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Elias had disappeared.
Aiz cursed, backing away from the wagon where she’d hidden. She hadn’t noticed him vanish. She ducked around a small group of tents,raking the dark for the Martial. He was here somewhere, and likely to find her. She’d need to hew close to the truth:The Bani al-Mauth told me I shouldn’t look for this story. I wanted to ask her why.Would he believe her? Bleeding hells, if he kicked her out of the Tribe now, when they were so close to Nur—
“Ilo?”
Aiz stumbled straight into Quil. He caught her, brows raised in alarm. At the same time, the hairs on her neck rose. Only a dozen yards away, she caught a flash of metal.Elias!
Aiz made a snap judgement, knowing Elias would likely see through any excuses. She took Quil’s face in her hands and kissed him.
She’d expected surprise, a moment for him to consider, maybe even to pull away. She didn’t expect the spark that had danced between them for weeks to roar into a flame. For him to kiss her back like he’d imagined it a thousand times in his head, for her own body to arch into his, hungry for more—
Or for her breathless embarrassment, moments later, when Elias’s wry voice drifted out of the night.
“Perhaps find a better spot,” he suggested before his footsteps faded.
Quil chuckled and Aiz did too, more relieved than amused. His lips parted and she could practically see the questions tumbling to the tip of his tongue.What are you doing out here? Are you all right?But she didn’t want to answer those questions, because she didn’t want to lie to Quil.
He is a means to an end.Div’s voice sounded in Aiz’s mind, but for the first time, Aiz didn’t respond, didn’t agree.
Instead, she put a finger to Quil’s lips. She’d memorized the shape of them, and at her touch, Quil closed his eyes, taking a shuddering breath. Aiz felt power course through her, potent and delicious. He wanted her even more than she wanted him. It was written in every line of his body, and Aiz could use it to her advantage.
“Come, Idaka,” she whispered, and led him away from their hiding spot and to the south side of the camp, where he always pitched his tent. His cheeks were flushed, his yellow eyes bright with desire as he gazed at her, as she pulled him into the tent and pushed him onto his cot. Then she kissed him again, reveling in the fact that whatever questions he might have had would soon be forgotten.
29
Cero
As Cero landed his Sail at Kegar’s central airfield, the heady fragrance of Spire roses assaulted his senses. He grimaced, thinking of Aiz, for she dearly loved to chain them together and make crowns for the orphans.They smell of life, she’d say. Cero used to think so too.
Now everything stank of death, even Spire roses. Especially on the days when Cero came back from bombing runs.
Spires, he hated those runs. The cowardice of dropping explosives on a scrambling, screaming population made him feel as if he’d rolled around in excrement. Watching and listening as the Kegari ground forces swept in to steal food and goods, murdering any left alive, made it impossible to sleep.
He’d long since altered the missile chutes on his Sail, allowing him more control over bomb drops. When the Sail squadrons launched raids, Cero’s payload landed on empty barns and evacuated town squares. The bloodlust of Tiral’s other pilots meant there was never a shortage of casualties, so for months, Cero’s questionable aim went unnoticed.
No longer. As Cero dropped from his Sail, Tiral stalked across the airfield toward him. Sweat plastered Tiral’s pale hair to his head—spring was warmer than usual—and his cheeks were an ugly red. From the heat, perhaps, but more likely from anger. The so-called Tel Ilessi had a temper. Which was nothing new for Cero. He’d known Aiz since birth, after all.
At that moment, his aaj burned.Cero!Aiz called through it as she had for days now, weeks. He refused to respond. He didn’t want her to come back.
Cero-Cero-Cero-Cero.His name echoed with such constancy that it sounded as if he had a ball of snakes living in his brain.
Hewantedto speak to her. To know everything about this Tribe that had taken her in, the child Ruh whom she loved—even the damned prince she claimed not to care for.Give your heart to him, he wanted to say,because it’s precious and deserves to be cherished by someone kind.But Cero also wanted her to guard her heart. To wait.
For him.
Utter folly to think these things. No child of Dafra would allow themselves such weakness. For in weakness lay death.Then stop thinking about her, fool.
“That is the fifth time you’ve missed the mark on your bombing runs.” Tiral paced before him, spittle flying as he stripped off his flight leathers. “You destroyed a half ton of foodstuffs. Explain!”
“The channels on some of the Sails are faulty. I told you.” Cero refused to grovel to anyone, least of all a false Tel Ilessi. Still, he kept his voice neutral. Tiral had already destroyed Dafra cloister. He could still hunt down its clerics and those few orphans left—just to teach Cero a lesson.
For the thousandth time, Cero cursed his own heart. Love was misery. Without it, he’d have deserted this hellhole years ago.
“I reported this failure to the head engineer,” Cero said. “It’s not my fault she hasn’t fixed it.” The head engineer was a two-faced Hawk hag who mistreated Snipe pilots for sport. Cero had no qualms about throwing her into the flames of Tiral’s temper.
Though perhaps, Cero thought as he surveyed Tiral’s expression, he should be more cautious. Tiral thought ruling was as simple as sitting on the high throne and calling himself Mother Div’s chosen. But now that shipments of raid loot had dwindled, discontent seethed. Some called Tiral a false Tel Ilessi. The people’s patience thinned and Tiral knew it. He’d massacred hundreds of Snipes who had protested against him in Dafra slum just weeks ago. He was more volatile than ever.
“The head engineer assured me your Sail is in perfect working order,”Tiral said. “So tomorrow, Snipe, you will hit every target with precision. Or I’ll pay a visit to those clerics of yours.” Sensing Cero’s trepidation, Tiral smiled. “They can’t very well preach without their tongues, can they?”
