She was right.

They were beautiful.

Twin blades of beauty.

Twin blades of death.

And now, they’d be twin blades that would cut Uruku’s reign much shorter than he probably thought possible.

AROUND THE PIT’S perimeter, row after row of clay-brick benches were crammed with citizens curious about the spectacle they were about to witness. Typically, a Trial of Ordeal wasn’t held in the Pit. This bloodstained oval was usually reserved for known murderers and thieves. In fact, the freshness of the spatter spoke of many punishments that had been given under Uruku’s rule.

But today wasn’t a typical day. We were going to overthrow a ruler and use his punishments against him.

The Palace horns blared to announce the arrival of Uruku and Gudanna. The cushioned benches to our left, where they would sit in this sumptuous viewing box, were positioned just above the row of twelve ensis that made up Uruku’s council.

“There’s Ensi Puzu.” I nodded at the man with the gray beard oiled into a triangle. “I wonder if he managed to convince the two holdouts to consider Arwia’s rule.”

“Which ones are those?”

I pointed at the row of council members. “Ensi Adda is the bald one with the red tunic, and Ensi Mudutu is the younger one on the end with the long hair.”

As if sensing that we were talking about him, Ensi Puzu turned back and looked at me. His face was swollen and bruised.

Dear Selu.

Someone had beaten him, probably to keep his mouth shut! Ensi Puzu shook his head at me and turned back around.

My heart sank to my filthy feet.

“If the ensis don’t want Arwia in, we’re in a lot of trouble.”

Iltani bumped me with her shoulder. “No.” She shrugged. “If Dagan goes and gets the Manzazu army in Laraak, then they’ll just kill the entire council if they don’t comply. Now it doesn’t matter if they agree or not.”

“It will to Arwia. She’ll want them to approve her. And I think Alu needs to see that she isn’t just a sarratum who kills people to get her way. She doesn’t want to be like Uruku or even like Sarratum Tabni.”

I met her eyes, then looked past her at Gala, who was much less ill since Iltani hadn’t been around to administer the dosage of the stomach tonic, though his ear looked like a dog had gotten to it. As we’d walked by him, he’d acted the part of an abused husband, scowling and kicking at the sand, but Iltani, in a burst of inspired brilliance, had begged for his forgiveness for injuring him and for her trickery. The poor fool had actually forgiven her, and rubbed her freshly shaved head. Said he was looking forward to a new start.

I’d yanked her away before she could get another shot at his ear.

“I still cannot believe he removed our restraints.” The ropes were coiled under the benches beneath us.