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Qinnia herself answered the door, welcoming me into the apartments she shared with Andahai.
“The maids have been dismissed for the afternoon,” she said, though I hadn’t asked. “I thought it would be best if we met alone.”
Her features were schooled into the polite mask that all ladies of the court had mastered. Still, I could tell she was nervous to see me. Her hands were folded stiffly over her dress’s purple sash, as if to keep her fingers from fidgeting, and every time her earrings made an audible tinkle, she cleared her throat. She had a kind earnestness about her that wasn’t easy to come by in Gindara. No wonder Andahai loved her.
She took the robes I’d brought, setting them beside her sewing basket. There was a neat stack of jackets and robes—one for each of my six brothers.
“I’m guessing Wandei wouldn’t tell you what they’re for,” I said.
“Not even Yotan would give a hint,” she replied with a shake of her head. “They expected you to ask, so they didn’t tell me anything. Only that all would be unveiled at the Sacred Lake.”
“The Sacred Lake?”
Qinnia shrugged, and I twisted my lips, nettled. Takkan would know what this was about, but I’d snubbed him at every opportunity since the plan had been set in motion. I dreaded seeing him even more than Qinnia.
I turned to go, but Qinnia motioned for me to sit. She’d been expecting me, ready with two plates of peaches, the yellow slices beautifully arranged in the shape of a flower, on her table.
“These arrived from my family’s orchard this morning,” she said, offering me a plate. “Have some before Andahai returns and eats them all. I won’t be humble—they’re so sweet the bees think they’re honey.”
My stomach was easily won over, and at the sight of dessert, I forgot my nerves as well as my manners. Without making the necessary insistence that Qinnia eat first—since she outranked me—I devoured a slice, then another and another. “This is what I’d expect the peaches of immortality to taste like.” I smacked my lips. “Now I know why Andahai really married you. For your family’s orchards.”
“I’ll have a box sent to you and Takkan,” Qinnia replied. Was it my imagination, or had her smile widened a hair? “An early betrothal present.”
“Maybe you ought to wait until after the ceremony,” I mumbled with my mouth full. “Make sure I show up this time.”
Qinnia’s smile broke into a laugh, which she hastily hid behind her sleeve. She sat up a little straighter and returned to her formal tone. “I wanted to talk to you about what happened the other night.”
I gulped and set down my plate. This was it. It was time.
Being away from home had worn down my pride, and I clasped my peach-smeared hands together and knelt before her. “I beg your forgiveness, Princess Qinnia. I have caused you great distress and offense, and I seek only to—”
“Shiori, what are you doing?” Qinnia pulled me off my knees. “Did Andahai put you up to this? Please, get up. Get up.”
I sat back on the divan and leaned into the stiff pillows behind my back, suddenly appreciative of their support. “Didn’t you summon me here to apologize?”
“I summoned you here because Wandei needs me to help sew those robes.” She gestured at the area around her sewing basket. “And because I…I wanted to apologize.”
“You?” My brows drew together. “But I…I attacked you. I could have hurt you. I’m the one who released Bandur from the mountains. It’s because of me he…” I wheeled my hands, not knowing how to articulate that he’d possessed her mind.
“It might have been me who poisoned you.” She bit her lip. “Four priestesses were captured at the Holy Mountains. Andahai thinks they supplied the poison that nearly killed you…and someone in the palace administered it. Someone we all trusted.”
I hid a grimace. The mirror of truth had confirmed as much but shown me no faces.
“With Bandur’s ability to switch bodies, it could have been anyone,” said Qinnia. “I worry it…it might have been me. I pray it wasn’t me.”
“It wasn’t,” I said with certainty. “Bandur has his own plans for me.”
Qinnia bunched the pink fabric of her robes in her fist. “Are you sure? I could feel his wrath at you.”
“What else do you remember?”
“I was so cold.” She shuddered. “And…numb. It was like being trapped in a nightmare.”
“I felt the cold too,” I said softly. It was how I had known that Bandur was near.
Qinnia lifted her sleeve, showing me a bracelet of wooden beads. “I’ve worn this ever since I was a girl. My mother had it blessed by High Priest Voan to protect me from evil. Many in the palace have been wearing such trinkets to ward against demons. But they don’t help, do they?”
