Page 134 of The Jasad Crown

Sorn sat back, knees spread in a pointedly masculine sprawl, an arm dangling over the end of his chair. “You want me to open the trade routes so Jasadis can go get killed in Jasad.”

Lateef and Namsa shifted. I slid them a quelling glance.

“Is that right?” I cocked my head.

“I saw your kitmers—I heard your call. Thousands of Jasadis would need open roads to travel, no?”

“Open roads.” I didn’t hesitate. “Protected roads.”

“Protected,” Sorn repeated. The flames from the torches gave his handsome features a somewhat sinister cast. “You want me to send khawaga to guard the trade routes for your Jasadis?”

“When Jasad rises again—”

“No, no.” Sorn lifted a hand. “Save your pretty speeches for more willing ears. I want your plain words or none at all.”

I pressed my lips together, briefly impressed. So Sorndidhave a brain, and it wasn’t entirely governed by drink and bloodshed.

“Nizahl will not come after you. Protecting the travelers on your trade routes is Orban’s prerogative.”

“Tell me more about Orban’s imperatives.” Sorn stretched each word beyond its limits, heavy with sarcasm.

“Nizahl won’t act against you unless you have reason to know those on your trade routes have magic. How would you know? Since the khawaga will be tasked with protecting anyone who travels on the trade routes, Jasadi or Orbanian alike, you won’t be in violation of any decrees. The Commander won’t violate his own laws.”

Sorn laughed. He wiped a hand down his face. By the time it reached his chin, the laugh became a sigh. “I take it you haven’t heard the news.”

His tone set off a litany of warning bells. “News?”

“Arin broke the Zinish Accords. He and Vaida are at war. Theoretically, of course, since no one knows where Vaida vanished to after her attendant cut off her finger and tried to steal her ring.” Sorn shook his head with grudging admiration. “The little rascal made it all the way to the gardens before they caught her.”

The resounding silence from the rest of us seemed to delight Sorn. “I see I’ve upset you.”

My eyes narrowed to slits. “Vaida’s ring cannot be stolen. It’s imbued with Baira’s magic—probably as old as relic magic gets. It is impossible to remove from Vaida’s presence.” I tried very hard not to think of the creature that had overtaken Vaida’s body and smiled at me with pure white eyes the night I tried to steal the ring. The gleeful—and perplexing—way it had taunted me.

Nearly there. They tried again and again, but your choices never changed. Who knew this one would meet with success?

“Well, the attendant found a way. She also managed to escape the Traitors’ Wells with a Nizahl soldier. Arin and Vaida in the north, you and Felix in the south; my entertainment has been richly provided for. Tell me, do you still have his head?”

“The Nizahl Heir wouldn’t break the Zinish Accords unless he had a reason,” I insisted. “Where did Vaida go?”

Sorn shrugged. His enthusiasm for throwing startling news at me had waned, and boredom began to creep back into his expression. “How should I know?”

I smoothed the end of Diya’s quilt. “Open your trade routes and protect your travelers for the next twelve days. After that, you can sit back and watch the lot of us tear one another apart if you wish.” I spread my hands wide. “I know you don’t care for pretty speeches,Sorn. I don’t have one to give you. Every step of this will be hideous. It will be brutal, grisly, and bloody.”

He arched a brow. “Now you’re just trying to get me excited.”

“But our magic is not going anywhere,” I continued, exhaling my annoyance, “and neither are we. Jasad’s time has come. When the bloodshed ends, you can either find yourself with a powerful new ally, or four enemies.”

“What happens in twelve days?”

I raise the fortress and die, or I raise the fortress and go mad.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with.”

Sorn scratched his head, curling a short strand absently. “I could change my mind after you revive Diya. You have nothing to ensure I’ll stay true to my word.”

I shot him a chastising look and tapped Diya’s leg under the quilt. “I believe the key to keeping your duplicitous hide in line is lying right here. As easily as we can cure her from this slumber, we can just as easily send her back. Or worse.”

I had no idea whether we could send Diya back into her endless slumber. Nor did I particularlywantto kill the only Champion I’d befriended during the Alcalah. The feasibility of my threat was immaterial. To a man as desperate as Sorn, the threat alone sufficed.

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