“You know you can’t hold your wine,” Leila scolded as she propped Malik into a sitting position. The menagerie tent was mercifully calm compared to the cacophony of the Midway. The smell of animal excrement and the sight of rusted tools and the shifting of Leila beside him—this felt familiar. This felt like home.

Malik’s stomach lurched as his encounter with Mwale Omar and Boadi swam into focus. Before that moment, he had viewed the vizier as a well-meaning, if rather vain, old man. But in an instant, Mwale Omar had transformed into a cruel and ugly creature, all because he thought an Eshran had dared to defy him.

Just the memory of Driss’s smug face as he’d justified the treatment of Malik’s people made him want to scream. If they had reacted that way simply because Malik had defended an Eshran, what would they do to him if they knew he was one? As long as Malik spoke as they did and acted as they did, he belonged among them. But the second he revealed his true self, he’d become just like that boy in their eyes. Lower, even.

He looked up at Leila. His sister was more ruffled than usual, though still in much better shape than he was. “What’s the matter? Is something wrong?”

“When were you planning to tell me you were with Princess Karina the other night?”

The bile rose in Malik’s throat once more, but he swallowed it down and said, “I wanted to, but there wasn’t time. And the only reason I didn’t fulfill my task then was because I didn’t know who she was at the time.”

Leila snorted. “Of course. This is the part where you explain how grinding all over this girl is going to help you kill her.”

Just when he’d thought this night couldn’t get any worse, the Great Mother had decided to prove him wrong. “It wasn’t what it looked like.”

“Really? Because it looked to me like you would have kissed the air out of the princess’s lungs if you had gotten the chance. It also looked to me like you’re so far in love with this girl that you’ve forgotten the real reason we’re even in this Great Mother–damned city to begin with!”

Malik had never heard anything more absurd in his entire life. Yes, Karina was beautiful, and surprisingly kind when she wanted to be, and yes, he still couldn’t forget the way he’d felt so blissfully calm with her during the raid. But admitting that wasn’t love. Besides, none of that changed the fact that her family had crushed his people for centuries. There were some wounds not even love could heal.

“Are you forgetting the part where she tossed me into the lake?”

“I didn’t say she’s in love with you. Remember when you had that crush on Uncle Enni’s daughter, and every time she’d visit, you’d act like a love-struck fool? When you’re with the princess, you have the same look on your face as you did back then—like you’ve spent every moment she wasn’t around wishing that she were.”

Malik looked down at his hands, too angry to speak, and Leila sighed. “Maybe ‘love’ is a little strong. It’s just that you’re getting so caught up in this whole Champion situation, and we’re no closer to getting Nadia back.”

Something in Malik twisted, and he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “Do you have any idea how hard this has been for me?”

Leila looked taken aback; there wasn’t a time either of them could remember when Malik had snapped at her like this. Still, he continued, “Do you realize how hard it is to get close to the most protected person in Sonande without risking both our lives? Do you know what it’s like to be scared of everything, every second of every day?”

“Oh yes, it must be so difficult being beloved by thousands and given all the food and gifts you could possibly want and having people cheering your name wherever you go. It’s so awful that you haven’t managed to save our sister!”

“I tried on the very first day!”

“Trying isn’t good enough, Malik!” Leila slashed a hand through the hair, and in that moment, she looked so much like their father that Malik flinched. “If I had your magic and your opportunities, we wouldn’t even be having this argument right now because Nadia would already be safe!”

Malik’s eyes burned; tears had always come to him faster than replies during arguments.

“All you ever do is tell me how I’m wrong or how I messed up or how you could have done a better job than me,” he choked out. “I don’t need you to tell me how bad I am at everything and how much I always let you down, because I already know!”

Leila’s hands curled into fists at her side. “What do you want, an apology? I’m sorry I don’t want to see our sister ripped apart by an evil spirit! I’m sorry I’ve spent my entire life taking care of you and never asking for anything in return! And I’m sorry I always have to be the one who has the answer and never falls apart, because maybe if I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have ended up such a coward!”

Leila shot to her feet. “Half of Solstasia is already gone, and our sister is still with Idir. Instead of wasting my time here, I’m going to find a way to save her with or without you. You can just . . . do whatever it is you’re doing. I won’t get in your way anymore.”

She paused at the tent’s entrance, and hope swelled in Malik’s chest. Maybe there was a chance he could still fix this.

“Papa acted like this too,” said Leila, her voice cool. “He only ever did what he wanted to do, no matter how much it hurt the people around him. So if you’d rather live this fantasy until they turn on you—and they will turn on you—then maybe the two of you aren’t so different after all.”

With that, his sister walked away.

Malik crouched in the dirt beside the cage full of monkeys for a long time. The rest of the court was likely wondering where he’d went, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Papa. Leila thought he was acting like Papa.

The five years without their father weren’t even a third of Malik’s life, yet it felt like an eternity had passed since the man had left. There was a time when the only thing Malik had wanted was to be like his father—no, that wasn’t quite right. There was a time when the only thing Malik had wanted was to be someone his father had wanted. And now he was just . . . a coward.

There was a gentle whooshing noise, and Malik looked overhead to see the wraiths gathered around him in a protective, shadowy cocoon. They always had a way of finding him when he was at his most distressed. He gave them a weak smile, surprised that he was more relieved than scared to see them for the first time, well, ever.

“I suppose you’re not here to help me find Karina?” he croaked. The wraiths stared at him, and he sighed. Of course that trick wasn’t going to work a second time.

His head ringing as if someone had hit it against an anvil, Malik rose to his feet. Judging from the little light leaking into the tent, it was likely a few hours near noon in either direction.

“Come on, it doesn’t look like anyone’s in here!”

“We’re going to get in trouble!”

Two pairs of footsteps approached, and Malik’s pulse raced. He scanned the tent, but there was nowhere for him to hide.

“The girls entered the tent, and they found nobody inside,” he muttered quickly. His magic warmed through him, weaving in and out of his bones. He didn’t dare to breathe as the tent flap burst open.

“See, I told you, it’s empty! Now come here!”

Malik quickly bolted from the tent as two girls fell into each other in a tangle of arms of legs. He waited for someone to call out to him but no one did, their eyes sliding over his body completely. Stunned, Malik looked down at his hand; it was completely translucent, the same color as the sand and dirt beneath his feet. He couldn’t even see the Mark, though he could feel it circling over the back of his hand.

For the first time in hours, a genuine smile graced his lips. Up until now, every illusion he’d woven had been its own entity separate from him or any other being, but this one he’d created one around himself. The many possible applications of this new ability were mind-boggling, but Malik settled on a single one as he glanced at the outline of Ksar Alahari against the midday sky.

Right now, every member of the Zirani nobility was here at the Midway, which meant the halls of Ksar Alahari were nearly deserted save Karina. He wasn’t even sure if the Sentinels had taken her back to her home after they’d escorted her out, but that seemed like the best place to start. There were still hours to go until the fourth day of Solstasia ended, so he had more than enough time to slip away and return before he was needed once more.

He was nothing like his father and never would be. No matter how many times he failed, he would never abandon his family to fend for themselves.

“Come on, you guys,” he said to the wraiths. “We have a princess to find.”

The wraiths dutifully followed after Malik as he wove his way out of the Midway and sprinted toward the palace, his invisible hand in a death grip around the spirit blade.

Leila was wrong about him. And he was going to kill Princess Karina once and for all to prove it.

24

Karina