Page 11 of Of Songs and Silence

“You’re the one holding up the game,” I drawl.

“I need time to strategize,” she says, irritably shaking her wavy black locks out of her face like her cards will be magically better if she can see them unobstructed.

I tsk and shake my head, propping my feet up in Remy’s lap.

“No, Zai. This isn't chess…sometimes you need to be willing to think on your feet.”

She narrows her golden eyes and finally lays down a pair of spades. “Besides, I meant that we should focus on the plan.”

Khijhana rests her giant head on my sister’s lap, her piercing turquoise eyes looking up at her in concern. It’s unnerving how in tune the two of them are, and the connection only seems to increase by the day.

“I think we should revisit the idea of the dragons,” I offer, and everyone’s heads snap toward me.

It’s an argument we’ve had several times now, and none of us can reach a consensus.

“If they’re connected to the royal line, and Madame was after them anyway, maybe we can use them to help us—”

“No,” Einar and Remy say at the same time.

Tension thrums through the room and I groan, rubbing my temples.

“I don’t disagree with you on principle, A.” Zaina’s words are a miracle in and of themselves, since it might be the only thing we don’t disagree about on principle. “But—”

“Of course, there’s a but,” I mutter.

“But,” she says again, louder this time. “We didn’t have time to go back for them, and we certainly don’t now, especially when they are unpredictable at best,” my sister adds.

“Which means the chalyx might be our only option left,” Remy says, running a hand through his chestnut waves.

I try not to act surprised, but it might be the first full sentence he’s strung together in days.

Zaina visibly stiffens, her hands freezing in place where she’s stroking the giant cat’s striped head, but she doesn’t argue.

“Khijhana is the only one we know of that has been able to hurt Madame. We can’t discount that,” Remy adds a moment later.

Einar moves closer to Zaina, one hand stroking the chalyx’s head, and the other wrapping around Zaina’s hand.

“He isn’t wrong, Zaina. It nearly killed her to stay behind while you were taken last time.”

We all know he’s talking about more than just the chalyx now, but it’s one of many elephants in the room we choose to ignore for the sake of our mutual sanity.

In a quieter tone, Einar adds, “We will all have to take risks if we’re to even have a chance at this.”

“I know that,” Zaina snaps. “I already agreed to let Aika fight, didn’t I?”

My brows shoot up to my hairline as I stare at her in disbelief, as my sister casually refers to me like she did the two creatures.

“I’m sorry,” I say, crossing my arms and fixing her with a glare. “And here I thought I was a whole arse adult and a queen.”

There’s a pause before she meets my gaze. “You might be one of those things, little sister.”

A soft snort comes from my right, and I turn in time to see a rare smile appear on Remy’s features. It warms something inside of me. I resist the urge to climb into his lap and kiss the expression I hadn’t realized I’d missed until right now.

Instead, I fire back at Zaina.

“Well, in either case, it doesn’t stop me from kicking your arse,bigsister.”

“Regardless,” Einar interjects, stopping the sparring before it can begin. “We need an edge, or at the very least, a back-up plan.” He directs the last part to my sister, his gaze darting between her and Khijhana.

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