Page 28 of The Jasad Crown

“It is a necessity of my station in life, Your Majesty.”

Vaida smiled. “Mine, too. What is your name?”

Her name? She had too many names. Sayali was hunted in Nizahl, and after the Victor’s Ball, so was Sefa.

“Zahra. My name is Zahra.” Her heart jumped to her throat.

“Zahra.” The word rolled from the Sultana’s tongue without a hint of recognition. “Tell me, Zahra, why are you in my palace? Do not mistake my inquiry for ingratitude, as your service to me tonight cannot be faulted.”

“It is a service anyone would have gladly performed, my lady.”

Sultana Vaida’s lips twisted wryly. “I am flattered you think so.” She lifted an expectant brow.

Embarrassment tripped the words into a mumble. “I am here as an escort to one of your guests.”

A glance at Sefa’s tragic attire would determine exactly what kind of escort she meant. Sultana Vaida tilted her head. “Which guest?”

Sefa opened her mouth—and stopped. Oh no. Oh, she had forgotten his real name. If she didn’t answer quickly, Vaida would think Sefa’s lies hadn’t ended with the assassin.

She hung her head. “To be perfectly honest, Your Majesty, I don’t recall. I have been referring to him as ‘Corpse Walker’ in my head.”

A burst of laughter drew Sefa’s gaze up. Sultana Vaida pressed slender fingers to her mouth, holding back a grin. “Ah yes, Heilan. Corpse Walker is… terribly appropriate.”

Full of relief and lightheartedness, Sultana Vaida almost looked her age. A clever young woman, power brimming from her very pores.

Sylvia had told Sefa once, during one of her strange introspective moods, that Arin and Vaida were cut from the same cloth.They could set fire to the world and convince us to dance in its ashes.

“I should leave,” Sefa said, shaking Sylvia’s ghost.

Vaida stood. Her full height unfolded, until she stood a head above Sefa. Fortunately, after years with Sylvia and Marek, Sefa’s neck had adjusted to a life of looking up.

“I’d like you to stay, Zahra.”

Her stomach turned to ice. Vaida knew. She would throw her in one of the pits outside the Ivory Palace, and then she’d feed her remains to the feral cats crawling all over the gardens—

“Stay and work for me. I need someone I can depend on in my employ. We are living in dangerous times, and you will be well-protected in the Ivory Palace.”

The shift from imagining herself as cat cuisine to the offer of employment dizzied Sefa. “Huh?”

Vaida’s hand found Sefa’s chin, pushing her gaping mouth shut. “You’ll catch flies.”

“Why would you want—I am honored, Sultana, but—”

“Are you happy with your current employ?” Vaida easily interrupted Sefa’s disjointed babbling.

Robbed of coherent speech, Sefa could only shake her head.

“I need a new personal attendant. Someone who can think quickly and critically, even in the face of their superior.” Vaida pressed her lips together, and Sefa recalled what Sylvia had told her of the incident at the Omal palace, how the Nizahl Heir’s proximity had disoriented a Lukubi servant enough for him to slip the two ghaiba dolls into her pocket.

Marek’s ability to seduce the guard assigned to Vaida’s chambers the night of the festival probably hadn’t reinforced the Sultana’s confidence in her staff, either.

The offer strained every limit of absurdity. As personal attendant, Sefa would have nearly unfettered access within the Ivory Palace. She would be privy to every aspect of Vaida’s life, empowered with decision-making ability over everything from the Sultana’s meals to her social calendar.

The rest of the staff would surely despise her. A stranger with nothing to her name stealing a role someone else would kill for.

Sefa shook her head again, utterly bewildered. “How do you know you can trust me?”

“Trust you? Dearest, if you’re going to say something that silly, save it for a stage.” A chillingly discerning gaze roamed over Sefa. “You had no reason to save me. Even less reason to put yourself in harm’s way to hide me. This leaves me with two possibilities: either you are a self-sacrificial simpleton, or you have your own intentions against me. I could always use more lambs willing to feed themselves to the lion.”

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