Karina didn’t see the rock that struck her in the head, but she felt it, the pain not dissimilar to one of her migraines. The last thing she remembered was searching frantically for the night-eyed boy, but he was gone, lost amid the angry crowd and the soldiers fighting their way to her side. The guards reached her in seconds, and as they gathered her into their arms and led her away, she threw a last glimpse at the people she had done her best to calm. Their faces were twisted in masks of fury, and nothing she or anyone else could have said would have sated their anger.

But even knowing this, Karina could not shake the feeling that this had been some kind of test of her worthiness to be sultana. And she had failed. This was the thought that echoed in her mind all the way back to Ksar Alahari.

Failure. Failure. Failure.

Karina wasn’t sure what hurt more: the rock she’d taken to the head or the fact that so many people believed she had killed her own mother.

Her reputation was less than stellar, but the common people thinking her irresponsible was a far cry from them thinking her capable of murder. The memory of the accusation burned within her, a potent mix of outrage and grief.

This was why Karina had revealed her identity the way she had, even knowing the risk. She couldn’t stand back and let this lie blaze out of control.

However, she truly hadn’t expected the rock. The last thing she remembered before the guards rescued her was the boy who had fixed her dress slipping away from the turmoil. She hoped he had made it home—wherever home was for him—safely.

A crack sharp as lightning tore Karina from her thoughts. In the center of the stadium, two wakama fighters crossed sticks, and fifty thousand people roared their approval. It was the morning of the third day of Solstasia, Wind Day, and Karina was seated in her private box watching the wakama tournament alongside the council. Though the Champions’ Challenge was the most famous event, Solstasia featured hundreds of competitions in every art and sport imaginable. Anyone could enter these lesser contests, which made them huge crowd-pleasers.

“Tuseshti! Wakama!” The crowd yelled the traditional chant that accompanied a wakama match, blowing on long ivory horns and shaking rattles of bamboo as they did. “Tuseshti, wakama, wakama! Tuseshti, wakama, wakama!”

Mwale Omar leaned toward Karina, his massive white beard twitching. “I’ve bet all my money on the Fire Champion, so let’s hope she wins.”

Karina forced her face into a smile. “It’s important to support one’s Alignment.”

The rules of wakama were deceptively simple: two people, two sticks, one chalk ring fifteen feet in diameter. With only stick-to-stick or stick-to-body contact allowed, the game ended when someone either surrendered or stepped out of the ring.

The current frontrunner was the Fire Champion, Dedele Botye. As she had signed up for the tournament before being named Champion, she had been allowed to compete even though the Second Challenge would begin immediately after the tournament’s end. The council members cheered as Dedele backflipped over her opponent in an impressive over-the-shoulder maneuver.

“Looks like I will get my money’s worth after all!” cackled Mwale Omar, and it took all Karina’s restraint not to shove the man away. Even though she normally loved wakama more than anyone, she could not forget the carnage of the raid. How could she sit here celebrating Zirani justice when right within these walls she’d witnessed the most unjust thing she’d ever seen?

And the only people who had the power to have ordered the raid were sitting right beside her. Karina’s instincts told her to confront the council directly, but Commander Hamidou’s warning rang in her head. If she gave away how much she really knew, the traitor might realize she no longer trusted them.

“Tuseshti, wakama, wakama!” The crowd’s exhilaration was intoxicating. “Tuseshti, wakama, wakama!”

As Dedele side-stepped her opponent’s barrage, Karina leaned toward Grand Vizier Jeneba. “It’s a lovely day for wakama, don’t you agree?”

“Perhaps for the viewers, but I can’t imagine what it’s like to play in this heat.” Grand Vizier Jeneba had yet to comment on the raid, and nothing about her demeanor suggested anything was amiss. Though the woman only came up to her chest, Karina could not shake the feeling that the grand vizier was the one looking down on her.

“Yes, of course.” Karina glanced at Farid sitting behind her, but he pointedly avoided her gaze. He had been uncharacteristically silent since her return from the raid, likely out of anger at her recklessness.

Picking her words with great care, Karina continued, “By the way, if you have time to spare after the tournament, I would like to go over the guard patrol for the remainder of Solstasia.”

“There is no need for that, Your Highness,” said the grand vizier, her eyes never leaving the match. “Your mother approved the patrol rotation weeks ago.”

That couldn’t be true. The Kestrel would never have approved these raids. And if they’d been happening since before Solstasia, why had Karina not heard about them?

“Nonetheless, I’d like to look over them once more. I believe we’ve been wasting resources by raiding parts of the city that don’t need it.” Karina narrowed her eyes. “Like River Market.”

Dedele’s opponent knocked her flat on her back, earning a gasp from the crowd. Grand Vizier Jeneba finally turned her full attention to Karina.

“If I may give you a word of advice, Your Highness, I believe your energy would be better spent focusing on Solstasia, especially considering the difficulties we experienced during the Opening Ceremony. Because Her Majesty is ill, you can leave the running of the city to my colleagues and me, as we have decades of experience doing so.”

A roar went up around them as Dedele upended her opponent, but the only roar Karina could focus on was that of the anger in her ears.

Farid had once told her that every conversation in court was a patch of thorns masquerading as a rosebush, and she finally understood what he’d meant. There was nothing she could say to dispute the grand vizier’s claim; as far as the public knew, the queen was simply ill, and when the queen was ill, the council was in control.

As Karina struggled to form a reply, the grand vizier added, “By the way, I heard the oddest story that someone claiming to be you was spotted at River Market.”

Karina fought the urge to touch the cut hidden beneath her hair. “How odd indeed. I have heard no such thing.”

“I knew that story couldn’t be true as we were assured you spent yesterday resting. I especially knew the rumor that you were seen with an unknown man had to be false as well.” The Grand Vizier smoothed out a crease in her sea-green caftan. “It worries me that many are so quick to doubt your intentions. I advise that we do everything in our power to make sure no one has reason to question your integrity.”

If Karina had some of that magic Afua had talked about, she would have used it to blast the grand vizier out of the stadium. Embarrassment flooded through her, but she quashed it down; even if she had spent all night with a man, it was no one’s business but her own.

“Tuseshti! Wakama! Tuseshti, wakama, wakama! Tuseshti, wakama, wakama!”

“And what about the raids?” Any pretext of civility dropped from Karina’s voice. “What do you get out of terrorizing the most vulnerable people in our city?”

“One of my dearest friends is dead.” Grand Vizier Jeneba spoke only loud enough for Karina to hear, but the words seemed to echo. “The person responsible will face justice, even if I have to dismantle every house in Ziran first.”

The loudest cheer yet rattled the stadium to its foundation. Dedele had won, and she now had her stick against her opponent’s neck in victory.

“You won’t stop the raids, even under a direct order from your future sultana?”

The challenge in Grand Vizier Jeneba’s eyes was unmistakable. “I will not.”

The world fell silent. At first Karina thought it was her rage drowning out all sound, but no, the crowd had literally fallen silent, and every eye in the stadium was turned her way.

In the center of it all, Dedele pointed her stick straight at Karina.

“Karina Alahari, I challenge you to a match in this ring!” Dedele called out. The audience broke into excited chattering. A Champion challenging a member of the royal family during a tournament? Now, that was unprecedented, even for Solstasia.

Farid was immediately at Karina’s side, shaking his head.