Karina smiled, though the expression didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s so strange walking with you now. I couldn’t imagine a more different setting from our first meeting.”

“Are you referring to the raid or when you crashed into me?”

“You crashed into me. And both. Though I suppose this is our first true meeting. By the way, I must congratulate you on your performance during the Second Challenge. My steward in particular was so impressed that he hasn’t stopped talking about it.”

“It was nothing, Your Highness.” He was taller than the princess, though not by much. If it came to a fight, how easy would it be to overpower her? Why did imagining that make him feel ill?

They had reached the edge of the pleasure lake now, and the music from the dock washed over them. Karina dipped her toe into the waves lapping the shore. “It’s lovely, isn’t it?”

“Truly.” And a frivolous waste. Every family in Oboure could have survived on this much water for years. It didn’t make sense how hoarding all this was allowed when Ziran was going on its tenth year without rain.

“It’s impressive and intimidating and mostly meaningless. Just like its owner.” Karina looked up at Malik. “Just like your life will be if you win Solstasia.”

Tunde had warned him that the palace might try to rig the competition. Perhaps this was her way of trying to intimidate him. “I don’t understand what you mean, Your Highness.”

Karina’s eyes grazed over his face, and for a second, Malik saw the red her blood would be when he slit her throat.

“Dance with me.”

Malik wasn’t sure he’d heard her right, but before he could protest, she pulled him onto the dock. The music had changed once more, and Malik’s eyes widened in recognition.

“You dance the zafuo here?” The zafuo was a traditional Eshran dance usually done at celebrations like weddings or naming ceremonies. Two people danced with a scarf between them, and to complete it correctly required an implicit trust between the partners. Malik had only ever danced it with his family, and even then, not that well.

“Ziran is a trading town. Every culture finds its way here eventually,” replied Karina.

Malik’s eyes narrowed. So Eshran culture was welcome in Ziran as long as actual Eshrans didn’t come with it.

A servant handed Karina a long scarf embroidered with a pattern reminiscent of the sky during a storm, and she wound one end around her wrist as Malik did the same. A large circle had formed around them of curious onlookers, their eyes like needles against the back of Malik’s neck. As soon as he’d gotten the scarf in place, the dance began.

From the very first beat, Karina had control of the scarf, and Malik was forced to move at her pace lest he trip over his own feet. Twist and turn, up and down, back and forth. The song was about a scorned woman getting revenge on the man who had lain with every woman in the village behind her back, and the level of power and fury in the singer’s voice sent chills down Malik’s spine. Karina moved with the music as if she’d been born into it, and if he’d had the chance, he might have watched her dance the rest of the night for the pure euphoria on her face as she did.

The rhythm of the music was infectious, and soon the whole circle was dancing along with them. Karina looped the scarf around Malik’s neck, and he pitched forward. Laughter rang out, causing Malik to grit his teeth. The zafuo might be popular in Ziran, but this was his culture, his history. He was ready to lose at any number of things, but not this.

“Not to be rude, Your Highness, but is dancing the only reason you pulled me aside?” he asked, twisting back and stretching the scarf taut, then over his head and together again so they were inches apart.

“Not quite. Why do you want to win Solstasia?”

Seconds passed, and Karina’s eyes narrowed. The small trust that had grown between them crumbled with each moment that Malik did not answer the question. He needed to win Solstasia, but did he want to?

For a single moment, Malik imagined life as Karina’s husband, standing by her side with all the wealth and power of Ksar Alahari behind them.

Except she’d be marrying Adil, not him. Winning would mean living the rest of his life as another man, hearing his children call him by a name that was not his and—

No, that was not the issue with this fantasy. Nadia was. If she was to live, marrying Karina was a thought that could not even cross his mind.

“I never expected to be in this situation. But now that I am, the outcome doesn’t scare me as much as it could.”

Malik saw his opening and twirled Karina around, pulling her flush against him with her back to his chest. Surprise flashed across her face, followed by a grin. She reached her hands around his neck, forcing his hands to her waist, and she pushed her hips back against his in time to the beat. Stars danced in Malik’s eyes as he moved his hips forward in turn, and he was suddenly very grateful Mama was not there to see this.

“You know, now would be a great time for you to kiss me,” she whispered, and Malik’s world froze. His eyes flew to her full lips, which curled wickedly once more. The music swelled to a climax, and Karina flipped them around. Without Malik noticing, she had unraveled his end of the scarf and now held both ends. To anyone looking from the outside, they were still dancing together as normal, but she was in control now.

Something shuttered in Karina’s gaze when she looked at him again. “You’re nicer than the boys who usually try to court me, so I will warn you once. Do not involve me in whatever fantasy you’ve devised for yourself. Going forward, you should seriously consider what happens when Solstasia ends—and the life you’ll be leading when it does.”

They had reached the very end of the dock, the lake a frothy black sheet several feet beneath them. They were both breathing hard, danced almost to the point of exhaustion, yet Malik’s body buzzed with energy, his pulse blooming outward, warm and alive. Karina leaned forward, forcing Malik’s back over the edge, her amber eyes as hard as the claws of the gryphon embroidered on her family crest.

“You wanted my attention, Champion Adil. Now you have it.”

With that, Karina flicked her wrist and sent Malik crashing into the icy water below.

22

Karina

“Forgive my language, Your Highness, but you can be a real ass sometimes.”

On the bench across from her, Tunde gave Karina a look that might have cut anyone else to the bone. They were seated in one of the small boats bobbing around the dock, pulled by the honking dingokeks. Half an hour had passed since the guards had fished Adil from the lake, waterlogged but unharmed, and he had gone inside Dar Benchekroun to change. The memory of the boy floundering in the water made Karina smile. There was no way he’d want to stay in the competition now, which meant Karina didn’t have to worry about killing him.

That left only Tunde to deal with. Whatever their issues may be, she would have preferred not to murder him. Back when they’d been together, he’d expressed to her how he’d had no desire to be Champion. Now all she had to do was remind him exactly why he didn’t want to win.

“I find your fascination with my behind amusing,” Karina replied.

“‘Amusing’ isn’t the word I’d use, but that is beside the point. Adil didn’t deserve what you did to him.”

There was a time when a coy smile and a bit of flirting would have been enough to distract Tunde from whatever boring matter he wished to discuss, but now he was looking at her as if that time had never existed at all. Karina leaned back and let her hand trail through the water. She hadn’t even wanted to go on this boat ride with him, but she’d figured it would look less like she’d singled Adil out if she spoke privately with each of the Champions.

“You seem rather protective of your competition.”

“For Adil to be my competition, I’d have to be competing—which I’m not.”

If Tunde wasn’t even trying to win Solstasia, then either Driss or Adil would be the victor, and between those two, the choice of who to kill was obvious. Driss’s life seemed like more than a fair exchange for her mother’s. The people of Ziran deserved to have their true queen back.

Tunde continued, “Besides, I like Adil. He reminds me of who we might have been if we hadn’t grown up around . . . all this.”

Tunde gestured toward the carnival. Karina had attended court revels her entire life, yet the scale of the Midway was like nothing she’d ever seen before. It was like something out of a dream, but it was impossible for Karina to enjoy herself when she couldn’t forget the horrors she’d seen last night. Her hands balled into fists in her lap as she silently promised herself that once her mother returned, she’d make sure everyone responsible for the raid got what they deserved.

“Perhaps he’s better off for it,” Karina said softly. When she looked up again, Tunde was staring at her once more, and she knew him well enough to sense the question brewing inside him. “If you have something to say, say it,” she snapped.