But I kept gazing at the empty space beside Father, where Raikama would have sat, and my unfulfilled promise gnawed at me. Takkan knew I still had the pearl, but I hadn’t told him—or anyone—that I had to leave for Lapzur.
“To Lord Bushi’an and Shiori,” Andahai was saying, raising his cup. “May your strands be knotted from this life to the next. I wish you every happiness.”
Reiji seconded the toast. “And what a relief that the attention is off me,” he added. “All week we’ve been celebrating my marriage to a paper princess.”
“Yes, and hoping for your sake that she’s as pretty as she looks in the painting,” Hasho joked.
Reiji snorted, but he downed his cup in one gulp nonetheless.
I lifted my cup of wine to my lips and drank slowly. I’d never loved rice wine, and this was particularly bitter, like chewing on a handful of raw tea leaves.
Then it began to burn.
I spat my wine back into the cup, but the poison traveled fast. A vicious pain lanced through my chest, and I began to choke, blood draining from my face. The wine cup slipped from my hand and clattered on the tiled floor.
The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, my cheek pressed against the cold tile.
The world swayed as footsteps rushed toward me. My brothers—all six of them—were at my side, their faces blurred into one.
“Poison!” Hasho was crying.
“Someone get help!”
Their shouts faded into the background, and all I could see was Qinnia, trying to loosen my collar so I could breathe. Black smoke swirled in my eyes, and as the breath fled my lungs, a shadow enshrouded her. Her skin turned ashen, her pupils blood-red.
“Welcome back, Shiori,” Bandur spoke through Qinnia’s rose-painted lips. “You haven’t forgotten me, have you?”
“How…how are you here?” I choked. “In…in Qinnia?”
“You don’t remember?” Qinnia picked up a handful of red dates. The movement was languid, and my heart gave a lurch when she crushed them in her fist.
Juice ran through her fingers like blood, in thin meandering streams. “Your blood freed me. I am not chained to the mountains, as the others are. I’ve been here. Watching you.”
My eyes rounded in horror.
Qinnia’s face warped into a horrible mockery of a smile. “Why so upset? You ought to thank me for my help while you were away. Nine priestesses of the Holy Mountains committed themselves to Lord Sharima’en, thanks to me. Three walked into fire, two into the sea, and the other four…well, they felt an urge to taste the end of a dagger.” He licked his lips. “Couldn’t have them burning you to ashes. Your blood is too precious for that.”
“Get out of Qinnia,” I whispered. “Leave her alone.”
“Her face bothers you?” Bandur pretended to pout. “Who would you prefer I inhabit? I could be anyone you know. One of your servants, your father. Even your beloved Takkan.”
Enough was enough. I launched myself at Qinnia, aiming for her eyes.
Thank the great gods, she screamed. Andahai shoved her away from me an instant before I would have stabbed her.
Shadows snuffed the lantern lights, and Bandur’s laugh ricocheted off the walls. Save your energy, Shiori. Do you mean to kill the crown prince’s wife? It is she who would die, not me.
In horror, I staggered back, and my world tilted. I was on the ground. Hasho was trying to force something through my mouth. I bit down on my lip, refusing to drink. I didn’t trust anyone anymore, not even him.
Stop fighting, said Bandur. Your brother is trying to save you.
His advice only made me bite down harder.
You think I poisoned you? He laughed. Only an imbecile would kill you while you are bonded to the Wraith’s pearl. Though I must tell you, I’m relieved that you kept it from the Dragon King. Bandur’s shadow swept over me, flickering across the streak of white in my hair as he purred, I was worried I wouldn’t get my chance with it.
“Never,” I seethed.
Nazayun failed because he didn’t provide you with the right…enticements. Bandur’s voice found my ear. I will not make that error. Patience is a demon’s virtue, not a dragon’s.
One of my brothers was pinching my nose, and as I struggled, warm liquid dribbled down my throat. Almost instantly, the bitterness in my mouth dissolved.
Yes, that’s it…. Breathe. Bandur inhaled, mocking my gasping breaths. There, there.
The world began to clear, and my brothers and Takkan hovered worriedly over me. Qinnia had retreated to the far wall.
Coils of smoke drifted out of her eyes—smoke, it seemed, that only I could see. As it evaporated into the distance, I could still hear Bandur. Enjoy your time at home, Shiori. Don’t let anyone kill you before I do.
In a puff, he vanished, and Qinnia let out a violent shudder before collapsing in her chair.
“I’m fine,” she said when Andahai rushed to her side. Her eyes were cloudy, and from the glazed way she smiled, I doubted she knew what had happened. “I’m fine,” she repeated. “Help Shiori.”
Takkan was pressing his fingers to my pulse, and he perched me on my chair. “That’s it, Shiori. Breathe. Slowly.”
As I inhaled, Hasho placed a small bottle into my grasp. “It’s from Raikama,” he told me. “Drink more if you’re still feeling unwell.”
Raikama?
“She left it for us,” my brother explained, seeing that it comforted me to hear of her. “It’s an antidote for most poisons. She must have expected that we’d need it.”
I finally stopped biting my lip. Even in death, my stepmother had saved me.
Pulling myself up, I grabbed Hasho’s sleeve. “He was here,” I whispered hoarsely. “Bandur…”
My brother and Takkan exchanged looks. “Are you certain?” asked Hasho.
“Without a doubt. He…he was in Qinnia.” I glanced at her. “Is she well?”
The crown princess looked as confused as she was shaken. She dropped the dates from her hands, trembling visibly as she wiped the stains from her fingers on a cloth. She wouldn’t look at me, which was understandable. At least her eyes were clear.
Bandur was gone. For now.
“Are you hurt?” Andahai asked his wife. His voice was tight. He hadn’t heard what I told Takkan and Hasho, and he had to be fuming.
As Qinnia gave a meek nod, some of the servants frowned. I could imagine what they thought. That I was jealous of the new princess, that during my absence I had gone mad. That I really was a dangerous sorceress.
My mouth went dry. I wanted to explain everything, but now wasn’t the time.
“I’d like to be excused,” I said to Father in my lowest, quietest voice. “May Takkan escort me to my room?”