His spine stiffened, and he gave a sharp shake of his head, eyes snapping to the clock. “No, she’s the one who would never agree to it—the risk to the harem would be too great.”
“Which is why she set me up to do it.” Valcotta’s throat moved as she swallowed, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “It wasn’t the first time. It was Coralyn who arranged for me to try to kill him that night in the tower, although I didn’t know it until after the fact. She wanted me to try again, but I refused to do it unless she found a way for me to escape, which she did. Or you did. I…” She trailed off. “I had a chance to kill him, but I didn’t do it. If he’d died by my hand, he’d become a martyr in the Endless War.”
A dull roar filled Keris’s ears, and it wasn’t just that his plans had crumbled to dust, but that his aunt had been attempting to use Valcotta beneath his nose. He should’ve anticipated her meddling. Should’ve known she was up to something, but never in his wildest dreams had he believed she’d ally with a Valcottan just for the sake of killing his father. Still couldn’t believe it. “Where is Coralyn? What happened?”
“She took credit for the plan. Then refused to leave with us.” Valcotta’s jaw quivered, her eyes fixed on his chest. “She told me to tell you that she loves you.”
If his father was alive, and Coralyn had taken the blame for Aren’s escape, then… “I have to help her.”
Valcotta caught hold of his arm, dragging him back. “You can’t help her, Keris. If you try, your father will only become convinced of your involvement and will kill you, too. Which will mean her sacrifice was in vain.”
He pulled out of her grip, pressing his fingers to his temples, trying to think. But it was impossible when he considered what might be happening to his aunt at this very moment. “I should have sent you with Aren. I—You need to go. If you hurry, you’ll catch them at the top.” And at least Valcotta would have a chance of getting free.
“I’m not going with Aren.” Her hands closed over his wrists, pulling them to his sides. “Because if I go, you’ll do something stupid and brave and get yourself killed. And I refuse to let you die, Keris Veliant.”
“Then you’re condemning yourself, because my plan no longer exists.” He met her gaze, silently pleading with her to go. “You need to leave with Aren. He’ll get you out or die trying, that much I know.”
“Then why didn’t you send me with him in the first place?” She locked her fingers with his, squeezing hard. “Because you didn’t like their plan? Or you had a better one?”
Because he didn’t trust anyone other than himself to keep her safe. “Both.”
“What was it?”
He felt like he couldn’t breathe, visions of what his father might be doing to his aunt filling his head. Why had she lied about Lara’s intentions? Why had she tried to get Valcotta to do the deed?
“You might never know the truth behind Coralyn’s motivations,” she said, seeming to sense his thoughts. “And we don’t have time to deliberate. You’ve three minutes to explain the rest of your plan to me, and then you need to go down those stairs and cover our tracks. Do not destroy the chance Coralyn’s gifted you.”
Keris scrubbed at his face, wincing as he pressed against his swollen cheek. Focus, he shouted at himself. You have the rest of your life to hate yourself for tonight’s mistakes. “Everyone will be chasing after Aren. The chances of him getting out of the city are slim, but he’ll die before he’s captured again. I was going to hide you, then sneak you out when—” When he was king, when he had control. He swallowed. “When it was safe to do so.”
“How?” she asked, and Keris turned to the chest that traveled everywhere with him. He unlocked the lid, lifting out stacks of books until the bottom was revealed.
The false bottom.
Zarrah’s eyes moved to the clock. “One minute.”
They were out of time, so he spoke quickly. “I came up with the idea weeks ago but dismissed it. Your absence would be discovered immediately, and I’d be the obvious culprit. But everyone thinks that you’ve escaped with Aren, so no one will have reason to suspect me.” He pressed a tiny button on the carved exterior, which popped up the false bottom. “You’ll need to hide in here.”
Zarrah stared at the chest, her throat moving as she swallowed. She hated this plan; that much was obvious. She wanted to fight her way free, not hide in a box, and he almost wished such a thing were possible. “Valcotta—”
“Lock me inside in case someone searches your room. And then you need to go.”
She lay on her side on the blanket he’d padded the bottom with, her knees curled up, feet bare. His heart was racing, fear and nerves prickling his skin, because he didn’t want to close the lid on her. It was too much like closing a coffin. “Ready?”
“Yes.” She caught hold of his hand, pulling him down and kissing him hard enough to bruise both their lips. “We’re going to get through this. All you need to do is ensure that no one suspects you, especially your father.”
Praying she was right, Keris lowered the panel over top of her, the latch clicking into place. Then he swiftly loaded the books inside and closed the lid.
It was time.
Taking a deep breath, he strode to the door and threw it open, leaving it that way as he hurried down the stairs, shouting, “Guards! Guards! They’re in the tower!”
He raced down the curved stairs. When he’d nearly reached the second floor, he rounded the corner and almost collided with the men running toward the sound of shouts.
Their eyes widened at the sight of his eye, which was nearly swollen shut thanks to Aren and his fist, and Keris snarled, “They’ve gone up to the top of the tower, you fucking idiots! Go!”
The men barreled past him, and Keris continued down to the ground level. “Let me out,” he ordered the men guarding the door.
“It’s not safe, Your Highness. The Ithicanian—”
“Is at the top of the tower, and he has my Valcottan prisoner with him! Where is my father? Where is Serin? Who is in command of this mess?”
Instead of answering, the soldier unlatched the door and flung it open, calling, “They’re in the tower!”
Pushing past, Keris ignored the dozen men who ran by him and strode into the gardens before looking up.
The air was thick with the misty fog emanating from the dozen canisters the harem had placed in the fountains, but the rising wind was whisking the cover away. And as he watched, Keris picked out the flash of a shadow flying down from the top of the tower and over the heads of the guards on the inner wall.
He wasn’t the only one who noticed.
Shouts of alarm filled the air but were drowned out a few seconds later by a large boom, a flash of light from the exterior gate illuminating the night.
All around him was chaos and confusion as the soldiers split their ranks, half mistakenly running into the tower and the other half, understanding that their quarry was outside the sanctum, heading to the gates to reinforce.