But then her gaze takes me in, really takes me in, for the first time, and that sisterly concern swarms her face, giving away just who she is.

“Asha, I’m so sorry this has happened,” she says, as if it’s somehow her fault.

She closes the space between us, falling to her knees and wrapping me in an embrace. I melt into it. It occurs to me that this is the first form of welcome physical touch I’ve had since returning to the palace with Az, the first I don’t cringe away from.

“You shouldn’t have come,” I say, but the words lacked vigor.

Dinah pulls back and smiles at me. “Don’t lie to yourself. You’re glad I’m here.”

The tears that stain my cheek confirm as much.

This isn’t the rescue mission I had hoped for.

“I argued to get you out of here,” Dinah says, twirling nervously with her braid, “but everyone else pointed out that it wouldn’t do much good to rescue you if the entire world was going to end up like the Nether.”

“I have to say I agree with that,” I say. “I’m not fond of the idea of having to whisper the rest of my life.”

“It would be torture,” Dinah adds. “But I do have a message for you, from Blaise.”

“Blaise?” I practically rear back. “Tell me you don’t trust her.”

“Well, I wasn’t particularly inclined to, to be honest.” My sister blushes, as if it betrays a character flaw that she actually held a less than favorable opinion of someone. “But Kiran—”

“You’ve seen Kiran,” I breathe.

Dinah nods, though cautiously.

“How is he?”

Sorrow lines Dinah’s eyes, but something else, too. Something like hope. “It’s honestly probably a good thing he doesn’t have his Flame right now. He really misses you, Asha. And blames himself for what happened.”

I grunt. “He should be blaming Blaise. Not trusting her.”

“Well, he did almost kill her, if that’s any consolation.”

It was, sort of. “So what’s her message?”

“She says Piper—you’ll know who she is, though I thought she was from some of the Old Magic’s stories when I first heard about her—has a way to lure the Others back to the Rip. Apparently, being at the location of the Rip enhances her powers, and she thinks she can call to them, even from that far away. But she can’t do it so long as Az controls them.”

I shake my head. “I don’t know how to break his control. He’s been taking a draft that makes it where he doesn’t have to sleep. And I hardly have any worthwhile magic now that Az burned the scrolls behind the library fireplace.”

A look of disgust overtakes Dinah’s face.

“Oh, he has just gotten out of hand, hasn’t he?” Dinah says, the appropriate reaction for when your childhood role model and friend goes rogue, uses you as leverage, stages a coup, and traps your sister as his forced bride.

“Did Blaise offer any ideas as to how I might sever Az’s control?” I ask.

“From the tone you get when you talk about her, I would have thought you were asking so you could do the opposite.”

“I am not. Though I am considering it.”

Dinah sighs, long-sufferingly. “She thinks it’s taking him a fair amount of concentration to keep them under control. Blaise thinks if we can distract Az thoroughly, it will give Piper the opportunity to wrestle away his reins.”

“Distract him?” I ask, dryly. “And did Blaise have any suggestions for how I might do that?”

Dinah’s expression darkens. “She seemed to think you would know.”

Dinah can’t stay long. Something to do with the guard shifts.

Before she leaves, I ask, “Is Tavi with you? Az says she’s traveling, but I can’t help but wonder if she defected.”

Dinah’s face falls, and she shakes her head. “No. No, she…” My sister watches my face intently, and I realize there’s something she’s been keeping from me. “Kiran and Fin were captured around the time of Az’s coronation. Tavi helped them escape.”

My heart pounds in my chest, even that much exertion making me dizzy after weeks of inactivity. “Kiran and Fin were here?”

Something about that knowledge, that they were here, and I didn’t somehow know, makes me numb.

Dinah nodded. “They tried to rescue you. But they were caught by Az’s soldiers. Tavi had magic, Asha. She’d kept it hidden all these years, but she used it to transport Kiran and Fin away from the palace.”

“And then Az killed her for it,” I say, my throat dry.

Dinah winces, tears filling her eyes. “It was a stray dagger. One of the soldiers threw it, aiming for Kiran.”

My heart crumbles then, which is a strange sensation, because I assumed my heart was already rubble.

I suppose even rubble is turned to sand eventually, battered by the overbearing wind until there’s nothing left of the edifice that once was.

“She deserved better than that,” I say, remembering the female who had shown me nothing but kindness since she painted my face for my wedding. I remember the friend and confidant she’d grown to be.

Dinah sighs, then plants a salty, tear-soaked kiss on my forehead and tells me she has to go.

As she slips away, I wonder if I’ll ever see her again.

I try not to think about it too much as I sneak into Az’s empty quarters through the door Dinah left ajar, and steal his dagger out from underneath his pillow.

I lock myself back in my room and prepare for what very well might be the end.

Half an hour later, I’m in bed, though I can’t sleep. The lock on my door clicks, and Az waltzes in. The sight of him makes my chest seize up.

“Asha,” he says. “You’re still awake.”

My legs are trembling underneath my blankets. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Well, that’s for the best,” he says, his smile eerily kind. “I was actually hoping you’d still be awake. Because there’s someone I’d like for you to meet.”

CHAPTER 97

BLAISE