The Girl King (The Girl King #1)(89)

Nasan rolled her eyes. “You’re the ‘Girl King.’ Even around here, everyone knows you were bent on being your father’s heir. And I don’t know if what they say is true—that you killed him to take the throne—”

“It’s a lie!” Lu growled. “I loved my father.”

Nasan held up a bored hand. “Frankly, I don’t care either way. What I care about is that you’re ambitious, and you have a chance at overthrowing your cousin. Now, if you’re up this far north, I can only imagine you’re running away, or you’re looking to find an ally with an army. You don’t seem like the type to run away, and the only armies around here belong to the Hana—not a chance they’d back you over their favorite son—and the Yunians.”

Seeing the flicker of surprise that crossed Lu’s face, Nasan smiled. “It is the Yunians, isn’t it? Interesting. You’re more desperate than I thought. You think you can convince them to give you an army if you call a cease-fire and withdraw the mining colonies from the steppe, don’t you?”

Lu frowned, reluctant to give Nasan anything. “And if I am?”

“I can help you get there,” his sister said, dangling the bait. “If you can help us keep our home.”

Lu stared, expressionless. “Why not just turn me in to my cousin? Try to barter for your lands in exchange for me?”

Nasan snorted. “My brother here tells me that raid on the labor camps a few months back made waves in the capital, yes?”

Lu nodded.

“That was us. Me.”

“What does that have to do with selling me to my cousin or not?” Lu’s voice was light, but Nok could tell she was impressed.

“Princess, we killed twenty soldiers and made the administration in Bei Province—including your cousin—look pretty foolish. They know it was us; they’re too embarrassed to admit it publicly. I don’t think Emperor Set’s going to forgive us anytime soon. Plus,” she said with a shrug, “I don’t trust imperials.”

“I’m an imperial,” Lu pointed out.

“Yes.” Nasan grinned. “But you’re the imperial that happens to be in the palm of my hand. Right now? You live or die at my say. That tends to make people compliant. It would take a little more work to get that kind of control over your cousin.”

Lu glanced at Nok. For a moment, he saw a glint of uncertainty in her eyes. She was wondering where he stood. This was his sister, after all.

“Look,” Nasan said impatiently. “Like I said, you haven’t got much of a choice, here. I told you what I’m after, now you tell me what you want. I help you, you help me. Simple.”

“What makes you think we need your help?” Lu said guardedly.

“We captured you, didn’t we?” Nasan demanded. “That means half an army of trained imperials can, too. And there’s a lot of them between here and Yunis. Smarter than the men that were bringing you up this way, that’s for sure. I know which routes to take to avoid their encampments and which passes in the steppe are unguarded.”

“We have a map,” Lu countered. “With that, and a little sharp thinking, we—I can manage.”

“It’s not that simple,” Nasan said flatly. “There’s a reason no one’s seen a hint of the Yunians for the last seventeen years. No one finds Yunis unless Yunis wants to be found.”

Nok felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, as though his body sensed a secret, a hidden danger that his mind did not yet perceive.

“What makes you so sure you can find it, then?” Lu asked immediately.

“I’ve been there before,” Nasan replied simply, letting the words hang in the air before she continued. “The city didn’t fall, you know. They just hid.”

“So why’d they show themselves to you?” Lu demanded.

Nasan shrugged. “The ties between Yunis and the Gifted go back thousands of years. Our altars to the beast gods were kept in the city. Of course, we lost contact with them after you lot went to war with them and burned the city. But I guess they heard about us, our group here.” She gestured about as though to indicate the camp. “One day, they sent a messenger to me. He brought me to the city gate and told me to wait. Then, he brought us some supplies—medicine, food, that kind of thing.”

“So,” Lu said impatiently. “You know where the city gate—the real gate—is, then. Tell us, and in exchange, when I win my throne, I give you and your lands protection.”

“Thing is, the gates of Yunis aren’t the easiest to find, direction-wise,” Nasan said with grimace. “I can’t just tell you where they are.”

Lu rolled her eyes in a rather unregal manner. “I thought you said you knew? I imagine the direction is north, for starters.”

Nasan shook her head. “Don’t think north. Think up.”

“Isn’t north the same thing as up?” Nok said. “On a map, at any rate.”

“Not ‘up’ as in that way,” Nasan replied, gesturing with an arm in the vicinity of north. “ ‘Up’ as in . . .”

She pointed up to the ceiling. To the sky.

Lu barked out a laugh. “Is this a joke?”

“I’m deadly serious,” Nasan said. “I know you Hu lost the old magic, but it’s still common as ice up north.”