for your life like I had to.â
He sighed.
âThatâs all I get? A sigh?â
âI know that you suffered, Lia, but I did what I thought was right at the time. I canât take back what Iâve done. I can only try to make amends.â
I choked on the word. I knew bitterly the cost of trying to make amends, and how pathetically they could fall short. When Greta died, I thought it was all my fault as I tried to make amends , but now I realized I hadnât even known the rules of the game Iâd been drawn into, nor all the playersâlike the traitors back in Civica. My amends would have changed nothing. The lies went on and on. Just like Kadenâs lies.
âYou lied to me about the footbridge,â I said. âIt was there all along.â
âYes. Four miles north of the Brightmist gate. Itâs not there anymore. We cut it down.â
Four miles? We could have gotten there on foot.
I leaned back on the rock. âSo what cunning story did you spin to get them to spare your lives? Iâm sure it was an excellent one. Youâre the master of deceit, after all.â
He studied me, his brown eyes as dark and deep as night. âNo,â he said. âNot anymore. I think that title has fallen to you.â
I looked away. It was a title I would gladly embrace if it could get me what I needed. I stared at the firelight dancing across the steel of the sword, both edges equally sharp and gleaming. âI did what I had to do.â
âAll those things you told me? Only what you had to do?â
I stood, the sword still in my hand. I wasnât going to get wrangled down a path of guilt. âWho sent you, Kaden?â I demanded. âWhy are you here? Was it Malich?â
A disgusted smirk twisted his lip.
âSay it,â I said.
âIn case you hadnât noticed, Lia, we were outnumbered that day on the terrace. We barely escaped with our lives. Faiwel died. So did the other guards who fought by our sides. Griz and I managed to fight our way down to a portal on the lowest level, and we sealed the door behind us. From there we hid in various abandoned passages for three days. When they couldnât find us, they assumed we had escaped on another raft.â
âAnd just how would you know what they assumed? Or that there was a squad sent after us?â
âOne of the passages we hid in was next to Sanctum Hall. We heard the Komizar shouting orders, one of which was to find you.â
My knees turned to water. I stared at Kaden, the cavern suddenly spinning with shadows. âBut heâs dead.â
âHe could be by now. He was weak, but Ulrix called for healers. They were caring for him.â
My legs gave way, and I dropped to the floor. I saw the Komizarâs eyes drilling into me, the dragon refusing to die.
âLia,â Kaden whispered, âuntie me. Please. Itâs the only way I can help you.â He scooted closer, until our knees almost touched.
I tried to focus but instead I was smelling the salty blood that had spilled to the terrace, seeing the shine of Asterâs eyes, hearing the chants of the crowd, feeling the icy grip of the knife as I pulled it from its sheath, the day coming to life again, the disbelief that had swept over me, the seconds that changed everything, the Komizar crumpling to the ground, and my naïve hope swelling that it could really be over.
Words, dry as chalk, lay on my tongue. I swallowed, searching for saliva, and finally managed a hoarse whisper. âWhat happened to the others, Kaden? Calantha, Effiera, the servants?â I rattled off another half dozen names of those who had been sympathetic to me, those who had looked at me with hopeful eyes. They had expected something from me that I didnât deliver. A promise they were still waiting for.
His brow furrowed. âMost likely dead. Clans who cheered your succession in the square suffered losses. It was a message. I