Page 113 of The Gilded Cage

Kiva, however, had a feeling that the rebels might not care about that, especially with Zuleeka as their commander. As their future queen.

Wars aren’t won without sacrifice, little sister.

“Come on,” Jaren said, breaking into her uneasy thoughts. “While we’re here, let me give you a proper tour.”

And so Kiva followed the crown prince around the magnificent library, mulling over everything he had shared ... and having no idea how to feel about it.

When Kiva returned to her room later that night, there was a note waiting on her bed. Her muscles clenched when she recognized her sister’s familiar handwriting, the coded words offering an address and a time, after which was a roughly drawn map with clear directions — the latter two hastily added in Torell’s penmanship.

Uneasy at the thought of a rebel spy slipping the message into her room, Kiva considered ignoring the summons, especially since she was still upset about the disastrous lunch. But as painful as the betrayal was, she’d already resolved to let it go. If she wanted to have any kind of positive relationship with her sister — which, frustratingly, she still did — then she should at least hear what Zuleeka had to say.

Kiva looked at the address again, noting that it was down at the docks, a reasonable walk away. The meeting time was quickly approaching, so without second-guessing herself, she grabbed a cloak and strapped Naari’s dagger beneath her boot before sneaking out.

While Kiva wasn’t doing anything wrong in meeting up with her siblings — ignoring who they really were, of course — she decided to be cautious and use the secret iron grate exit, not wanting to risk anyone seeing her leave through the front gates.

Once she was aboveground again, Kiva jogged across the parkland to the luminium-lit city streets. She then ventured northeast, keeping Tor’s map in mind while also relying on her memories from when Caldon had given her a tour of the docks last week.

Located beside the harbor, where the Serin River flooded out to meet the Tetran Sea, the docks were the first port of call for any ships traveling to and from Vallenia. Largely made up of warehouses and other storage buildings, they bustled with activity during the day as crewmen loaded and unloaded vessels of all sizes, and pop-up street markets sold local seafood alongside rare silks, spices, soaps, perfumes, and numerous other goods from across the ocean, all peddled by incessant vendors.

At night, however, the docks were nearly deserted — as Kiva soon discovered upon her arrival. She cursed her siblings for choosing such an isolated meeting point, even if she understood the necessity.

Pulling her cloak tighter, Kiva hurried along the darkened streets until she reached the address she’d been given, finding a small warehouse tucked between two much larger ones. She was just about to search for the entrance when she heard her name called from the claustrophobic alleyway between the buildings, and she squinted into the blackness to see Tor and Zuleeka waving her over.

“Couldn’t we have done this in the daytime?” Kiva complained as soon as she reached them, the space so tight that they were nearly standing on top of each other. “You two might have had a decade of learning how to defend yourselves, but I can barely swing a wooden sword. If anyone is murdered tonight, we all know who it’ll be.”

Tor grinned at her grumbled rant, but Zuleeka’s lips didn’t so much as twitch.

Kiva looked warily at her sister, noting her uncomfortable expression.

“Thank you for coming,” Zuleeka said, shifting from foot to foot and avoiding Kiva’s gaze. “I — We — I —” She blew out a frustrated breath and tried again. “I called you here so I could say sorry. For yesterday. For what you learned, but more, for how you learned it. I didn’t handle that well. Any of it. Including my behavior during lunch. And I know it’s no excuse, but it was just — it was hard to be there, at the palace. With them. I let that cloud my judgment, when I shouldn’t have.”

A startled breath left Kiva. She hadn’t known why she’d been summoned, but she certainly hadn’t expected a stammered apology. Especially not one that sounded genuine.

“Zulee has thought long and hard about everything that happened,” Tor said, his crossed arms and hard features making it clear that he’d pushed her to do so. “She knows what she did was wrong — not just yesterday, but also not freeing you from Zalindov.”

“It was Mother,” Zuleeka defended quickly. “She really did tell me you were safer there, especially with your magic. Thatwewere safer, too. And I was young, Kiva. Young and scared. So I listened to her. Her reasons made sense — that if you were discovered, we’d all be discovered. It could have ruined everything. But with you in Zalindov and us moving from place to place, if something had happened while you were locked away, no one would have been able to find us. And —” She stopped, as if catching herself.

Kiva had already heard Zuleeka’s argument, and despite there being some logic to it, there wasn’t enough to justify leaving a child in hell. Regardless, she still pressed, “And what?”

Hesitantly, Zuleeka said, “This will sound awful, but —” She took a breath and admitted in a whisper, “I didn’t want to end up at Zalindov, too. The very idea haunted my nightmares.”

Kiva closed her eyes, unable to look at her sister. She knew all about Zalindov haunting her nightmares — but she’d also had tolivein that nightmare. Alone. For ten years.

“I’m sorry,” Zuleeka whispered. “I shouldn’t have listened to Mother, I know that now. I should have told Tor, and we should have come for you. We failed you.Ifailed you.”

Feeling raw, Kiva took a moment to gather her thoughts. She’d lost ten years of her life needlessly, so she wasn’t capable of just forgiving Zuleeka like that had never happened. But her sister had made a good point about how she’d also been young. If their positions had been reversed and Tilda had told Kiva that everyone was safer if Zuleeka remained locked away, wouldn’t she have trusted that their mother knew what she was talking about?

Sighing deeply, Kiva said, “Let’s just — Let’s try to forget about it. As you said yesterday, what’s done is done.”

Zuleeka looked startled. So did Torell.

“You’d be ... all right with that?” Zuleeka asked slowly.

“I’m notall rightwith any of this.” Kiva’s voice rose in the dark alleyway, before she lowered it again to add, “I’m also notall rightwith how you tried to kill Jaren two nights ago, and how you’re the reason Naari lost her hand. But I can’t change any of those things either, can I? So for my sanity’s sake, we need to —”

“Hold on, back up,” Torell interrupted, his brow furrowed. To Zuleeka he asked, “I know about Naari, but what’s this about Jaren?”

Zuleeka didn’t answer, instead looking at Kiva and saying, “If I’d wanted to kill the prince, he’d be dead. That wasn’t my intention. I’d just hoped to rattle him a little. Remind him we’re not going anywhere.”

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