Silence filled the room, followed by several shouts of outrage.

“You accuse us of treason, Your Highness!” blustered Mwale Omar. “I have never been so insulted in my life!”

“So you all deny any involvement?” asked Karina.

The shouts of outrage grew louder. Smiling to herself, Karina slipped a small parcel from her dress and unwrapped the length of fabric surrounding it. Taking care not to touch the serpopard fang directly, she dropped it to the table with a satisfying clatter.

“Serpopard venom. Trust me, it’s real.” Karina tapped the silver teapot in front of her. “I put it in the tea before you all came in.”

To stifle the stream of disbelief the council bombarded her with, Karina poured a patch of tea onto the table large enough for everyone to see. Within seconds, the wood turned black and curled into itself, wearing a shallow hole into the table.

“A few drops did that. I’d say each of you ingested much more.”

“When our families hear of our deaths, they will not rest until your blood runs through the souks,” growled Mwani Rabia. Already several of the viziers looked ill, and they nervously clutched their stomachs.

“A fair point. Here is my response.”

Karina tilted her head back and poured the tea straight from the teapot into her mouth, not stopping until she had drunk a whole glass of the liquid. When she was done, she slammed the teapot down and surveyed the stunned council members. “Ziran survived for centuries before any of us were born. She will survive just as long after we’re gone as well.”

“You’re lying!” growled Mwale Omar.

Karina shrugged. “Perhaps I am. If my admittedly limited knowledge of poisons is anything to go by, the truth should reveal itself in about ten minutes.”

Mwani Rabia was the first to crack. With a strangled cough, the vizier clawed at her throat, leaving red marks across her taut skin. “Guards!” she cried. “Water! I need water!”

The guards entered the room and moved toward Karina, but she pulled a small vial from her sleeve. “This is the antidote. If you take another step toward me, I will smash it.”

Rage in her eyes, the grand vizier motioned for the guards to stand down.

“What are you hoping to achieve with this?” she asked through gritted teeth, sweat beading on her brow. In response, Karina placed the vial on the table and pulled out a dagger.

“First, you will release every Arkwasian arrested in the name of this ‘investigation.’ Second, every decision the council makes from now on must be approved by me. You will each swear to my demands by blood oath.” Karina narrowed her eyes. “But no one gets any of the antidote until the person responsible for my mother’s death comes forward.”

“And what’s to stop us from ordering the Sentinels to take you in, once you’ve given us the antidote?”

Karina nodded and Farid stepped forward.

“Mwale Omar,” he asked innocently. “How is your daughter doing?”

Mwale Omar sputtered something unintelligible as Karina said, “Farid, you’re mistaken. Mwale Omar only has two sons, doesn’t he?”

Farid nodded. “Ah, right, my apologies. And, Grand Vizier, I take it you’ve settled that issue with the Royal Bank over your gambling debt?”

The polite smile never left Farid’s face as he surveyed the room. “Every person in this room has said something that they would prefer remain within these walls. What a shame it would be if such matters were to make their way to their families.”

“Such a shame indeed,” said Karina. “Especially since if either you or I leave this room harmed in any way, I have people who will ensure this information reaches those most likely to care about it.”

Horror dawned on the council’s faces. No doubt they were remembering all the years Farid had spent learning from the former palace steward and the Kestrel herself all the important players of the court—and learning their secrets, potent as the poison Karina now held. She sat up straighter, refusing to betray her fatigue.

“I am ready to die for this city.” She gave a smile sharper than lightning rending the sky in two. “The question is, are you?”

The seconds trickled by as Karina surveyed each of the council members in turn. Had she been wrong? Had she gambled everything away when the traitor had never been on the council to begin with?

A bead of sweat trickled down her back. This wasn’t working. Just as she was going to goad them further, Mwale Omar screamed and clawed at his neck. “It was me! I sold the key to the sultana’s quarters!”

Throat growing tight, Karina ordered, “Grab him.”

As the guards held the man down, he cried hysterically, “The plan was never to kill her, only to make her think the Arkwasians had made an attempt on her life and that we should claim their land to retaliate! I swear on my life, I never meant for this to happen!”

Karina force-fed him several drops of the antidote, and his panicked look cleared.

“Thank you,” he wheezed. “I—”

Karina struck the man as hard as she could. His neck twisted with a sharp crack, and her palm stung red from the impact. Her rage was a living creature beyond her control; she had to order the guards to take the vizier away, for she did not know what she might do if she spent another second looking at his pathetic face.

As the guards hauled Mwale Omar away, screaming, Mwani Zohra begged, “Please, Your Highness, the antidote.”

“My conditions still stand.” Karina tempered her anger as best she could. There was still work to do. “Blood oath. Now.”

The hilt of her dagger was slick with blood by the time the last council member swore the oath. She drank the last few drops of the antidote eagerly.

“I will see you all at the Final Challenge today,” Karina said as the council filed out of the Marble Room, small and defeated. When they were gone, she slumped to the side and groaned. Farid was at her side in an instant.

“We need a healer at once! Great Mother help me, poisoning yourself? No one’s even seen a serpopard in centuries. Where did you find a fang?”

Even though she was tired enough to sleep for a week straight, Karina grinned up at Farid with a wild glint in her eyes. “You greatly underestimate my sense of self-preservation.”

She handed the vial to Farid. His eyes widened at the sight of the antivenom members of the royal family ingested before every meal.

“I must be a better actress than I thought if I convinced you all I’d actually poison myself,” said Karina. “Even without the antidote, they would have been fine; antivenom doesn’t contain enough toxins to kill someone. However, it is likely they’ll have horrible diarrhea during the Final Challenge later today.”

“Was the informant also a bluff?” Karina nodded, and Farid shook his head in wonder, then frowned. “Tradition dictates the Solstasia challenges only be held at sundown on the odd-numbered nights. Fire Day is the sixth day, so we’ll have to wait until tomorrow night before we can—”

“The Final Challenge will happen at noon.” Karina hadn’t come this far for tradition to stop her. Farid began to protest, but she raised up her hand to silence him. “Send word to the Azure Garden that the Champions are expected at the stadium by fourth hour past dawn.”

She might have dealt with the traitor, but that didn’t change the fact that her mother was still the most suitable ruler for Ziran. Besides, Karina had risked too much now not to complete the Rite of Resurrection. Once it was clear there was no swaying her, Farid nodded and left to fulfill her command.

For a heartbeat, Karina wondered what the Kestrel would have done to quell the council’s mutiny. No doubt her mother would have found a way to earn their loyalty without a show of force or deceit.

But the Kestrel wasn’t there. Karina was.

Karina ran a hand through her hair before tossing it to the side, willing away her fatigue and disappointment. As tired as she was, she could sleep when she was dead.

Because now the time had come for the Final Challenge, and one way or another, she was going to get herself the heart of a king.

27

Malik

“Adanko is gracious to have brought you back to us without injury.”

Malik did not reply. The smile slipped from Life Priestess’s face, and she ran a hand idly down her hare’s back. The animal cocked its head to the side, the gesture so human Malik felt as if it were scrutinizing him, peeling away his body to reveal the ugly truth of his heart.