Naari moved closer, as if not wanting to miss what Kiva was about to say. Kiva didn’t pay her any mind—after having gone head-to-head with the Princess of Evalon and then dealing with the rakish crown prince, the prison guard didn’t seem so intimidating anymore. What could she do? Sentence Kiva to death? She was already facing that with the Ordeals; there was little else left to fear. And besides, Naari had proved that she wasn’t one of the guards whom Kiva needed to worry about. If the amber-eyed woman wanted to listen in, so be it.

“What d-do you mean?” Tipp asked, brushing his red fringe from his eyes. “It’s just T-T-Tilda.”

“Look closer,” Kiva encouraged him. “Who is she?”

Tipp looked confused. “The R-Rebel Queen?”

Jaren’s body turned solid, his eyes shooting from Kiva to Tilda and back again. As if wary of her answer, he slowly asked, “Are you . . . sympathetic to her cause? Is that why you saved her?”

Kiva weighed her response, thinking over her family’s complicated history with the rebels and where she fit into it, what she believed. With each second that passed, Jaren became more tense, until finally Kiva said, “I’m not some rebel underling, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Jaren visibly relaxed.

“That said, I’m not unsympathetic,” Kiva admitted, causing him to turn rigid again. It was obvious where his own sentiments lay. Given his outburst after Tilda’s arrival, Kiva knew he was solidly in the anti-rebel camp.

“How can you—”

“I’ve been in here long enough to hear both sides of the argument,” Kiva interrupted him. “You were all there the night we spoke of Evalon’s history, how Torvin Corentine and Sarana Vallentis became enemies, how the rebels were formed. As Mot said, they do have a right to the crown.” Kiva looked down at Tilda and quietly added, “She has a right to the crown.”

“But—”

Once more, Kiva spoke over Jaren, “Again, I’m not saying I’m a rebel.” She wasn’t about to admit to her family’s ties with them, or her hopes that Tilda’s followers would save her from Zalindov—best to give the answer that would ease his concerns. And Naari’s, since the guard was just as tense. “I was only seven when I arrived here, remember? They were hardly going to try and recruit me before that.” She offered a hint of a smile, urging the two of them to relax.