C H A P T E R T H I RT Y- O N E
Kiva could barely see as the Butcher dragged her up the stairs and along the stone hallway, her eyes having become so accustomed to the dark that she was squinting even in the low light of the dimmed luminium beacons.
For eight days, she’d spoken to no one, alone in her isolation.
When Naari had left, she’d feared she wouldn’t survive, but knowing there was an end date, that someone would eventually come to take her to the Trial, it had helped, if slightly. She was careful to keep drinking the foul water, to keep eating the food that was delivered sporadically, knowing that she would need her strength to get through what came next.
The Trial by Earth was her final test. Today would decide whether she lived or died, whether she was to be set free or executed. Tilda, too, since her life—or death—was tied to Kiva’s.
For eight days, that was what she had been left thinking about: what she might face in the Trial and how it might end, fully aware that she was spending what could be her last hours alone in a dark, smelly cell.
But that wasn’t all she’d been dwelling on. Thoughts of the poison, Rooke, and Jaren had possessed her mind. Jaren, especially. She’d come to realize that there was nothing left that she could do about the Warden and his nefarious actions; she had to trust that Naari would handle it, as she’d sworn she would. Kiva also had to believe the Warden would adhere to the law and release her, should she survive the final Trial, even with the knowledge she now possessed.
He had killed her father and murdered hundreds of innocents, both now and nine years earlier. She was determined he would pay for his crimes, even if it was out of her hands—for now.
But Jaren . . .
Kiva still couldn’t get over who he was, how he’d lied to her. But also . . . how he’d saved her.
No matter how long she’d spent in that cell, no matter how much time she’d had to think over everything, she hadn’t been able to come to a decision about how she felt, whether she could get past her anger and hurt. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop hearing the crack of the whip as it met his flesh, his moans of pain, the sight of his blood pooling on his back, covering the Butcher, dripping to the stone floor.
He had done that for her. The crown prince—a Vallentis—had risked his life by jumping into the quarry to rescue her, and in return, he’d been whipped to within an inch of his life. She couldn’t ignore that, even if she wanted to.
When Kiva had first learned about his duplicity, she hadn’t wanted to see him, nor hear his explanations. But that initial fury had faded, and now she did want to confront him, desperate to hear what he had to say. The problem was, with her Trial today—and her imminent death or release—she didn’t know if she would ever face him again.
“Kiva Meridan.”
The Butcher brought Kiva to a halt, and she looked up to see that they were near what she guessed was the entrance to the punishment block, the small space crowded with a handful of guards, one of whom was the Warden. It was he who had spoken, staring mildly at Kiva as if he weren’t responsible for the premature deaths
of so many prisoners.
Including her father.
Hatred burned within Kiva, but she knew better than to act upon it.
It was more important that she save her strength and try to survive this Trial. She would make sure Rooke saw justice, one day. But for that to happen, she had to remain alive.
Glancing past him around the room, Kiva wasn’t sure if she should feel relieved that everyone seemed relatively at ease. One of the things she’d worried about in the last eight days was whether the prisoners had escalated their violence, fearing that a full-blown riot had occurred. If it had, it was over now. And the poisoner—the Warden—was clearly still alive. Naari, too, for Kiva could see her in the corner, her body lined with tension, unlike the other guards. The sight of her nearly brought tears to Kiva’s eyes, a friendly face after being alone for so long.
“Today you will undertake your final Ordeal, the Trial by Earth,”
Rooke said, wrinkling his nose as he took in her filth. She’d washed as well as she could in her cell’s dirty water, but she hadn’t worn fresh clothes since before the quarry. Part of her took pleasure in making him uncomfortable, the other part longed for a bath and a clean tunic.
Holding his gaze, Kiva waited for him to ask if she had any last words, but for the first time, he did not. She wondered if he feared her mentioning the poison, or if he was simply sick of playing by the rules and ready to be done with the Trial by Ordeal altogether.
“Owing to the nature of this task, there will be no audience today,”
Rooke continued.
Kiva raised her eyebrows, curious if that was because the task itself didn’t allow it, or if things truly were so bad with the prisoners that the Warden didn’t want to risk amassing them together in one place. She assumed it was the latter, since all of her previous Ordeals had been deliberately planned spectacles. But she’d also spent the last two weeks racking her brain to think of what the Trial by Earth might entail, and had come up with too many possibilities to narrow it down. She’d eventually given up, having been wrong every other time, anyway. Her main regret was that she’d had no chance to see if Mot had formulated a remedy that might help her. For this Ordeal, she truly was alone.
“Should you succeed today, as stated by the fourth rule in the Book of the Law, you shall be forgiven for all crimes and granted your freedom,” Rooke went on, and Kiva’s stomach somersaulted.
“Since you are acting as Champion for the accused, Tilda Corentine will also share in your pardon.” Rooke paused, then added, “However, should you perish in the task, then the accused shall be put to death.”
These were all facts that Kiva knew, but hearing them laid out like this, with such impending finality, made goose bumps break out on her skin.
“Similar to your previous Trials, you’ll have a time limit for your final Ordeal,” Rooke went on. “One hour—no more, no less. If you don’t return before then, you’ll have failed, and the Rebel Queen will
be executed.” He paused, then added, “Should you survive but return after that hour is complete, you’ll follow Tilda into death.”
Kiva’s somersaulting stomach started doing backflips at the words return and survive. What in the everworld did he have planned for her?
“One last thing,” Rooke said, as if he’d been a fountain of information, when he had not. “Given what happened in the Trial by Water and the interference by fellow prisoner D24L103, we’ve made a decision regarding his punishment.”
Kiva jerked, and she saw Naari make a similar movement from the corner of her eye, before the guard caught herself.
“Hasn’t he been punished enough?” Kiva croaked, her voice raspy from lack of use. She couldn’t believe she was defending Jaren— Prince Deverick—but she also couldn’t forget that she was the reason he was in this mess to begin with. Nor could she forget the wounds on his back, the sounds of the whip hitting his skin, his blood flowing into that drain. If his injuries were half as bad as Kiva imagined, two weeks weren’t enough time for him to have healed, even if the Butcher had left him alone since then. He didn’t deserve to suffer any more.
But the Warden didn’t agree with her, because seconds later, Jaren was hauled into the room by Bones, stumbling, clearly in pain, and struggling to remain upright even with the white-knuckled grip
the guard had on him.
“Ah, just in time,” Rooke said.
The Butcher snickered behind Kiva, having said something similar to her before he’d slammed his cat-o’-nine-tails into Jaren’s flesh.
She swallowed back the memory, her eyes locking with Jaren’s. She could almost hear his voice in her head asking if she was all right, his fear and concern—forher—splashed across his pale, pained features.
She tore her gaze away and focused on the Warden, her heart pumping as she waited to hear what he would say.
“Since D24L103 was so eager to join you in the third Trial,” Rooke said, “we’ve decided that he’ll share your fate in the fourth.”
Kiva’s eyes leapt back to Jaren, and despite the tumultuous storm she felt toward him, a flare of hope lit within her. She wouldn’t have
to face the Ordeal alone. He’d be with her—him and his elemental magic.
But then she noted that his gaze had moved to Naari, so Kiva did the same, finding the guard looking aghast, like she was three seconds away from unsheathing her swords and shredding everyone in the room in order to protect her charge.
Kiva feared bloodshed was imminent, but at the slightest of head shakes from Jaren, Naari’s fists unclenched. Her features tightened at the silent order, yet she did not reach for her blades.
Exhaling with relief—though she wasn’t sure why, since part of her would have been very satisfied to see Naari tear down Rooke—Kiva turned back to the Warden.
Foreboding began to curl within her at the slow smile that spread across his face. She’d been so distracted by the interplay between Jaren and Naari that she hadn’t considered why he thought sending Jaren with her was to be a punishment.
The Warden didn’t delay in sharing, and with six words, he revealed their fate.
“Congratulations, you’re about to die together.”
And then, for the second time in two weeks, something hard slammed into Kiva’s head, and she sank back into darkness.
When Kiva regained consciousness, the first thing she did was press her fingers to the egg on the back of her skull, wincing at how tender it was, while trying to think past the drums beating a rhythm through her brain. She was lucky she could think at all, fully aware of how serious concussions could be and how even the shortest of blackouts could cause irreversible brain damage. She’d been fortunate, no matter how much her aching head and churning gut said otherwise.
Pushing past the pain and nausea, Kiva struggled to her feet, seeking to get her bearings. Wherever she was, it was pitch-black, and after shutting down her immediate panic that the head trauma had turned her blind, her next fear was that she’d been sent back to her isolation cell. But when she expanded her senses, she realized that it smelled different, felt different. The air wasn’t fresh, but it wasn’t foul like in the Abyss. It was . . . wet. Musty. Earthy. And while
it wasn’t warm, it also wasn’t as cold as where she’d been for a fortnight; there was a humidity to it, a dampness.
Kiva’s skin began to crawl as she reached out her hands, feeling for anything that might tell her where she was or ease her dread about where she was beginning to think she was. Waving her arms, she shuffled carefully forward, but before she could make it two steps, her foot caught on something, and she tripped, falling blindly.
She didn’t land on solid ground.
She landed on something hard, but also soft.
Something that groaned when her weight landed on it; something
that moved.
There was only one thing it could be.
Only one person it could be.
Kiva hurried to untangle herself from Jaren in the darkness, accidentally elbowing him as she scrambled backwards, eliciting another moan of pain.
“Sorry!” she rasped out. The last thing she wanted was to apologize to him, of all people, but it was an automatic response.
“Kiva?” Jaren rasped back, his voice equally hoarse with lack of use. “Is that you?”
She wanted to snap out a barbed reply asking who else would it be, but she held her tongue, only saying, “Yes, it’s me.”
Another low moan, followed by the rustling sound of Jaren sitting up.
“My head feels like it’s been split in two,” he said.
Kiva didn’t confirm that she felt the same. She didn’t know what to
say to him at all.
“Hang on,” Jaren said. “Just let me—”
Kiva recoiled and shielded her face as fire burst into being, like a floating ball of flames lighting the space around them. Her eyes watered as they adjusted, but then she was able to take in where they were, her fears confirmed.
“We’re in the tunnels,” Jaren said, realizing it as well, his tone almost puzzled.
Kiva looked at him, seeing him for what felt like the first time. A prince, disguised as a prisoner, still wearing the same clothes she’d seen him in two weeks ago, but now stained with blood. His blood. If
she didn’t know who he really was, if she didn’t have the evidence of it floating in the air before her, she never would have believed it possible.
“Kiva, did you hear me?” Jaren asked, looking from the tunnel back to her. What he saw on her face caused him to still.
“You should have told me.”
The five words came from somewhere deep within her.
Somewhere that had been fed by betrayal and hurt for the last eight days. Somewhere that was laced with all her pain and loneliness
from the last ten years.
“Kiva . . .”
“You should have told me!” she repeated, returning to her feet, needing not to be on the ground for whatever was about to unfold.
Jaren followed after her, his face ghostly pale and tight with pain as he struggled first to his knees and then the rest of the way. Kiva didn’t reach out to help him, resisting every healer instinct within her to hold on to her anger.
“I tried to tell you,” Jaren said, panting lightly at how difficult it had been for him to rise, one hand pressed to his abdomen. He leaned a shoulder against the limestone wall, using it to brace himself and remain standing. “In the garden, before we found Tipp. I was going to tell you then.”
“Would that have been before or after you kissed me?” Kiva said in a hard voice. She remembered that moment clearly, how he’d been leaning in, his breath whispering across her lips. She shoved the memory away, refusing to acknowledge how it still made her feel.
“Before,” Jaren said, his tone calm, soothing, as if talking to a wild animal. “I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while, but never found the right time. I wasn’t going to let things go further between us before you knew.”
“You’ve had nine weeks, Jaren!” Kiva cried, ignoring the fact that the last two were spent with them in separate punishment cells.
“Even after that night in the garden, there were still days before what happened in the quarry. You could have told me at any time. You should have told me at any time.”
“And what would I have said?” Jaren asked, his calm tone morphing into exasperation. “‘Guess what, I’ve been lying to you
about who I am. Please don’t hate me for it’? Yeah, I’m sure you would have been fine with that.”
“Of course I wouldn’t have been fine!” Kiva said, loud enough to echo off the tunnel walls. In the back of her mind, she knew they should be focusing on the Trial by Earth, figuring out where they were and trying to find their way aboveground before the allocated hour was up. But too much was simmering within her for her to think about anything but the person in front of her. The prince in front of her.
“I don’t know what I can say to make this better,” Jaren said, running his free hand through his hair.
“You can tell me why!” Kiva cried, the word breaking.
Jaren’s face softened. She didn’t want to see him looking at her like that, realizing just how upset she was.
“No one knows the full story,” he said quietly, moving a step toward her, but then buckling slightly and shifting back to lean against the wall again, his second hand now pressed to his abdomen as well.
Kiva noted the move, a distant part of her frowning, but before she could muster her inner healer and ask if he was all right, he continued, “Only Naari.” He paused. “I assume you know . . . ?”
“That she’s your Golden Shield?” Kiva said. “Yeah. You’re both just full of surprises.”
Jaren had the decency to look contrite, but Kiva remained unmoved.
Taking a deep breath, then wincing and paling further, Jaren revealed, “I came to Zalindov to get information about the rebel
movement.”
Kiva froze. “What?”
“We heard that Tilda Corentine had been arrested, but she was found across the border in Mirraven, outside of our jurisdiction,”
Jaren explained, something Kiva already knew. “Mirraven’s ruling house wouldn’t even consider handing her to us, despite knowing the history between the Vallentis and Corentine bloodlines. They delighted in making it impossible for us to talk with her, not without us starting a war with them.”
“Talk with her,” Kiva repeated, her voice little more than a croak.
“You mean interrogate her.”
Jaren watched her carefully, clearly weighing his words. “I know you’re sympathetic to her cause, you’ve already told me as much.”
Everworld help her, he was right. She’d told the crown prince and his most trusted guard that she understood the rebels’ motives. She might as well have said she was one of them, for all the difference it would have made. If she weren’t already locked up in Zalindov, that was exactly where she would be headed for such an admission. Her father had been arrested for less.
“Your compassion for them is admirable,” Jaren continued. “And your reasoning is sound.”
Kiva’s mouth fell open. She quickly closed it again.
“But that doesn’t change the facts,” he went on. “What I told you that night remains true: there’s been too much unrest from the rebel movement in recent years, and none more so than in the last few months. Their uprising is in full swing, with them hell-bent on creating havoc and discord throughout not just Evalon, but beyond it. And Tilda Corentine has been their figurehead, recruiting more and more followers and rallying them against the Vallentis crown. My crown.”
Kiva’s blood was like ice. No wonder Jaren had never liked Tilda.
They were sworn enemies.
“I won’t lie,” Jaren said, “it was hard hearing you defend her cause.”
“I didn’t defend her cause.” Kiva’s mouth spoke before she gave it permission. “I just said that I saw where they were coming from.”
She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. “You still haven’t explained why you’re here. What information did you think you’d find?”
“I came for Tilda,” Jaren said, as if it were obvious. And really, it was, even if Kiva struggled to accept it, to understand. “When Mirraven finally agreed to send her here, I realized there was a way for someone to speak with her—yes, all right, interrogate her— without them knowing. We can’t risk open war right now. But if someone could come in undercover and get close to her, encourage her to reveal her plans . . . It made sense to try.”
“It made sense?” Kiva repeated, incredulous.
Jaren reached up to scratch his jaw, then quickly returned his hand to his middle. “In hindsight, it was a foolish plan.”
“You don’t say.”
“We all knew it was a risk,” Jaren defended himself. “But we couldn’t let the chance slip by, not when the knowledge Tilda holds could be vital for the safety of our kingdom.”
“Pause there,” Kiva said, holding up her hand. “Who is we?”
“There were three of us in on the plan. I was only meant to be overseeing it from afar,” Jaren said. “Once we found out Tilda was coming, Naari and another Royal Guard volunteered to infiltrate the prison. But that other guard, Eidran—”
“Broke his leg,” Kiva said, suddenly recalling Naari’s words in the Abyss. “So you came in his place.”
Jaren squinted at her. “You already know?”
“That’s all. Nothing else.”
Jaren considered her words, then explained, “My sister and I were heading to our family’s winter palace in the Tanestra Mountains when news arrived about Tilda’s capture. I sent a missive to my parents, but as frustrated as they were, all they could do was try to negotiate with Mirraven for Tilda to be brought to Zalindov. I knew those negotiations would take weeks—enough time for Naari, Eidran, and me to form a plan; enough time for Naari to go on ahead and insinuate herself as a prison guard, waiting for Eidran, who would arrive later and assimilate with the other inmates, then find a way to interrogate the Rebel Queen.”
“But then Eidran was injured,” Kiva said.
Jaren nodded, a sheen of sweat beginning to dust his forehead, his eyes glazed with pain. “The timing was terrible—it happened the day he was meant to be transferred here. I made a snap decision and took his place when the wagon from Vallenia passed by the winter palace, figuring I’d get into the prison, get answers, and then Naari would sneak me out, as had been the plan with Eidran.”
He paused, then admitted, “We didn’t know Tilda was sick, though.
Or that she’d been sentenced to the Trial by Ordeal. That wasn’t something my parents had shared before I arrived. I had to change tactics after those discoveries, which meant staying longer than intended. I moved my focus to the other rebels in here, trying to get them to trust me enough to offer any scraps of information. But I made a crucial error in judgment.”
“Just one?” Kiva said.
Jaren ignored her tone and said, “I didn’t realize Cresta was their leader. And after I defended you to her that night . . .” He shook his head. “Let’s just say I had trouble making friends with them from that point onward, no matter how hard I tried.”
Kiva thought back to when he’d arrived in the infirmary after scrapping with the rebels, recalling the strained look on his face when she’d told him who Cresta was. She’d thought he’d been worried about making enemies. She’d had no idea that he’d wanted them to be his friends—if only so he could use them, then toss them away.
“Sounds like you got more than you bargained for, coming here,”
Kiva stated, unable to summon any compassion.
Jaren sighed, then winced as the movement jolted his torso.
“Admittedly, my plan fell apart alarmingly fast, but my strategy was sound.”
In a flat voice, Kiva said, “That strategy being that you’d make everyone think you were a prisoner, not a prince.”
Jaren grimaced. It was the first time she’d used his title, and the word hung in the air between them.
“I thought staying undercover would help the rebels think I was one of them,” Jaren confessed, sliding a little further down the wall, as if even leaning against it was requiring too much effort. “After realizing Tilda wasn’t going to be able to share anything, I thought I could become a part of a community here, that her followers might trust me and reveal . . . I don’t know . . . something that could help.”
“Help what?” Kiva demanded, her anger flaring again. “Help you keep your kingdom? Your crown?”
“Screw my crown,” Jaren said, his declaration heated enough to surprise her. “I don’t care about that, I care about them.” He waved an arm but then winced again and quickly returned it to his stomach.
“My people—they’re who I care about. They’re the ones who are suffering and dying because of this uprising. Husbands, wives, children. Innocents. It’s turning into a civil war.” His eyes were locked on hers, glowing in the light of the fire. “And despite how it might sound to you, I care about what’s happening to the rebels, too.
Because whether they like it or not, they’re my people as well. As
long as they call Evalon home, they come under my family’s protection.” The flames in his eyes dulled as sadness filled his voice.
“But I can’t protect them from themselves.”
Kiva’s head was spinning from all that Jaren had just revealed, from the heart he’d just shared. She wanted to keep hating him for lying to her—and for who he was. But this . . .
You have a right to be angry, but don’t let that stop you from forgiving him. He did what he did for the right reasons.
Naari’s rebuke floated across Kiva’s mind as she stared at Jaren, considering her next move. He gave her that time, watching her in silence, waiting to see what she would say.
He was the reason she’d lost her family and was in Zalindov to begin with. Maybe not directly, but the throne he represented.
You’re to be imprisoned for suspected treason against the crown.
Only . . . Jaren didn’t know. She’d told him about her brother’s death and that she’d been imprisoned with her father, but she’d never said what Faran Meridan had been arrested for, how he’d been spotted near a rebel in the marketplace. She hadn’t even mentioned that it was a Royal Guard who had killed Kerrin, which would have been a dead giveaway.
Jaren had no idea his family was responsible for all that she’d suffered through in the last decade.
“I’m not sure what else I can say, Kiva,” Jaren finally said, his voice weaker than before, his strength swiftly fading. “I understand that you’re mad at me, but even you have to see that I was trying to save lives. I couldn’t tell you until I trusted you. I couldn’t risk anyone finding out who I was, because that would have jeopardized everything.” He shook his head woefully. “Not that it matters now.
I’ve learned nothing of worth since coming here. I failed, spectacularly.”
“If you weren’t getting information,” Kiva croaked out, “and you were never a real prisoner, then why didn’t you just leave?”
His blue-gold gaze locked on hers. “Because I found a reason to stay.”
Kiva’s legs nearly gave out, his meaning impossible to miss.
“You’re a fool,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
She expected his eyes to shutter and hurt to flash across his face.
Instead, his lips stretched into a wry, self-deprecating smile.
“My sister said the same thing when she accosted me after the first Ordeal. Only she used much stronger words.”
Kiva recalled him sharing that only Naari and the injured Eidran had known the full version of his noble—but stupid—plan. “You didn’t even tell your family?”
“Mirryn and my cousin Caldon both knew a little.” He paused, before explaining further, “My brother, Oriel, was meant to be meeting Mirry and me at the winter palace, but he decided to stay in Vallenia at the last minute. Cal came instead, arriving a few days before Eidran broke his leg, so both he and Mirry were there when I changed the plan. I told them as much as I dared, then swore them to secrecy.” Jaren’s gaze turned inward as he went on, “When I learned that my family was to witness the first Trial, I had Naari send a message to Cal, begging him to come and act as if he was me.
We’ve done it before—we’re the same height and build, and the masks hide our faces. Plus, he owed me a favor.” A quick, quiet snort. “Multiple favors. People call me reckless, but Caldon is a menace.”
A menace, indeed. Kiva now realized it was Jaren’s cousin who had been on the gallows that day, and then had later come into the infirmary and flirted with her. She’d thought he was the one who had saved her. But it had never been him, never been Caldon.
“You saved me,” Kiva stated numbly, having already figured out the truth deep in the bowels of the Abyss but wanting to hear his confirmation, his admission. “In the Ordeals. All of them. Right from the first one, the Trial by Air.”
Jaren’s cheeks darkened slightly, barely discernible in the flamelight but enough to give him away. “I couldn’t stand to watch you die,” he said quietly. “I was just lucky that Mirry and Cal realized what I’d done and covered for me.” His tone filled with remorse as he continued, “I was so angry with myself afterward. Not for catching you,” he added quickly, “but for taking so long to decide to do it, which left you hitting the ground so hard . . .” He trailed off, his eyes apologetic.
The prince should have caught you sooner, Jaren had said after the first Ordeal, his face tight with anger as he’d talked about himself, berated himself. But Kiva barely remembered the pain she’d felt, so his regret—for that—was unnecessary.
“And the amulet? That was you, too?” she said, though she already knew the answer. “That was why you weren’t concerned about me before the fire Ordeal? Because you knew the magic, your magic, would protect me?”
Jaren looked even more uncomfortable, but he nodded.
“And then the water Ordeal . . . Why, Jaren? Why save me?”
“Because you’re good, Kiva,” he said, as if that was all that mattered. “I’ve watched you with the other prisoners—even people like Cresta, who go out of their way to make your life miserable—and you treat all of them the same. Hell, you even treat the Rebel Queen like the rest of them. Better, even. And I know you’ve already told me why, just as I know I’ll never fully understand. But I don’t have to, because I can see your heart. You didn’t deserve to die, and it was within my power to keep you alive. So I did.”
The enormity of what he was sharing wasn’t lost on her. He’d interfered with the Trial by Ordeal, not once, not twice, but three times. He’d saved her life, over and over again.
“I don’t know what to do with that,” she admitted, her voice hoarse.
“You don’t have to do anything with it,” he said, sliding further down the limestone wall, sounding weaker by the second. “You once told me that the world needs people like Tipp out there in it, that he’s wasted in here. I’d argue that the same is true about you.” Quieter, he finished, “I don’t expect anything from you, Kiva. I just want you to live. I want you to be free. And for that, you need to survive.”
Kiva closed her eyes at his words, at the longing she felt in her soul for them to be true. And they could be—right now, they were only just barely out of her reach. All she had to do was make it through this Trial, and she would have all of what Jaren wanted for her, all of what she wanted for herself.
“Then I guess we’d better find a way out of these tunnels,” Kiva said, emotion clogging her voice. She was sure everything she felt toward Jaren was shining in her eyes when she reopened them, so she looked away from him and into the dark passageway. “But we’re
running out of time. And Rooke seemed pretty confident that we would die down here.”
“We’ll be out within the hour, easily,” Jaren said. At Kiva’s surprised look, he added, “Rooke made a mistake sending me. He
all but guaranteed your success.”
Kiva raised an eyebrow.
“That sounded cockier than I intended,” Jaren said, his cheeks flushing again. “I just meant—” He shrugged slightly with his embarrassment, but the motion cost him, and he cut off with a groan, slipping even further down the wall, nearly on the ground again.
“What’s wrong with you?” Kiva finally found it in her to ask. “Is it your back?”
But she knew it wasn’t, not from the way he was holding himself.
“I’m fine,” Jaren panted, trying to reclaim the height he’d lost. “I
just need a second.”
Kiva stepped toward him. “Let me see.”
“I’m fine, Kiva,” he repeated. “Really, it’s noth—”
“Let me see,” she interrupted, using her sternest healer voice.
Jaren didn’t protest again, but he did sink down until he was on the ground completely, his shoulder propped against the wall, keeping his back from it, but also keeping his front from it.
“What happened?” she asked, pushing aside the sea of emotion still swirling within her to focus on him.
“The Butcher decided to leave me with a parting gift,” Jaren shared, if reluctantly.
Kiva’s stomach hollowed out as she knelt before him. Slowly, carefully, she reached for the hem of his tunic, drawing it up above the waistline of his pants, her mind at war with her heart. Inch by inch, his torso was exposed, the muscles rippling as the firelight revealed what the Butcher had done.
Kiva sucked in a swift breath at the deep, multicolored bruises, her eyes flicking up to Jaren’s to find him watching her steadily, waiting for her verdict.
Don’t think of him as a prince, she told herself, knowing it was what her father would have said. Don’t even think of him as Jaren— and definitely don’t think of him as a Vallentis. Just think of him as a patient.
“Let’s see what we have to work with here,” she said, forcing lightness into her voice, before she gently pressed her hand to his flesh.
Jaren hissed, and Kiva snapped her arm back, looking at him with concern, since she’d barely touched him.
“Sorry, your fingers are cold,” Jaren said, sounding embarrassed.
Looking it, too.
Kiva could have laughed. Might have, had she not been so raw from everything they’d just waded through.
“We can’t all make fire burst from our hands,” Kiva said, though she did rub hers together to heat them a little before reaching for him again.
As carefully as possible, she pushed against his bruises, trying to determine how bad the damage was. Despite everything, she hated that she was causing him pain, unable to miss his staggered breathing and muscle clenches every time she pressed too deep.
Kiva wasn’t sure who was more relieved when she finally sat back and declared, “A few cracked ribs, but I don’t think there’s internal bleeding. We’ll keep an eye on you, just to be sure.”
“Does that mean you’re not going to leave me on my own down here?”
His tone was joking, but Kiva saw a hint of worry in his eyes—not about whether she’d abandon him in his injured state, but about whether she was still upset enough to consider it.
Kiva didn’t ease his mind and only said, “Lean forward. I want to
check your back.”
“It’s—”
“If you say ‘it’s fine,’ I will leave you down here.”
Jaren promptly leaned forward, and Kiva pushed his tunic further up. What she saw caused her to simultaneously ice over and fill with fire. The deep, thick wounds were only partially healed, even after a fortnight. What the Butcher had done . . . the damage he had caused . . .
“These are healing well,” Kiva made herself say as she tried to stifle her anger—and her guilt. She ran her finger along one of the scabs, and Jaren shivered at her touch. “They look sore, though.”
“It was worth it,” Jaren said quietly, causing Kiva’s heart to stutter at his implication. He cleared his throat and added, “But yeah, they don’t feel great. Walking isn’t much fun.”
He didn’t need to mention what they both knew—that the Butcher’s newest beating had only enhanced his pain.
Having nothing on hand to help him, Kiva was just about to release his tunic when her eyes fell on one of his older scars, buried beneath fresher scabs, but still there. Seeking a distraction—any distraction—from how she felt at seeing his newer wounds, she touched a finger to it, causing Jaren to shiver again, but then he froze when she said, “You said someone close to you did this.”
Jaren pulled away from her, lowering his tunic himself. “Forget
what I said.”
Forget?
Forget?
He was the heir to the throne, one of the most protected people in the kingdom. And someone had hurt him. Had abused him. How could she just forget about that?
“Seriously,” Jaren said firmly, seeing her expression. “Just drop it.”
Kiva saw red. “Drop it?” she repeated, her anger rising anew.
“You’re willing to trust me with your magic and your identity and your
secret, forbidden plans, but not this?”
Jaren remained silent.
Her fury growing, Kiva pointed a finger right in his face and said, “After everything we’ve been through! After the Trials and the poison —the gods-damned poison that Naari swears your family will stop—
after all that, you want me to just—”
“It was my mother, all right!”
Kiva lurched backwards, Jaren’s shouted words echoing down the tunnel.
The queen had hurt him? Queen Ariana had scarred him?
The fire flickered, as if reacting to Jaren’s distress.
“She— It’s—” He broke off, cursed, ran a hand over his face, wincing as the move tugged at his abdomen. Taking a deep breath, he tried again. “It’s not really her. It’s the angeldust. She has a problem with it, sometimes takes too much. Too often. When that happens, she forgets who she is, gets confused, loses control.”
Compassion rose within Kiva, dousing her earlier fury. All of it.
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but it was clear Jaren wasn’t lying. It also explained why he wouldn’t take poppymilk or any other addictive drug. He’d seen what they could do when used incorrectly. He’d felt the effects. He lived with the scars.
She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but he got in first.
“Please,” he rasped out. “Don’t look at me like that. Don’t look at me like I’m broken.”
Kiva didn’t think he was broken. After everything she’d learned about him, she thought he just might be one of the strongest people
she knew.
And that terrified her.
“Come on,” she said, rising to her feet and holding out her hand.
“We should get going.”
Jaren stared at her fingers as if they would bite.
“You’re not saying anything,” he said.
“I just said something,” Kiva returned. “I said we should—”
“About my mother. My scars.”
Kiva looked down at him. “Do you want me to say something?” she asked. “Do you want me to tell you how sorry I am that you had to go through that? That I can’t imagine how hard it must have been?
That I think it’s incredible you can separate the drug from the user and still care about your mother enough to want to protect her?”
Jaren’s throat bobbed.
Kiva moved her hand closer to him, and this time he took it, allowing her to help him painfully to his feet. He swayed and tried to get his balance, her arms automatically coming around him to help steady him as she continued, “I can tell you all that, but I think you already know. Or at least, I hope you do.” She paused, but made herself finish, “I can also tell you that if she isn’t already getting help, then you need to get it for her.”
Jaren’s hands had come to rest on her waist as he’d tried to get his feet under him, but at Kiva’s words, even though she’d just begun to pull away, he drew her back again, curling his arms tightly around her back, until he was embracing her fully.
“Thank you,” he said in her ear, his voice rough with emotion.
She wasn’t sure what he was thanking her for—whether it was her lack of pity that he’d so feared, or her encouragement to get his mother the help she needed. Either way, her heart was beating almost out of her chest at his proximity, at how good it felt to be in his arms, even while she warred over everything she still knew about him, about herself.
But still, she allowed herself that moment. That one, single moment in time, melting into him and closing her eyes, wrapping her
arms around him in turn.
And then she remembered his wounds.
He hadn’t uttered any sound of pain, but she knew the embrace had to be hurting him—not just his back, but his cracked ribs too, with how tightly he held her. So she gently pushed back out of his hold, looking him in the eyes and asking, “Better?”
He offered a shy smile. “Better.”
“Good,” she said, with a perfunctory nod, as if her heart weren’t still pumping triple time. “Now, what were you saying before? About Rooke making a mistake sending you down here?”
“Ah, that,” Jaren said, rubbing his jaw and looking uncomfortable, but Kiva knew it wasn’t because of the moment they’d just shared.
He didn’t seem to have any problem showering her with affection.
But then again, he was a prince. He was probably used to women falling at his feet. She wrinkled her nose at the thought, and it distracted him enough that he deviated from what he’d been about to say, instead asking, “What was that look for?”
Kiva wasn’t about to admit what she’d been thinking, so she thought quickly and said, “I just realized I don’t know what to call you. Jaren? Deverick? I’m unsure of the protocol here.”
This time, it was Jaren who wrinkled his nose. “I hate the name Deverick. I always have. My middle name is Jaren—that’s what my friends and family call me.” Pointedly, he said, “That’s what you call
me, too.”
“Not Prince Jaren?” Kiva asked.
“No, just Jaren.”
“What about Your Highness?”
He pulled a face. “Definitely not.”
“Your Grace?”
“I’m not a duke.”
“Your Excellency?”
“Nor a lord.”
“Your Majesty?”
“Please stop.”
Kiva couldn’t believe she was holding back a laugh, after everything they’d just been through. But the look on his face . . .
“Fine, I’ll stop,” she agreed. “But only because I wouldn’t want you to throw me in prison.” She tapped a finger to her lip. “Oh, wait.”
“You’re hilarious,” Jaren deadpanned, but there was a renewed light in his eyes, and seeing it eased something within her. “For the record, I’ve never sent anyone to prison. And after being here myself . . .” He shuddered. “I never intend to. At least, not until this place has undergone some considerable restructuring. Things have to change.” In a quiet voice, as if making a promise to himself, he said, “Things will change.”
Kiva wanted to believe him. She really did. But he wouldn’t be able to follow through on any of his good intentions from the middle of the tunnel labyrinth.
“How about you start refining your prison takeover after we find a way out of here,” she said.
“Right,” Jaren agreed. “That’s what I was about to tell you—why Rooke made a mistake.”
“I’m listening,” Kiva said. She noticed that Jaren was beginning to sway again, so she made a decision, sliding up beside him and carefully wrapping her arm around his waist. She knew it would hurt him, but there was no way they’d be getting out of the tunnels at all if she didn’t help him walk.
“I hope it goes without saying that most of what I’ve told you today has to remain a secret,” Jaren said.
“I figured,” Kiva said, barely refraining from rolling her eyes.
Jaren paused for a long moment, as if deliberating what he was about to share. Finally, he said, “I broke your trust, so hopefully this will give you a reason to believe in me again. It’s something only a handful of people in the world know.”
Kiva’s ears pricked up, and she glanced at his face as he wrapped his arm more securely around her shoulders.
“Mirryn is a year older than me,” he said. “She should have been the heir, the crown princess, but then I came along.”
“Firstborn son gets the rights,” Kiva muttered. “Typical.”
“Actually, it’s not,” Jaren said. “Our ancestor, Queen Sarana, she ruled alone—after King Torvin left, I mean. Later in life, Sarana had a daughter, who went on to rule when she died. Then that daughter had a daughter, who had a daughter, and so it went, all down the line. A few princes rose to be kings if they happened to be the eldest siblings, but for the most part, Vallentis mothers tend to bear daughters as their firstborns.”
Kiva’s forehead crinkled. “Then why . . .”
“This is the part few people outside of my family know,” Jaren said, his tone serious enough for Kiva to realize how much he was trusting her right now. When she held his gaze, offering her own silent promise in return, he looked away from her, sending his floating fire ahead, where it stopped at a three-pronged fork in the tunnel, lighting it up.
A hollow feeling hit Kiva as she suddenly understood just how dire their situation was. This was the Trial by Earth—they’d been dropped deep beneath Zalindov prison, in the labyrinth of a tunnel system. It extended for miles in every direction, an unending maze that not even the guards could fully navigate. Some passages turned into dead ends, others were submerged and headed to the aquifer, and still more continued on seemingly forever. Without Jaren’s fire, they’d be blind down here. Perhaps that was what Rooke was counting on, his assumption that they’d be unable to see anything, left to feel their way through the darkness until dehydration, exhaustion, and starvation killed them.
No wonder the Warden had been so gleeful with his parting remark. What a hideous way to die.
But, while Jaren’s flames at least gave them light to see by, it didn’t help them get out of the tunnels. They were still lost; they still had no means to escape.
Perspiration began to bead on Kiva’s brow as a sudden, intense feeling of claustrophobia took hold of her. It wasn’t uncommon for tunnel sections to cave in, killing scores of prisoners in an instant.
Something like that could just as easily happen to her and Jaren.
“Kiva?” came Jaren’s voice, his arm squeezing her shoulder.
She blinked and looked up at him again, seeing the concern on his face and realizing that he’d been talking to her for some time.
“Sorry, what?” she asked, and even she could hear the fear threading her tone.
Understanding filled his expression, and he squeezed her again, this time in comfort.
“I was just saying, we need to go that way.” He used his free hand to point to the left fork. “About twenty minutes of walking, and we’ll be out, with plenty of time to spare.”
Kiva looked at the passage, then back to Jaren. “How do you
know?”
“Because I can feel it.”
“You can—”
Kiva cut herself off when she saw what Jaren was doing, using the same free hand to point at the ground. Before her eyes, the earth shifted, and out of the limestone came a green stem, leaves and thorns appearing on it, the end budding and flowering into the most
perfect snowblossom Kiva had ever seen.
But that wasn’t all.
More of the earth cleared away around the base of the blossom, easing backwards, and seconds later, a small moat appeared, filling swiftly with water.
Kiva stared at the display. Stared and stared and stared as realization hit her.
Jaren couldn’t just harness air and fire.
He could also control earth and water.
All four of the elements.
No one had claimed such power since Queen Sarana herself.
“Now you know all of my secrets,” Jaren said, his voice quiet. “And that’s why the Royal Council chose to name me as heir, not Mirryn.”
Kiva’s breaths sounded loud to her ears. She wasn’t sure how to process what she’d just learned, the magnitude of what he’d just shared. But she could feel how tense Jaren was beside her, his body locked as if afraid of her reaction, so she forced herself to relax and said, “So, we go left?”
Air rushed out of Jaren, a relieved, almost disbelieving laugh.
“Yeah,” he said. “We go left.”
As if he couldn’t help himself, he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her temple—his unspoken gratitude for her not making a big deal out of what was most definitely a big deal.
“Twenty minutes, huh?” Kiva said, still trying to remain as calm as possible on the outside while inside she was reeling. “I’m looking forward to seeing Rooke’s face when he realizes we’re alive.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing his face when he has to let you go free,” Jaren said, as they slowly began to walk in the direction of the bobbing firelight.
“That too,” Kiva said, unable to keep the wonder from her voice.
As far as the Trials went, this one was the easiest—by far—but only because of Jaren. Without him and his elemental magic sniffing out the exit, Kiva would have met her death in these tunnels. She was sure of it.
Jaren hesitated for a moment, but then, as they turned down the left fork and continued on, the fire floating before them, he warily said, “Tilda will be freed with you.”
Kiva understood how this was a problem for him. Frankly, she was still amazed that he’d saved her in all of the Ordeals, when it meant he was also saving his mortal enemy. A strange, tingling sensation blossomed within her, but she stamped it down. Now was not the time. She still had so much to think about, so much to reconcile.
“She’s really sick, Jaren,” Kiva said. “Rebel Queen or not, she’s hardly a threat.”
“For now,” he returned. “But if she gets better—”
“That’s a problem for another day,” Kiva said firmly.
Jaren’s tension didn’t fade, and Kiva couldn’t blame him, knowing who he was, and who Tilda was to him. She grappled for a compromise, something that would get Tilda out of Zalindov, but also neutralize the danger he feared her to be.
“You could take her back to Vallenia with you,” Kiva said, though it cost her. “Your royal healers would be able to do so much more for her than anyone else. And if she recovers, then you might still be able to get the answers you came here for. You could find out what
the rebels are planning, even ask why she was in Mirraven to begin with. She’d be free of Zalindov, but safe in your custody.”
Kiva wasn’t sure if she’d ever hated herself more. But this way, Tilda stood a chance at getting better—a good chance, since the royal healers were renowned for their skills. The only problem was, it would leave the Rebel Queen in the hands of her enemies.
But at least she would be alive.
To Kiva, that was what mattered the most. She hadn’t risked her life over and over just so Tilda could die.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Jaren admitted. “But if it doesn’t work out”—Kiva braced herself, certain he was about to mete out Tilda’s execution sentence right then and there—“the most important thing is that you’re free, even if it means she is, too.” Jaren’s thumb stroked her shoulder. “We’ll deal with the consequences later.”
If Kiva hadn’t been bearing most of his weight, she might have collapsed into a heap at the significance of his words. He was willing to let the Rebel Queen walk free just so that she could, too? That
was . . . that was . . .
It was outrageous.
It was unbelievable.
And it filled Kiva with warmth from head to toe.
But then she had another thought, and while she didn’t want to push her luck, she couldn’t keep from asking, “You know how you’re a prince?”
Jaren chuckled, his body moving against hers as they turned down another passageway lit by his flames. “I’m aware.”
“Well . . .” Kiva bit her lip, not even sure how to ask.
“The answer is yes, Kiva.”
She shuffled the two of them around a large slab of limestone in the path before saying, “What answer?”
“I assume you’re trying to ask me about Tipp,” Jaren guessed, correctly. “There’s no way I’m letting him stay in here. Once you’re free, he’s free. I’ll make it happen.”
Tears filled Kiva’s eyes, and she didn’t try to hide them when Jaren turned to look at her.
“Thank you,” she said, with obvious feeling. While she’d already spoken with the Warden about becoming Tipp’s guardian if she
survived the Trials, after all she’d since learned about Rooke, she feared he might renege on their deal just to spite her. Now, at least, she had the backing of the crown prince. Tipp would finally be free.
Jaren sent her a soft smile in return, before his face turned serious. “I don’t know if you have anyone out there waiting for you.
Either of you. But I was thinking—I mean, I was hoping—” He stopped and tried again. “If you want to, I would really love to show you Vallenia. Both you and Tipp.”
For the second time in the space of minutes, Kiva nearly
crumpled.
Stay alive.
Don’t let her die.
We are coming.
“You want us to come with you?” she choked out. “Back to the capital?”
“We’d have to stop at the winter palace first,” Jaren said, “just for a fortnight or so, until the spring thaws set in and make travel easier.
But then, yes. Back to the city.”
“And we’d live with you, at the castle?”
Jaren nodded. “I was thinking you might want to take a class or two at the academy, continue honing your craft.”
The healer academy. Kiva couldn’t believe what Jaren was offering, the golden plate he was holding before her.
“And Tipp’s around the same age as Oriel,” he continued. “My brother can be a little terror, but he has a good heart. I think they’d get on really well. Plus, Ori would help Tipp with his studies, which I’m guessing might need some catching up.”
More tears filled Kiva’s eyes at the dream he was laying out. At the possibilities she could see so clearly in her mind’s eye.
But . . . her family . . .
We are coming.
They hadn’t come for her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t go to them. Her brother had written her, told her where they were. His implication had been clear: they were waiting.
For ten years, she’d longed to be with them again. But now that she might finally be free to do so . . .
Kiva didn’t know what she wanted anymore. She couldn’t deny that they’d hurt her, disappointed her, for a decade. They’d promised to come, but they hadn’t, not even after her father had died. She’d been alone, left to fend for herself, to survive more horrors than they would ever know.
And yet . . . they were still her family.
She loved them.
Just as she knew they loved her.
“Don’t answer now,” Jaren said quickly, cutting into her thoughts.
“Just— Just think about it, all right?”
Kiva could only nod. And then when Jaren indicated for her to turn right, she did so, helping him hobble down the long, dark tunnel, having no idea where it would end, but certain that whatever was around the corner would change her life forever.
Kiva had been right about the coming change.
But not in the way she’d anticipated.
It was Jaren who realized much sooner than she did; Jaren who noticed that there were no workers in the tunnels, no prisoners digging away to extend them, to find more water.
The labyrinth was empty.
And when his earth magic finally guided them to the ladder chute and they painstakingly climbed to the surface, it became clear that Kiva’s success over the Trials was to be put on hold.
There was no one waiting for them.
No Rooke, no Naari, no guards at all.
Only screams.
