The Girl King (The Girl King #1)(108)

“Things like what happened to us happen all the time, every day. What makes you so special that you could turn it around?”

It felt as if the other girl were taking a prybar to the door Lu had tamped down over her impatience. She forced her voice steady. “If you have such little faith in my abilities, then why work with me at all?”

“Because you’re the only chance I’ve got. And I have an actual cause, Princess. I’m trying to save my people. Get back our land. We know what we’re fighting for. What we’re prepared to die for. I have to know that you understand the stakes as well.”

Lu stared, disbelieving. “This isn’t just about my life. Which—I don’t think you fully appreciate—is on the line as well. This is about the fate of the empire and everyone in it.”

“I’m not sure you even know what that means,” Nasan said flatly. “The lives of others? Your title, your station—your very existence—is built on the subjugation, on the suffering of others.”

“That—that’s not me,” Lu frowned. “That isn’t what I want.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re playing a game and asking your new friends to sacrifice their lives for it. It comes naturally to you, to demand everything of everyone else.”

Nasan took a swig of wine straight from the bottle, the cups she’d just poured apparently forgotten. Then she thrust it at Nok. He took it but did not drink, black eyes dithering between his sister’s face and Lu’s own.

“The way I see it,” Nasan continued, “you and your cousin are no different than you were when we were kids—just two royal brats running around where they don’t belong, fighting over who has the bigger stick. Not caring if everyone around you gets hurt, too.”

Seeing Lu’s reaction she smirked. “Oh, that’s right, I remember what you did when we were kids. I was little, but I was old enough. I remember how you got my brother in trouble.”

“Got him in—that was Set! I was trying to protect him!”

“He wouldn’t have needed protecting if he hadn’t gotten mixed up with you in the first place.”

Lu looked at her disbelievingly. “I hardly see how befriending someone is—”

“Oh, ‘befriending.’ Is that what you city dwellers call it?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lu demanded.

“I don’t know; what’s it mean to you? What does my brother, or anyone you use along the way, mean to you?”

“I don’t use anyone!”

Nasan scoffed. “You use everyone! Nok, the Yunians. You’re using me—and I’m using you right back, but I’m out of options. At least I have the honesty to admit what I’m doing. You, you just draw people into your schemes, blackmail my brother with promises of saving his apothecarist friend. You agreed to marry some poor infatuated boy of all things—”

“I’m doing what needs to be done!” Lu stood so fast her cushion tipped sideways, knocking over a bowl. It shattered across the stone floor, sending candied nuts and shards of crystal skittering.

Lu leaped to the side to avoid cutting her bare feet and swayed—the drink was stronger than she’d thought. Her head rang with it, but she straightened. “How dare you presume to know anything about my life—”

Nasan stood and moved in on her. “I presume nothing, Princess. You’re completely obvious—”

“Obvious?” Lu barked. “What happened to me being deceitful?”

“I never said you weren’t a liar—just a bad one.”

Lu shook her head. “If this is how you treat your allies, don’t expect to get very far.”

“Oh, should I do as you do and spread my legs for—”

“Excuse me?” Lu said, and surged toward her.

“You heard me,” Nasan spat, not backing away. “Prince Jin fell for it, so I guess whatever works, right? And I see the way you look at my brother. Tell me, do you expect to keep him as a consort once you marry, or—”

Lu slapped her. Not hard—openhanded. Nasan turned with it to lessen the blow. Then lunged forward, shoving at Lu’s shoulders, screaming incoherently in her face. Lu shoved back, refusing to give her any ground.

“Enough!” Nokhai yelled. He was between them, wedging them apart. “I’m right here. And I don’t appreciate being used as some kind of bargaining tool”—he caught the sneer on Nasan’s face—“by either of you.”

Lu took a step back, breathing hard. That had been small of her, she knew. Beneath her. The wine, she thought.

“No,” she agreed aloud. “Of course not.”

“You’re completely gone for her, aren’t you?” Nasan said to her brother. “When I told you to live, I didn’t mean you should do it as an imperial lapdog.”

Nokhai flushed. “It’s not like that, Nasan—”

“She’s just going to hurt you, you know,” Nasan interrupted, all agitation. “That’s what people like her—that’s what imperials do. That’s what they are. I thought you of all people would know that by now.”

When Nokhai didn’t reply, Nasan shrugged coldly. “I can’t listen to this. I’m going for a walk.”