“You can’t win if you go alone,” said Edan. “Wait for me. I’ll go with you.”
The strain in his voice touched me, but I wasn’t going to change my mind. “I’m getting worse every day, Edan. Soon I won’t be able to resist.”
A grimace tore apart Edan’s careful composure. “Come here, then,” he urged. “My teacher, Master Tsring, can help you. He’s mortal now, but he knows more about magic than anyone, save the gods themselves. He’s dealt with Bandur before.”
“I don’t have much time,” I said in a small voice. “I don’t even know where you—”
“The Tura Mountains. They’re not far from Lapzur. Call for me when you see them, and I will find you.”
“With the mirror?”
“Yes,” replied Edan, “but be careful. The demon inside you will grow stronger every day, and whenever you use magic, you open yourself to its influence. Do not use its power. It will corrupt you, and you will turn faster.”
To that, I said nothing.
“Maia!” Edan had raised his voice, and I flinched. His eyes were so blue, not the blazing yellow they’d once turned when he was angry. “Swear it on my life, Maia, that you will not use the demon’s power. Swear you will not go to Lapzur without me.”
Sudden rage rose in me. It flared white and hot and so dazzlingly intense I could not control it.
How dare he! He does not control you, Sentur’na.
The whispers grew louder, deafening. Edan’s furniture vanished. Trees sprang from the carpets, their branches withered and gnarled. The Forgotten Isles of Lapzur. I shut my eyes, pushing out the hallucination. “No!”
The mirror slipped from my grasp, and I lunged for it, but whatever connection Edan and I had had was broken.
“Edan?” I whispered, clutching the mirror. Only my reflection stared back at me. “Edan, I’m sorry.”
But Edan was gone.
I crumpled onto the ground in despair. My pendant whirled around my neck. I grasped it and forced it to still.
Edan was wrong. It wasn’t a demon’s amulet. The dresses inside belonged to the mother goddess, Amana. There was nothing sinister about them.
Still, a pinprick of doubt stabbed me. Then why is there a crack in the center, like in Bandur’s amulet?
That, I couldn’t answer.
I tucked the pendant back inside my tunic. The dresses inside thrummed softly, a steady pulse against my heart’s. Unlike my scissors’ song, it did not stop when I let go.
I inhaled a deep, shaky breath. At least Edan was safe. That would have to do for now.
CHAPTER NINE
I didn’t hear the window open.
It was morning, and I was still in Edan’s chambers reading through the books at my feet when, from behind, someone shook me.
“They’re coming for you!”
Ammi pried the book from my hands. “Master Tamarin,” she pressed, “are you listening? You have to get out of here!”
“What?” I rasped. My tongue was so dry it clicked against the roof of my mouth. “Who?”
“The emperor!” Ammi pulled me to my feet. “Jun and Zaini won’t be able to hold their tongues for long. You must hurry!”
I grabbed my things, including the medicine I’d found in Edan’s cabinets. “What of Lady Sarnai?”
“She’s alive, but barely. They took her to the dungeon this morning. That’s what will happen to you if you don’t—”
The dungeon! “I have to help her.”
“Are you listening?” Ammi grabbed my arm. “Half of the palace guards are looking for you, and the other half are watching Lady Sarnai. You can’t—”
I twisted out of her grip and grabbed Edan’s pouch, slipping the vial, his flute, and his mirror inside. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”
Ammi wrinkled her nose. “I’m not letting you go alone. I doubt you even know where the dungeon is.”
I didn’t.
My expression must have been easy to read, for she let out a sigh. “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”
I slipped the pouch’s straps over my head. “Why are you helping me? I thought you were upset with me.”
“I am,” she replied, “but that doesn’t mean I want you killed. You’re too good a tailor for that, Master Tamarin.”
I might have smiled if the morning hadn’t taken such a dire turn. Still, the iciness creeping into my heart thawed just enough for me to smile at my friend. “Call me Maia.”
A tight smile graced Ammi’s lips in return. “Hurry up, Maia. The last thing I want is to be caught with you.” She started climbing out the window. “This way. We’ll cut through the gardens. By the gods, I hope the guards are having lunch.”
* * *
• • •
They weren’t. And unfortunately, Ammi was right about the dungeon teeming with security. I would have no chance of getting inside to see Lady Sarnai. Not without help.
Bamboo fences surrounded the prison, a box-shaped structure constructed of large, mismatched stones. No windows, and no doors but for the entrance. It seemed more like a crypt than a dungeon.
Then again, most prisoners weren’t meant to live long inside.
After ducking behind a bush, I mentally marked the guard with the keys dangling from his hip, and reached for my pendant. My thumb edged along the side of the walnut that carried the dress of the sun.
Here goes.
“Wrap your sash around your eyes,” I whispered to Ammi. “Shut them as tight as you can. Don’t open them—no matter what you hear. Not until the light is gone. Then run back to the kitchens.”
Before she could ask any questions, I darted out of my hiding place and counted to three— “Now!”
I reached for my pendant and released the power of the dress of the sun, aiming it at the guards. The light blinded them. One by one, they staggered, dropping their weapons and trying to shield their eyes before crumpling against the fence.
There was no time to waste. I knocked past them and crouched beside the guard with the keys, snipping off his belt with my scissors.
Only when I was well inside the dungeon did I shut the laughter of the sun back into my pendant, but I kept a hand on it in case I encountered more guards.