Night Spinner (Night Spinner #1) - Addie Thorley Page 0,101

you could help.”

“Is that what you believe your benevolent Temujin was planning to do? That he would swoop in and save us all? Fix everything?” Ghoa slams her palm against the arm of the sofa, and the fabric stiffens with frost. “He has deluded you, Enebish! I understand that he let you play at being a warrior, and I can only imagine how good that must have felt after two years at Ikh Zuree, but it’s a game. A trick. I don’t know what he’s actually planning, but—”

“Just because you tried to use me, doesn’t mean everyone is!” I shout over her. “I’m not playing at being a warrior; I am a warrior.”

Ghoa buries her fingers in her hair, mussing her high ponytail. “If Temujin is so eager to combine forces, why is this the first I’m hearing of it? We haven’t received any missives, nor has he attempted to arrange negotiations.”

“What?” She looks so genuinely baffled, I almost believe her. But then my sense returns and I grind my teeth on the lie, crushing the momentary pain and worry to pulp. I composed the letters myself. I saw Temujin hand them off directly to the scouts. Why would he go to the trouble of staging such a scam? And he has no reason to destroy the missives. It would undermine everything he’s fighting for.

But it would suit Ghoa’s needs perfectly.

“Did you truly not receive our letters?” I ask. “Or did you conveniently forget to mention them to the king? The same way you forgot to tell me Serik was being sent to Gazar?”

She raises her fist in the Kalima salute. “I swear on my position as Commander of the Kalima warriors, we haven’t received a single missive.”

“What good is swearing on a position you lied and schemed and double-crossed to obtain?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about!” I slam my own hand against the couch, not realizing it’s my bad arm until shredding pain ricochets from my shoulder to wrist. I press through the agony. “I’m talking about all the mornings you dragged me out of bed and made me sit beside you in the tall grass, so you could see which members of the Kalima were sneaking out for extra training. So you’d know who else was vying for promotion and precisely how to crush them. Even though the matchups were supposed to be blind.

“I’m talking about Nasan and Koju, who you sent into Zemyan territory during your trial as commander, even though our scouts had reported a contingent of enemy soldiers camped in the Usinsk Pass. Nasan lost his leg and Koju hasn’t spoken since. His mother has to nurse him like a babe, but you’ve never noticed or cared because they served their purpose. We marched to the beaches of Karekemish for the first time in history, and you secured the title of commander.

“You’ve always been willing to squash anyone and anything in your way. I just never thought it would be me,” I say softly. “Or the people we vowed to serve.”

Ghoa’s fingers curl into fists and ice overtakes her knuckles. It twines up her wrists and biceps, climbing higher and higher until frost crackles through her hair. Her brown eyes burn bright with anger, but beneath the sparking fury, there is pain. “Stop, Enebish, before you say something you can’t take back.”

But I don’t stop. I force myself to be bold. To make her listen. To make her hear me for the first time in my life. “I know accepting Temujin’s help will make you look weak in the eyes of the Sky King, but—”

“Stop!”

“I will not be silenced!” I bellow at the top of my voice. “The welfare of our country is more important than your skies-forsaken pride and ambition!”

Arctic air explodes through the room like a cannon, cold enough to tear flesh from bone. With a scream, Ghoa launches herself at me. Her body is so solid, so frozen, it’s like colliding with a glacier. We crash to the floor, which immediately turns to ice, and skid toward the glass walls. The hairs on her arms flay me open like tiny blades, and my chest burns, gasping for air that’s suddenly too cold to breathe.

With my injuries, Ghoa easily overtakes me. She slams the back of my head against the ground. Her eyes are bright and wide, but she’s clearly somewhere else, lost in a world of fury.

“Why do you do this?” Her voice cracks and spittle flies