❖ QUEENKILLER, KINGMAKER Book 2 ❖
A year has passed since Isla rescued Tam Mai from the dungeons, but her sister's mind is still trapped and broken. There is only one person Isla knows can help her.
Meanwhile across the sea, a prince seeks justice f...
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The first time she came to Kathedra, she had entered through the western gates, carted in on the back of a wagon, lost and frightened and knowing nothing.
How things have taken a drastic change.
Now she came rolling in a carriage of silver and blue, escorted by at least three dozen soldiers. Not quite lost, a little less frightened, and knowing a lot more than she did before. The northern gates looked just the same as its western brother, but that day people crowded the roads even outside the city.
News of Rajini Dhvani's capture had arrived long before they did, and people had camped out to witness Kiet's victorious arrival, waiting miles outside the gates. Isla spotted tents in the distance, trampled bedrolls on the grass, trails of smoke over dying campfires ...
'It's a bit over the top, don't you think?' Isla muttered, forgetting that her sister was ignoring her. Weeks of travel, confined together in a small carriage, and still Tam Mai had not gotten over her surliness.
Luckily Taeichi shared their carriage. 'People like a heroic tale, and what your maharaj has done makes for a good one. They want to be part of it.'
Cheers filled the air, penetrating even the thick glass. They had finally come upon the first line of campers, the crowd growing progressively more dense and excitable the closer they drew to the gates.
A blur of green and yellow bounced against the windows. Tam Mai flinched, shirking tighter and tighter into her little corner. People were showering the procession with golden rice stalks—the Surikh symbol for success and victory, though they fell upon their carriage with a whipping noise more suggestive of failure and punishment.
'Bet Kiet's regretting his choice of travelling on horseback,' said Isla, hoping to distract her sister. 'What a huge showboat. Stretching his legs. As if there's any difference between sitting in a carriage or on the back of a horse! Did you know his carriage is lined with actual silver? And now it's riding empty. What a waste.'
'I cannot blame him too much.' Taeichi shrugged. 'I would prefer riding myself.'
'There'll be time to strut around the city once the people have calmed down,' said Isla, her eyes out the window. Everyone's attention were directed at either the front of the procession—led by Kiet and his captain—or toward the very back, where a half dozen soldiers rode alongside a rune-enforced prisoner's wagon.
'I will need a guide, until I learn your language.' Taeichi was taking her suggestion far too seriously to her liking. He turned to Tam Mai, smiling. 'Perhaps Tam Mai-uchi would join me. I can teach you how to ride, if you like. You are doing well with the basics of self-defence; riding lessons will only complement your form.'
Tam Mai only blushed and gave a shadow of a nod. Isla did not understand it. Taeichi had a way with her sister that no one else did. He managed to appease her back on the ship, have her confess that she wanted to stay with Isla—even if that meant returning to the Grand Palace—and all that without using his theurgy. His offer to teach her the Refined Arts was met with bashful interest, but Tam Mai had asked for lessons the moment they stepped foot on Surikh land.
