The villa was larger than it appeared from the main road and was surrounded by a privacy wall with a small rotation of guards. When Kaislyn remarked upon the security, Jaden shrugged and said there were plenty of thieves who’d like to take his place. A gated path led to the beach and there was a small garden in the front of the house. The house itself was two stories, though the roof functioned as a third floor of open rooms. Kaislyn was given a room with a view of the ocean.
“Dinner will just be the two of us tonight,” Jaden said. “I’ll cancel my plans for tomorrow and we can spend more time catching up.”
She let him kiss her again, hoping the cold emptiness inside her would vanish.
Jaden skipped the main dining room, opting instead for two couches pushed close together with a small table in between. It was more comfortable, but also more intimate than Kaislyn would have liked.
While she picked through her dinner, Jaden updated her on all their old acquaintances and when Kaislyn mentioned seeing Kam in the Second City, Jaden shook his head.
“He was supposed to scout for some possible contacts for smuggling, but I never heard from him again. Sounds like he’s trying to set up over there now. Pity. He was actually very useful here.”
“He attacked my parents, Jaden. He had Black Sand.”
“If he was stupid enough to attack the Royal Assassins, I think I’m glad we’re no longer working together. Kam always had a thing against you, Kaislyn, after the fish district. I’ll see if I can find out what he’s up to, if anything. It sounds like he’s wallowing in petty revenge, honestly.”
“It didn’t seem that way when we talked.”
Jaden shook his head again. “I’ll look into it. After Kam left, I switched my attention to Itzli instead. I have a strong network of thieves working for me there now.” He then told her several stories of some near-misses in Ir-Ime, causing Kaislyn to laugh.
“So,” Jaden said after a servant took away their dishes, “I’ve told you all about Ir-Ime and what I’ve been doing. What about you, Kaislyn? What happened that day you disappeared?”
Kaislyn traced the edge of her plate. Jaden already knew who she was. No point in hiding details.
“Falan caught me.”
“That slow-witted guard? Come on, Kaislyn, I know you better than that! You could run circles around him.”
Sveka’s words echoed against Jaden’s: She’d run circles around Aamir. No, she doubted she actually could. She couldn’t run circles around anyone. She was just really good at getting herself killed in fantastic ways.
“Kaislyn? You’re fading out on me again.”
“Sorry. My thoughts keep running in... circles. Falan had help from Nisken, the queen’s—”
“I know who he is,” Jaden cut in. “I wonder that you’re on first names with him.”
Kaislyn shrugged. “You know who my parents are. I was always close to Nisken growing up.” Was. His words haunted her. Don’t come back.
“I see.”
Kaislyn focused on the worry on his face, shoving her own thoughts away again. “I didn’t tell anyone about you. I swear.”
“Oh, I know that.” He grinned at her. “No one ever came to arrest me or the gang. Though I suspect they didn’t question you very hard since your parents are... who they are.”
“Maybe.”
Jaden shook himself. “I’m sorry, Kaislyn! Here I am interrogating you instead of celebrating your return! I know you would never betray anyone who trusted you.”
Kaislyn flinched from the words. They were worse than getting stabbed by Ikaros. She tried to attend to Jaden’s stories after that, but all she could think about was Zarif.
She’d betrayed him. She’d repaid his unexpected, silent loyalty by running away.
Don’t come back.
She always ran away. She ran from the Fourth City and from her parents. Ran from Raina and Athalia.
Ran from Zarif.
Kaislyn was grateful for the dim light that kept Jaden from noticing her wet eyes. She wasn’t loyal to anyone. She was a coward.
Worse.
She was a dishonorable, scheming coward.
Keep going, girl.
Kaislyn blinked her eyes, trying to clear them. The world stayed wet and blurry around her.
She was just like Ikaros.
The only thing to do after that was to distract herself. Jaden was more than happy to entertain her. He took her for long walks along the beach and taught her how to find mussels and clams. At night, when he wasn’t “working” which he could never say without a grin and wink, they talked for hours.
Kaislyn soon told him about the guards she’d killed. She kept the details as vague as possible but she needed to tell someone, needed reassurance.
“I’m not sure why you’re so upset about it, Kaislyn, to be honest. They were a threat to you. Now they’re not. Blazes! Your parents are assassins for the queen! Surely you’re used to people getting killed all the time.”
Kaislyn frowned at this view of her parents. They represented the Phoenix Queen and her rule now. They hadn’t killed anyone in a long, long time and when they did, it was always for a very particular reason and under the queen’s orders.
“I broke a law. Those guards hadn’t done anything as far as I know that deserved them getting killed. And I just got, um, caught and put right back in prison anyway. Their deaths were pointless and I did it.”
“Only you would end up in a prison so often, Kaislyn,” Jaden teased her. “Why did you even want me to teach you how to fight with knives if you didn’t intend to use them?”
That was a long time ago. She’d been young and blood thirsty, desperate to make the Sorcerer Ikaros suffer. Desperate to hide too. Now... Now, she saw an old, crazy man whom she only wanted to avoid for the rest of her life.
Keep lying, girl.
“Sometimes you have to eliminate people. It’s just the way things are. I’ve had to do it a few times here.”
Kaislyn looked up sharply. “You’re a thief not a—”
“Assassin?”
“Killer.”
Murderer.
“I would never say I was happy about it, but I don’t brood on it like you seem intent on doing. Let’s change the subject to something more cheerful. I won’t spoil your visit with drab talk about killing people.”
Killing people was drab? Had Jaden always been this way and she never noticed or had he changed?
She changed.
The second night there, Jaden gave Kaislyn a diamond necklace.
“It’s from that day when you were caught,” he said, handing it to her. “I swore I would not profit from those diamonds after you got caught. I kept them and waited.”
Kaislyn thanked him, but she couldn’t bring herself to be as delighted as Jaden obviously was. She tucked her old necklace under her shirt. She didn’t tell him her old diamond was from the same shipment. It was, but it... wasn’t. It represented the mountains to her now. He insisted on fastening the new necklace for her.
“What’s this?” Jaden’s warm fingers pressed against the back of her neck. “Where’d you get this scar from?”
“There’s what?” Kaislyn tried to twist her head around, making Jaden snort and fetch two mirrors. A scar about three inches long ran along the middle of her neck, easily noticeable now that her hair was short.
“Huh,” said Kaislyn. What’d she do?
Jaden echoed her thoughts aloud.
“I fell over a rock and got a concussion a while ago. Must have cut my neck at the same time.”
“And you never noticed?”
“Unlike you, I don’t carry multiple mirrors with me.”
“Maybe you should,” Jaden commented. “You did notice your hair is really short, right?”
Kaislyn stuck her tongue out at him.
A few weeks later, news reached the city of the naming ceremony in the Royal City for the new heir. The baby was a boy and was named Aravav. There was no mention in the announceme
nt of who had attended the ceremony and Kaislyn wondered if her parents had returned from their trip. Had they found Hezere? She spent most of that day concentrating on how much she didn’t care what they, Hezere, or Ikaros did.
Despite the attention Jaden gave her, Kaislyn grew restless soon after news of the ceremony. The views of the ocean, once fascinating, became tedious, an endless repetition of rippling water and waves. It reminded her too much of her useless struggle against Ikaros.
She tired of always eating so many nice foods and missed snatching whatever bits of food had just been made in the kitchens at the Second City palace. She missed the guards’ game table. Jaden had never been too interested in games.
She missed the mountains, barely visible from Jaden’s house, most of all.
Jaden noticed her change of temperament.
“Did I do something, Kaislyn?”
She shook her head. “Of course not. I only meant to come for a short visit. Being a thief was a temporary escape. It’s not something I can come back to.” She didn’t want to.
“Sure you can,” Jaden said. “You’ve only been here a few weeks. Give it some time. You haven’t actually stolen anything anyway.”
No, but she was living off of the things Jaden stole. “I didn’t need time before,” Kaislyn pointed out. “Besides, I... left someone in a bad position and I need to make it right.”
Apologizing to Zarif... that was going to be harder than facing Ikaros anytime. Almost.
“You know I won’t ever talk about this,” she added, placing a hand on Jaden’s folded arms. “And you don’t need me here! Look at everything you’ve done without me. I’ll only get in the way.”
Jaden took her by the shoulders and kissed her. “I do need you, Kaislyn! Stay here and marry me. You’ve always done whatever you want. You still can. Just do it from here. With me next to you.”
Kaislyn was surprised by how tempted she was by the sudden offer, despite her longing to leave again. She’d never had someone there for her.
Not true, girl.
And she liked Jaden. He was the first person to let her do whatever she wanted.
Spoiled.
“The Thief-king and the Royal Assassins’ daughter together,” Jaden whispered in her ear. “No one would dare cross us.”
She jerked away from him. Was that what he really wanted? More? More what?
You were born to dethrone kings. Grehesh’s words once thrilling, scared her now. “I don’t want to. I can’t anymore.”
Jaden’s ready smile faded. “I don’t understand you, Kaislyn. I’ve given you everything here. What more do you want?”
“Jaden, I didn’t mean—”
“No, don’t talk to me right now.” Turning, the Thief-king stalked away from her.
Kaislyn watched him leave. Born to dethrone kings? No. She was born to disappoint and ruin those around her. She was getting good at that, too. Kaislyn hurried to her room and packed the few things she had. She left the necklace Jaden had given her.
On exiting, she ran into Jaden. He didn’t look angry anymore, but he didn’t smile at her either. “One more dinner together.” He took her pack and set it firmly on the floor. “Can’t let you leave like this. We should end on good terms.”
Kaislyn nodded, relieved. “All right. Thank you,” she added.
Jaden leaned down to kiss her, stopped, and forced a smile. “You’re something else, Kaislyn.”
They both made an effort over dinner to talk about anything but Jaden’s offer of marriage, of her refusal, of the queen, stealing... It didn’t leave very many topics left.
“Where will you go?” Jaden tilted his wine glass to catch the light.
“I don’t—damnation!” Kaislyn doubled over clutching her stomach as a series of cramps pulsed outwards from her stomach.
“Kaislyn?” Jaden leapt to his feet, wine spilling across the floor.
“I’m...fine. Better than your carpet right now. Cramps, remember?”
“Should I get a physician?” Jaden knelt next to her, wrapping a supportive arm around her shoulders.
“Won’t make a difference. I need to... lie down. My room.”
Jaden helped support her as she staggered to her room. Worry etched his face. “Can I get you something for the pain?”
“No,” Kaislyn groaned. “I’ll be fine in a while.”
“You’re amazing, Kaislyn. You really are.”
“Sure,” she wheezed. “Go away.”
Jaden shut the door softly behind him.
Kaislyn curled up on the bed as the cramps coursed through her. She wasn’t surprised when the seizures came. They lasted only a few seconds, intermittent with the waves of cramps. If she didn’t know better, she would have said she’d been poisoned with the Weeping flower again.
Had one of Jaden’s enemies tried to poison him and got Kaislyn instead? She groaned and rolled to her other side.
Jaden controlled the Fifth and Third Cities. He killed people now. Kam attacked her parents in the Second City.
Black Sand. Weeping flower.
Ikaros.
Kaislyn rolled off the bed, hitting the floor hard. She forced herself to throw up. It didn’t make much of a difference on the effects of the flower and it was another thirty minutes before she could get to her feet. Her limp had returned as she lurched out of the room. The first object she could find for a cane was a sword. Clutching the hilt for support, she made it down the dark hall and into the sitting room.
Jaden, reclined on a couch, started when he saw her.
“Kaislyn? Is everything all right?”
“How do you know about the Weeping flower? How?” Her voice was raw as she spoke.
He eyed the sword she was clinging to for support. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play stupid with me! Do you know how many times I’ve eaten the Weeping flower? Apparently not, or you wouldn’t have fed it to me. But Ikaros does. He put you up to this, didn’t he? Why?” Another spasm shook her body.
Jaden slowly poured a glass of wine from the wineskin. “I admit it was easier than I thought it’d be. You never even noticed I wasn’t drinking anything.” He eyed the dark liquid and when he spoke again, it was contemplative, to himself.
“I was fond of you. When I heard you’d been arrested, I immediately planned a rescue. Before I could implement it, I learned who you really were and that you were being taken to the mountains. If anything, that strengthened my devotion to you. Strengthened my resolve to help you escape from those horrible Royal Assassins who were bent on ruining your life. I followed you to the mountains.”
He stared at his glass again. Slowly, he tipped it over, let a few drops splash onto the table like beads of blood. “I met the Sorcerer. He saw my desires and knew all my secrets. He’s not some lost, crazed man. He’s intelligent and compassionate, living in an unjust exile.”
“Ikaros tricked you, Jaden! He took over your mind to learn all about you, made you forget he’d ever done so, and then used what he’d learned to win you to his side. Did you have a headache after talking with him? That’s how you can know if he or any phoenix ruler has done something to you.”
Jaden ignored her. “He showed me all the power I could have. Real power. Not the meager pickings of a thief or a Thief-king. He even gave me some Black Sand as a gift. And he has precious little of the stuff left thanks to you.”
“I stole most of the stuff shortly after he made it. Used it on a cliff. Took him a while to recover from that little... misstep.” Kaislyn spared a hand to wipe her sweaty brow. It was hard to focus. “If you had more Black Sand... it was you...”
Jaden waited patiently for her to figure it out.
“You arranged for Kam’s attack on Drazan and Sveka! Ikaros is using you, and you’re using Kam.”
“The Sorcerer was having trouble going after them without you noticing it was him. He needed someone you wouldn’t suspect and I offered to use Kam.” Jaden’s voice hardened. “He deserved
it too, after betraying us both by telling Falan it was you who blew up the fish district.”
“Jaden, listen to yourself! You’re not making any sense! Ikaros is manipulating you. He’ll kill you as soon as he gets what he wants. Did he tell you to kill me too? Is that what this is all about? It won’t work.”
“You’re barely able to stand!” Jaden laughed, scornfully.
“But I am standing after ingesting a deadly poison.” She tried to still her trembling hands. “I’m leaving.”
Jaden sat up straighter. “No, you’re not. I’ll poison you as much as I have to but you’re not going anywhere. The Sorcerer won’t complete his promise to me until he’s killed you himself.”
Kaislyn took a weak step back.
“Don’t make me hurt you even more, Kaislyn.” He rose to his feet.
“Stay away.” She lifted the sword in front of her.
Jaden eyed the sword in amusement. “You’re holding it all wrong. You might be good with knives, Kaislyn, but I’ve heard about your other fighting abilities. Or lack of them. You rely too much on your tongue. Who would have thought the Royal Assassins’ offspring would be so amazingly bad at killing people?”
“Don’t,” Kaislyn said as he took a step closer.
“Maybe I should lock you in a cellar somewhere. Try different poisons on you until I find one that sticks.”
“I can’t... die.”
“So it seems.” Jaden’s face grew thoughtfully chilling. “I have a contact who’s been peddling some interesting poisons. I can test them out on you first. Find out what the symptoms are and decide from there which of my enemies gets what.” He laughed. “I rather like that idea actually. I think I’m going to be glad you don’t die easily.”
“You can’t... it won’t last.”
“Then I’ll think of something else. It’s only temporary until I can bring you to the Sorcerer. And, if you decide to be ornery about it all, I’ll just tied a rock around your feet and throw you in the ocean. I’m sure the Sorcerer won’t be too disappointed if that happens.”
The Immortal Walker Page 16
