaine fall from the top of the tower. They threw her over the side.” His hands pulled into fists on the table, but his eyes were empty, like every bit of emotion had already been drained from him. He said the banging on the door stopped, and he and Gunner managed to make it to the office to get Samuel, but they couldn’t recover Jalaine’s body from the arena floor. They lived and hid in the forest for a week before they were able to reach the vault. They didn’t even know who the attack came from for another week after that.
Mason leaned forward, his head in his hands. “We still don’t know how Rybart was able to launch such a large assault. For weeks he was everywhere.”
“And the weapons?” Titus added. “The king says we were stockpiling them, but we know that’s not true. All we can figure is that when Zane was making deliveries, he stole the plans and cut a deal with Rybart.”
“It wasn’t Rybart attacking the town,” I said. “It was the king. Beaufort was working with him from the very beginning. He’s the one behind all this, he and his magistrate, who is now his general. Zane was the go-between.”
“What?”
“From the beginning?”
“The king?”
Disbelieving mumbles circled the table.
Paxton nodded to confirm what I said. “Rybart and his crew were victims in this too.”
The mumbles quieted and glares were aimed at Paxton, his first words met with hatred. They still weren’t ready to believe anything he said, even the truth, and I wondered if some of them might fly across the table and throttle him. They had seen him standing with the king, and I realized Kazi held the same reviled place in their hearts.
I came here for help and found the opposite. I discovered a vault full of disheartened survivors. I discovered my sister was dead. Discovered that Kazi had been thrown to the wolves by my own family. That my wife was going to be hanged. I promise you, Kazi. They will listen. They will love you. The kitchen was suddenly suffocating. I couldn’t breathe. More broken promises surfaced. You’ll be fine in the morning, Sylvey. I promise. Close your eyes and sleep. I stood abruptly, the chair flying backward, and I turned and walked out. Back through the storeroom, the study, the catacomb of rooms. A rumble of footsteps followed after me. Where are you going, Jase? What are you doing? Talk to us.
I reached the main entrance tunnel and crossed to the greenhouse door, spun the wheel, and opened it. I needed to make sure it was still there, like my last hope hadn’t disappeared too.
“Jase!” Priya called. I glanced over my shoulder. They were all following me, maybe afraid I would do something crazy. I had just learned my sister was murdered and my wife had been turned over to a fiend. Doing something crazy seemed like the sane thing to do.
I passed mounds of fresh dirt. This was where they were burying the dead. Spades were still stuck in the soil, ready, like they were waiting for more.
A goat skipped away. Where it had come from, I had no idea, but it hadn’t fallen in. I looked up at the hole high in the cave roof. Foliage surrounded it like a lush green collar, and water dripped from the vines. Usually it had a calming effect, but with fresh graves dug below, there wasn’t too much that was calming about the greenhouse now.