She never wanted to feel that way again.

Tomarys sat with his back against the wall nearby, his broad face inscrutable as ever. He watched her for a time as she worked, before looking away.

Chloe frowned as a sound filled the air: the staccato rhythm of footsteps. Both she and Tomarys glanced at the thin slit high on the wall that was the closest window. The din was rising from outside the palace. Many men were marching. It grew in volume until it became a thunder of clumping feet.

‘What is it?’ Chloe asked Tomarys.

He tilted his head. ‘I do not know. Do you wish me to find out?’

‘No. I’ll find out.’

She set the bowl on the ground near her bed pallet – the sack of pods was hidden safely underneath – and rose to her feet. Since first speaking with Princess Yasmina, further conversation had been difficult, but Chloe was persistent, and the constant sound of marching provided her with an opening.

But the princess was gone. The open chest beside her bed pallet was empty, not an item of clothing within. Her bed was made, crisp and fresh. The princess’s place in the room was now like just like any unoccupied corner. It was as if she’d never been there.

Chloe wandered nonetheless, peering around every lattice screen and scanning the walls, empty except for the murals of painted flowers. She asked two or three slaves as she passed, but they only shook their heads.

She tried with another slave girl sweeping the floor. ‘Do you know where I can find the Princess Yasmina?’ The girl shook her head, looking fearfully at Chloe, turning away as she resumed her work.

Perplexed, Chloe left the expansive chamber and ventured out into the hall. She walked directly to the eunuch who had taken her clothes when she first arrived. He stood just inside the curtained main entrance to the women’s quarters, scowling as she approached.

‘I can’t find the Princess Yasmina,’ she said. ‘Do you know where she is?’

‘I know.’

When he didn’t elaborate, Chloe frowned. ‘Tell me.’

‘Her brother in Shadria is raising a revolt against Ilea. Though her father claims no part of it, the sun king considers the family to have broken their bond. Her head has been sent to her father in rebuke.’

Chloe put her hand to her mouth. She remembered the imperious princess, barely into her teens, so certain of her superior station and so reluctant to discuss escape.

‘Did she . . . ?’ She swallowed. ‘Was it quick?’

The eunuch spoke impassively. He took no pleasure in it, but nor did he soften his words for Chloe’s benefit. ‘The king of kings is angry. Her eyes were gouged out and ears and nose sliced off. Only then was she beheaded. Ilea sends a strong message to her family in Shadria.’