Page 133 of The Gilded Cage

“They want to make a swap,” Rhess answered. “Prince Deverick — Jaren — for us. They think he’ll go for it, especially with you here.”

“We need to escape before he does something stupid,” Kiva said, stating the obvious.

“I’m working on it,” Rhess said, continuing to pluck at the ropes.

Thinking about everything else the men had said, Kiva asked, “Do you know what bargain they were talking about? The debt they said is overdue?”

“Thatwas particularly worrying, I’ll admit,” Rhess said. “I have no idea what they meant by it, but I don’t have a good feeling.”

“Are yousureyou don’t know anything?” Kiva pressed, shifting her hands. The bonds were loosening, but she was nowhere near free yet. “You’re a rebel. And Tor’s second, or best friend, or — whatever.”

“He tells me everything,” Rhess said, doing something to the ropes that had Kiva wincing. “If he knew about some deal your mother made, I’d know.”

“I’m pretty sure Zuleeka knows,” Kiva said, recalling her sister’s veiled words again, and the way the Mirraven men had said her name so boldly.

Rhessinda’s voice changed to one of displeasure. “How shocking.”

Kiva couldn’t keep from asking, “You and my sister ... ?”

“My allegiance is to Tor,” Rhess declared firmly. “I don’t give a damn about the rebel cause, but I’d give my life for him. I owe him that much after everything he’s done for me. So where he goes, I go. And if that means I have to put up with your scheming snake of a sister, then so be it.” Pulling away from Kiva’s ropes again, she quickly said, “Maybe don’t mention that last part to her.”

Kiva hid a smile. “My sister and I aren’t on the greatest of terms, either.” She thought about what Delora had said, how Zuleeka had kept the truth of their mother’s dark magic hidden, and their tainted family history. But then she remembered how Zuleeka had apologized for her behavior, how she was trying to mend their relationship, as she’d promised she would. Quietly, Kiva added, “But we’re working on it.”

“Good luck with that,” Rhess muttered. “Just don’t forget that vipers have fangs.”

“You really don’t like her, do you?”

Rhess sighed and gave a particularly vicious tug to Kiva’s ropes, after which came the sound of threads snapping. Still, Kiva wasn’t yet free. “I’m sorry, I know she’s your sister. Tor and I made an agreement long ago not to talk about her. He’s very committed to his family, no matter what choices they make.”

They.

“If you’ve been with them for five years, does that mean you knew my mother?”

Rhess said nothing, before clearing her throat and replying, “I did.”

Those two words were loaded with feeling, very little of which was good.

“I didn’t know her well,” Rhess went on. “Tilda was very ... fixated. On her goals. By the time I joined the rebels, she wasn’t around much, leaving the camp often with Zuleeka. Tor was miserable. He felt like he’d lost both his sister and his mother, but he channeled that into his training, growing stronger and more skilled, and making the rebels fall in love with him in the process. I think that, without him as their general, they’d crumble under Zuleeka’s leadership. She’s the cunning, he’s the heart.”

Another snap of ropes, and Kiva could wiggle her hands more.

“Nearly done,” Rhess said.

Determining to think about her messed-up family later, Kiva said, “Once I’m free, we’ll have to hurry.” She looked toward Tipp. “Has he regained consciousness?”

“For a few minutes. He knew his name, remembered what happened, asked about you. But then he passed out again.”

Relief swept over Kiva at hearing he’d been lucid enough to talk. “We need to get him away from here and properly looked at. Any ideas for how we avoid our abductors on the way out?”

“We’ll just have to wing it,” Rhess said. “Tor will know something is wrong by now, so he should be looking for us. I was meant to meet him just after lunch, and that was hours ago.”

“Tor’s in the city?”

“Him and Zuleeka,” Rhess said. “For the party.”

In the turmoil of everything else, Kiva had forgotten that Mirryn had invited her siblings to the masquerade, and she cursed inwardly at her unending nightmare of a day.

“If we can get out of here, we can find him and —” Rhess cut off with a triumphant sound, and an instant later, the ropes around Kiva’s hands were gone.

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