“Yes, I can see that.”

“Of course she wants our loyalty and allyship. Alu is closer to the ports! We could potentially restore order in the south and help rekindle trade up here in Manzazu. I’m so stupid. I thought she was just being kind, but she wants me on the throne for her own uses.”

“You’re right. It’s why she’s been giving you her advice as queen and protecting us here in the city. Nothing is free.”

“I see that now.” She glanced worriedly up at Ummi. “But this is a serious problem. She’ll hurt my people to restore me as queen, and they will have no reason to welcome me back if I align myself with the city that has just attacked it.”

“Yes. Uruku is the problem, not the rest of Alu. We need him—and only him—killed!”

So how do you do that? Get him alone and slit his throat? My abum had died that way on the road to the Palace. Or poison? Gudanna, Arwia’s former handmaid, had used monkshood on Lugal Marus. The poison was quiet and had caused very little fuss before I’d asked Dagan’s ummum about it. She’d trained as a healer with my father, and had recognized the signs of his poisoning because of her knowledge of medicinal plants.

Healers, like me, knew how to save lives, but we also knew how to take them.

My throat closed.

Though we had a serious problem, we also had a very clear—if terrifying—solution. It was as plain to me as the city of Manzazu stretched in front of us. The Libbu with people bustling around like beetles. The wide, squat houses with smoke trailing up to the sky. And beyond them, the river Garadun, a blue serpent basking in the sunshine, its curvy body wending toward other cities and eventually to Alu.

My legs jittery, I glanced at the woman who was supposed to be my queen. “Ah…this isn’t a problem, my friend.” I swallowed my nerves. “The sarratum said they’d go to war in half a moon, which is actually good news if you think about it.”

“How is that good news?” she squeaked.

“Well?” I lowered my voice, glancing back at Ummi, who was staring resolutely ahead. “It means we have half a moon to follow that river back home and…uh…kill him ourselves before Manzazu attacks.”

She looked at me, eyes bulging. “How could we possibly—”

“Like Dagan said! Sneak in! Get the ensis on board with you returning to power and then assassinate him. And”—I sucked in a deep breath—“I know who should do it.”

“Who? You?”

I blinked guiltily at her.

“What?” she squawked. “You’re not an assassin. None of us are.” She met my eyes and slipped on a stair, and I grabbed her arm to catch her.

“Are you all right?” Ummi asked from several steps above us.

“Just fine!” I waved.

“Yes, Arwia. Me.” Though Kasha and Nanaea were going to be hysterical when I told them I was leaving them behind to try to save their lives. Though my abum would probably join forces with the Boatman and haunt me forever for even letting this thought cross my mind.