Otis stared at him, tears dripping down his cheeks to splatter Keris in the face. “I don’t want the war to end. Not until we’ve killed every last one of them and hung them from stakes to rot. Not until we’ve made them pay for every fucking thing they’ve taken from us. Not until that bitch pays for what she took from me.”
Keris’s stomach hollowed, for he could see in his brother’s eyes that his grief was too painful, his anger too intense, for Otis to see beyond either emotion. For him to want anything but vengeance.
“I’m going to give you the choice, Keris. Either you go down those stairs and kill that woman with your own hands, or I’m going to execute you as the traitor you are before killing her myself.”
He could agree to it. Say he’d kill her in the hopes of finding a way out of this on the way to Valcotta’s rooms.
Except he knew there was no way out.
All delaying would accomplish was one of them killing the other in front of his aunts and younger siblings in the harem’s house. And they’d witnessed enough horror. “Then you’re going to have to kill me now.”
Otis’s face twisted with grief. “So be it.”
He reached for Keris’s throat, but Keris was already moving. He twisted out from under his brother, then rolled to his feet, barely getting an arm up to block the fist swinging toward him.
Otis attacked again, raining blows down upon him until Keris’s arms screamed in pain.
But he kept defending. Kept buying himself time to come up with a solution that wouldn’t see Otis or Valcotta dead, because he couldn’t live with losing either of them.
Then one of his brother’s fists got past his guard and took the choice from him.
Stunned, Keris dropped, stars spinning in his eyes, his vision clearing as Otis wrapped his hands around Keris’s throat.
Panic surged. He clawed at Otis’s hands, desperation causing him to strike his brother in the face, but Otis didn’t seem to feel the pain.
His chest spasmed with the need for air, the need for just one breath, the need to live…
And then Otis’s hands were torn from his throat, his bulk disappearing in a blur of motion.
Keris gasped in a breath, then another and another, his vision clearing to see his brother fighting what looked like a harem wife wearing one of their distinct black cloaks. Then the hood fell back, revealing her face.
It was Valcotta fighting his brother, meeting Otis blow for blow with grim resolve, driving him back with skill and speed.
“Serin was manipulating you, Otis. I heard it all. He wants Keris dead, but your father won’t oblige, so he is setting you up to do the dirty work.”
How could she have heard? What was she doing in the tower? Keris dragged himself to his feet, a wave of dizziness striking him as Otis threw himself at Valcotta, fists a blur.
“Serin didn’t make you sink my wife’s ship!” he screamed, snatching up a stool and snapping off the leg. “Serin didn’t make my brother fall into your bed! You’ve taken everything from me, you Valcottan bitch, and my greatest regret is not putting my sword through your heart when I had the chance!”
He swung at her with vicious force, and Valcotta’s eyes widened. She stepped back, her foot catching on a stack of books. She stumbled as Otis swung again, aiming for her head.
“No!” Keris lunged, slamming into his brother with greater force than he intended, sending Otis staggering sideways.
Glass shattered.
Keris lifted his head, seeing his brother fall backward, arms pinwheeling as he tried to catch hold of the window frame.
“Otis!” He reached, his fingers brushing the leather of Otis’s boots as his brother plunged from sight.
Thud.
Cold shock rippled through Keris as he stood.
No. It wasn’t possible. Otis hadn’t fallen.
He took one step. Then another. Gripped the window frame and looked down. His stomach twisted, the contents rising.
Otis had fallen.
On the pale paving stones below, his brother’s body was sprawled, blood pooling around him in a great dark pool.
No.
“Keris.”
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Keris?”
He slowly turned to find Valcotta behind him, her eyes wide.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she said. “It was an accident. Serin drove him to this moment. The Magpie wants you dead, and he goaded Otis into this. It’s his doing.”
If only that were the case.
The fog of shock disappeared, reality rushing over him. Guards would have seen Otis fall. It was only a matter of time until they came up to Keris’s room to investigate.
Grabbing Valcotta’s arm, he pulled her hood forward to conceal her face and then dragged her to the door. “Hurry.” They raced down and down the stairs. “React like one of the harem wives would, and then get back to their quarters. If you’re caught here, both of us will be dead, and all of this will be for nothing.”
He burst through the door to find the four guards bent over Otis’s still form, bubbles of blood rising from his lips. God, he was still alive.
Behind him, Zarrah let out a bloodcurdling scream that echoed through the gardens, then clutched at his arm, sobbing.
“Go!” He gave her a shove. “Fetch Coralyn. Tell her to summon the physician.”
She gave a jerky nod, then hurried down the path as fast as she could without breaking into a run, none of the guards paying her attention, their eyes on him.
“He fell from your window, Your Highness,” one said. “What happened?”
“An accident.” His throat was tight, the words strangled. “He…”
Otis moved, turning his head, his mouth forming Keris’s name, though only a gurgle came out.
On leaden feet, Keris approached, dropping to his knees to grip his brother’s hand, seeing that it wouldn’t matter how fast the physician came, for these injuries weren’t survivable. He lowered his head, keeping his voice soft enough that only Otis would hear, his heart aching. “I’m so sorry. This was the last thing I wanted. You’re my brother, and I love you.”
Otis tightened his grip, the force of it grinding the bones of Keris’s hand, the look in his brother’s eyes one that would haunt him forever. Not pain. Not fear.
But betrayal.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated, because no other words would come. “I’m so sorry.”
But Otis’s chest was still, the spark fading from his eyes and leaving behind nothing but a corpse.
A female scream split the night air, and Keris turned to see Lestara with her hand over her mouth, his father standing at her arm, expression unreadable. Beyond, Serin lurked in the shadows.
Keris’s body quivered, every part of him demanding that he go after the spymaster. That he strangle the life out of the monster for what he’d done.
Except in this, he couldn’t blame Serin. Only himself.
“God in heaven, what has happened?” Coralyn dropped to her knees next to him, his father’s physician arriving a heartbeat later, though the man almost instantly withdrew to be replaced by more women, who pushed Keris back, tears running down their faces. The gardens filled with a chorus of their wailing, servants looking on in horror.
Keris took one step back. Then another, before colliding with something solid. He twisted to find his father behind him.
His father crossed his arms, looking Keris up and down before saying, “You did what you had to do.”