A chill jolted through me, and I wrapped my arms around my middle. “Why?” My voice barely crested a whisper.

Kiva shook her head. She hadn’t touched her water, though she was squeezing the glass hard enough to crush it. “The guards I met are sending men for us. We’re to wait until they show.”

I nodded numbly. Her words felt distant, like a story someone told about a friend. Only the chill clinging to my skin despite the room’s warmth hinted it had even happened.

The guards brought fresh horses when they arrived, and we rode back surrounded by people. My mind churned with every step. Could this have something to do with my engagement to Ericen? The news wasn’t public yet, but that didn’t mean no one knew, and there were likely to be a lot of people who disagreed with Caliza’s decision. But to kill me to prevent it?

Sighing, I slowed my horse and dropped back to ride beside Kiva. Her hands gripped the reins so tightly, she looked like she was trying to strangle them. When I spoke, she jumped in a very un-Kiva-like way.

“What is it?” I asked.

Her head snapped up, eyes focusing on me with such intensity that I drew back. When something was wrong, the last thing Kiva wanted was to be asked what it was. Especially not when it could make her look weak in front of someone. But the guards were far enough away that they couldn’t hear us, and I couldn’t stay quiet when something so clearly weighed on her.

Her gaze softened, and she let out a quiet breath. “Sorry. I’m fine.”

It was what I’d expected her to say. I didn’t push her. Rather, I laid a hand on her arm, feeling the tension in her body break. It lasted all of a second before she sucked her emotions back inside, straightening. She wouldn’t let someone report back to her mother that she’d broken down.

We rode in silence the rest of the way back, but I stayed beside her the whole time. She’d talk to me when she was ready.

* * *

The chair I sat in was rigid and uncomfortable. My stomach was already a little sore from the punch I’d taken, and the sudden absence of all the adrenaline had left me hollow.

A dark oak desk stood before floor-to-ceiling windows across from me, two glass doors flung open behind it to let in the evening breeze. A guard stood on either side of the entrance, and Caliza paced behind the desk, the circlet glinting on her head. The vein in her temple was on full display.

Behind her stood Captain Mirkova, her arms folded. I sat in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. Kiva hadn’t been allowed in.