Mirryn’s pale eyebrow arched over the top of her mask. “You fell fifty feet from that tower. It’s not as if you survived on your own.”

“I— You— He—” Kiva couldn’t form a sentence. Given all she knew of the Vallentis family—how they were the very reason she was in Zalindov to begin with—she couldn’t wrap her brain around this unlikely truth. “But . . . why?”

The princess made an impatient sound. “I just told you. Aren’t you listening?” She stopped fiddling and crossed her arms. “Never mind, just be grateful that you’re alive.”

Kiva shifted in her bed, grimacing anew at the pain, and couldn’t keep from muttering, “Barely.”

“Excuse me?” Mirryn’s second brow rose to meet the first.

“I said barely,” Kiva repeated. “I feel like I’ve broken every bone in my body.”

A surprised laugh left the princess. “Is that the thanks my brother gets for saving your life?”

“He’s not here right now.”

“No, but I am,” said Mirryn, a dangerous edge creeping into her voice. “And you’d do well to show some respect.”

Kiva sobered, reminding herself of whom she was talking with. The drug was affecting her more than she’d thought if she was deliberately antagonizing one of the most powerful people in the kingdom. Not to mention, the princess was right—Prince Deverick had saved her, even if it was only for superficial reasons.

“I apologize, Your Highness,” she forced out, the words like hot coals on her tongue. “Please pass along my gratitude to your brother.”

Mirryn sat back, her blue eyes slitted. A long moment of silence passed before she said, “I’m disappointed. I expected more of a fight.”

Kiva’s forehead crinkled. “You want me to be difficult?”

“I want you to show that backbone I saw when you leapt up onto the gallows,” Mirryn said. “I want you to show the courage it took to jump off the guard tower. I want you to show the spirit my girlfriend would have cheered you on for—the spirit my brother kept you alive for.”

“You said it was my face that made him save me,” Kiva deadpanned.

“I also said he’s an idiot.”

“You claimed I had a death wish,” Kiva reminded. “Twice.”

“And look at you now, alive and well,” Mirryn shot back.

“Only because of your brother,” Kiva said, accusation and confusion in her tone. “Does it even count as a victory over the Ordeal? Will I have to—”