Page 65 of Eyes of Kings

“You are Kasa in this instance. You laugh at misery.”

“Please,” Calla sneers. “Don’t compare me to him.”

“I saw the corpses after your hit on Eigi’s base. Seiqi was practically decapitated. She treated you kindly in the palace, and you cut her down without any thought.”

“You would have killed any soldier just the same.” The proof is at her feet, at the drying pool of blood.

“I am not a king. I will always serve, and so I forever have reason for my cruelty. My devotion ranks higher than my humanity. What about you? How do you justify the cost?”

Calla says nothing.

“How,” Galipei exclaims, “do you justify the people you have killed?”

“There will be a different kingdom at the end,” Calla says, “and that is enough.”

Galipei appears satisfied. Despite everything, he is satisfied.

“Now,” he says, “you sound just like your parents.”

Fuck this.

“Defect to my side,” Calla says, “and I will spare August’s life. He will be handed over to you at the end of the war, under your care.”

Galipei goes still. He does not dare trust that Calla might mean it.

“It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?” she pushes. She toes the stains on the floor. What a waste of a sacrifice—what a stupid plan to throw his life onto, underestimating Anton for how fiercely he can fight. “You came in as August’s sole savior. You hoped you could win the war for him with your love as a weapon.”

“Stop,” Galipei says.

“If the Weisannas are all dead, then no one can stop me from killing August. If the Weisannas do not die before the capital is weak enough to be a battleground, I will kill August with one swing when he marches in. Do you understand me, Galipei? Do you understand what I am capable of?”

He does. Because he has just accused her of being worse than she thought herself.

“I cannot imagine,” he says, “what you could want me for.”

“Routes,” Calla answers. If their ambush is to succeed, they need confirmation, not rough guesswork about the most logical path that August may take. “August’s camps. August’s projected base, because he will want to put down roots while he waits us out. Anton knows him well, but you know him best. You must have seen and heard enough before you were ousted.”

Galipei is silent.

Calla picks up her lamp again. The light changes. Galipei tries to shutter his expression to prevent her from reading it, but it’s too late.

“He will hate you,” she confirms. “You will live on two opposite ends of a manor in the provinces. It may take him years to understand. But he will be yours. And youwillbe his savior.”

“You are asking me to betray him.”

“You will betray him, because that is the only way I allow you to have him,” Calla says. “I don’t want him dead either, Galipei. I want him tucked away in exile, posing some distant threat while I handle the Crescent Societies after the fact. So do me this favor, and we both come out of it with something gained.”

Calla reaches into her pocket. Brings out the key to the cell.

“Can you do that?” she prompts.

“You ask me to exchange my dignity,” Galipei says. “My honor.”

“There is no honor the moment you submit to a king. You should know that.”

Whether she speaks of August or herself, it is unclear. Someone coughs from another cell. There’s a loud thud from the entry door, which means Anton is warning her that the Crescents are coming.

“This is an opportunity I am offering you once,” Calla warns. “I am running out of time. The Crescent Societies are set to block San-Er of qi, and I would like to be on the move before then.”