the eagerness of his swallows, so I tipped the rest of the jug into his mouth and he drank the whole of it.
Then he slowed his swallows so I lowered the jug. His eyes drifted closed, his eyelashes fluttered, but he’d lost too much blood to stay awake. Which was fine. His body needed the rest. My stomach twisted into tangles.
I refilled the jug with the iron pump, returned to his bedside, and left it where he could reach it when he woke. I balled my father’s robes in my hands. He’d wake. He had to.
His breathing was slow and ragged. I watched the rise and fall of his chest and studied the filth from his neck and his hair. Here was the most recognizable face in the kingdom, wanted for treason.
The most handsome too. Not that that mattered.
No one had known where he’d been. Rumors speculated he’d left with the council, or even married the Savak queen. From the crusted dirt and blood along his hairline, it was clear neither of those rumors were true.
“What happened to you?” I asked. “How were you captured?”
He didn’t answer. His eyes didn’t even flutter. He was completely asleep.
Blood covered the floor. Undergod knows it covered me as well. The Executioner robes were soaked through. How much could he lose and still live?
In the flickering light, Prince Ryo lay too still, too silent, his skin almost gray. I tiptoed out of the light and pulled the soaked robes from my shoulders. They slid to the ground. I’d stand out on the street covered in blood. If I was going to find my brother, I had to do it as a lady.
And that meant I should probably change my clothes.
I glanced his way, but Ryo still slept.
Part of me had not healed from the time last Summernight picnic when the changing tent I was in accidentally attached itself to a rogue horse’s leash, and accidentally left me standing in mid-change. When my fury brought me to my brother’s side, his best friend, Ryo, asked, “What’s wrong, pink cheeks?” That name followed me for a whole season, and I think if he woke and saw me changing I would die or I would kill him.
Ryo’s head turned away.
It didn’t matter. I couldn’t stay in these clothes. My bloomers and corset were clean, but blood and dirt stained my arms and I’d left bloody footprints to and from the basin. I pumped water and scrubbed my arms until my skin ripped raw. Blistered.
The pump slowed to a dripping.
My hands were clean and Ryo’s wound was tended, so I could move to the next item on my to-do list.
Panic.
OH, MY LOST SAINTS, what had I done?
I axed the king. I slammed an axe into the king’s stomach. I murdered a king. No matter how many times I said it, it still didn’t make sense. I was not the kind of girl who committed treason. I had a life. I read, I baked, and I was saving money to buy a dog. And yes, I mostly stayed in my room, but I liked my life behind walls I’d decorated with my own coins.
And now it was over. If the wrong faction won control of the city, I’d be executed for this. I’d betrayed my family’s title and my kingdom for a boy I loathed.
But I couldn’t stop the feeling my father would have wanted me to save Ryo. My father must have had a good reason for signing. No matter what rumors whispered, I had to believe my father would never betray me.
I placed my head in my hands. There. I’d panicked. Now, perhaps, I could move on.
I gathered my thoughts with my breaths and pulled my market dress from the chair where I’d left it and covered myself with the cool silk. I slid my arm into one sleeve, and the other, tying the ribbons closed. The dress was covered in pockets, the ones over my thighs heavy with coins and the weight of a jar of seer water.
I’d almost forgotten my earlier trade. If anyone needed answers, it was me.
I licked my lips then cocked my head.
The tunnel was too quiet. It took me a moment to recognize the missing sound.
Ryo wasn’t breathing.
I knocked over the jug as I rushed to his side. Ryo’s skin had gone cold, his eyes glassy. I pressed my fingers to his neck and his blood was still. No pulse. No life.