The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani (story reading .TXT) 📕

will not rise again after this. Do you understand? You have failed as queen dowager and regent, and I will not allow your failure to endanger Adania any longer.”

“I have only ever protected our land!”

Alyrra’s face pales with fury, the skin of her cheeks blotchy. She takes a slow breath and says coldly, “It seems there is no point in our continuing this conversation. Prince Kestrin has dispatched a pair of quads to take Daerilin and your son into custody. They will each be exiled as I choose. Should you require me to ride to Adania before you to assure Derin of his right to rule, I will do so.”

The queen goes still, as if she has only just realized she cannot win. “You cannot do this.”

“It is already done.”

The queen shoots an uncertain glance toward Kestrin. “The king—”

Kestrin shakes his head, dismissing this. “My father is not here only at Zayyida Alyrra’s request. Rest assured his support of her is guaranteed. Your companion is present as your witness. You see our royal attendants are present as ours. I am sure you appreciate the delicacy of the situation.”

The Adanian noblewoman remains silent, her eyes wide. No doubt she will have plenty to say to their Council of Lords, but here, in this moment, she reserves her silence.

“Alyrra, will you not hear reason?” the queen pleads, and in her voice I hear the first true emotion she has let slip this morning: a rising panic.

“You had no place for reason when I begged for it, Mother. I’ve heard your reasons half my life. I am done with them. I have no doubt Cousin Derin will make an excellent king, and a kinder ruler than you or my brother could ever be. There will be no further arguing this.”

The queen closes her eyes, her face ashen. She is only a regent; with the prince exiled, she has lost her throne as well.

Alyrra rises to offer her mother a small curtsy, hardly that of one peer to another. “I look forward to the coronation.”

The queen dips her head and departs in a haze, her companion in her wake.

With shaking fingers, I slip the cover back over the basket and fasten it. Around the room, the attendants shift slightly, as if they had held themselves taut as a wire and only now dare breathe.

“He isn’t going to go away because you exiled him,” Kestrin says. I glance toward him. He is focused completely on Alyrra. “He will come back, and he will bring trouble with him.”

She shakes her head. “I have taken his power, his title, and his wealth from him. I will not take his life as well.”

“And if he returns?”

“Then we will do what we must,” she says tiredly.

Kestrin nods and waves his hand once, dismissing all of us attendants. I hesitate as the others file to the door. My letter still sits untouched on the small table. Alyrra needs to know—

“Go,” Kestrin says, his voice flat. He meets my gaze with all the authority of his position. It is not an order I would dare countermand.

I dip my head and go.

Chapter

46

Filadon waits in the hall outside the royal suite. I entertain a momentary hope that he is here for Kestrin, that I will be able to escape to the guard room and go with Matsin to Kirrana’s home, but from the way Filadon looks at me, I know he’s here for me.

“Hallo, Rae,” he says. I have the distinct feeling he is sorry to be here.

“Verin,” I say slowly, and his eyes flicker shut for a half moment. Yes, whatever his reason, it’s political and not something he’s pleased about.

“Come,” he says, offering me his arm. “We’re going for a walk.”

“I can’t just now,” I say, glancing down the hall to where Matsin waits, filling the doorway of the guard room. I should have left with him some time ago; I’m not sure how much longer he’ll wait. “I realize there’s something you need to say to me, but there is something I must do. It’s urgent.”

“Walking clears the mind,” Filadon says, taking my arm and turning me to the staircase. Matsin nods once to me and steps back. “There’s something we need to discuss. I’m sorry, Rae, but your errand will have to wait.”

I stop at the top of the stairs and look up at Filadon, catching his gaze. Even if Matsin will wait, Kirrana needs my help. “And if I refuse to come with you just now? Because my errand involves someone’s life?”

I have never seen him look so grim. “This one involves yours. And it shouldn’t take long.”

“Filadon—”

“Yours and your family’s.”

I go still staring at him, thinking of Kestrin’s secret that I discovered just last night. Filadon looks away, then tugs me forward. I let him lead me down the stairs, descending gingerly as each step with my left foot presses into burst blisters. We proceed into a small salon with wide windows that look out onto a mosaic-tiled courtyard, the fountains at its center familiar. I must have been past it before.

“This particular room,” he says as he shuts the door, “is protected from listening ears. Much like the royal suites.”

“So what is it we need to discuss that requires such privacy?”

“I think you know.”

I’m not admitting anything, just in case this is a test. “I think you need to say it out loud.”

Filadon nods. “The prince has a secret that only a select few know: his father, his wife, me, the captain of his bodyguard, and one of his attendants.”

“And now me.”

“And now you.”

I consider Filadon silently. Kestrin may have thanked me for keeping his secret in confidence . . . but he’s no fool. The secret I carry could easily be turned against him, and in such a way that I could both reap the benefit and escape the repercussions. Perhaps Filadon is Kestrin’s closest friend precisely because he can be trusted with such a secret. But I’m not Kestrin’s friend, and I’ve only