Defy (32 page)

for it when Eljin saved her.” I looked to Damian for affirmation.

“She was only doing what the Insurgi asked her to do, not

because she wanted to,” Damian said. He glanced at Tanoori, who

wouldn’t look up from her food. “I’m the one who asked the

Insurgi to plant someone to attempt an assassination on me, and I

didn’t want her to die for it. So, I’m also the one who asked Eljin

to save her.”

258

“You did
what
?”

“I knew she was going to try to murder me,” Damian said

calmly. “She was never intended to succeed — only to attempt it.

If my guard hadn’t been there, I would have had to stop her myself,

which I was prepared to do if necessary.”

I glared at him, my food forgotten on the plate in front of

me. “Why would you ask them to attempt to murder you? Aren’t

they the ones who actually
did
murder your brother?” With everyone else listening to our conversation, I didn’t dare yell at him

for keeping something this important from me, but inside I was

seething.

“Yes.” Damian sighed. “But afterward, Lisbet discovered their

hideout and went to them. She learned that their leaders were a

trio of sorcerers, loyal to Blevon and General Tinso, who wished to

overthrow King Hector. She explained that she was the general’s

sister-in-law, and that I was loyal to Blevon, not my father. She

convinced the Insurgi that killing his heirs wouldn’t stop Hector,

and she also told them about Iker, warning them that they wouldn’t

be able to murder the king, either. They agreed to try to work

together with General Tinso and me to overthrow him.”

“But how does having the Insurgi send Tanoori to try to

assassinate you help? And why did you send me to deliver a mes-

sage to them?
Now
will you tell me what was in it?” With everything else that had happened and how focused I’d been on learning how

to defeat a sorcerer, I’d almost completely forgotten about that

nightmarish trek through the jungle, despite the scars from the

jaguar attack to remind me.

“The attempted murder was to get Iker’s and the king’s atten-

tion, to make them think we had enemies out there who wanted

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me dead. When I had you take the message to the Insurgi, I had

no other choice but to ask for your help. Lisbet and Jax usually

delivered the messages, but Iker followed us to their rooms that

night I took you with me. She felt his presence and told me to

leave. She had to f lee the castle before I could write the message

for her to deliver to the Insurgi.”

“It was Iker who followed us? I thought it was Eljin.”

Damian shook his head.

I knew I hadn’t been imagining things, but it was worse to

think that it had been Iker and that I hadn’t even suspected him.

“So what did the message say?”

“It contained the details they needed for their part in our plan.

They’re going to help us when we attempt to break into the palace.”

“The Insurgi are going to help us?” I looked at Tanoori, who

had been eating quietly this whole time. She finally met my gaze,

and I saw a ghost of the girl I used to know in the hesitant smile

she gave me. I still couldn’t believe Damian had asked her to try to

murder him. Had she known she was meant to fail — was she just

acting, too?

“They promised they would.”

“They have some very powerful sorcerers and an impressive

number of rebels, all of whom wish to overthrow the king. And

we’re going to need all the help we can get,” General Tinso added.

“I agree,” I said after I forced myself to eat a bite of meat. “I’ve

been thinking about it, and even though I’m pretty sure I
could

beat Iker, I don’t see how I’m going to be able to get close enough

to him to even try unless you bring
your
black sorcerers to help me.

Otherwise, he’ll just burn me to a crisp before I even come close

enough to get past his defenses.”

260

“
My
black sorcerers?” General Tinso gave me a strange look.

“What are you talking about?”

Before I could answer, Damian jumped in. “I’ve been mean-

ing to speak with you about that. Alexa’s parents were killed by a

sorcerer’s fire when part of the Blevonese army raided her village.

Is it possible that there are black sorcerers helping your army that

you aren’t aware of?”

General Tinso’s eyes widened as Damian spoke. “No. I would

know if there were. Are there any other reports of this happening,

or was it an isolated event?”

Damian shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“When you are king, we will need to look into this. I don’t know

who that sorcerer was, but I’m certain he was not with our army.”

“So you
don’t
have any black sorcerers who can help us?” I

asked, confused and upset. If the sorcerer hadn’t been part of the

Blevonese army, who was he? And why had he killed my parents?

“No, we don’t,” the general said.

“Then how am I going to get close enough to Iker to fight

him without him killing me first?” My stomach tightened into

knots of anxiety.

“You wouldn’t want a black sorcerer’s help — trust me. And as

it happens, you won’t have to worry about getting close to Iker. If

our plan works, you should be standing at his side when we come

with the prince.” General Tinso smiled at me like this was the best

news I’d ever heard.

“And just how are you planning to make that happen?”

General Tinso began to explain, but Damian held up his hand

to cut him off. “Alexa, I want you to remember that you agreed to

do this. That you wanted to help.”

261

“I know,” I said bitterly, looking between him and the gen-

eral. “What is it you want me to do?”

“To do the best acting job you’ve ever done.”

“I don’t understand.” I glanced at Rylan, but he stared down

at his untouched food and wouldn’t meet my gaze.

“You’re going to be taken back to the palace first, a day or two

ahead of us by some Blevonese soldiers,” Damian said.

“I’m not going with you?” My chest tightened, as if a hand

were slowly squeezing the air from my lungs.

“No. You have to go first. You’ll tell them you’ve been held

captive with the prince in Blevon, and that you were sent back to

deliver a message to the king. The message will announce the

coming of General Tinso and his army with the prince as his cap-

tive. It’ll say that the general is coming to negotiate the release of the prisoner in return for an end to the war.”

“And I’m supposed to take this to the king?”

“Yes,” Damian said, his expression guarded.

“Why would he believe you are their captive if he suspects

you’re loyal to Blevon? Wouldn’t he realize it’s a trap?”

“That’s why we made the assassination attempt look so realis-

tic, and why we have to act like the abduction was real. Hector has

spies in the Blevonese army, and we can only hope they have

reported back to him by now.”

I took a shaky breath. “And if it works and he believes the mes-

sage, what then? Are you just going to storm into the palace and

hope I’m somewhere close by?”

“No. When you deliver the message, he’ll probably say he

doesn’t care about bargaining for my life,” Damian said matter-of-

factly, as though the reality that his father didn’t care whether he

262

lived or died was about as interesting as commenting on the bland-

ness of our supper.

“So how am I going to get him to agree to meet with you?

And why would he keep me anywhere near him?”

“You must suggest that this is an opportunity for him to sur-

round and trap Blevon’s most powerful general,” General Tinso

said. “Tell him that you know which men in my army are sorcerers.

You have to convince him that you can point them out, so he can

have them shot before they got close enough to use any sorcery to

fight. You must make yourself indispensable to him so that he

keeps you with him and Iker.”

“But I thought Iker could sense if another sorcerer was in

the room.”

“He can, but with so many people around — and so many

sorcerers in one place — he won’t be able to pinpoint who they are

fast enough. You have to convince them that they need you, with-

out revealing that you know Iker is a sorcerer.”

My head began to ache as they continued to explain their plan

to me. I listened and nodded, but my heart was pounding and I

was having a hard time memorizing what they said. All I could

think about was the fact that I was going to leave them behind,

that I was going to have to face the king and Iker alone — and

somehow try to convince them to let the general come with his

army and the prince.

The plan depended heavily on me. If I wasn’t successful, it would

be a disaster, and King Hector really would have the chance to crush

King Osgand’s most powerful general right in his own courtyard.

“I think we should call it a night and head to bed,” Eljin finally

said, when the entire plan had been laid out for me.

263

“Yes, we all need to rest while we can,” General Tinso agreed.

I stood up in a daze. Rylan wouldn’t meet my gaze when he

stood up and followed Eljin from the room. Lisbet and Jax slipped

out the door quietly, but not before Jax gave Damian a tight hug.

I watched as Damian bent over to embrace the boy, a look of ten-

derness on his face. His half brother. My chest tightened, and I

had to force myself not to think about my own brother and how

much I missed him. With a sigh, I started to follow Eljin and Rylan

out of the room when someone touched my arm.

I turned to see Tanoori standing by me, her expression pained.

“I’m sorry for what I did to you, Alexa. I just wanted to tell you

that before you go. And . . .” She paused, as if summoning cour-

age. “I want to thank you. For saving me even though I didn’t

deserve it. I will make it up to you someday, I promise.”

I impulsively reached out to embrace her. She stiffened at first,

but soon she softened and hugged me back tightly.

“Be safe, Tanoori.”

“You, too.” She looked at me for a moment longer, and then

turned and followed Lisbet and Jax to the front wings of the

castle.

“I wish you well,” General Tinso said from behind me, mak-

ing me jump.

I turned to look up at him. “Thank you.”

He nodded and moved to leave the room. “General?” I hesi-

tantly called after him.

He paused, glancing back.

“Papa used to call me something — a nickname in Blevonese.

He never told me what it meant. I was wondering, before I leave,

if you could . . .” I trailed off.

264

General Tinso nodded for me to continue.

“He called me his
zhànshì nánwu¯
.”

The general’s eyes widened. “Alexa,
zhànshì
roughly translates to ‘champion fighter.’”

My heart began to pound. “And
nánwu¯
?”

“It means ‘sorcerer.’”

I couldn’t swallow past the sudden lump in my throat.

“You can do this, Alexa. I know you can.” He clapped one

hand on my shoulder, staring down into my eyes for a moment.

And then, with one final smile, he left.

“Let’s go,” Damian said from behind me, startling me. He

touched the small of my back with his fingertips, guiding me

toward the staircase that would lead us back to our room for the

last time.

265

 thirty-seven 

T
he men who are taking you back to the palace don’t know

the truth,” Damian said, his voice barely above a whisper as

we walked. “They think they really are delivering a prisoner of war

with a message to the king. And they still think you’re a boy.”

“Okay,” I responded, too overwhelmed and too tired to care

about this additional information. What was pretending to be a

boy — something I’d done for years — to two soldiers compared

to everything else they expected of me? I didn’t want to think

about that. I didn’t want to think about how frustrated I was with

Damian, either. Instead, I focused on the fact that Papa had been

calling me “champion fighter sorcerer” my whole life. He’d

been
trying
to tell me the truth after all, in the only safe way he knew how. But what had he meant — that he knew all along I’d

have the ability to fight sorcerers, or was there even more to his

nickname for me?

Damian touched my arm, gently grasping my elbow and pull-

ing me to a stop. “I didn’t intentionally keep my involvement with

the Insurgi a secret from you, Alex.”

I sighed as I looked up at him.

“With everything else going on, I didn’t think to tell you

about it. I’m sorry.”

266

“Maybe if we survive all this, you’ll get to a point someday

where you don’t have to think about telling me these little details,

like asking someone to pretend to murder you.” I couldn’t keep

the bitterness from my voice.

Damian’s expression hardened. “I’m not used to telling
anyone

anything — let alone every secret I have. Not to mention that even

though I
hoped
I could trust you, I had to be sure before I told you my whole plan. I said I’m sorry; what more do you want from me?”