I step inside my chamber and shut my door. The mountain of satin pillows entices me to my bed. I lie down, and the basket of challenges hovers at the fringe of my vision. I pinch my eyes closed. Perhaps if I pretend hard enough, I can imagine that I am home with Jaya in our chamber, readying for bed. But something shifts at my feet. I sit up onto my elbows and see a round lump beneath the bedcovers.
Keeping my gaze on the bulge, I slide off the bed. The lump extends out into a long, thick rope. I draw Yasmin’s dagger and force a steadying breath. Whatever is under my bedcovers was put there to stop me from setting foot in the arena. I throw back the blanket, sending pillows flying in a shower of silk.
A black snake coils up at the bottom of my bed, agitated at me for stripping away its cozy den. I greet the thin, venomous asp with the point of my dagger and inch away. The snake hisses. I hold still, heeding its warning. My dagger is too short to be useful. Another movement could incite the deadly snake to strike, but I have to try. I slowly step back. The asp opens its mouth and hisses louder, its translucent curved fangs ready to hook into my flesh.
“Don’t move,” I hear.
The Burner steps in from the open balcony and approaches the other side of the bed. The snake stays preoccupied with me, its dark eyes staring me down. The Burner sneaks up behind it and swings down with an ax, chopping the asp’s head off. Its tail twitches until death.
The Burner slides his ax into a leather sheath strapped to his back. I keep my dagger—although I have seen what he can do with his hands—and draw back. I consider shouting for my guards, but the truth is I have been expecting his visit.
He lifts the severed pieces of snake off my bed and tosses them into the hearth. He throws kindling on top of the asp’s corpse. “Someone wants you dead,” he says.
“A lot of someones.” I nod at the basket of challenges. “You’ll have to get in line.”
“We don’t want to kill you, Viraji. We want to help you.”
“We?” I ask.
He grins secretively. He is less menacing when he smiles, even attractive, but appearances are unreliable depictions of character. Rajah Tarek is handsome too.
“I found the book you left me,” I say.
“The warlord wanted you to have it.” He presses his fingertip to the kindling, and fire erupts. Flames chew the wood and consume the snake carcass. The Burner brushes off his hands and straightens. He is less bulky without the dark cape, ropy—like a starved wolf. From his pocket, he withdraws the tonic formula and my last remedy vial.
“You went through my satchel!”
“You should find a better hiding place.”
He tosses the formula into the fire. I lunge after it, falling to my hands before the hearth and dropping my dagger. The fire devours the paper in seconds. The Burner kicks the dagger, and the blade spins out of my reach under the bed. He holds my tonic between two fingers.
“This contains two types of poison. Haven’t you wondered why it hasn’t killed you? You took it this morning, and yet here you are.”
I push to my feet. “You’ve been watching me.”
He waves aside my accusation. “The point is you’re alive. Your powers burn off the tonic before it poisons you. That’s why you must take it every day or your temperature flares.”
“I don’t have powers. I have fevers.” Even to me, my argument sounds weak.
“You don’t take poison every morning because you’re frightened of fevers. You’re afraid of what you could be—of what you could do—without it.”
My face falls, hearing my fears voiced so succinctly.
The Burner’s gaze softens. “I understand what it’s like to hide, but you cannot suppress who you are forever. You will build immunity to the poisons, and your powers will turn on you.” An image of the bent comb fills my mind, and my mouth goes painfully dry. “We can help you, and we can help your friend escape the general.”
“You know about Jaya?” I whisper.
He smiles and comes closer. “We will discuss the terms of our bargain once you agree to stop hiding.” He leans into my side, his breath hot in my ear. My pulse ratchets higher. “So few of us are left. The first time I saw you, I thought you were a mirage, but here you are, fire burning in your veins.”
My chest swells with longing. The Burner is like me. All my life dangerous fevers have separated me from others. Never before have I met anyone with my same condition.
He sets my last tonic vial on the bedside table. “You don’t have much time. You must raze before you run out of tonic.”
I pick up the vial before he changes his mind and throws it into the hearth too. Razing, whatever it is, may be my only protection from my fevers. But why would the Burner and warlord help me?
“The tournament starts tomorrow,” I say, hedging.
“There is still time for you and your friend.” The Burner strides to the balcony and looks back, his honey eyes luminous in the moonlight. “I will return tomorrow night for your answer. For the sake of you and your friend, consider our offer.”
He leaps over the balcony. I rush to the railing and look down at the shadowed garden. The Burner is gone; he has vanished, like a quenched fire without a trace of smoke.
21
Yatin enters my chamber the next morning. Asha finishes brushing my hair, and I go meet him at the door.
“Did you find Jaya?”
“She sends her apologies. Her husband forbids her to see you, but she wishes you luck in the tournament.”
I set my jaw. Gautam forbids Jaya to see me? We will see about that.
“Thank you, Yatin. I’m ready to go now.”
I took my tonic this morning. Though the Burner’s warning rang clear in my mind, I could not afford to be feverish.
Asha adjusts a fold of my skirt. The gold sari swathes me like a cloud, the silver embroidery along my bodice the ethereal lining. Strokes of kohl line the corners of my eyes, and juice stains my lips red. Asha has outdone herself, but this illusion of glamour cannot ease my anxiety. Today is the first day of the tournament.
Yatin and Manas escort me to the main foyer. Imperial guards are stationed every few feet down the maze of corridors. More guards border the grand entrance hall, which is swarming with ranis and courtesans, all buzzing about today’s scheduled battles.
I notice two things about the guards. First, none of them is Deven. Second, every guard is on edge.
“What’s going on?” I ask Manas.
He answers a rung above a whisper. “An intruder tried to break into the rajah’s chambers early this morning. We’re still looking for him.”
I scan the guards. Did the Burner leave me and go to the rajah’s rooms to search for the Zhaleh? Whether he did or did not, I cannot fathom how we will meet again with every guard in the palace looking for him.