And now she stares at me. She doesn’t understand my reaction, and neither do I. The silence stretches between us. The sound of a delirious patient’s screams drift through the door.

I clear my throat. “I had a chance to see the emperor’s guard.” I speak deliberately, willfully putting the events of the festival behind us. “There’s five of them with him, plus the crowd of courtiers and officials following him around. He keeps to the palace most of the time. I don’t know how I could get to him.”

Another long silence, and finally she follows my lead. “Don’t go after the emperor, then. It’s not him that’s the problem.”

What follows drives thoughts of the festival out of my mind completely. Zivah tells me how Kiran was the main force behind the empire’s plan for expansion. And she tells me what she’s learned about the sickened troops at Dara. I start to shake my head as she speaks. It doesn’t make sense. Kiran, the warrior prince, raising his hand against his own troops?

“I can’t believe Kiran would do this.”

Yet is it really that hard to believe? He’s always been enthusiastic about expanding the empire. Not many in his position would have taken it upon himself to scout out Monyar Peninsula. But his friendship with Arxa seems real. “Kiran wouldn’t poison Arxa on purpose.”

“Utana mentioned something about a mistake. That it wasn’t meant to be Arxa’s troops.”

A last-minute change of assignments? Or a reshuffling of supplies? As I continue to think about it, my anger builds. I think of Arxa, with his unwavering loyalty to the empire, and Walgash, who could well have died from that plague. They may be Amparans, but no soldier deserves such depth of betrayal from his superiors. And then to throw that blame to my kinsmen…

“If Arxa knew…” I say. “Or if the army knew…”

“But we have no proof,” says Zivah. “No one would believe us, and we don’t know the specifics.”

“We must tell Gatha and Tal, at least.”

Zivah hands me a parchment. “There’s something else you should know. Gatha sent us a reply about Tus.”

Gatha’s message is short, but clear. Tus knows who I am, but she doesn’t think he’ll reveal it under torture. If it is too risky to go in after him, I’m to leave him there as I wait for a better opportunity. It’s a weight off my chest not to have to kill him, but my relief only means that Tus will suffer more. Once again, he carries the brunt of my failings.

A knock sounds on the door. Panic flickers across Zivah’s face, and she gestures for me to lie down.

Her soft footsteps pad across the room. The door creaks open.

“I’m with Dineas,” she says softly. “He shouldn’t be disturbed.”