Page 91 of The Gilded Cage

Naari moved back to Kiva’s bed, patting the blanket beside her. Warily, Kiva perched on the edge, trying to hide how much tension she still felt.

“The lead Jaren was given suggested that the rebels have a secret meeting place in the city,” Naari said. “That’s who he went looking for tonight.”

Kiva adopted a stunned look. “Those wererebels?But — wait. If Jaren knew, why did he risk going on his own?”

She should get a medal for her acting.

“Why does Jaren do anything?” Naari said, running an aggravated gloved hand through her cropped hair. “He’s trying to protect his people. The rebels have been quiet lately — he wanted to know why, and if they plan to stay that way. He didn’t think he’d get answers by storming in with reinforcements.”

“By the looks of it, he didn’t get answers anyway,” Kiva noted, still playing along.

“It was almost like they knew to expect him,” Naari murmured, frowning. “The Viper is never in the city — she shouldn’t have been here at all, and yet, she didn’t seem surprised to see Jaren. She jumped him before he’d uttered a single word.”

Kiva had to be careful now. “The Viper?” she asked, trying to make her voice sound normal. “Was that the one in the mask?”

Naari nodded, her face darkening. “She’s a rebel leader — perhapstheleader, now that their queen is gone.” The guard looked down at her hand, flexing her fingers. “She and I go way back.”

A horrible feeling suddenly twisted within Kiva as she watched Naari staring at her hand.

At herprosthetichand.

“Is she — Did she —” Kiva couldn’t even get the question out.

“It happened three years ago, around when the rebels started to become a real problem,” Naari said, still looking down at her fingers, unaware of the dread now filling Kiva. “I was eighteen and had only recently arrived in Evalon after sneaking onto Veris’s ship. By that time, he believed in me — more than anyone — but I had a lot to prove, mostly to myself. I wasn’t Jaren’s personal guard then, but I was part of a group who traveled with him to visit some of the inland villages hit the hardest by the rebels. He wanted to see for himself, to check on his people and assist with the rebuilding.”

Naari’s gaze turned inward as she continued her story. “At one of those villages, Jaren heard about a family living just up the road whose young son had been injured in a rebel skirmish, and he wanted to see how the boy was faring. There had been no rebel activity in the area for a long time — Jaren should have been safe to walk the short distance on his own, but I erred on the side of caution and accompanied him.”

There was a long pause, as if Naari was living out her memory all over again.

“I’ve thought about that day too many times to count in the last three years,” she said in a quiet, musing voice. “I don’t think they knew we were there — that Jaren was there. I think it was just a matter of bad timing.”

Kiva was barely breathing. “What happened?”

Naari clenched her prosthetic fingers into a fist. “There were only two of them — the Rebel Queen and the Viper. They stumbled out of the forest onto the road right in front of us, mid-conversation. My guess is they were heading to the village for supplies, but the moment they realized it was Jaren standing before them, the masked Viper drew her sword and lunged straight at him.”

Kiva could see it play out in her mind: Zuleeka’s shock at Jaren’s appearance, the opportunity to take him down too great to resist.

“I — I froze.”

Naari’s stuttered admission came from somewhere deep within her, a dark place full of regret.

“Years of fighting in Jiirvan arenas, and I’d never frozen before, not once,” she whispered. “I still don’t know what happened. Darkness swirled in my vision, and my limbs just wouldn’t obey me. Classic signs of a panic attack, I know. It was —” She shook her head. “I’ve never felt anything like it before. It was terrible, not being able to control myself. Not being able todoanything.”

She drew in a shuddering breath. “It felt like everything happened in slow motion. I saw the Viper lunging at Jaren, and I saw him reaching for his own blade just in time to meet hers, much like tonight. Tilda screamed out ‘No!’ and raised her hand as if to stop me, but I was no threat — I was so frozen I could barelybreathe. But then it was like my adrenaline finally kicked in and suddenly the darkness vanished in a blaze of light, just as Jaren stumbled backwards and the Viper bore down on him.” Naari’s throat bobbed. “I jumped in her path as she slashed out with her sword, but I didn’t have time to draw my own weapon, so I stretched my arm out to protect him and —”

Naari didn’t finish. She didn’tneedto finish.

Kiva already knew what had happened.

She was going to be sick. Right there on her lush carpet. What her sister haddone—

Naari cleared her throat and unfisted her hand. “Everything after that is a bit hazy. Veris and the other guards had realized something was wrong and were running toward us. Tilda dragged the Viper away and disappeared into the forest. Jaren made sure the best healers worked on me while he hunted down the most advanced prosthetic available. He then made me his Golden Shield, an honor no other Royal Guard has received in over fifty years.” Naari offered a self-deprecating shrug. “I guess I haven’t done too badly.”

Kiva battled back all she was feeling to croak out, “Was — Was tonight the first time you’ve seen the Viper since then?”

“I’ve crossed blades with her a few times in the last three years,” Naari answered. “But like tonight, she always manages to get away, usually just as I’ve got her cornered. She should have been named the Rat or the Weasel, but I suppose she’s slippery like a snake.”

And venomous like a viper, Kiva thought.

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