Page 73 of All the Wandering Light

I felt a wave of desperation. No doubt we were being taken to some dank prison to be held for interrogation, just as the general had threatened. Obtaining an audience with the emperor would now be impossible. And Tem—where was Tem? I sent out a silent prayer to the spirits that he had escaped, though I doubted they would be in the mood to heed me after tonight.

The soldiers led us through narrow lanes and alleys, seeming to wish to avoid attention. Being unfamiliar with the city, I was startled when the road opened, revealing the palace hill. Were the guards taking us to the emperor’s dungeons?

I swallowed a hysterical laugh. Well, at least we would succeed in gaining entrance to the palace.

Even as the palace loomed larger, it was impossible to believe it was our destination. Grand white staircases led up to tiered walls of apartments, courtyards, storehouses, and who knew what else—the palace had the appearance of multiple grand mansions stuck together, but the effect was not haphazard. It was of overwhelming luxury. We moved past homes of increasingly stately mien, and then we were ascending.

The guards led us up a smaller stair, from which fewer lights gleamed. Behind us, the Three Cities lay scattered over the hills like a child’s discarded toys, and beyond the towers were glimpses of the lake, starlight glancing off its smooth surface. My breath caught at the sight of that endless stretch of water. The guards chatted among themselves, and I found myself wondering at their ease—was this how they behaved around all captured witches? Or had Elin left that detail out? My stomach felt twisted and strange. The palace was all blunt, towering opulence. Gazing at it, I found myself wondering how I had thought the Three Cities could be overthrown, or even threatened. Then I recalled everything I had seen of the witches’ powers. I thought of an army with those same powers, and of mighty walls incapable of holding out the darkness.

The door at the top of the staircase was manned by palace guards, recognizable by the emperor’s symbol, the mountain poppy, emblazoned across their armor. They swung the doors open for us without question, as if we had been expected. One tossed a ribald remark at the burly man, who replied with good-humored dismissiveness.

Our captors led us through what appeared to be servants’ passages, narrow with low ceilings, though still adorned with evidence of wealth—a richly woven tapestry here, a well-fed palace dragon there, scampering through an open doorway. At this early hour, the place was quiet—the few servants we passed mostly ignored us. And then, before I even had time to take in my surroundings, or the fact that I had passed unchallenged into the emperor’s palace, the guards were ushering us along a loftier series of window-lined corridors, through enormous doors of carved oak inlaid with jade, and into an apartment of impossible luxury lit by several of the fattest dragons I had ever seen.

The room was expansive and high-ceilinged, the far wall lined with glass windows, the floor scattered with costly wool rugs. Another intricately carved door, slightly ajar, led perhaps to private chambers, or perhaps a series of beautiful receiving rooms like this one. I blinked, not quite taking it in, as I turned my gaze to the exquisitely dressed nobleman who stood before us.

“Hello, Kamzin,” River said. “What kept you?”

Twenty-Four

“THANK YOU, DAREN—I’M sorry my friends gave you so much trouble,” River said.

“No matter, dyonpo,” the man replied. “We don’t have much opportunity for exercise in the Three Cities.”

The other guards smiled, though they seemed less at ease in River’s presence, their posture stiff and their eyes lowered respectfully.

“Why would you?” River said. “There’s no safer place than the heart of the Empire. Send word when you find the boy.”

The guard nodded, and they bowed themselves out, leaving us alone with River.

I felt as if I were falling. For a long moment, we simply stared at each other. Was I dreaming? I saw River in the Ashes, covered in blood—dying. Yet here he was, looking handsome, clean, and polished, dressed in an expensive silk tunic of dark crimson. His boots were glossy and of the paper-thin style favored in the Three Cities. He was the very image of the young nobleman I had met at the banquet in Azmiri, though he had not bothered to turn his hair blue again. Then the shadows at his feet stirred, and it was as if I were seeing two versions of him, one overlaying the other.

He wore a slight smile, his hands in his pockets. Absurdly, I remembered that I had rice in my hair.

My heart was pounding, and I was filled with a strange, painful relief that twisted in my chest. I had taken an involuntary step forward, and I forced myself back. A thousand questions sprung to my lips. Instead, I found myself saying, “I thought you were dead.”

His gaze turned inward. “So did Esha. He never would have left me on that mountain, otherwise.”

“But the dagger was obsidian,” I said. “The stories say that even a scratch will kill a witch. But you’re here.”

“I’m here,” he said. “If you’re asking for an explanation, I’m afraid I don’t have one.”

“Those guards were yours,” I breathed. “You had them watching for us. Why—how did you know—”

“You told me where you were going,” he said. “You do know that Azar-at can read your thoughts? You don’t need to announce every spell you cast—though I suppose it’s like you to do everything as dramatically as possible.”

I couldn’t focus. River was here. River was alive. It was too much.

“You want the star,” Lusha said. Her expression was unreadable. She hadn’t drawn her dagger, but her posture was wary, ready to fight or flee. “That’s why you followed us. That’s why you posted guards to watch for us.”

“I want to keep the star from Esha,” River said. “That’s the beginning and end of my interest in it.”

“You expect us to believe that?”

River let out an exasperated breath. “The star was Esha’s plan. I’m not following his plan anymore. I have my own.”

“He’s your brother,” Lusha said. “How can we—”

“He will try to kill me,” River said, “the first chance he gets. He almost succeeded in the Ashes. He believes I have a power that I don’t, and he’ll stop at nothing to take it from me. He killed my brother. And you believe I’m still on his side?”