“Because I’m choosing to believe in your decency.” And if he proved her wrong, if he turned her leap of faith into a fall into darkness, then she would find a way to gain the upper hand on him again. She would find more weaknesses, more fault lines in his nature that she could leverage to her own purposes. She would do what needed to be done without regret. “I’ve chosen to repay your decency in kind.”

“I never asked you to do so,” he said.

“But I have.” Mehr shrugged.

She heard him sit up. Her eyes had adjusted a little, now, to the darkness. She could see the outline of his body—the breadth of his hunched shoulders, the tilt of his head.

“What do you want from me, Mehr?”

She felt light-headed now. Perhaps she had been a fool to talk to him without playing the demure maiden. She could have used her knowledge to build his trust in her slowly, to make him reliant upon her for kindness, for company, for affection. That would have been wiser. She had no other allies here, no one but him. If he turned against her, if he chose to distrust her, if he decided he no longer wanted to help her …

She tightened her hands into fists, pushing the panic away.

“I would like it,” she said, “if you continued to be decent.”

Amun said nothing.

“It’s a fair trade,” Mehr said evenly. “Honesty for honesty. Mercy for mercy. Tell me what the mystics want from me. Tell me why your Maha has gone to such great lengths to acquire me, and in return—I promise I will be someone you can trust. A friend, just as you’ve been to me.”

She saw him shake his head. Even in the gloom, she could see that.

“Your trade isn’t fair,” Amun said. “The mystics have absolute power over me. And you …” He let out a breath. “I have nothing to gain from telling you, and everything to lose.”

“Then why be merciful at all?” Mehr challenged. “Why defy your Maha and give me time before completing our marriage vow, if the cost for you is so high?”

“I just want you to recognize that this is no game,” Amun said in a low voice. “You can’t barter with the Maha’s people for power, and you shouldn’t try. None of us are worth trusting. You’ve told me not to show my own weaknesses. First you should follow your own advice.”

“Are you telling me not to trust you?” Mehr asked.