Page 84 of Heir

Quil felt helpless. Useless. Enraged. Which was, he thought later, the only explanation for what happened next.

He walked out of the bathing chamber. Sirsha had left his bedside lamp on, but put out her own and was a lump beneath her covers, breathing rhythmically. He was about to blow out his light when she spoke.

“Quil.” Sirsha turned toward him and propped herself up, damp hair loose around her shoulders. “I— There’s something I need to tell you.”

He waited, apprehensive.

“I wasn’t honest with you about why I wanted to take the highway to Ankana,” she said in a rush. “It would be safer. But there’s also someone I need to see, and she lives two days off the Palm Road, not too far from the border. She can tell me more about the killer’s magic. But I—I think she can help you, too.”

Sirsha leaned toward Quil, her scent washing over him. “You’re trying to learn more about the Kegari. But you know nothing about the magic that powers their Sails.”

“Magic—” Quil felt as if he’d been punched in the stomach. For if the Kegari had magic, the Empire was in worse shape than he’d imagined.“What magic? Arelia said their Sails are remarkable feats of engineering. They have superior weaponry—”

“They keep the Sails aloft with magic.” Sirsha bit her lip, sensing she was treading on uncertain ground. “I—I can feel it. The Martials don’t know this?”

Quil gaped, his mind finally catching up to the dread pooling in his gut. “Why didn’t you mention this? We’ve been traveling together for weeks.”

She looked taken aback. “The man in Jibaut, the wind he used on you—that was magic. It didn’t occur to me that you didn’t know.”

Of course.Quil had thought the wind was some unholy Kegari innovation.The simplest answer is usually the right one.“Maybe it did occur to you,” Quil snapped. “But you couldn’t use the information to your benefit until now.”

Sirsha pulled her covers up. “No! I mean, yes, I’m telling you now because I want to go and see this person. But we could go together. I could ask her about the killer, and you can—”

“I watched my city burn,” he said. “I watched my people die. I know that might not mean anything to you, as someone who doesn’thavepeople. If we’d known the Kegari had magic—”

“How would it have helped?” Sirsha’s face grew hard, her voice sneering. “You were running from them. You’restillrunning. All you’ve done since I met you is run.”

“And save your neck,” he retorted. “Though I’m regretting it now.”

He dropped into his bed and blew out the light, plunging them into darkness. His temper seethed at Sirsha’s past subterfuge. At what the Kegari had done to the Empire. At himself for not stopping it. At his deceitful heart for feeling—whatever he’d felt for Sirsha, and forgetting Ilar so quickly.

“This person,” Sirsha said after a long moment, her voice careful. “She can help. Think about it. Discuss it with the others.”

“They’ll be interested to learn you kept this from them too,” he said, knowing it would sting. Sirsha liked Suf and Reli, and they her. They’d be as frustrated at her earlier duplicity as he was.

Though he kept a secret from them too. Neither of them knew about his magic. Or about—

Dash that thought from your head, boy.The Bani al-Mauth’s order echoed, and Quil forced himself to focus on Sirsha.

“I suppose I should thank you for being honest now.” He stared at the ceiling, numb.Magic, bleeding hells. The Empress must not know.“Though I can’t imagine what brought it on.”

“Something you said,” she offered quietly.

He grunted in irritation. “And what was that?”

She didn’t respond. But hours later, when he woke, he remembered a dream in which he heard her voice, a whisper.

We’re with you. You’re not alone.

24

Sirsha

Guilt, Sirsha decided the next morning as she saddled her horse, was a useless emotion. All it did was rob her of sleep that she richly deserved after riding like a jinn for a week straight without complaint.

Well. With minimal complaint.

She’d felt guilt too frequently of late. It was Quil’s fault. Now she was finished with guilt, and him.

---