XV | The Snake Among Us

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PREVIOUSLY...

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Azura went to the library, hoping to better her abysmal reading skills. There she discovered Ari drawing the girl he was destined to marry when he was young, now lost with Tacree and the rest of his family. Ari then revealed that the Tacree Kingdom refused to align themselves with the rebellion when the Empire was weak, only for the Empire to destroy them. Azura had questions but Ari refused to answer them.

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I look down at Lilja as she lands on the ground again with a thud, her oaken locks clinging to the sweat that coats her brow. She rubs her hip with twisted lips like she's eaten a lemon. I thrust out a gloved hand and she huffs before taking it and allowing me to pull her to her feet.

"You ready to go again?" I ask her, rolling my shoulder and wincing at the ache.

It's been a few days now since my 'lesson' in the woods with Erasmus and my bruises have healed, but I've had to let Lilja drop me to the ground a number of times, just to see the exasperated look on Erasmus' face.

"You have good technique for a street rat," she replies and sinks into a fighting stance.

"Ah, so you figured out what I was up to before coming here."

"It was pretty obvious."

I advance and swing at her. She raises her arms to block the blow before shuffling close and sinking her fist into my stomach. The air whooshes from me and I stumble back, keeping my fists raised.

"The way you looked was a giveaway," she continues, circling me. "Were you in Warroll?"

"I was."

She throws another fist that I duck under and aim a jab at her ribs that'll leave a nasty bruise. She grunts and curls over, opening herself for a swift elbow to the back of the head, but I let her recover as I rub my stomach.

"And where were you and Suri before the school?"

She straightens, wincing as she sucks in a breath and touches her side. "Minyalow."

I tilt my head, waiting for her to elaborate.

"We worked on a farm."

"That explains Suri's love for food," I say with a smile, but Lilja doesn't return it. Instead she presses her lips together and brushes the wet strands of her hair from her eyes.

"Her love for food comes from the same place yours does; being raised without any."

"But you were on a farm?" I question with a frown.

Lilja doesn't reply. She shuffles forward, raises her fists, and swings for my face while my guard is down. I lurch back, parry her blows, before gaining my footing again.

Clearly that conversation is over, not that I expected Lilja to say much of anything.

Thinking about Suri, I can't help but worry about her as she stays holed up in our room, coughing up her lungs. Such a thing has forced Lilja into the unfortunate situation of having to pair with me during training. I told her to train with Ari, but he's back to his 'I train alone' temperament.

His cryptic words from the other day have lodged in my head, and I want the opportunity to drag answers from him but he's not giving me an inch to work with.

I let out a sigh as Erasmus calls out, informing us the lesson has ended. I walk with Lilja, drying my sweat with a towel and eager for a shower, but stop when a blond head catches my eye.

"I'll meet you at dinner," I tell Lilja before jogging away from her towards Ari. I'm not going to let him get away this time. He has to stop ignoring me at some point.

He walks out into the hall and I fall into step beside him, catching my breath.

"You're persistent," he mutters and I flash my teeth at him.

"And you're avoiding me. Why is that?"

"You know why."

"Because you talk too much?"

Ari doesn't reply, but he doesn't try to escape either.

"I want to talk about what you said. About the Empire being weak ten years ago."

"Read a book."

My jaw clenches. He's not going to make this easy for me. I turn and grip his arm, halting his stride. "Do you want to know why I'm here, shape-shifter?" I ask, meeting his eye. "Because Elder Palmira specifically sought me out. Now, I don't think she'd like it if one of her students were sniffing around about a failed alliance between the shape-shifters and rebellion."

Ari rolls his eyes. "Blackmailing me doesn't work if you have nothing to blackmail me with."

"True," I say with a sigh, dropping my hand and admitting defeat. "Look, I have no love for Palmira. I didn't come here because I wanted to and my chances of survival are pretty slim. I'd appreciate having all the information I can get about the Empire."

"Don't take this personally, Azura, but I don't trust you."

"And I don't trust you," I reply with a shrug. "That doesn't mean we can't be temporary allies."

Ari's gaze flicks between mine before he clicks his tongue and nods. "Fine, but I'm hungry and we can't have this conversation in the Grand Hall."

I take a step back, triumph making my lips quirk. "Lead the way."

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I frown at the food Ari offers me as we stand in the lively kitchen, surrounded by noise and the tantalising smell of food. I glance at his face. "What is it?"

Ari presses his lips together, his eyes shining with laughter he suppresses. "It's a doughnut," he says, as though that explains anything.

I take it from his waiting hands, the warmth of it seeping through my gloves. He watches me as I ponder the sugary mess for a moment before taking a tentative bite. Sweetness bursts on my tongue, cloying and doughy. My eyes widen.

"Good, right?" he says as he bites into his own and I nod, eating more and humming with satisfaction.

Ari leads the way from the kitchen with a plate of food for us to share. He takes us through the empty halls, the other students in the Grand Hall for dinner, before we leave the marble and oak behind to step into the crisp air of the gardens, the setting sun cooling the land further.

We walk along the cracked stone, stepping over gnarled roots and twisted brambles before we find a bench. I brush the leaves and dirt from it before we sit, Ari setting the plate of fruit between us.

For a moment we breathe in the air, the sweetness of the vegetation swirling around us, the sound of the chimes in the great tree singing a gentle song. The cool air kisses my cheeks, adding colour to them. We watch the dampening sunlight sink below the stone walls of the garden in silence, the space between us heavy with unspoken words.

"No one's seen the emperor for over a decade," Ari begins, brushing sugar from his fingers.

I'm already far too aware of that fact, it's something that plagues me. How am I meant to assassinate a man that no one has laid eyes on for over ten years? I stay silent though, letting Ari continue as I stuff a strawberry in my mouth to stop myself from asking too many questions he has no answers to.

No one needs to know I'm here to assassinate the emperor. I don't even want to begin to wonder how many spies the Sharlik Empire has in the rebellion.

"The Empire began losing its power and he stopped making public appearances, or was it the other way around?" Ari shrugs before continuing, "Wymler was a place the Empire couldn't destroy, not without decimating its own army on its march through the Midland. And Oranday's army was a force to be reckoned with." Ari picks up a grape and stares at it as he roles it between his fingers. "Wymler and Oranday were part of the rebellion alongside the Order. The Empire was losing; villages were rising up, taking back their land, and withdrawing their servitude. The Empire can't feed its army without those farms supporting it. Ten years ago, there was no more need for a rebellion."

I know part of this story, my brother explained bits and pieces of it to me, but I never really thought about it, believing it all to be foolish hope by people desperate for it to be true. "So, what happened? How did they orchestrate such a blow against the shape-shifters when they didn't have an army?"

"I have no idea. The Empire still had the Mydoramo mines," Ari answers, raking his fingers through his hair. "So, maybe they pulled their forces from the thousands of slaves they have, but that's not the point." Ari meets my gaze, shadows darkening the brown of his eyes. "It's all incredibly strange. The shape-shifters decline the rebellion's offer to join them then suddenly the Empire—that was dormant—is sailing to Tacree to destroy it." Ari shakes his head. "Coincidences happen, sure, but not like that."

"You think someone worked with the Empire." I mull over his words, even as they begin to make me sick. "That theory could only incriminate the leaders of the rebellion."

"Precisely. And there are only three of them; Elder Palmira of the Order, Head Master Rashida of Wymler, and Princess Isadora of Oranday."

"But if this is true, then why do it? Why destroy the shape-shifters simply because they refused to join the rebellion when it wasn't needed?"

"That's the bit that doesn't make sense." Ari rubs at his temple. "I don't know who would benefit. And I feel like as the only shape-shifter in this school, I can't trust anyone."

"Hey," I murmur, lifting a hand to rest it on his shoulder. "You're not alone. And thank you for telling me."

Ari glances at me and nods. "Please don't make me regret it," he says with a slight chuckle that I hear the tremor in.

I pat his shoulder. "Me? Blackmail you with the information you just gave me? Never."

The disgruntled look he gives me has me grinning.