“If you hadn’t, we wouldn’t have known she was here,” Keris snapped. “Does anyone know where the tunnel leads?”
A Valcottan captain stepped forward. “A dozen of the imperial guard rode northeast when we began the march to the stadium. No information was supplied as to where they were going, but they were all members of her personal guard. Someone among them must have known where the exit to the tunnel was and been waiting below.”
“Fuck!” Keris slammed his hand down on the hatch door.
“You in charge?” Jor demanded of the captain, who nodded. “Send riders to the town. Those living there might have answers. Have the rest of your soldiers start a search heading northeast.”
The Valcottan captain opened his mouth as though to argue but then thought better of it, turning around to shout orders.
Keris stood but didn’t move from the pavilion. This was his fault. Zarrah had it in hand, and he’d had to provoke Petra. Had to twist the knife. Had to have the final fucking word.
Zarrah was fighting for her life because of it.
“Shit.” He doubled over, his stomach roiling because he didn’t know what to do. The Valcottan army was well trained, the thousands of soldiers pouring out of the stadium all going to search. “I need to find her. I …”
“You need to move your pretty arse out of my way is what you need to do.”
He lifted his head to see Jor waving a hand at him. “Down the steps. We’ll wait until that lot is clear before getting underway. We can’t be certain all of them are loyal to Zarrah, and I’m not keen on being attacked from behind.”
Confusion permeated Keris’s panic, Arjun and Saam exchanging equally bewildered glances.
“What are you talking about?”
“We’re going to pursue them through the tunnels. Cover your ears, right?”
The old Ithicanian pulled two small bottles from his inner coat pocket, then disappeared around the stone table. A few seconds passed, then he scuttled back around and down the steps, hands pressed to the sides of his head. “Cover your ears and close your eyes!”
Keris clapped his hands over his ears and shut his eyes.
Through his eyelids, he saw a flash of light. The shockwave of the explosion made him stagger.
Snapping his eyes open, Keris found plumes of smoke and dust coming from the pavilion and Jor already halfway up the steps. He went back around the stone table and nodded with clear satisfaction.
“Let’s go.” And without waiting for Keris to respond, he disappeared from sight.
Keris took the steps two at a time, rounding the table to stare into the smoking hole, the stone slab that had been the door now in shattered ruins below. Jor’s face appeared, a torch in his hand.
“Hurry!”
Keris leapt down into the hole.
had a chance to explore the stadium myself. It’s only because the tunnel from the other pavilion caved
“I shouldn’t have left her alone,” Arjun said, pressing his hands to the sides of his head in panic. “I
“If you hadn’t, we wouldn’t have known she was here,” Keris snapped. “Does anyone know where all members of her personal guard. Someone among them must have known where the exit to the
“You in charge?” Jor demanded of the captain, who nodded. “Send riders to the town. Those living clear before getting underway. We can’t be certain all of them are loyal to Zarrah, and I’m not keen on
Confusion permeated Keris’s panic, Arjun and Saam exchanging equally bewildered glances.
“What are you talking about?”
“We’re going to pursue them through the tunnels. Cover your ears, right?”
The old Ithicanian pulled two small bottles from his inner coat pocket, then disappeared around the stone table. A few seconds passed, then he scuttled back around and down the steps, hands pressed to the sides of his head. “Cover your ears and close your eyes!”
Keris clapped his hands over his ears and shut his eyes.
Through his eyelids, he saw a flash of light. The shockwave of the explosion made him stagger.
Snapping his eyes open, Keris found plumes of smoke and dust coming from the pavilion and Jor already halfway up the steps. He went back around the stone table and nodded with clear satisfaction.
“Let’s go.” And without waiting for Keris to respond, he disappeared from sight.
Keris took the steps two at a time, rounding the table to stare into the smoking hole, the stone slab that had been the door now in shattered ruins below. Jor’s face appeared, a torch in his hand.
“Hurry!”
Keris leapt down into the hole.
HER THROAT STUNG, the back of her skull aching where the Usurper had struck her, and Zarrah blinked as everything came back into focus.
She was being dragged by a large man in the uniform of an imperial soldier, and when
Zarrah lifted her head, she recognized him as a long-standing member of the Usurper’s bodyguard.
These men were as indoctrinated as she’d ever been. Would be loyal to the bitter end.
Which was probably why the Usurper hadn’t bothered to gag her.
“She’s awake,” the soldier rumbled, his voice echoing in the narrow tunnel.
“Good.” The Usurper glanced over her shoulder, dark eyes meeting Zarrah’s. “She does not
deserve the mercy of death. I want her alive so that she can witness the horror of what she’s done.
Want her to witness Valcotta’s fall from grace, to hear everyone curse the woman who brought them to ruin for the sake of her lust for a man.”
“You’ll be waiting for a very long time,” Zarrah croaked, though in truth, with Petra discredited and Zarrah locked away, it would be a race to the throne among the Valcottan nobility.
Her unease must have shown on her face, because the Usurper gave her a cruel smile. “Yes, Zarrah.
Civil war. Whether your lover involves himself or not will matter little. Valcottans will turn against Valcottans, and thousands will die. All their blood will be on your hands.”
The accusation didn’t have time to sink in as a roar of noise shattered Zarrah’s ears, the walls of the tunnel shaking.
“Run!” someone shouted, and Zarrah was dragged back to her feet. “It’s a cave-in!”
“It’s the Ithicanians!” the Usurper shrieked at them. “They’ve blown the hatch. Go!”
Keris was coming.
Zarrah threw her weight backward, fighting against the soldier holding her. “Keris!” she screamed.
“Keris, I’m here!”
Then the Usurper was on her.
Fingers caught hold of her hair, slamming her against the wall of the tunnel. Zarrah fell to her knees, only to be kicked in the kidneys.
She screamed in pain, trying to roll, to regain her feet, but she couldn’t do it with her wrists bound.
A foot struck her in the ribs with a crunch of breaking bone, flipping her over. The Usurper knelt on her chest and slapped her, nails raking across Zarrah’s cheek. “You think he’ll still want you if you’re ugly?” she screamed. “Do you think he’ll march his army for you if your face is in tatters? You’ll need me then because no one else will want you!”
Zarrah screamed as the monster clawed at her face; then one of the soldiers was pulling her off.
“Empress, they’re in the tunnel. We need to flee!”
For a heartbeat, Zarrah thought the Usurper would think shredding her face worth the delay, but then she snarled, “Carry her! We need to reach the boat!”
Everything was agony, her head spinning, but she heard Keris’s voice echoing through the tunnels.
“Zarrah!”
Spitting blood, she grinned wildly at the Usurper. “It’s a Veliant who is hunting you, Auntie. I doubt you can run fast enough.”
For the first time in her life, Zarrah saw fear in Petra Anaphora’s eyes.
Want her to witness Valcotta’s fall from grace, to hear everyone curse the woman who brought them to
Her unease must have shown on her face, because the Usurper gave her a cruel smile. “Yes, Zarrah.
Civil war. Whether your lover involves himself or not will matter little. Valcottans will turn against Valcottans, and thousands will die. All their blood will be on your hands.”