luck, but thank you.”
Serefin held his arm out to Nadya, casting a sly look down the table at those who were openly staring at them. She hesitated before taking it. She met Parijahan’s eyes as she passed where the servants were waiting. An echo of a smile touched her lips as she got up to trail behind them.
“So,” Serefin said, his voice hushed, “what did my father do to ?aszczów to get you to look at him with that level of hatred?”
Nadya stumbled. She was fairly certain her heart stopped for a beat. Did he know? There was no way. He couldn’t know. She tried to smile but knew it came off false.
He chuckled. “Ah, that was cruel of me. Forgive me, but you are so charmingly provincial.”
Nadya grimaced.
“Sorry,” Serefin said with a slight frown. He ran a hand through his hair. “That was meant to be a compliment. It wasn’t a good one.”
“No.”
He laughed sheepishly. “I’ve been at the front for years and lost all skill I formerly had at interacting with people, I’m afraid. Not that I was ever particularly good at it.”
“I think you’re doing fine,” Nadya said. “However, I am probably the worst judge.”
“It’s refreshing,” he said. “You are candid, and you hate my father; these are both things I appreciate.”
The way he spoke of his father—the tightness around his eyes and tension that built in his shoulders—and the way he had reacted to his father merely speaking to him made Nadya suspect Malachiasz was right; they really had walked into something bigger than petty court games.
She wished she had more time to gauge if Serefin would make a better king. What she saw of him that evening made her hopeful, but it was not enough to stop the war. She had to press on.
“These are my rooms,” she said, stopping. Parijahan walked around her to open the door.
She pulled away from Serefin but he caught her hand. He lifted it to his mouth, kissing it gently.
Nadya blushed instantly.
“Good luck, Józefina. I would not wish for you to lose your life for such a ridiculous reason as this Rawalyk.”
“Thank you, Serefin.”
His smile was crooked as he dropped her hand. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
He inclined his head to her before he loped down the hall. Nadya darted into her rooms, slamming the door shut. She leaned back against the door and slowly slid to the ground, her pale green skirts pooling around her.
Parijahan was grinning. “I think you charmed the prince.”
“I think I did.”
“Was it difficult?”
“I felt like throwing up the entire time.”
Parijahan laughed. Nadya dropped her head into her hands. “He isn’t what I expected.” She had been expecting someone more like how she’d first seen Malachiasz—intimidating and powerful—and wasn’t sure what to do with this charmingly awkward boy. That he was one of the most powerful blood mages in Tranavia—as well as a heretic—unfortunately caused her fingers to itch for the szitelka hidden in her sleeve. She had wavered too much already; she couldn’t allow herself to feel any more.
Nadya had spent a fair portion of the evening tracking the king’s movements, trying to decipher just how many guards he had around him at all times, just how difficult it would be to separate him and kill him.
Their odds weren’t good. “Do you think I’ll have to win this—whatever this Rawalyk is—to get us close enough?”
Parijahan considered, her gray eyes cast up at the painting on the ceiling. “I don’t know if we have that much time. Be careful around any Vultures you see lurking around the palace.”
Nadya pulled Kostya’s necklace out from under the neckline of her dress and flipped it between her fingers. She didn’t need to be warned about the Vultures.
“What’s your homeland like? Akola?” she asked. She didn’t want to talk about the Vultures with that painting hovering over them.
Parijahan smiled, her eyes closing dreamily. “Warm. Even in the winter, it’s not nearly so cold as it is in Kalyazin. The sands catch the sun and everything is golden.”
“How long have you been away?”
“A long time. Much too long but still not long enough.”
“Do you think you’ll go back?”
Parijahan laughed. “I don’t know.” She stood. “Mistakes were made. People died. Rashid and I both learned that sometimes the only thing left is to disappear.” She held out her hands to Nadya, offering to help her to her feet.
Nadya accepted. Parijahan was taller than her, and she rested her brown hands on Nadya’s shoulders.
“We’re asking too much of you, Nadya, I know that.