Page 57 of The Gilded Cage

She could see how much he hated this plan, but he finally offered a terse nod and said, “Just — be careful. Delora is unpredictable. And she has a very unusual guard dog. The kind you don’t want biting you.”

Hearing Zuleeka’s snort, Kiva decided it was better not to ask.

“I need to go back to Oakhollow soon,” she said. “Rhess knows I’m meeting you, but I still think I should be back before she returns to the tavern.”

“Rhess?” Zuleeka asked, her eyes flitting to Tor in question. But he hadn’t met her, having arrived at the Tippled Boar long after she’d left.

“Rhessinda Lorin,” Kiva answered. “A healer from Silverthorn. She does house calls in the village, and when she heard I wanted to come here, she offered to be my guide.”

“You’re meeting all kinds of people lately, aren’t you?” Zuleeka murmured.

“Not really,” Kiva returned with a hint of attitude. “So far I’ve been too busy getting abducted by my own family, tortured by a prince, and befriended by a queen who unknowingly ruined my life. That doesn’t leave me much time to socialize.”

Tor leaned in close, his eyes suddenly blazing. “What do you mean, ‘tortured by a prince’?”

Kiva quickly put him at ease. “Caldon has been teaching me to fight. Or that’s the intention. For now, he’s just making me regret my last ten years of malnutrition and inactivity.”

Tor’s tension dissolved. “You’re training with Prince Caldon?”

“Being tortured,” Kiva reminded him. “I’mbeing torturedby Caldon.”

“What a waste of time,” Zuleeka said with clear humor. “The only weapon you’ll ever need is right at your fingertips.”

Kiva looked down at her palms. “Magic isn’t a weapon.” She thought of what the Vallentis family could do, and added, “Mine isn’t, at least.”

“Magic is what you make it,” Zuleeka argued. “It’s a tool you bend to your will.”

“Weapons hurt people,” Kiva said. “My magic heals people.”

“You said yourself that you’ve been repressing it for a decade. You haveno ideawhat it can do. Whatyoucan do.”

Before Kiva could say anything to that, Tor cut in.

“There’s no point to this conversation,” he said, with a firm look at Zuleeka. “If you want to be back at the tavern before Rhessinda, we should get going.”

He started to rise, but Kiva pulled him back down.

“I didn’t say that so we’d leave immediately,” she said. “I have more to tell you.”

Both Zuleeka and Torell straightened, giving her their full attention.

“I —” Kiva started, but for some reason, she had trouble continuing.

“Don’t rush, we have all day,” Zuleeka drawled.

Tor shot her a look, then said to Kiva, “Take your time. Gather your thoughts.”

At his encouragement, Kiva decided to jump straight in. “The throne can’t be taken by force.”

“What makes you say that?” Zuleeka asked, her gaze sharp.

“I don’t know how many rebels there are, but it won’t make a difference — the palace is too defensible,” Kiva said. She made a split second decision not to mention the secret tunnel entrance, since it wasn’t as if they could sneak the entire rebel force through without gaining attention. Or that was what she tried to tell herself, if only to lessen her guilt. “Even if you managed to overcome the Royal Guard, the armies would be recalled, and they’d just take the throne right back again.”

“I assume you meant to say ‘we,’” Zuleeka said dryly.

Kiva ignored her and went on, “The only way to truly take and keep the crown is through legitimacy. The citizens of Evalon won’t accept you —us— unless they’re given a reason that can’t be ignored. Something lawful, something just. Either that, or willful public abdication by the Vallentis family. But we all know that’s never going to happen.”

“Lawful and just,” Zuleeka repeated thoughtfully. Dark amusement lit her features as she asked, “How do you feel about marrying a prince, little sister? Is that legitimate enough for you?”

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