Ajaxi grunts and leans in, his gaze on my breasts. “Truth be told, I’m running things around here⁠—”

Nemeth seats himself between us, clearly not understanding my play. He glares at his brother and ruffles his wings. “Ivornath will be joining us soon, yes?”

“Soon.” Ajaxi shrugs, toying with his wine cup. I flick my braid and give him a sultry smile. “This one seems more pleasant than her sister. I see why you have her in your bed.”

Bastard. It takes all that I have to keep smiling as if his words are a compliment.

“This one is my mate,” Nemeth practically growls.

“Huzzah,” Ajaxi says, smirking. “To a lovely human in your bed. Wine for my brother and his human.”

“Mate,” Nemeth corrects again.

“Oh, no wine for me,” I tell the servant that sets a cup in front of me. “Perhaps milk or water?”

“Are we a toddler?” Ajaxi asks.

I titter with fake laughter, sliding my wine towards Nemeth. “No! But after so long without eating properly, my stomach fusses at strong tastes. You know how it is. I have to be so careful at what I put in my mouth.”

“Is that so,” Ajaxi murmurs. Nemeth puts a hand on my thigh, as if warning me. I ignore it. If Ajaxi truly is in control of things, it’s best for me to get him on my side. I flutter my lashes in his direction and lick my lips. He flicks a hand at a servant. “You heard her. She prefers a…mild mouthful.”

“I don’t want to seem too greedy,” I say coyly, giving Nemeth a teasing look. “But my mate has kept me well fed and my cheeks stuffed⁠—”

“Candra,” Nemeth says in a sharp voice. “Please.”

“Oh, stop,” I say, tapping his arm with my hand. “I’m just trying to get to know your brother. He has my sister, you know. That practically makes us family.” I tilt my head and give Ajaxi a bright look. “How is my darling Erynne? Have you been taking excellent care of her?”

He huffs and rolls his eyes, then returns to drinking.

“Where is Ivornath?” Nemeth asks again.

“Late.” Ajaxi shrugs. “He’ll be along soon. Eat. Drink.”

I sip the milk that a servant brings me. It’s ice cold and creamy, and I nearly moan at how delicious it is. I drink the full goblet and then pluck a sweetened roll from the table. “If he’s anything like Lionel was, he’ll make us wait out here while he lounges in bed.”

Ajaxi laughs at that, perhaps harder than he should have. I pretend to ignore it, nibbling on the food. “Ivornath is indeed lying about. As for your sister, she is…not happy. But political prisoners seldom are.”

“Nemeth and I could use a few servants now that we’ve returned to his home,” I say brightly. “You could give Erynne to me.” I lower my voice and wrinkle my nose. “She would truly hate that, which means it would be quite fun.”

Maybe he’s stupid enough to give Erynne over to me without much fuss, and if that’s the case, he’ll be easy to lead around. Maybe no uprising will be needed.

A servant hands me another goblet of milk, and I lift it to my lips.

“I’m keeping her for now. Though I must say, meeting you, it’s a shame we haven’t talked before now.”

I give him my best I’m-a-hussy smile and lick the milk froth from my lips. “Why is that?”

Ajaxi takes another gulp of his wine and points a clawed finger at me. “I was supposed to be the one sent to the tower to seduce you⁠—”

“Ajaxi!” Nemeth snaps, going stiff beside me. He jumps to his feet.

I stare at the brothers.

Ajaxi lounges in his chair, eyeing me. “Might have been fun to bounce you on my cock. Not at the expense of going to war, but it’s a thought. Instead, they sent this one.” He flicks a hand at Nemeth. “My scholarly brother who refuses to play well with others.”

“Excuse me?” I say, keeping my voice pleasant. “Did you say Nemeth was sent to seduce me?”

“No,” Nemeth hisses, a hand clenched at his side.

Ajaxi just shrugs drunkenly. “Might as well tell her now.” He lifts his chin at me, giving me a knowing look. “It’s true. It was supposed to be me sent to the tower but then…plans changed.” His expression grows vague and he stares into his goblet. “Ivornath made Nemeth go instead. I might have fought harder if I knew a prime tart like you was going to be there.”

I should be upset more. Panicking more. Instead, I just feel…tired. Drained. As if all the energy has left my body. This is confirmation of what I feared, isn’t it? I shoot a glance up at Nemeth, to see if he’s still pretending to deny it.

“It’s…true,” Nemeth confesses after a moment. His gaze is tortured as he looks down at me. “But it’s not the whole truth. Yes, I was sent to the tower with instructions to woo you. But I fell in love with you instead. That is very much the truth.”

I shake my head slowly and drink a bit more milk, though my stomach is starting to feel unpleasant. My head pounds. “That seems rather convenient, don’t you think?”

“It’s the truth.” He kicks his stool aside and drops to a crouch beside me, taking my cold hand in his. “Believe me, Candra. Think back to my actions. Of how we’ve worked together.”

Ajaxi makes a disgusted sound as Nemeth pleads with me. “Don’t debase yourself to a human, brother. Slap a collar on her and use her like the betrayer she is⁠—”

Nemeth roars with fury, turning and rounding on Ajaxi. His wings spread and he flies toward him. The brothers crash into a wall nearby, knocking dishware to the ground and sending the servants scattering.

I jump to my feet—and nearly pass out. Darkness swims in front of my eyes, and I press a hand to my brow. Oh gods, why am I so tired and weak suddenly? I clutch at the table as the two men brawl, and as I step away, I see another set of stairs at the back of the room.

More stairs. Huh.

I wonder if I can find Ivornath on my own?

I stagger toward the stairs, dizzy. My steps feel heavy, and something feels vaguely wrong. I should stop, go back to the table and sit down until the dizziness passes, but we’ve waited so long to see Ivornath that I’m not about to stop now. Clutching the railing, I haul myself up the flight of stairs slowly, vaguely aware of the two Fellians brawling and shouting at each other. The stairs are new, the wood scent fresh, and splinters stick up from the railing, the wood so recent it hasn’t yet been worn down. This seems important, but I can’t get my mind to focus.

Something is definitely wrong.

In a haze, I stagger to the landing and then down a corridor lit with magic globes. There’s a pair of double doors at the end of the hallway and I push toward them. Dimly, I’m aware of them opening to let me into a room that smells sickly sweet, thick with incense and something foul. The edges of my vision are filling with black, and I know I don’t have much time. I fall to my knees and crawl toward the large curtained bed in the center of the room and pull back the hangings. Sure enough, a large form lies there in bed.

Lazy shite king. With a snarl, I grab the blankets and rip them off of his body. I lose my balance and tumble to the ground with the blankets, and as I do, the smell in the room grows stronger.

The smell of dead and dying things.

Gagging, I crawl to my knees and haul myself upright, using the bed to support myself. As I do, I stare down at Ivornath’s dead body. Maybe once he was a man in the prime of his life, but now he’s simply a desiccated corpse, his neck and chest marked with a dark, putrid rash. His mouth hangs open as if he screamed in his last moments, and his wings are shriveled underneath him.

Dead.

Long dead, probably from the plague. How…

“It’s a good thing you’re already poisoned, because now you have to die.”

The feminine voice is light and confident, familiar and yet strange. I turn and as the darkness envelops my gaze, I can just barely make out a face similar to my own, with green eyes and long, black hair and a haughty smile.