Page 36 of Sands of Atonement

In my privileged life, I’d never had such a disobedient person in my presence before. She began to pace back and forth like a cat surrounded by a pack of dogs, unsure of her next move.

“This is what we’re going to do,” Casimir delegated. “You’re not going anywhere, Eshe. It’s our mother’s night. We’ll reevaluate this in the morning after the celebrations. Until then, you’ll be under supervision.”

Eshe smirked and placed her hands on her hips. “I don’t follow the orders of men.”

And that was why I was a leader, and Casimir was not.

I stalked toward Eshe, but she matched my steps and backed up to the end of the hallway. My brows begged to furrow, but I refused to show any surprise on my face. What was she⁠—

No, it wasn’t possible.

Eshe twisted her body, placed her hands at the edge of the tapestry, and disappeared behind it.

She had been here before.

She had prepared herself for this moment. She had been here in my home, and I was completely unaware of it.

Rage boiled through me as I grabbed the tapestry and yanked it down, just in time to see an arrow flying straight toward my face. My hand flashed in front of me and caught it before it could pierce my flesh. I knew these hallways like the back of my hand from when Casimir and I used to play within the walls as children.

I heard the split of air as another arrow came through and hit my shoulder. I grunted. The blood trickling down my shoulder only fueled me further into the darkness. My steps quickened as I heard Casimir cursing under his breath behind me. We crouched low. I could almost taste the metal in the air when I sensed Eshe was deeper in the tunnel.

Another whistle of air, and Casimir and I dropped even lower.

An arrow pierced my side, and this one went deep. Clearly, her main target was me and not Casimir.

My jaw tightened, but I crawled forward without making a sound. I could feel Casimir behind me, following my bloody steps.

I heard a crack of rock to my right as soon as I remembered the division within the tunnels. I lunged into the darkness and grabbed onto the end of a shadow⁠—

Eshe kicked my shoulder—my bad one—but not without my other hand latching onto her thigh. The bow made a clanging sound as it fell.

I pulled her down with me, knocking the knife out of her hand. She writhed under the heaviness of my body. A waft of jasmine clung to me.

A second later, Casimir was by my side with one of the knives I’d gifted him under her jaw.

I stared at the mess that she was. In the light from the hallway behind us, I could see her face. Wild moon-like eyes, glowing with defiance.

“Nice fucking try, Princess,” I grunted.

Chapter 9

Eshe

Ezra opened the doors to my new chambers, and it was nearly identical to the ones my father would send his royal captives to. The ones he wasn’t quite sure about and didn’t trust.

It was pretty, for political reasons, but the windows were barred shut, and the lock was on the wrong side of the door. I’d never heard of a time when a woman was thrown into one of these, mostly because women were forbidden from politics and war. I gritted my teeth. Instinctively, I stepped back, but Ezra made sure I wasn’t going anywhere with his firm grip around my upper arm. It made my body tingle with rage.

I’d never been in a cage before.

He pulled me toward the chamber and then pushed me through the threshold.

“It’s temporary. Or not. You decide,” he said.

The walls that imprisoned the room were a dark, forest green and reminded me of Mongah. Patterns of gold paint were embossed from the top of the ceiling to the marble floors. At the far end of the chamber sat a bed resting beneath a canopy of deep purple fabric, supported by four towering golden poles. The fabric hugged the four poles surrounding the bed. It was inviting, and suddenly my body wanted to relax into it. It had been so long since I’d slept in a bed as plush as this.

But it was a facade. This wasn’t real. They were my enemies. I couldn’t forget that.

I whirled around to face the twins. Casimir hadn’t said a word as he stood behind his brother. Besides having the same height, they didn’t look identical anymore.