“Wren!” I elbow Lova out of the way.
She’s panting for breath. Tremors rack her body. She retches, and I pull her hair from her face, though nothing comes up. I wrap myself around her and look over my shoulder.
Ketai is on the floor. Some clan members fuss around him, but he waves them away, propping himself up on one elbow. He coughs, rubbing his neck where the imprints of his daughter’s fingertips are visible. His dark eyes meet mine.
There is no shame or regret. Not even compassion. Only pure, cold determination.
“What in the name of the Heavenly Kingdom!” one of the clan members—a burly, mustached Paper—bellows. “It is just as I was telling you, my Lord. The girl is not to be trusted!”
Everyone ignores him.
“Do… you… see?” Ketai’s voice is a whispering scrape, his windpipe bruised, but I hear each word as if he’s speaking right into my ear. “Her magic… is weakening. What do you think will happen… tomorrow?”
“Stop,” Wren spits weakly. She tries to stand but only manages to plant one foot before she sags.
I clutch her close. Yet my eyes are pinned by Ketai’s penetrating stare. His words ring in my ears, sink deep into my skin like a brand.
Her magic is weakening.
What do you think will happen tomorrow?
Do you see?
And the awful part is, I do see.
The assortment of guards and clan members look between us all, bemused. Mustering his grace, Ketai stands. He swipes a hand through his fallen mop of gray-black hair.
“Out,” he commands. “All of you.”
“Like hell,” Lova growls.
Nitta smolders. “What she said.”
“The insolence!” blusters the large man. “The audacity! The—”
“OUT!”
Ketai’s roar stuns the tent into silence. The mustached man looks as though he’s been slapped. As the other clan members hurry from the tent, the man shoots Wren and me a disgusted look before he stomps out.
Lova and Nitta don’t move.
“Do as he says,” I tell them. “This is a discussion we need to have alone.”
Nitta’s jade eyes swim with worry. “But—”
“It’s fine, Nitta. Please.”
Lova turns her furious glare on Ketai. “We’ll be right outside,” she snarls. “The slightest sign there’s a problem, and we’ll be back to finish what she started.” Then she prowls from the tent with Nitta.
“You’re all right,” I whisper, pressing my forehead to Wren’s. “You’re all right. You’re exhausted, my love. You’ve been going nonstop since Jana. We’ll get a shaman and a medic to see to you, and then you’re going to rest.”
“You are not sacrificing yourself,” she forces out, still trembling violently. “You’re not doing that, Lei. Not for me, not for anyone.”
“I know. Don’t worry.” I look at Ketai. “She needs a calm place to rest. A sleeping mat, food…”
“Stay here,” he says. “I’ll send for everything she needs.”
Wren lifts her head, sweat beading her forehead. She speaks shakily but her tone is final. “You will not have her, too, Ketai.”
Though he hides it well, I don’t miss the surprise that flashes through him at her use of his name. After a beat, he says, “If that is your decision.”
He sweeps from the tent in a streak of cobalt robes.
“Lei,” Wren starts once we’re alone, “I am so sorry. I had no idea—”
“Shh.” I lower her down as her eyes flutter, shocks spasming through her body. Rage charges through me, white-hot. How much magic has she spent to get to this state? How much vitality—how much of herself—has she worn away to do her father’s bidding, to be the perfect Xia warrior everyone expects of her?
I draw some nearby furs over her and lay her head in my lap. I brush my fingertips along the curves and dips of the face I know so well I could paint it with my eyes closed, every tiny freckle, every scar, every flawless detail. “Rest,” I say. “I’m here. I’m with you, Wren. I’m not going anywhere.”
Her lashes flutter. Her eyes are unfocused. “Promise?” she whispers, in the simple, trusting way a child would ask an adult.
Like so many adults, I answer with a lie.
“I promise.”
I find Ketai by the stables. He’s with a few of the Hannos and some of the other clan leaders. When he sees me, he says something to the group and leaves them, striding over to me. It’s just past sunset. The darkening sky is the color of bruised plums. The brightest stars are beginning to emerge.
The group Ketai was with watch him go. Whispers trail him. News of his and Wren’s fight must have traveled through the camp, and I wonder if any have guessed the terrible reason behind it. But how could they? Even after Hiro and Aoki’s family, and Wren’s suspicions about her father’s schemes for his shamans, I still didn’t expect it. Even Wren was blindsided.
We all have limits. Tonight, the three of us discovered ours.
“We’re planning how best to allocate our mounted units tomorrow,” Ketai tells me with forced casualness. “With last night’s arrivals, we’ve far more numbers than anticipated. It’s an enormous boost.”
I turn away, gazing out over the dusty plains to where the Hidden Palace rises from behind the dark-green armor of the surrounding forest. The fading light catches on the palace’s dark, glittering walls. They remind me of Ketai’s eyes.
“Wren’s resting well,” I say. “I thought you should know. A shaman is still with her to help her sleep. I told him to get some rest himself, but he seems to think he doesn’t need much. I suppose,” I continue when Ketai says nothing, “that’s because you’re going to have them kill themselves to give their power to Wren.”
He responds calmly, with no trace of remorse. “Just as the King will have his shamans in the Shadow Sect do. It will help—but it will be only a fraction of the strength your sacrifice would offer her.”
A cold laugh bursts from me. “You really are shameless.”
“Shame has no place in war.”
“And what of in life?”
“War is different.”
“Is it?” I ask. “War is a part of life. It doesn’t happen in a vacuum. One day soon, if you’re lucky, you’ll have gotten through all this—and then what? Will you keep punishing, keep killing, keep maintaining you’re only doing what needs to be done? How will you rule, Ketai? How will you keep order when demon clans rebel against your court? When it is their turn to seek revenge?”
He makes an impatient noise. “I don’t expect you to understand, nor do I need your approval. Your naivete is charming, Lei, yet unrealistic. I’d have hoped being with Wren would have taught you more by now.”
I laugh again, an ugly sound. “She’s more than you think, Ketai. She’s so much more than you made her. Didn’t you hear her? You will not have her, too. She wasn’t talking about the Papers or demons you’ve killed. She was talking about herself.”
Ketai doesn’t answer, and this time I know my words have cut him. Still, when he responds, there is an indifference in his tone that makes me shiver. “Well, Moonchosen. We both know why you came to find me. Let’s not waste more time. Say it.”