“I thought Asa had given me the book. I thought he wanted me to be his queen, just like those women. I thought I would have the power to save you from this place.” Nomi took a deep breath. “But it was all a lie. He never meant to release you. He lied about wanting a queen and giving women rights. I didn’t realize until it was too late.”
Heart aching, the words sucking slowly through the guilt and grief, Nomi told Serina about Renzo. About how she had written to him, asked him to be part of the plot. How she’d changed her mind at the last moment and begged him to run.
“I don’t know where he went or if he got away,” Nomi said, tightening her fingers around the rough stone until it hurt. “I used Luca’s address for the letter, but Asa met Renzo himself. Renzo might have told him his real name, where he really lives. I don’t know.”
“You involved Renzo?” Serina’s voice rose over the crash of the waves. “You—you asked him to kill the Superior?”
“No!”
Nomi explained exactly how the scheme was supposed to work, how Renzo was just supposed to pretend, just enough to throw suspicion onto Malachi. “He wanted to help, Serina. We were trying to save you.”
Serina’s mouth twisted into a horrified frown. “And now Asa is after him.”
Nomi’s tears fell. “I have to go back for him. I have to help him.”
Serina’s head dropped forward into her hands, as if it were suddenly too heavy to lift. “Yes, you do.”
“I’m sorry,” Nomi whispered, her nightmare blooming in her mind. What if Asa had already killed Renzo? Self-loathing poured through her. Her poor judgment had put both her sister and brother in danger. “I’m so sorry for everything. This is all my fault.”
FIVE
SERINA
RENZO IS IN danger. Her whole family was.
Serina could feel a familiar anger bubbling up, the same words she’d said to Nomi so many times before rising to her tongue: How could you be so careless?
But she didn’t say them, not this time. How could she lecture Nomi when it was for Serina’s own salvation Nomi had been fighting? And who else could Nomi have asked? Of course Renzo would have wanted to help. He was as much a rebel as Nomi.
As me.
“None of this is your fault,” Serina said, conviction coating every word. Her anger wasn’t for Nomi anyway. Not anymore. “It is Viridia’s fault. Sending women to their deaths for reading, for wanting to make their own choices… This country is sick, Nomi, rotten to its core.”
Her sister looked at her, the whites of her eyes gleaming in the moonlight. “But if I hadn’t stolen that book—”
“You should never have had to steal it. You should have always been allowed to read.”
“S-Serina…” Nomi stuttered, obviously shocked.
It was true that Serina hadn’t always supported her sister’s secret. But now she knew better.
“Now then,” Serina said, clearing her throat. “We need to figure out what to do about Renzo.”
“And our parents,” Nomi said. “As long as Asa is in power, they’re in danger.”
Serina’s mind spun. What could they do? “The plan is to wait for the next prison ship,” she said. “Overpower the guards and escape to Azura. Once the women are safe and on their way, Val and I were going to take a small boat back to Bellaqua to find you. We can use it to find Renzo instead. We’ll get him and our parents to Azura. We should all be safe there.”
Nomi picked at a small hole in the knee of her pants. “How long until the ship arrives?”
“A week. Maybe two.” Serina, thinking of Renzo trying to evade the new Superior’s clutches, found that her own hands were restless.
“That’s too long,” Nomi replied, her back stiffening. “Asa will be looking for him. He’ll kill Renzo if he finds him. We have to go soon. Now.”
“And how will we find him?”
Nomi shifted. “I don’t know. He won’t go home. I suppose… I don’t know how we find him. But we have to, Serina. Before Asa does.”
Serina wanted to help Renzo, desperately, but she’d made a promise to these women. She’d made a promise to herself.…
“We need to think, plan,” she said, hating that it felt like stalling, even as it was true. They did need a plan. “And we need to wait for Malachi to wake up. Asa thinks he’s dead; that makes the knowledge that he’s alive powerful. We need to make sure he will live before we return to Bellaqua.”
Nomi sighed.
Serina stared out at the endless darkness of the ocean, the enduring glint of the stars, and the faint twinkle of Bellaqua. She pointed. “See that? I came here so often to sit and stare at those lights, trying to imagine what you were doing. If you were happy. If you were scared.” She turned to Nomi’s shadowy profile. “I’m sorry I didn’t understand why that world would be so unwelcome to you. I understand now.”
“It was just as I expected, and yet different as well,” Nomi said. “Malachi, he… well, I didn’t realize it at first, but he was different too. You’re right about him. I can’t leave until I know he’ll live. That he’ll be all right.”
Serina remembered the intensity in Nomi’s face when she’d pleaded for his life. “Why are you so protective of him? Did you… I mean, do you care for him?”
Nomi didn’t answer right away. A glow along the horizon hinted at dawn, but it wasn’t enough light to reveal her expression.
“It’s not so simple as whether I care for him,” she said at last. “It’s that I owe him. I misjudged him from the moment I met him, and I destroyed his life. He didn’t deserve that.” She trapped her windblown hair and twisted it around her hand. “Two nights ago, at his birthday ball, Malachi told me he would not force me to be his Grace. That it had been unfair to choose me, unwilling as I was.”
Serina’s brows rose. “He said that?”
Nomi nodded. “It’s why I tried to call off the scheme to frame him. But it was too late. Asa took matters into his own hands.” Her voice cracked.
Serina couldn’t mistake the naked misery in her sister’s voice. “He… he must care for you, to let you go.”
Nomi’s face crumpled.
Understanding dawned. “But you cared for Asa.”
Nomi’s voice hardened. “I thought I did. I trusted him, and he used me. He used my affection for him, my love for you, for his own ends. He killed his father and tried to kill his brother, and he shipped me off to prison… but before all of that he kissed me and told me he wanted me to be queen, and I believed him.”
Serina put her arms around Nomi, aching for her sister. She sat in silence, holding Nomi as she cried, just as she’d done when they were children. The moment was bittersweet; Serina hated that Nomi was hurting, but she was also grateful to be able to comfort her. Not long ago, she’d been certain she’d never get this chance again.
After a while, she murmured, “Asa will pay for what he’s done. I am certain.”
Nomi cleaned her face on the edge of her shirt. “I hope so.”
They curled into each other’s arms and listened to the surf and let the wind whip through their hair, and soon enough, dawn found them.
A shout stirred Serina from her exhausted haze. She straightened, her back stiff, her broken rib pulsing. She’d only gotten a few hours of sleep in the infirmary before Nomi had woken up screaming, and every ache and sore spot told her that it wasn’t enough.
But Nomi’s soft cheek snuggled into her shoulder was worth the pain.
They both turned to see Val jogging toward them.
Nomi scrambled to her feet; it took Serina a few extra moments to coax her battered body to do the same.
Val stopped in front of them. His chest rose and fell quickly, straining against his gray shirt. He must have run the whole way.
“I thought you might be here,” he said, by way of greeting.
“What is it?” Serina asked, worry unfurling in her chest. His hair twisted in every direction, as usual, and his bright blue eyes were aler
t, but there was no pinch of concern to his mouth or furrow between his brows.
“Malachi woke up,” he said simply. He cast a glance at Nomi. “I thought you’d want to know as soon as possible.”
Nomi’s eyes widened. “Oh, thank you,” she said. Her hands grabbed for phantom skirts, an ingrained instinct, before she caught herself and hurried down the path.
Serina turned and followed, Val at her side. His hand brushed hers. With a little intake of breath for courage, she slid her palm against his and linked their fingers. His grip tightened without hesitation. He shot her a smile.
They walked the rest of the way back to Hotel Misery holding hands.
When they entered the makeshift infirmary a few steps behind Nomi, Serina had to pause to let her eyes adjust to the dimness. The smell crept up on her, sharp and sickening: the scent of blood. And then the sounds: quiet weeping, a pain-filled groan, whispered voices.
In the far corner, Malachi sat propped up against the wall, staring straight ahead.
Nomi shot a nervous glance back at Serina before approaching him. Serina and Val followed more slowly, but they were close enough to hear Nomi say the Heir’s name.
He looked up at her. Serina studied his handsome face, with its sharp cheekbones and jaw, its rough stubble and full lips. She searched for a softening around his eyes or a smile at the sight of Nomi. She was sure he must have affection for her sister, to free her from her position as his Grace. But his face remained expressionless.
“Nomi,” he said, and Serina could read nothing in his voice. A thread of ice knit itself into her spine.
“I’m so happy you’re awake.” Nomi knelt before him. Serina hated the way she bowed her head, the way her voice cracked. “I’m so sorry. About everything. I—I didn’t realize… I’m sorry.”
The Heir licked his chapped lips. “Nomi,” he said again, and Serina saw the shift, saw the anger begin to creep through. He didn’t care about her sister’s obvious regret. “How could you?”
Nomi’s shoulders shook. Serina stepped forward, intending to comfort her—or maybe say something rude to the Heir—but Val’s hand tightened around hers. “Give them a moment,” he whispered. Reluctantly, Serina paused. She could only guess at the weight Nomi carried.
Malachi’s gaze never left Nomi as she told him everything—the plot, how she’d involved Renzo, even how she’d used Renzo’s friend’s address to send him a message. And she told him that she’d come to realize Asa was wrong, and she’d sent Renzo away. Malachi’s stony expression never changed. Neither did he acknowledge Serina and Val standing right behind her nor ask who they were.
“I’m so sorry,” Nomi said again, her voice vibrating with emotion. “I just wanted to help Serina and the women of Viridia. I shouldn’t have trusted Asa. I didn’t know—”
“You should have trusted me,” Malachi interrupted, his voice sharp as a whip. “If you’d talked to me, if you’d told me you wanted to save your sister—”
Nomi made a noise in her throat and raised her head. There was a new strength in her voice when she said, “Of course I wanted to save my sister. I didn’t have to tell Asa this. He already knew. He spoke to me about her, not the other way around.”
“He was using you,” Malachi snapped.
“Yes, but how could I trust you instead? Your brother told me you were volatile. Cruel. He fed into my own prejudices. You chose me for a Grace without ever considering my wishes, remember? And you said nothing of my sister. How could I speak to you of letting her go?”
He frowned but, to Serina’s surprise, didn’t snap back.
Nomi glanced over her shoulder at Serina, but her words were for the Heir. “Did you know the guards here forced the women to kill each other over food? Kill each other, Malachi.”
His eyes widened. Serina thought the shock on his face was genuine, but she wasn’t sure.
“They fought back,” Nomi continued, still looking at Serina, with something like pride in her eyes. After a pause, she turned her gaze back to the Heir. “They didn’t want to have to keep killing each other. My sister was sent here to die for being able to read. And you did nothing.”
“I didn’t know. If I had—”
Serina couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. “You knew,” she snapped, stepping closer until she towered over him. “Maybe not about the fights, but you knew women sent here never came back.” She put her hand on Nomi’s shoulder. “You knew I would die here, one way or another. And for what? For reading? There are women here who’ve done nothing more than displease your father. And you knew. Your brother may be a monster, Malachi, but you are still part of the problem.”
He stared up at her, eyes glittering, and for a split second, Serina was back in the library of the palazzo, and the Superior was glaring at her, peeling back her mask of serenity with a single piercing gaze. Serina had known then that her sentence was coming, just as she knew it now. She reminded herself, forcefully, that this was her domain. His future was the one in question, not hers.
“Fine,” Malachi said, his expression hard as steel. “Then help me be the solution. Help me take back Viridia. Help me fight back.”
Serina’s jaw went slack.
SIX
NOMI
IT WAS THE last thing Nomi expected Malachi to say. For a moment, she couldn’t speak.
He tried to shift—to stand up or maybe just sit taller—and winced, putting a hand to his stomach. His face, to which a small amount of color had returned, still looked haggard, with dark circles beneath his eyes and a sunken quality to his cheeks.
Serina knelt on the floor beside Nomi and leaned over Malachi to check his bandages.
“Is he feverish?” Nomi put a tentative hand to his forehead. A little clammy, but not unnaturally warm.
He turned away from her hand.
“I’m not ill,” he growled. “I’m angry. I’ve lost my father and my birthright. I want my country back. With your forces—”
“Forces?” Serina let out an ugly laugh. “We are not an army. And even if we were, we would not be your army.”
Nomi rubbed her hands against her thighs. Malachi was here because of her. And she knew how dangerous Asa was. And Renzo… If Malachi regained the throne, Renzo would be safe. He wouldn’t have to run. But only if…
“Serina,” she began. “Maybe—”
“No.” Serina stood up. She glared down at them both. “I will not watch these women die in the service of a country that will happily destroy them. That has already destroyed them.”
“So, don’t.” Nomi stood up too, her chest tight with a wish—a hope—Asa hadn’t quite burned to ash. “Don’t fight for the old world. Fight for a new one.”
She looked down at Malachi, at the sharp planes of his face, the pallor of his skin, the purse of his full lips. His gaze latched onto hers and maybe there was a warning in his eyes, but she didn’t care.
“The rightful Heir must make concessions,” she said, and she didn’t recognize her own voice. It sounded like Serina’s: certain and self-assured. “If he wants our help, he must change the laws upon our victory.”
Malachi didn’t blink. “What laws?”
Nomi’s heart pummeled her ribs, stealing her breath. “A woman who reads does not deserve a death sentence.”
“Nor any punishment, I agree,” he returned. “I will revoke all laws barring women from an education.”
Beside Nomi, Serina made a small noise, maybe a gasp. But Nomi didn’t break her hold on Malachi’s gaze to glance at her sister. The moment had a vulnerability to it, like a thin sheet of ice on a pail of water. One breath, one small movement, and it could shatter.
Nomi took a deep breath. “No woman shall be sold like cattle by her father,” she stated. “No forced marriage, no forced service. If a woman takes employment, her wages are her own. And Graces will give their consent. Willingly. Freely. No one will force them.” She didn’t move, not even to breathe. Surely he knew it would have to go this far.
<
br /> Malachi looked down. Just for a split second, but it was enough. Something in Nomi broke. “It will take time,” he said. “Those changes, they are larger than one law.… Our whole society is informed by—”
“You will have one year,” Serina interrupted. “One year to give women a place at the table. You will have advisors: me, my sister, anyone else here who wants a voice.” She turned to face Nomi. “If he doesn’t listen to us, if he turns on us, the women of Mount Ruin will rise up against him, just like we did to Commander Ricci. We’ll burn it all down.”
A shiver raced down Nomi’s spine. She heard the promise, the conviction in Serina’s voice. And she heard the warning. Serina expected Nomi to choose a side.
Nomi nodded. She was with her sister, her family, first and foremost. Forever.
“Renzo is in danger,” she added hurriedly, trying to keep her voice steady. “Asa is hunting him down because he knows the truth about what happened the night of the ball. You must swear our brother will be safe. Protected from Asa, and from you.”
There was a long, painful silence. Nomi could hear her own quickened breaths and the groan of a woman at the other end of the room. She couldn’t look at Malachi. Behind Serina, Val shifted, but he didn’t speak either.
“I can agree to your conditions,” Malachi said at last, but there was a strangled quality to his voice.
Nomi realized belatedly that she’d clenched her fists, as if expecting a fight. With an effort, she forced her hands to relax.
“Do you trust his word, Nomi?” Serina asked.
Asa’s kind smile flashed through Nomi’s mind. Her sister didn’t know how difficult a question that was for Nomi to answer. She studied Malachi’s face, tried to stave off the memories of his brother. But it wasn’t just Asa who haunted her. She wasn’t sure she trusted any man in this. They were asking for so much.
“I trust his intent.” It was the most she could offer.
“You can trust me,” Malachi said, surprising her with his vehemence.
Queen of Ruin (Grace and Fury) Page 5
