everyone to safety—”
“Pretending to be the good guys.” Kira looked back at her brother with a glare sharp enough to pierce. “Should be good for international relations, huh?”
“Kira.” Tekkyn’s expression pleaded with her. “Think of how many lives will be saved. The faster the war is, the smaller the chance Lee will be killed on the front lines. Our whole family is right on the border—it’ll be hard enough to survive since Ryon burned all our hay—and we’d be directly on the battle line. If the Empire doesn’t win this war, what will happen to Mom and Dad? To Granny?”
“There is no war!” Kira shouted, not caring if the driver heard. “The tribes don’t want to attack us. They only care about themselves and their land.”
Shadows grew long on Tekkyn’s face. “War is coming, Kira, and there’s nothing either of us can do about it.”
Kira felt like she was going to lose her Malaano-style breakfast. “Are you hearing yourself? We already took half the continent! When will the emperor be satisfied?”
“I don’t think he ever will be, since he wants this d’hakka-infested forest.” Tekkyn muttered. “Trust me, this is the last thing I want. All I want to do is go home and tend to the cattle. But what can I do about it? Sail over to Malaan Island, stride up to the emperor’s palace in Maqua, and ask him nicely not to conquer the continent?”
“You’re a coward.”
Tekkyn jerked back as if she’d slapped him. He took a deep breath and released it through his nostrils like a bull. “Look, Frizz, I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you. I’m sorry I’m not the big brother you want me to be. I’m sorry that I can’t stop all of this from happening, and I’m just as upset as you are.” He folded his arms across his Malaano tabard. “But you promised to keep this secret, and in turn I promise you that I’ll jump on every opportunity to do what’s right.”
Kira glared at him for a second longer, then at the wagon’s floorboards. A bird sang somewhere in the forest, and Kira wished she had some dark ability to cause it to implode from afar.
“Your turn,” Tekkyn said.
She snorted. “I already told you everything last night.”
“Don’t give me that. What I just told you would get me killed if you slipped it to anyone.”
Kira kicked at a bag at her feet, which crackled and spilled crystallized sap to the wagon’s deck. She took a frustrated breath and let it out. “He said he’s a scout for the Tribal Alliance. He was updating their maps.”
Tekkyn’s eyes narrowed. “And?”
She squirmed. “And apparently our shrine’s hill would make a good lookout point.”
Her brother leaned back and tilted his head. “And?”
Kira combed her memory for more information that probably wouldn’t do any harm. “And he’s Emberhawk by blood, but his father betrayed the royal family when he was little, so Ryon is loyal to the Katrosi.” She considered her next words. “He answers directly to the Jade Witch.”
“And?”
Kira huffed a breath. “And this crazy trai’yeth—water spirit, goddess, elemental, whatever—somehow looks like his aunt, and she wants him to go back and marry his cousin or something.”
Tekkyn blinked. “What?”
“I don’t know.” Kira hugged herself and rubbed her hands against her arms to warm them against the wind. Ryon’s bangle danced with the motion, nudging her spirit with a sorrowful reminder. “That’s it.”
“Your ears twitch when you lie, Frizz.”
Kira growled. “There’s nothing else . . . that’s . . . important.”
She could feel her brother’s gaze dissecting her like a butterfly pinned to a board. “Do you like him?”
“No. He’s a thief and an arsonist, and apparently he starts tavern brawls.”
It was quiet for so long that Kira dared to glance at Tekkyn.
He was smirking like a cat with a belly full of milk. “Wow. You’ve had so many suitors, but you never liked any of them this much.”
Kira’s cheeks ignited. “Well obviously you hate him, so . . .” She swallowed hard. “And I barely even know him. But he did a lot of things for me that I never thought a stranger would do. It doesn’t matter because Dad probably wouldn’t want me to . . . be with . . . a tribesman.” Her voice descended with each pause until it was inaudible. She knew that probably wasn’t true, so best not to say it and let Tekkyn refute it.
Her brother didn’t need to hear—his grin only grew. “Are there no good boys in Navarro?”
“Boys, yes,”