Page 44 of Of Glass and Ashes

Chapter Twenty-Two

Zaina

My senses are on alert before I even hear the scraping of metal on the balcony door — the sound of a lock being picked.

Helga went to dinner with Einar, and Gunnar is standing guard outside the main door. So, I retreat into the bedroom where Khijhana is napping to spy on whoever is desperate or foolish enough to break into Einar’s room.

The answer shouldn’t surprise me.

And it doesn’t, really.

Seeing Aika’s face, though... that’s something else entirely. The day I went to the caves expecting to die, I resigned myself to never seeing my sisters again. Part of me still obstinately refused to hope, even as we embarked on the journey here.

Now that Aika is standing not twenty feet from me, lines of fatigue etched around her wide, angular eyes that weren’t there before, I can’t remember how to breathe.

She’s alive.

For now, anyway. Not for long, climbing on icy balconies in a fitted dress and risking the wrath of a chalyx.

What is she thinking?

She pauses in the doorway, looking almost... lost. She’s so small, several inches shorter than I am. Suddenly, I don’t want to involve her in any of this, even though I know that isn’t reasonable. She’s in it already, as steeped as she is in her role for Madame.

Every part of me longs to go to her, but I’m not ready.

Not like this. Not when I know nothing about what the last few months have brought for her or what she’s doing now.

Not when I don’t know if she will take my side or Madame’s.

I nearly curse when she goes to the trunk. I told Einar not to worry if the footmen tried to carry me. It would have been difficult to brace myself for the trek to the room, but not impossible.

He and Khijhana couldn’t help themselves, though, and of course, my sister noticed the odd behavior. That doesn’t tell me whether she’s here for her own sake or for Madame’s, though the latter is far more likely.

Still, I want to talk to her without prying ears, and this might be my only chance.

I am so engrossed in warring with myself that I don’t notice when Khijhana stalks from behind me, curious about this new intruder. Aika doesn’t notice either, which is unusual enough.

I can’t call Khijha back to me without alerting my sister, but I doubt she’ll hurt anyone who doesn’t mean me any harm. I wait, ready to step in, while Aika turns slowly around.

She freezes, her eyes landing on my chalyx.

Khijhana takes her in, the disparate pieces of my life colliding in one unlikely moment. It seems strange that two of the most important things to me know nothing about each other. Bone-deep sadness spreads through me as they gauge one another.

Khijhana catches my mood, making a high-pitched sound that represents everything going through my mind. She turns to go, and Aika takes her chance to leave.

The opportunity to talk to my sister is gone in an instant, and I’m left wondering if I made the right choice to stay hidden.

Sands, with the way she’s acting and the chances she’s taking, I wonder if she’ll get herself killed before I get another chance.

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