Page 124 of A Forgery of Fate

“That’s correct,” Nazayun said, reading my disbelief. “Shanizhun is my guest, and she tells me you have brought a gift.”

“I bring you no gift,” I spat.

That was when Shani herself came to. She wasn’t hurt at all. In fact, as she swam up, she made a show of somersaulting up to Nazayun’s shoulder, perching precisely where I’d seen her perch at Elang’s side many times. As if she knew it would sting.

“Truyan Saigas has a talent for lying, Your Eternal Majesty,” said Shanizhun. “Fortunately, I’ve gotten to know her well.”

Shani’s gaze bore into me. “I know her secrets, and all you need to do is ask.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

I couldn’t speak. My lips wouldn’t part, and my tongue was heavy as stone. My entire body had gone numb.

Shani.I sought the demon through our thoughts.What are you doing?

She ignored me. Her mind had become a closed door, and I wasn’t allowed inside.

“She’s a painter,” Shani reported. “An art forger who Elangui found on land. Their marriage is a sham; he hired her to paint your likeness—on the Scroll of Oblivion.”

Nazayun’s eyes were electric. “She has the Scroll?”

“She carries it in that string around her wrist.”

My fingers leapt to my hand, but it was too late. Shani threw me against the wall, trapping my arms with her tail, then pinning her weight against me so I couldn’t move. The Scroll unraveled from my red string and flew straight into King Nazayun’s grasp.

“You traitor,” I seethed. “Elang trusted you.”

“That was his mistake. Also his mistake, letting you come here alone with a demon.”

I thrashed against her. “It was you all along.Youled Haidi’s monster to us.Youlet the patrol into the castle—”

“And destroyed your precious sangi,” Shani finished for me. “Don’t look so dejected, krill, you’re still alive. Though the next time I see that blockheaded general…” She made a slurping sound.

Gods, we’d locked Caisan up for Shani’s crimes. “What happened to your vengeance? What happened to being honor bound?”

Shani’s eyes blazed a dangerous shade of red. “Demons have no honor.”

She grabbed my hand, and the opal ring slid off my finger. It clattered to the floor, and with a whip of her tail, she smashed it. Broken white bits flew, narrowly missing my eyes.

She spun, her tail still raised. I was next.

“That’s enough,” said Nazayun. “I’d like Lady Saigas to be conscious for her reunion.”

The fight in me went out like a flame.My reunion?

“You seem to have forgotten,” he intoned. “I promised you a reunion with your father.”

I looked up at the shipwrecks dangling from the ceiling like lanterns, and scanned the torn sails and smashed hulls for any trace of the trading ships Baba used to charter. One of these vessels had to be his.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“Your father isn’t up there,” responded Nazayun. “He’shere.”

A swell of water carried a wooden toy boat right into myhands.

Shaking, I clasped it. It was smaller than I remembered,its length fitting neatly across my two palms. Then again, the last time I’d seen it, I had been a child. Now I was grown, a woman.

Its wood had darkened with age, and barnacles grew along the corners. The details were as I remembered: the clean-cut sails, the beginnings of a bird along the figurehead, the gently curved crescent shape of the hull. But one thing was different.

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