The Rogue Queen (The Hundredth Queen #3)(71)

Gemi returns with her arms full of clothes and drops them with a gasp.

“Don’t be alarmed,” I say. “Ashwin helped me raze—”

An explosion above us drowns me out. Gemi covers her head, and Ashwin bends over me. Dust and clay fall from the ceiling, spattering the altar. The roof holds, but I no longer trust our security here.

Ashwin lets my wrists go and pales at the sight of his bloody hands.

Gemi passes him a cloth, covering them. “Clean up. I’ll help Kalinda.”

He puts some distance between us while Gemi binds my wrists with more cloth. They hurt, but the pain is more manageable than the cold and less terrifying than the numbness. The inner chill persists, ever lurking. I push my powers into my fingers. They glow blue instead of white, but my bleeding wrists bank the worst of Udug’s cold-fire, for now.

She ties off my bandage. “I’ve never seen a Burner raze without an Aquifier present. It’s too dangerous. Ashwin must care for you very much.” Gemi’s wistful tone is almost envious.

“He’s a good man.” The return of my senses brings with them sharpened worries. We have not come upon Deven in the city. I can scarcely consider the possible dangers he and my friends could be in. Too much could have gone awry.

Ashwin rejoins us. “We have to leave here.”

“Let’s find Hastin,” I say. “He may be more open to an alliance now.” I stand with Gemi’s help and take a lamp to the corner where Ashwin unpinned the tapestry. Gemi and Ashwin come to view the opening, the princess carrying her trident. “This tunnel leads to the palace.”

Ashwin squints down the stairwell. “Is this the only way?”

“It’s better than running into the army in the city.”

A blast rocks the temple. The ceiling sags and then crumbles, caving in. We dart down the stairs, debris tumbling after us. At the bottom, Gemi halts the landslide of rubble with her powers, sealing off the city above.

Ashwin swivels toward the open end of the passageway. “Well, that settles that.” He extends the lamp in front of him, and we navigate into the city’s underground.





28

DEVEN

The sister warriors line up on the ramparts. Yatin, Natesa, Opal, and I are in the center of the troops, on the wall near the gate. Everyone is silent, like the flashes of lightning overhead, while we watch the army steadily approach.

Galers conduct the storm from the palace balconies. Aquifiers are stationed beside open water barrels set around the grounds. Hastin and his Tremblers reinforce the outer wall from the courtyard and garden. The rebel army is small, about two hundred bhutas according to my estimate, approximately the same number of sister warriors.

Brac has not returned, a concern I have no time at the moment to resolve. I cannot leave my troops, so I hope and pray he finds us.

The torches of the army break through the roads. The infantry and archers fan out in front of the wall, men marching and artillery wagons creaking. They are as loud and mobile as we are motionless. Manas rides with the light cavalry and raises his hand for a halt. Hastin calls for the same. The rain and thunder stop, but the dark clouds still swirl, interspersed by bolts of lightning.

Udug rides up to Manas’s side, identifiable by his glowing blue hands, and he dismounts. His ranks have diminished to nearly half the size, but we are still outnumbered by thousands. The disguised demon strides to the barricaded gate. The torches reveal his appearance. The sister warriors inhale in unison.

He directs his speech at the shaken women. “My wives, I have come to free you. Lay down your weapons and let me into our home.”

“Hold your ground,” I command. “Don’t believe his lies.”

Shyla answers, her tone hushed, “We know our husband. That isn’t him.”

“He isn’t Tarek,” Parisa and Eshana agree in tandem.

More ranis and courtesans murmur the same proclamation down the line. He isn’t Tarek. I should not have doubted them or their conviction.

“Captain Naik,” Udug calls out, “what falsehoods have you told my family?”

“I told them the truth. You don’t belong in our world.”

Udug scoffs and waves at Manas, who dismounts and starts for an ammunitions wagon. “I have no interest in destroying my palace in my effort to return to my home. Perhaps you and I can work out an exchange. You let me through the gate, and I won’t execute your brother.”

Manas drags Brac out of the wagon and throws him to the ground. Brac lands on his side, motionless. His wrists are bound with snakeroot. My heart dips so low I feel nothing but its quickening thrum.

“My scouts found him outside the palace wall. He was trying to light a palm tree on fire. Amusing, isn’t it? You thought I held him captive when I didn’t, and this is a surprise to you now.” I grind my teeth down on a response. “Open the gate and you can have him.”

Hastin climbs the ladder to the top of the wall and glowers at Udug. “General Naik is in no position to negotiate.”

Manas sneers at the warlord’s mention of my rank. I would relish his fuming if not for Brac, bound and unconscious at his feet.

“You want bloodshed?” Udug pushes his eerie blue fire into his hands. “You will lose this battle.” He signals his men. “Archers ready!”

Hastin instructs his rebels. “Galers ready the sky! Tremblers hold the ground!”