Page 54 of The Gilded Cage

“Innocent?” Zuleeka barked out a laugh. “You’ve been spending too much time with your handsome prince. It doesn’t take much, does it? Baby blue eyes and tousled golden hair, and you’re ready to give up everything we’ve worked for.”

“You’ve worked for,” Kiva said tightly. “Everythingyou’veworked for. Because in case you forgot, I was locked away that whole time, having no idea what was happening.”

“Oh, I haven’t forgotten,” Zuleeka said darkly. “You got to sit back and relax for a decade while we gave every part of ourselves to the cause. Our blood, our sweat, our tears, all for you.”

Kiva spluttered.“Sit back and re — ”She broke off quickly. “What do you mean, ‘all for me’?”

“Oh, please, as if you haven’t figured it out,” Zuleeka scoffed.

“Figuredwhatout?”

“That Mother is dead because of you.”

Kiva felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. “What?” she breathed.

“Zu —”

“No, Tor,” Zuleeka interrupted, slicing her eyes to him. “If she’s so desperate for answers, then she can deal with the consequences.”

A muscle feathered in Torell’s cheek, but he didn’t try to stop her again.

Turning back to the white-faced Kiva, Zuleeka said, “Mother was sick. A rotting illness, something we couldn’t find a cure for. She could heal anyone else in seconds, but her magic never worked on herself. The infection spread slowly, over years, something none of us realized until it was too late.”

Kiva closed her eyes, remembering how Tilda had arrived at Zalindov, a mere shell of a human.

“When the end was near, she became obsessed with freeing you. She was convinced thatyoushould be the one to take over as Rebel Queen,” Zuleeka went on, her features grim. “But Galdric and the other leaders knew Zalindov was too well fortified and the risk was too great. Once, they might have led the rescue themselves, since Mother spent years talking about how powerful you were, even as a child. All along, they’d intended for her to take the throne and you to be her heir — the Corentine blood in your veins was undeniable. But as Tor rose through the ranks to become general, and as I earned the respect of Galdric and his peers, they decided that we were enough to lead in Mother’s place, even without your supposedly immeasurable magic. The rebel leaders knew we were Torvin’s descendants, they didn’t require anything more to see us on the throne. But Mother —” Zuleeka looked away. “The sicker she became, the more determined she was to see you one last time.”

Kiva was having trouble breathing. “I was told she was captured in Mirraven.”

“She was,” Tor said, his voice thick.

“But only because she walked right into Zadria and knocked on the castle gates,” Zuleeka said. “King Navok was more than happy to make a deal with the Rebel Queen, knowing how much it would piss off the Vallentis family — and how desperate they were to get their hands on her. In return, he only had to make it so the negotiations between kingdoms resolved with her heading to Zalindov. Toyou.”

In a hoarse voice, Kiva shared, “But I didn’t get to speak with her. Not really. She was so sick when she arrived. And she was — she was blind. You said she wanted to see me, but she —” Kiva sucked in a quick, painful breath and looked down at the table. “She didn’t get to see me.”

“No, she didn’t,” Zuleeka said. “Andyoudidn’t save her.”

Kiva looked up again sharply. “I —”

“— healed some random child instead.” Zuleeka sneered. “Well done, sis. Way to put your family first.”

“No.” Kiva shook her head. “No, that’s not — Tipp isn’t — It was too late. I wasn’t there when she died. There was nothing I could do. I can’t — I can’t bring back the dead.”

“And what about Father?” Zuleeka shot back. “Were you in the middle of an Ordeal when he died, too?”

Kiva turned to Torell, who looked like he was about to jump in and rescue her, but he hesitated, the grief on his face raw as he waited to hear what she would say.

“Papa made me promise,” Kiva whispered. “I swore not to use my magic. Not even on him.”

“And now both our parents are dead, and some boy — sorry,Tipp— is alive and well?” Zuleeka said. “Sounds fair.”

“All right, that’s enough,” Tor finally stepped in, though his words were quiet.

Ignoring him, Zuleeka kept her burning gaze on Kiva and said, “One decision, that’s all it would have taken. What’s the point of having magic if you’re too afraid to use it?”

Tears prickled Kiva’s eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. Shehadbeen afraid. She wasstillafraid. But even so, when the time had come to act, she’d put Tipp’s life before her own, unable to watch as he —

“Wait, how do you know about Tipp?” Kiva asked, her voice thick. “No one else was in the infirmary.” No one but Tilda, who was already dead.

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