Chapter 58 Kiera
Kiera
Melaena’s face slackened, then crumpled. With a muffled sob, she rushed toward me, her arms outstretched.
Relief pounded through my aching body as I happily embraced her. Her gold earrings tickled my cheek, and her long, curly black hair enveloped us both.
“I was so worried,” she whispered. “Everything . . . the explosions. Everyone was gone.”
“It’s all right, Melaena,” I murmured. “Please.” Please stop talking. Please don’t ask questions. Not here.
She seemed to remember who was standing at my shoulder and hastily backed away from me. She glanced between me and Renwell. “Can Kiera come back and say hello to the other dancers?”
Renwell pressed his lips together. “No. They can greet her out here if they wish.”
Melaena’s eyebrows drew together as if she were putting the pieces together. Renwell didn’t trust me, nor I him.
But I might not get another chance.
Thinking quickly, I smiled at her. “You’re doing a show tonight, yes?”
She nodded. “The Ballad of the Lotus Wars.”
“Holy Four, that’s my favorite poem!” I turned my smile on Renwell and brushed my fingers over his forearm. “Would you mind if I danced with them? I . . . I’ve missed it these last few months. It would mean the world to me if I could do it again. One last time.”
His eyes flicked to where my fingers still touched his arm. His jaw tightened, but he didn’t remove my hand. Instead, he addressed Melaena. “Are all the dancers back there?”
“Of course,” Melaena said.
Tension rippled through Renwell, and just when I thought he’d refuse, he jerked his head in a nod at me. “You may go. I’ll watch from the front row.”
I grinned, tightening my grip on him for a moment. Then, deciding it could only help my cause, I leaned forward and whispered, “Thank you. And thank you for saving my life.”
Some of the tension melted from his face. He didn’t smile, but his eyes softened in the way I remembered whenever I conquered a new skill or beat him at Death and Four.
“You’re welcome.”
I released him and grasped Melaena’s hand as we darted into the dressing room.
She closed the door and leaned against it, her chest heaving. “By the Four, I thought he was here to haul me off to the executioner’s stand, after all.”
I winced, trying to ignore the stares of the other dancers. I opened my mouth to speak, but she shook her head the slightest bit, glancing at the bouquet of beautiful women.
Right. Ruru had said she didn’t trust them all anymore.
Melaena clapped her hands, fluttering to the middle of the room. The women stopped applying makeup and jewelry and focused on her.
“Olivia, you’ll be joining the divine group. Kiera will take your place as a background dancer. Since it will take her a moment to get changed, please perform the opening dance from Arduen’s Night for our guests.”
A memory echoed in the back of my mind, of Melaena inducting me into her dancers for another performance. But this really would be the last time.
Melaena herded her dancers out the door. A few tried to argue, but she insisted that they not let the “king” get bored waiting.
I noted Jayde glaring at me as she left. Tullia gave me a cautious wave that I returned. The two women hadn’t been my friends exactly. They had no idea who I was. And to turn up dressed as a Wolf wasn’t likely to win me any allies.
“Get in the bath,” Melaena said briskly, turning on the tap. “We can talk while we work.”
While I bathed, I caught her up on everything since I’d last seen her. She mentioned Aiden had told her I’d betrayed them, but she didn’t know how, only that he looked like a man whose heart had been destroyed.
She grew much happier when I told her of how things were between us now. How Ruru and Maz were doing. And what we’d accomplished at Calimber.
After my bath, she brushed out my knotted hair and braided it into an elaborate crown, much like Yarina had done for the fire dance. Tears pricked my eyes, but I blinked them away.
“Hold still,” she commanded as she dusted powder over my cheeks. “You have terrible red marks on your face. What did Renwell make you do?”
“I slammed my mask against a man’s face,” I admitted. “Only because he tried to hit me.”
“You don’t have to justify yourself to me, Kiera,” she said gently, applying makeup around my eyes. “Just tell me what you need before that murderer comes back here.”
I relayed our battle plans. “Henry also gave me two guards’ names: Dredger and Mankmen. I need one of them to get me a disguise and a cover story that will allow me to disable the cliff gate.”
“Dredger and Mankmen,” she murmured. “I’ll find them. When do you need to do this?”
“The fifth night from now. I don’t want to risk anyone checking the gate before Aiden arrives.”
She frowned, scrubbing at a spot on my face. “And how will you get away from Renwell?”
“Any way I have to. But I’ll be here.” Perhaps he’d be willing to make another wager. If I lost again, I wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences too long.
“Be careful, Kiera,” she whispered, cleaning her hands on a towel. “The way he looks at you . . . He means to keep you. One way or another.”
Unease trickled down my spine. “I can handle him. Now, what am I wearing this time?”
A few minutes later, I was waiting backstage with the other dancers. They whispered and giggled while I stood alone, peering around the gold curtain.
I wore a dress of black silk edged in gold.
It clung to my arms, neck, and torso and flared around my legs.
This dress was more opaque than the one I wore for Asher.
I wasn’t sure if that was because Melaena wanted to cover more of my scars and wounds.
Or if she knew I wasn’t here to seduce Renwell, no matter how much I played to his ego.
Gold necklaces laced with artificial black feathers cascaded over my chest. My feet were bare and adorned with gold ankle bracelets. They helped cover the marks left behind by the shackles.
I was the crow of death, the scavenger of war. A fitting role.
Renwell was easy to spot in the crowd. He sat at his own table in the front, lounging with one dirty boot propped up on the pristine velvet bench.
His mask and sword rested on the table, glaring symbols of his power.
The other guests were crammed around tables the farthest they could sit from him.
The conversation was minimal and carried on with forced smiles and shaky hands.
Renwell smirked at the pale boy who placed a glass of wine in front of him. The boy fumbled a bow and ran back down the aisle.
Renwell stared directly at me and lifted his glass, as if toasting me. Then drained it.
I let the curtain fall back, hiding from him again. Gods, I felt as though I were back in the mine, the walls thundering around me, ready to crumble.
How far would he go to win back my trust? How far would I have to go to convince him he was succeeding?
The musicians played the opening notes as we hurried into our positions. I was perfectly happy in the back.
Melaena had told me to perform a few of the leaps and twirls I’d learned for Asher’s dance. Nothing too grand. Just be a beautiful crow.
And I was. I danced on stage, waving my arms, flying, leaping, twirling in the winds of war that carried me. I pretended I was free, flying to my love with his crow-wing hair and brilliant green eyes.
Home, at last.
Melaena insisted I wear the costume back to the palace.
Renwell’s eyes swept me from head to toe, his nostrils flaring, but he didn’t argue. I carried my Wolf uniform, apart from the boots that I wore under my dress. Once again, a group of soldiers escorted us across the bridge.
Was Renwell worried I would jump? Or did he remember I feared the bridge and wanted me to feel safe? Neither felt right.
He walked me to my door without a word.
My stomach tightened. Did he want something else from me?
“Thank you for tonight,” I said, handing him my Wolf uniform. I twisted my doorknob.
“Kiera.”
I allowed a grimace to pass over my face before I glanced back at him.
He held my mask in his gloved hand, rubbing one finger over the cheek of it. “I wanted you to come with me tonight to see the good we could do together in Aquinon. You once desired to be High Enforcer of Rellmira more than anything else. I’m offering you that job now.”
Shock made my lips part. “Why?”
“To have what we always talked about when I was training you. I want you at my side as we rule Rellmira. You could have all the power you crave.” He held up the Wolf mask.
“If you wish to disband my Wolves, you can. If you prefer to patrol the streets yourself, to protect those you deem worthy, then you must. If you demand change in our justice system, I will grant you the power and resources to do that.”
He was handing me everything—everything I’d wanted for years. All that savage hope I’d kept bottled inside as I trained and waited for my moment, and he was finally rewarding it.
Impossible.
“And in return?” I croaked.
His face tightened. “You swear your loyalty to me. To never instigate nor aid a plot against me or my rule.”
I shook my head wearily. “That is not power, Renwell. That is another cage.”
Anger flickered in his eyes. “Power always comes at a price. I am asking a very small one for a very great honor.”
I pretended to hesitate, thinking long and hard. But really, I knew better. I had seen too many of Renwell’s crimes, dealt with too much of the pain he’d inflicted, to believe that I would be powerful. That I could actually make the changes he suggested.
It was as though he handed me a sword while cutting off my legs.
And I hadn’t missed his other insinuation. If I swore loyalty to him, he would demand I tell him any plans regarding Aiden. But if I told him no, he might extract that information through other means.
“I’ll think on it,” I told him. “Good night, Renwell.”
“Sleep well, Kiera.”
I entered my room and closed the door in his face. I sank onto my bed, staring into the fire a servant must have lit. The weather never got as cold as it did in Dagriel. But the fire chased away the chill that emanated from my heart.
A soft knock came at the door.
I grabbed Mother’s knife from my dressing table and hid it behind my back as I opened the door.
Everett’s tired face greeted me.
I ushered him in and locked the door. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said with a jaw-cracking yawn. “I was waiting in one of the passages until Renwell left. I’ve been in the library all day.”
I shot him a stiff smile. “Of course you have.”
He sat on my bed and seemed to notice my outfit for the first time. “What are you wearing? And why? Did Renwell make you do this?” His voice rose.
“Hush, no. I was at The Silk Dancer, telling Melaena what I needed for the gate.”
Everett’s gray eyes cleared. “Ah, yes, that’s why I’m here.
I found an old account of when Aquinon was built.
The architects and engineers sketched the buildings, like this palace and the Temple and the layout of the quarters.
Very interesting, actually. Terraum himself must’ve helped with their work, as some passageways are clearly marked.
Perhaps he didn’t mark them all on purpose—”
“Ev, I’m dying to get out of this dress and these feathers. What did you find to help me?”
“How to immobilize the gate.” He revealed a small leather book from his jacket and pulled out a piece of paper.
“The architects never drew the gate mechanism, but simply described it. I sketched the gatehouse as close to their words as I could. Tampering with the winch mechanism or the chains would either take a long time or send the gate crashing down. But in a tiny footnote here, an engineer mentioned locking pins that anchor the gate to prevent too much tension on the winch. If you sever those with Mother’s knife and put the pieces back in, they’ll jam the gate in place when the guards try to pull the pins out. ”
I stared at the carefully inked sketch. The gate system was a mess of pulleys and chains. “Like breaking off a key in a lock.”
“Exactly. But make sure you cut the pin just right so it doesn’t fall out the other side.”
I bit my lip. “What if someone sees what I’ve done? Then they’d have plenty of time to fix it before Aiden arrives.”
“Try to disguise it, if you can. And pray to the Four they don’t inspect it too closely.
” Everett sat back in my chair, rubbing his bloodshot eyes.
“If they discover it, they’ll be able to reach through the gate and cut through the rest of the pin with a Wolf’s blade, as I’m sure they’ve also realized sharpened sunstone has more uses than death.
There are too many problems to solve, but this is the best plan I have over a dozen others. ”
I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and pulled my brother close. “It’ll work, or it won’t. Either way, I will do everything I can to shape this battle in our favor.”
He gave me a wan smile, then kissed my forehead. “I’m with you, little sister. Either way.”
I wanted to burst into tears at the rare show of affection and curl up in his arms like I had when we were younger. But I couldn’t lose my nerve now. I had to be strong until the end. Like Mother.
After Everett left, I shimmied out of my dress and carefully laid it over a chair. Maybe Renwell would let me use the excuse of returning it to go back to the club.
I sat in front of my mirror and washed off the thick makeup Melaena had painted onto my face. She’d tried very hard to hide the red marks in my eyebrows and on my cheeks from the Wolf mask.
I froze, staring at my half-washed face. I’d just seen marks like this. But as deeper scars. Like the ones someone would get if he wore a Wolf mask for many hours.
The man who’d tried to kill me was a Shadow-Wolf.