Page 138 of Heir

“Don’t pester her with questions, love!” Noa batted Olnas away. “Let me look at you, my girl—”

Her wrinkled old face was full of affection when she took Aiz’s cheeks in her hands. But her smile faded the longer she looked, and after a moment, she dropped her arms.

And took a step back.

“Aiz,” she said quietly. “What has this cost you?”

In that moment, Aiz could have said a dozen things. She could have lied. She could have ignored Noa’s question entirely. But she’d lied for months. Now, facing the woman who was like a mother to her, the truth was all she had.

“Too much, Sister,” she said. “But it’s too late to take it back now.”

Cero appeared then, openly circumspect. He would have questions, Aiz knew. More than anyone else, he would prod her about the source of Mother Div’s power. But she would deal with that later. Now she must think only of what was next for her people. Not questions Cero would have. Not the shadow of the little boy who helped her discover Mother Div. Not the Kegari children who’d died moments ago to feed Mother Div’s need. Not Noa seeing something no one else saw, the rot at Aiz’s core.

But even as Aiz tried to push away her disquiet, one word that Mother Div had uttered gnawed at her.

Your people need a leader.

Notour.

Your.

The images faded, and Quil returned to the war camp, to the Tel Ilessi pacing before him, still absorbed in whatever paltry excuses she was making for herself.

Strange that the whole world still existed outside this tent when everything he believed had been shattered. Quil felt apart from himself, as if watching from above, because the horror of being in his body and experiencing this betrayal was too staggering.

The memory told Quil all he needed to know. Ilar—or Aiz—was telling the truth. She was possessed by no demon other than her own ambition. She’d stood by as the creature she’d bound herself to—Mother Div—murdered Ruh and countless others. She’d bartered her humanity for power.

Ruh!Sweet, trusting Ruh who had tried tohelpAiz. Quil’s eyes went hot as he remembered Elias’s broken sobs when Quil told him his son was gone. Laia’s keening. Sufiyan’s silence. All because of this…thingstanding in front of him, feeling sorry for herself.

She might wear Ilar’s skin, but she wasn’t Ilar anymore. She’d never been Ilar. She’d never loved Quil, not truly. And it wasn’t just her betrayal Quil reeled from. The Ankanese had been allied with Kegar all this time. Quil recognized the seer in Aiz’s memory the moment she thought of the woman’s face. Ambassador Ifalu—supposed friend to the Martials. Skies only knew how much damage she’d caused.

A crawling, full-body disgust gripped Quil. He’d been such a fool. Skies, everything he’d told her about Navium and Antium and Serra. About his aunt. About the drums and the Masks. Aunt Hel thought there was a spy among them. But it had been him. He hadn’t even known it.

His chest twisted as he grieved again, not just for the girl who died in that terrible chamber, but for the boy he’d been, naive and starry-eyed enough to believe she was who she claimed to be. For Ruh, who hadtrusted them all, not knowing the fiend they’d allowed in their midst.

But now Quil knew. And he didn’t have time for questions or stunned disbelief or even horror. That instinct bred into him from birth told him he’d have one chance to kill her. And it would only work if her guard was down.

So, Quil made himself look at the Tel Ilessi, listen—and wait.

38

Aiz

Standing in the war camp, surrounded by her army, the memory of Tiral’s death seemed so long ago. Now Aiz observed Quil, weaponless and powerless, and her heart ached. He’d been kind to her. Loved her. If not for him, she would have known nothing of Loha or the Empire.

Aiz was not indifferent. Even now, she wished to touch him. To seek comfort in his arms.

Get what you need, Tel Ilessi, she told herself.Forget the rest.

“I have a holy mission to save my people, Quil.” Aiz traced theDcarved into her hand. “There are hundreds of thousands of Kegari, but there used to be millions. Long ago, we sent emissaries all over. When we offered our Sails to trade, we were told they were worthless, because only we could call the wind. When we offered our engines, the Mehbahnese took our secrets and gave us little in return. The only country that aided us is Ankana, but we cannot rely on their kindness forever.

“I’m not a fool. I know that raiding our neighbors will not sustain us. But if we go to our homeland across the sea, we can support ourselves. This is the heart of my holy task—we call it the Return.”

“Howholycan your task be if it requires the destruction of another land?”

“You haven’t seen your people starve.” Aiz craved understanding the way Div craved hearts. “You haven’t watched children scream as their parents are conscripted, and then die in the gutter of cold and hunger.”

“No.” Quil met her gaze calmly. Too calmly. “But I have seen them begging for mercy while your army dropped bombs on them and cut them down.”

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