There has to be someone I can talk to who knew King Notu before he died—and I can’t talk to them for almost a week without risking everything. With a groan, I push through another page.The dog received a detailed examination, but human deaths whisk by with single lines of description. Most of the c
I’m doing everything I can, I tell it. He’s dead. There’s no being with him. There’s just this.Somehow, that doesn’t improve the situation.By the time I reach the door, I’m hunched over with pain and exhaustion. I barely notice that it’s already open because the word stairs finally sinks in. My wo
IngridTrumpets blare outside, and I pray that means we’re finally approaching Som Palace. After almost two days in this Goddess-forsaken trunk, I’m shocked I can still hear them. My lungs hurt. I keep smashing my elbow into the walls—when we go over bumps in the road, so the minder doesn’t notice,
It looks like a place with the Goddess in the stars right now.“I don’t have any things other than Cloud, but I’ll rest for a little while.” I drift toward the bunkhouse, the threadbare mattresses singing sweet songs to me.Abir snorts. “You’ll get dressed and grab a shovel. We need grooms, but push
AmvalI slow Cloud to a walk at the foot of Som Palace. The sky behind the castle is gray with the rising sun, and every inch of my body moans for a rest. For nearly two days, I’ve been awake. I look up at the star-shaped outer wall, toward the equally jagged bluestone castle within. One dark window
“So you think someone from Dun’s Crossing—”I shake my head. “I considered that, but my siblings didn’t do it, and I can’t come up with a motive for anyone else who came with us. Soldiers don’t care about the crown prince of another kingdom, and neither do personal staff.”She looks up at me, horrif