The door to my room stands ajar, and I see right away that someone has been through my things. My trunk is open, and my clothes are scattered all over the floor and bed. I go first to Diadem’s cage and breathe a sigh of relief when I see the moonlight reflecting off her scales. She stirs when I open the cage, and she crawls up my arm before I even whistle. I’ll have to feed her soon.

But first, I turn my attention back to my belongings. Everything’s in disarray, although it doesn’t look like much has been taken. I find my bag next to my bed, as well as my blowgun and darts. My vials of potions have been moved around, but they haven’t been poured out. I’m stuffing it all in the bag when the creak of a door in the corridor catches my attention. I freeze and look around for a place to hide, but there’s nothing large enough to block me from view.

I definitely hear footsteps now, and they’re getting louder. The glow of lamplight leaks under the door, and then my doorknob turns. Light floods in and I find myself face-to-face with Mehtap.

She is still in her sleeping gown, and her hair is plaited for the night. Her mouth opens.

I pull her in and close the door. “Make no sound, Mehtap. I have Diadem on my arm and I have nothing to lose.”

Mehtap stares at me with a mixture of grogginess and surprise. “Zivah, how did you get out?”

“Quiet.” I can’t have her alerting the guards. I’ll have to tie her up until morning. I must have rope somewhere….

Mehtap looks at Diadem on my arm. “Would you really kill me, Zivah?” she says evenly. “Were you never a true friend at all?”

Her words strip bare my hypocrisy. For the last days, I’ve been horrified at Mehtap’s betrayal when I’ve done worse to her, using her friendship and her trust against her father and her empire. “I’m sorry,” I say, and the words are heavy on my tongue. “We could have been friends, I think, if things had been different.”

She searches my face. “But why? Why would you do this?”

It’s a question that’s hard enough to answer in the light of day, much less in the middle of the night, surrounded by enemies. “The rosemarked are not the only people Ampara treads on,” I say. “I didn’t want to lie to you, but I had to help my people.”

“And what will you do now? Are you going back to your people? Will you take Dineas with you?”

I don’t answer. I’ve already told her more than I should have.

Mehtap sets her jaw. “Answer me one thing. Why didn’t you tell my father that I killed Kurosh?”