Twenty

"Well, that was surprising."

Noor collapsed on my bed as I began removing my jewelry.

"Yes." I held myself as still as I could, like if I moved I would utterly fall apart.

Then I closed my eyes and allowed everything I had kept at bay wash over me.

The shock at seeing Maz.

The conflict I felt when my eyes met his.

The anger at my father's swords on display like a trophy in Casildo's house.

"I didn't expect Mazin there. It was sloppy of me. I should have imagined that possibility."

" We should have," she agreed. "But it doesn't change the course of things."

"No, we can just move forward with the next phase of the plan quicker."

Noor nodded. "I'll bring coins to the bazaar tomorrow and coordinate the next steps." She moved to leave the room but then paused, seeming to hesitate.

"What is it?" All the exhaustion of wearing a face and personality of someone else was catching up to me, and my voice sounded weary. The effects of the zoraat running through my veins set me on edge, like something dark gnawing at my stomach.

I remembered with a start the black mark that had appeared on my finger, like a spider crawling down my hand. But when I examined it now, it wasn't there. Sanaya's burnished brown skin was all I saw. No marks, not even a bruise.

"Are you okay?"

I exhaled, looking back up at Noor. She studied me with a frown. I spread my fingers out again, but there was nothing. Had I imagined it?

"I've been better."

"I know. When Casildo said Mazin's name…" She trailed away with a shudder. "You seem to be handling it well, though."

I shrugged, a gesture of nonchalance I didn't feel. "I knew I would see Maz eventually. I didn't expect it so soon, but I can adjust."

"And you're sure you want to continue with everything? His sister seems sweet."

I scowled at her. "Yes, I'm sure. I don't have a conscience where he is concerned."

She bit her lip. "Even if the sister gets hurt too?"

"He is the reason my father is dead, so yes. Even if his sister gets hurt too."

Noor nodded and her hands curled into fists. "As long as the plan is still to go after Vahid. I need to know he won't get away with everything he's done. That at the end of all this, he will be left with only ashes."

"Just as we were," I said quietly, the room seeming to darken as I did so. I cast a glance at the window, the moon casting a shadow of Vahid's palace.

She walked toward it, placing her hands on the frame and turning back to me. The moon lit her as well, and I saw the sorrow in her brown eyes. "Yes. Just like we were."

I knew she was thinking of Souma, just as I was thinking of my father.

I continued removing my jewelry, the weight lifting from me with every piece I took off. Gilt bangles on my wrists, a thick golden choker with dangling rubies around my neck, a filigreed ruby tikka pinned in my hair, a gold nath from my nose, all landed with a thud in the bowl on the table.

When I was done, I rubbed my wrists and felt as though I could breathe again.

"By the way, there's definitely something you didn't tell me," Noor said, leaning back against the window.

I stretched my arms overhead, linking my knuckles together and pushing my hands up. It had been a while since I'd trained, and I needed to build up some of the muscle I'd lost in prison. "What?"

She smirked, mirth entering her eyes. "You never mentioned how attractive Mazin was."

I stared. Then wordlessly I bent down, took off my curled-toe shoe, and lobbed it at her head.

She ducked, undeterred. "Those cheekbones? The dark eyes? No wonder you are cut up over him."

"Shut up," I muttered, spinning on my heel.

"You never told me his shoulders were that broad!"

I ordered tea as the room filled with Noor's laughter.

"Can you be serious for once?"

"Why, when you are serious enough for the both of us?"

I knew she was only doing it to lighten the mood, but there was a grain of truth in it. I hadn't handled Mazin's appearance well. He had still managed to draw me to him, and the lure of him was even stronger than before.

But I couldn't let myself fall into my own trap. I scrubbed my hands over my face and tried to let that sink in.

The door opened and a servant entered with tea. She placed it on the table, gave a bow, and then left.

I took a long sip, the hot chai warming my throat and bringing me back to myself.

"I want the world to see what a coward Casildo is," I said as Noor turned toward me. "I want his friends and family to turn their back on him. I want him to lose everything he's ever had." My hand gripped the edge of the table. "I don't have long with this face. If we don't get what we came here for, it would be the same as if we never left that prison."

Noor watched me, her unfathomable golden eyes taking me in with the same assessment she had when she first entered my cell. "Like I said, you are serious enough for the both of us."

I huffed out a breath and sat back on the divan. A gust of wind rushed through the room, rustling the curtains.

If I listened hard enough, it almost sounded like the same whispers I'd heard in Souma's cave as I touched the zoraat.

Revenge.

"I have a task for you," I said suddenly, pulling myself from those thoughts, from that memory of my father's decaying corpse.

Noor walked over, picked up the chai from my hands, and took a great gulp out of my cup.

"We have more gold than you've ever seen in your life and you can't order your own cup of chai?"

"Stealing yours tastes better."

I rolled my eyes. "I want you to follow Casildo. I want to know every move he makes, and I want to know everything that's important to him. If there's a crack in his foundation, I want to know about it."

"So you can flood it with water?"

I smiled. "So I can erode the very earth he walks on."

"Make a list of things that will destroy Casildo. Got it. What will you be doing?"

I swiped my cup of chai from her and leaned back on the divan. "I'll be going shopping."