Page 128 of Sands of Atonement

I then watched her appear distant and asked, “Do you think your brother killed your family?”

Eshe’s spine straightened, and her face paled. “I… I don’t know. The thought has crossed my mind over the last couple of days. But…”

“Why would he?”

“Right… I can’t understand why he’d want to kill me, either. None of it makes sense. And he was so happy to see me, so that must mean something.”

I nodded and took a deep breath, flipping my wooden pendant over my hand. “I heard your mother might have had some affair. It was a rumor. That your brother might not be your full-blooded brother.”

“What?” she asked slowly, blanching further. “That’s impossible. My mother was loyal.”

“Your brother changed the family name.” I shrugged, trying to make sense of it, too. “It was a shock to us all. But regardless, he attempted to murder you earlier that night. It only makes sense. You have to know this because… if he comes back to you, you cannot trust him.”

Her face had not changed. “It’s one thing to accuse him of trying to kill me on purpose, and another to say he murdered my entire family because my mother birthed him out of adultery.”

Casimir and Norrah turned their heads toward us. Suddenly, they were out of their chairs and walking back inside.

I could see her processing.

“Oh my God. I sent Salazar to him. He’s going to find out soon that Kavid is Qahl. But maybe he won’t be so trusting. Oh God.” She placed her hands over her face. “What did I do?”

My hand reached out to touch her shoulder, but I refrained.

“Kavid went to Urnaz to hire help in the dunes to search for you, though he’ll never find us here. Perhaps Salazar won’t see Kavid in person.”

She nodded and lifted her head to me.

“So, as Qahl of Tehera, it never benefited you to out Kavid as the son of the Qahl, not a cousin? You never liked him. Or any of us for that matter,” she muttered under her breath.

“No…”

“Why?”

My stomach squeezed as I spoke, “Because then, you’d be here after hearing the news. A presumed dead prince was alive as Qahl and lying to his people the entire time? That type of news would reach any country. The chaos would be catastrophic and make Zyriah look weak. It would make him look weak. No, I didn’t see the benefit for you to know that he was alive.”

I remembered the first time seeing him after years of him hiding from each meeting. He had refused them as long as he could until I refused to leave Crahst. Even the Atrove had a difficult time knowing who he was.

When I saw his beard, I almost didn’t recognize him—he had seemingly aged years. After that, I learned how he went into hiding with an adviser who survived and was reborn years later—as a coward. Or as a murderer.

He was the only one living. He wasn’t crown prince—he was second in line.

All evidence stacked against him being responsible, though I didn’t have the proof.

Eshe interrupted my thoughts, “There might be a possibility that Kavid had nothing to do with it. We can’t be sure.”

“Maybe.” I peered into her eyes. “But you cannot trust him. Regardless of whether he’s responsible or had anything to do with your family’s deaths, you cannot trust him. He tried to kill you. I saw him with my own⁠—”

“I believe you, Ezra,” she whispered and swallowed. “I believe you. I need to find Salazar and tell him this. I need answers from Kavid, too, so I can be sure.”

“No.” I shook my head, flabbergasted. This was not at all where I thought this would go. “I just said you can’t⁠—”

“I need my answers.”

“He will kill you. He has tried before and he’ll⁠—”

She stood up from the bench. “You have no right to tell me what to do.”

An eerie sensation crept into the courtyard—the only sound was the fountain splashing to the side of us.