Page 13 of Kingdom of Ashes & Bone
“Mari. Can I come in?”
At least he asked.Zariah would have just barged in.
I sat up on my cot as he peeked his head into my tent. I wiped my nose and sniffed hard, waving him inside.
In a few quick strides, he made it to my cot, and went down on one knee in front of me. His full lips turned down at the sight of tears on my face, one thumb grazing gently against my skin as he wiped them away.
“Hey. I get it. We both—”
I seized him in a hug, unable to sort the chaotic emotions swirling in my head and hurt. He did get it, didn’t he? We’d both grown up unwanted and unloved. We were trash from the mud quarter that was expendable. The lights from the lanterns flickered once, the metal shapes groaning against their iron brackets as a stray breeze sliced in from somewhere. The lanterns swayed back and forth before settling again into stillness.
His arms slowly settled on the tops of my shoulders, his grip light and unsure. Oh fuck, now I’d gone and made him uncomfortable!
I pulled away, flushed red. “Sorry. I need to get a grip. Sorry.”
He blinked at me, his face blank and completely unreadable. “Yes. Well. I just wanted to offer my condolences, as mentioned, and ensure you were all right. Would you like something to eat? I have a bit of jerky here in my satchel.”
I put a hand on his as he fumbled in the pouch at his side. “No thanks. Just … just knowing you cared to check on me was really nice.”
I smiled gently, and he met it with another oddly detached look that slowly curled into a small grin of his own.
“Good. I would like us to be friends. I feel like we could help each other out quite a bit,” he said softly. Gods, it was strange to see Zion and Zariah staring back at me when it wasn’t actually Zion or Zariah. He left me alone in my tent.
The weight of everything came crashing down on me at once. So many dead girls. So many dead Nobles. And why? For some curse no one knew the cause of?
Hot tears leaked down my cheeks, and for only the second time in my life, I didn’t try to stop them. I wasn’t in the mud quarter or at court any longer, so there was no one I needed to be strong for. In the privacy of this tent, no one would know if I broke down.
So I did.
I cried for Oleria, who’d found her own freedom even though it cost her so much, only to have it literally ripped away by a demon that Zephyr or Shava could have killed before they even changed. I cried for my mother, who was alone in the palace with only Ell to look after her. I cried for my friends and everyone in the mud quarter, all of us trapped by circumstance and forced to dance to the queen’s song.
My head shot up. That was the end game, wasn’t it? If I could take down the queen, I could return to the palace. We could figure out a better way to deal with the Noble curse, and Zariah and Zion wouldn’t be forced to kill anymore.
All right. Tonight I would mope in my bed. I’d cry and mourn the loss of Oleria and the innocence of my friends, but only until morning.
Then I’d start planning a rebellion.
ChapterFour
It was Shava’s turn to pause outside of my tent the next morning, and after dressing, I opened the flap and held it for her.
My path forward was clear. Oleria was dead. I was determined to find Wisteria and ensure no one else died due to Shava or Zephyr’s negligence, indifference, and stupidity. I hadn’t really decided what letting a bunch of Nobles who would quickly become rapid demons hang out with young kids and scared women qualified as, so I labeled it as all of the above.
Hopefully, Shava would want to join me on my adventures, just like old times.
“Did you know her well? That … girl.” Shava began, sitting on the edge of the cot and looking around the tent as she spoke.
That girl?
“Oleria,” I spat out, then softened. “I guess not. We were only in the castle for a week or two. All the girls bonded. Kind of.”
Shava snorted, but I ignored the slight. Was she trying to find fault with everything I said and did? It was unlike her. I decided to try another tactic.
“Zephyr is incredible. He’s done all of this,” I said instead, gesturing around me vaguely. As predicted, her eyes lit up.
A smirk curled at the corner of my mouth. “I can see why you fancy him. He’s much more charismatic than the princes. Probably due to his more humble background.”
Not that it was Zion or Zariah’s fault that they were part spoiled prince. It couldn’t be helped.
