Page 126 of The Jasad Crown

Servants scurried along the halls, silver trays stacked with empty plates balanced on their shoulders. Complaints flew between them as frequently as commands.

Sefa glided through the pandemonium without slowing.

“Zahra!” Salwa appeared at her elbow, streaks of dirt on her forehead and her round cheeks. “Aren’t you going to come outside? The Nizahl regiment is here. Some of the soldiers aresohandsome,but they don’t speak much. We heard the Commander is here, too—apparently, he’s been in Lukub for days!”

Arin of Nizahl was in Lukub? He washere?

“Good,” Sefa murmured, mostly to herself. “He’ll stop her if I fail.”

If.Still so foolishly optimistic.

There was not a world where Sefa managed to steal Vaida’s ring and escape Lukub unscathed. The best she could hope was to destroy the ring before they caught and killed her.

“I will be out soon, Salwa.” Sefa cupped the younger girl’s cheek and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. “Thank you for always being so kind to me.”

The young servant blinked, but Sefa was already walking.

The guards stationed on either side of the short hall didn’t react when Sefa walked past them. She was the Sultana’s personal attendant—who would question her presence in the Sultana’s chambers? Who would think to search her for a weapon?

Sefa closed the door behind her and leaned heavily against it. When she could catch her breath again, she settled on Vaida’s dressing room chair.

Sefa didn’t want to do this.

My palace was built by an Awala who crafted illusions more perfect and persuasive than any reality… If you wish to last in the Ivory Palace, I suggest you fiercely guard that heart of yours. Its softness is an irresistible temptation to those of us with teeth.

Vaida had been taught what it took to last in the Ivory Palace. Maybe there was an age before the Sultana counted herself among those with teeth, when she had just been another girl with a soft heart.

Sefa picked up the chair and moved it behind the door. If she moved fast, she could knock out the Sultana as soon as she walked in. She would remove the ring and run, even if the tombs-damnedthing burned through her skin and bones. Vigilance was the key to leaving this chamber alive.

Ignoring the weight of the knife, Sefa waited.

The scent of flowers startled Sefa from her nap.

Inches away, richly lashed dark eyes studied Sefa with languid curiosity. “You shouldn’t be here, Zahra,” Vaida said. “The other servants haven’t sat down in hours. They will think I am giving you preferential treatment again.”

Candlelight flickered around the room, shadows dancing cheerily across the walls. Candles Sefa had most assuredly not lit. When did Vaida enter the room?

Sefa hadfallen asleep. Awaleen below, it was almost a mercy knowing she’d never see Sylvia again. Her friend was the Victor of the Alcalah, a survivor of the Blood Summit, a fugitive Queen. Meanwhile, Sefa had worked herself into such a fit about swinging a chair at Vaida that her body had shut down.

“I—” Sefa hadn’t counted on speaking. She didn’t have a good explanation for her presence. “Birta wanted me out of the kitchen. I couldn’t keep pace with the rest of them.”

Vaida’s eyes narrowed. “What did she say?”

“Nothing important.” Frustrating as Birta’s behavior had been throughout Sefa’s stay, Sefa was not about to unleash Vaida’s ire against the older woman. “She was exhausted, is all.”

“Hmm.” Vaida wandered toward her bureau and extracted a silk shawl from the top of the drawer. “For a moment, I thought you might be hiding from the Nizahl soldiers.”

“The soldiers? No, I only learned today they were here.” Distracted, Sefa got up from her chair and edged away from the door. If a scuffle ensued, she didn’t want the guards to hear. Given howdisastrously this robbery attempt had already progressed, Sefa wasn’t going to take any chances.

When Vaida’s comment caught up with her, Sefa stopped. “Why would I hide from the Nizahl soldiers? Are they planning something?”

Maybe Sefa wouldn’t have to take the ring after all. If the Nizahl Heir had come to quarrel with Vaida about the holding she had swept under Lukub’s border, Sefa could find him and warn him about the Mirayah. Arin would listen. He would also have her arrested, but imprisonment would be a blessed fate compared to what Vaida would do if she caught her with the ring.

It glinted against her finger as she approached Sefa, the shawl dangling from her loose grip. Sefa stiffened as Vaida drew the ends of the shawl around Sefa, tucking it around her shoulders. It constrained her arms as Vaida pulled on the ends, tugging Sefa a step forward. “Do you trust me, darling?”

Sefa had to strain to look up at the Sultana. Viscerally aware of the ring’s proximity, she struggled not to give away her nerves. Vaida was in a strange mood—a mood Sefa couldn’t pin down despite the patterns she had learned to keep watch for.

“The last time I mentioned trust, you said, ‘If you’re going to say something that silly, save it for a stage.’”

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