Page 22 of A Court of Truth and Thorns
I raise a brow at him. “You want me to ride in the wagon with Alexa and Jasmine?”
“And Princess Raza, yes.”
My mouth dries, my eyes widening as I find my voice. “Are you insane?” I say finally, with a calm that’s absurd even to my ears. “If you are, I would truly prefer to know now.”
Rune sighs. “This is not my ideal arrangement, but I’ve no alternative. I understand your fear, but I assure you that Raza—”
“My fear, Rune,” I say, taking a step toward him until we are close enough for him to feel the heat of fury rolling off my body, “is that I will turn your little sister into dinner for any stray dogs we pass en route.”
Rune’s nostrils flare. “Then I’ll be sure to clear the path of dogs to remove the temptation.”
Wil clears his throat. “Why doesn’t Kalianna ride a horse instead,” he says. “She is a solid horseman, likely better than half the army, and she can dress as Kal if it will make the others feel better. Stars, Rune. She can take whatever horse you’d intended for me, and I’ll keep Raza company in the wagon.”
“That would be inappropriate in Everett, Prince William,” Rune says without looking at him, before turning on his heelsand striding to the exit. “I am sorry, but my kingdom’s customs must be considered as much as yours.”
A silence settles around us again, a twin to the one that heralded Rune’s arrival. The heat in my veins turns to ice. “Wil,” I say after a moment, turning to face him, “do you think you could call me Kali?”
“Kali?” says Wil.
I swallow. “It’s what my family... what my sister calls me. I’d like my cousin to use it too.”
A grin spreads over Wil’s face. He’s just opening his mouth, likely to try the name on for size, when Luca cuts in. “Kali,” he says. “Yes. Easier than Kalianna and more appropriate than Kal. I’ll take it.”
I frown in confusion. “I was talking to Wil, actually. He’s my cousin and... I mean, you aren’t.”
“How is that my fault?” Luca replies indignantly. He picks up the deck of cards. “Who is in for the next round?”
15
VIOLET
“Violet, you need to get up.” Leaf’s gentle voice coaxed Violet’s eyes open. “You need to get up,” Leaf said again, this time urgently, her cool fingers running along Violet’s skin.
Opening her eyes, Violet found Leaf sitting on the side of the bed. Despite her small size, Leaf was older—twenty—and she’d lost both a sister and a mother too. And a brother, in a way, given the stories Leaf told about Kal. The crippled girl was the strangest creature Violet had ever met, yet Leaf’s very oddness completed Violet.
“Get up.” Leaf poked Violet’s ribs.
“Why bother?” Violet asked.
“Because,” Leaf said dryly, “His Mighty Pompousness the Bishop of Creative Truths is bound to slink in here sooner rather than later, and it would be better if he did not find you abed. He has enough ideas of his own without you suggesting more.”
“You really shouldn’t call the Messenger that,” said Violet,pushing herself up. Violet was tired. So very tired. No matter how much she slept. Shedidhave to get up. That was the agreement the Messenger had made with her: Violet could have Leaf attend her in the palace, but only if Violet promised to get up and out of bed. Every day.
Leaf pulled a dress out of the closet. Something red and probably pretty, though Violet couldn’t bring herself to care about the details. The chamber itself was an echo of Violet’s old room; the damage from the fire she’d started had been repaired and repainted to suit the bishop’s taste.
“I’m a whisperer. I think that alone has sunk me to the rock-bottom of his scale and dug a hole,” said Leaf. “How are you feeling?”
Violet pulled on the offered dress. Unlike proper Children’s attire, the dress was designed to be formfitting, but it hung like a rag off Violet’s thin frame instead. Her body seemed to waste away more each night. How was she feeling? Like a doll being dressed into a queen.
“I’m afraid of my dreams,” said Violet. “Each time I close my eyes, I—it doesn’t matter. I mean, it’s normal. A tithe to balance the sins of my birth parents’ souls.”
Leaf said nothing to that.
Violet swallowed. The problem wasn’t the tithe; it was that Violet was just so tired of paying it. Comforting thoughts, like the peace her actions would bring to her mother’s soul, were no longer enough. Violet missed sharing a room with her sisters, working shoulder to shoulder beside them, rising each day knowing she was making a difference in her kingdom. She never saw them nowadays. Zalia was busy as usual, and Dasha had discovered she was with child and had been instructed by Bahir to remain belowground and pray. Any deviation from that, Bahir warned, risked upsetting the Goddess.
“There are other ways to make an impact, you know,” said Leaf, as if reading Violet’s thoughts. “Maybe someone else can save souls for a bit, and you can focus on more important things.”
“What could be more important?” asked Violet.
