The sound of wheels over cobblestone and the jostling of the carriage couldn't drown out Thalia's pounding heart. She stared at Sinbad, her hands gripping the edges of her seat. He wanted her to trust him, as if he thought he could free her from the bonds that tied her to the goddess the way he'd helped her escape slavery. He couldn't have found out about her vision, could he? He was either lying or confused. If actually knew what was holding her back, he wouldn't have said something so blasphemous. Then again, this was Sinbad. If anyone had enough hubris to think he could challenge a god and come out on top, it was him.

Suddenly, she was reminded of her dream, of how she had held him as blood spilled from his chest, of how the goddess had so easily impaled him. No… she couldn't let anything like that happen. If she lost him, she would…

She drew in a ragged breath, a single tear streaming down her cheek. Afraid of drawing Sinbad's attention, she didn't move to wipe it away. He would definitely try to comfort her if he realized she was crying, and right now, she couldn't bear his kindness. She didn't deserve it, didn't deserve him.

As her lungs pulled in another sharp, involuntary gasp of air, she realized she was losing control.

Please, Asena. Not now, not in front of him.

She focused on the rhythm of her breathing, on keeping it steady.

Breath in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

He was staring at her. Of that, she was keenly aware. Molten amber burned her skin, pleading for her to listen. He was trying to fix things. He was always trying to fix things— her life, his country, the world. But this time, it was futile. Thalia was beyond repair. Everything she touched fell apart; everyone she loved ended up angry or dead. Him, too… she would ruin him like she'd ruined everything else in her life.

Through the window, she saw the bright lights gleaming through the doors of Parthevia's Celebration Hall. She had visited a few times in her childhood and recognized its facade immediately. Taking one last steadying breath, she closed her eyes. On the count of three, she wouldn't feel anything. On the count of three, her performance would begin.

She was fine.

One…

Sinbad was a stranger.

Two…

Barbarossa wasn't to blame for what had happened to her family.

Three.

Inside Parthevia's Celebration Hall, men and women mingled in robes and ornate dresses. In the low light, the ladies' jewels twinkled, flashing like embers from an unseen fire. Low murmuring and the clinking of glasses saturated the air punctuated by laughter. Thalia glanced around anxiously, looking for her sister's familiar face in the crowd. It had been so many years since they'd met. Would they recognize each other right away? Kayra had said she missed Thalia, that she regretted their past. That meant Thalia was loved, right? That there was someone in her family who had loved her all this time?

Thalia wiped her sweaty hands on her skirt. Maybe it was a lie. This whole thing could have been a trap to lure her to Parthevia and kill off the last of the royal Attican bloodline. Anxiously, she glanced at her escort and fellow guest, Sinbad, reassuring herself that if he was here, nothing would happen. He caught her looking and flashed her a dazzling smile.

"What's wrong? Do I have an eyelash on my face again?"

Damn it. Her heart thudded in her chest, heat rising in her cheeks as she realized he still remembered that day on the boat. He'd caught her staring, and she had brushed it off with that pitiful excuse. Gods, she wished he'd been drunk enough to forget.

She nodded, not bothering to come up with anything more convincing. Dread settled in her stomach. Sinbad couldn't protect her; it wasn't his place. If he interfered in her life much more, he could…

Breathe in. Breath out. Breath in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

No, she needed to get past relying on him for her safety. Taking a small step away from him, she attempted to put some distance between them. At some point, she had wandered too close. Anyone who saw them together would have thought they were a couple.

Forget about Kayra. Forget about Sinbad. Forget, forget, forget…

An elderly man ambled past Thalia with a glass of strong wine, the sweet smell of grapes soured by fermentation. The smell brought back vivid memories of her mother seated in one of the chairs in this room, humming quietly under her br—

"I wonder where he got that," Sinbad mused aloud by her side, snapping her out of her daze. He laughed when he noticed her wrinkled nose. "I promise I'll go easy on the booze, tonight. As your escort, I have a grave responsibility."

He winked, a gesture that made her reeling heart skip a beat.

Focus, Thalia. Tonight, you are Attica.

"It's okay." Thalia forced the corners of her lips to turn up. "Go ahead and enjoy yourself. I'll be fine. I'm probably at least distantly related to half the people here anyway."

Raising an eyebrow, Sinbad leaned in. "You're talking."

"Come on. Don't act so surprised." She withdrew from her sleeve a feather-tipped fan like those Parthevian nobles used and unfolded with a delicate flick of her wrist. Pressing it to her lips, she smiled with her eyes. "This is a party. You should be having fun."

"Why does it sound like you're shooing me away?" His shoulders slumped. "The reason I didn't bring Ja'far was that I thought I'd have you. I don't know anyone here."

"When has that stopped you before?" She swatted her fan at him playfully before catching herself. She was flirting. Why couldn't she stop flirting with him? Cautiously, she grabbed her fan hand and clasped it to her chest, holding it there to prevent it from doing anything else without her permission.

Focus. You have a mission.

Tonight, she would best serve the goddess by making allies of the barbarians. She would talk, she would flirt, she would do whatever it took to convince the nobility that she and, by extension, her people were humans worthy of mercy. Her clothes and face were Attican, but her manners and demeanor would be comfortably familiar to this crowd. Grandmother Uparmiya had taught her well, but with Sinbad by her side, she would never be able to bring herself to manipulate the way she needed to.

"You'll do fine without me. You always have."

"I do fine with you, too." He scratched the back of his neck. "I miss being a team, don't you?"

I do.

"We're not a team anymore." She bit her lip, glancing down at her feet. If she were going to say one honest thing tonight, it should be to him. "But thank you. For taking me in, for being patient with me, for keeping me company even when I'm being absurdly difficult." She shrugged. "Thank you for coming with me tonight. I will be eternally grateful to you."

He swallowed thickly. "If I didn't know better, I'd think this sounded like a goodbye."

Thalia blinked slowly. It did seem like a goodbye, didn't it? Maybe it was because the girl he'd tried to mold her into was already gone. She was exactly the kind of person he hated and always had been. It was best if they parted ways now, before he realized that.

"I'll be going home with Kayra tonight." She reached out and squeezed his hand, savoring the callouses, burning them into her memory. "We'll meet again once you and I are king and queen of our own countries."

And then… ?

"Thalia, no." She tried to pull her hand away, but he wouldn't let her go. "I have to talk to you tonight. After the party. Please."

"Sinbad." You're safer if you stay away from me. "Don't make a scene." She pried his fingers away from her wrist and walked away. He let her walk away. Was that what she wanted? Couldn't he at least come after her?

She clenched her fists, firming her resolve. It was best if he let her go. It was the safest option.

Forget Sinbad. Forget.

Her eyes scanned the room, looking for someone to introduce herself to. She was most adept at charming men, so that was where she decided to begin. She spotted her target by the buffet table, a lanky, middle-aged man bearing an ostentatious ring like that of a noble. Thalia surreptitiously inched closer until she could see the insignia engraved into it.

The lion. He's of the Dumitru family. That meant he had influence. His wife was also conveniently absent, which worked in Thalia's favor. These noblemen were only faithful in the company of their spouses. He was more likely to acknowledge her.

As he reached for a sweet, Thalia stuck her hand out at the same time. Their fingers brushed, and she hurriedly pulled away, forcing out a self-deprecating laugh.

"My apologies, young lady." He cleared his throat, tugging at his collar. "I didn't see you there."

"No, no, it's my fault," she said, hiding behind her fan bashfully. "It's been so long since I've been to one of these parties. I was much too eager to get my hands on those tarts."

Liar. You've always hated those.

"Oh? Usually the younger crowd goes for something a bit less traditional… " The man took a step back, scanning her up and down. He froze as he took in her Attican features. "You're… Simay's daughter, aren't you? The one that disappeared?"

Thalia lowered her fan, widening her eyes as though she were surprised. She had been prepared for this scenario; it made sense that the people who had seen her grow up would recognize her. He doubtlessly had questions about where she had been all this time, but talking too openly about her experience as a slave would paint her in a weak light. She needed to be careful about how she spun her story.

"Disappeared… it feels strange to be talked about that way. I was gone for a long, long time." She gave him an enticing smile. "Tell me, what have you heard?"

Sinbad watched as a crowd gathered around the snack table— around Thalia. She was always charming in her own way, but she hadn't drawn crowds like this since she'd been a dancer at Ria Venus Island. She hadn't needed to. Generally, she preferred the attention of one or two people at most. He grabbed a glass of wine off a passing tray and brought it to his downturned lips.

"It's only natural they would be curious." Sinbad jumped as Barbarossa appeared from behind him. "After all, there was a war fought over her presumed death. She's nothing but a novelty, but the Parthevian man who brought her home…" He gave a slick smile. "I'm much more interested in you."

Sinbad cleared his throat, uncomfortable with Barbarossa's talk of Parthevian supremacy. No matter how much he had learned to respect Barbarossa as a mentor, the subject remained a point of contention between them. Gently, he tried to nudge the subject in a different direction.

"Thalia's sister should be here, right?"

"She's in a last-minute meeting with some of her friends." Barbarossa shrugged. "But your openness with Thalia's whereabouts has already paid off."

Paid off? Sinbad swallowed, his heart pounding in his chest. Barbarossa had implied his reward would be a country. His dream… it was finally coming true. Ever since he'd set out at fourteen, he'd worked so hard to get here. He had entered dungeons when no one else had come out alive. He had founded a company and essentially sold himself into slavery to protect it. All of these things had led him to this moment, and now he had done it. He had built a country with his own hands. All that was left was…

"Step into one of the drawing rooms with me, will you?" Barbarossa gestured toward a set of double doors. "We should discuss this matter further in private."

"Yes."

Sinbad glanced back at Thalia, who was lost in a throng of people. Thalia would be fine by herself for a while. He couldn't put off his destiny for her. He had too many people relying on him.

Thalia was a performer, and she was good at it. No matter how happy she had been during her time at the Sindria Trading Company, she had never quite reached the levels of success she had obtained under Lady Maader. There had been a moment of doubt in her mind, a fear that she wouldn't be able to channel that old talent, but here she was. The nobility around her hung on her every word as she recounted a romanticized, palatable version of her days as a slave.

People were never interested in the truth. They liked stories with clean narratives and archetypal heroes. If she told them that she'd tried to hasten Dinarzade's sale, that would make her out to be a villain. No, in Thalia's story, she and Dinarzade had always been the closest of friends. Dinarzade had tried to protect Thalia from Fatima's whipping, but in the end, there was nothing she could have done. And in this version, it was her fiance who had rescued her from the men in the theater. Muu Alexius, the man she was madly in love with.

"After the whipping… it must have left scars." A sympathetic voice rose from the crowd, interrupting her tale.

"Oh… the scars. I'm told they'll fade in a few years if I use ointment on them." Thalia hung her head, shedding a fake tear. Then, tightening her fist, she looked back up to the crowd and gave a well-timed smile. She was strong. Look how easily she could bounce back! "But my fiance doesn't mind them at all. Despite everything, he cherishes me."

The women in the crowd swooned. "How romantic!"

In truth, Thalia wasn't sure how Muu would react to her scars. She almost hoped he would find them repulsive. Maybe then, they could put consummating the marriage off for a couple of years. They wouldn't be expected to have children right away anyway, not at their age.

"Truly, Thalia. I think your story has moved everyone here tonight." A man blew his nose on a handkerchief. "To go from a princess to being treated like a slave… it's absolutely tragic."

The man with whom she had begun the conversation chimed in. "To think… you went through all that and returned only to find our monarchy had only further victimized you." He turned to the crowd. "I am more certain than ever that this revolution is what Parthevia needed!"

They burst into cheers— cheers for Barbarossa's rise in power. Thalia beamed at these people, the ones who had so quickly believed rumors of her death and pressured the monarchy they now blamed for her fate to act. It made her sick, but she kept her smile locked in place. She had done what she had come here to do.

Breathe.

Thalia let her shoulders relax. She had accomplished her mission with better results than she would have dared hope. It seemed when it came time for negotiations, the nobles would be more than willing to treat her with sympathy. In fact, it sounded as though whatever fighting they would do would be nothing more than for show. Her victory was almost guaranteed.

She was successful, and she hadn't needed Sinbad or anyone's help. She placed her hand flat against her racing heart, willing it to slow. So, this was what winning felt like. Her head swiveled around, searching for Sinbad, but he wasn't in the crowd. That little spark of pride died just a little. Knowing that she couldn't share this with him, that if he were here, she wouldn't have even had this moment because he would inevitably have overshadowed her, was sobering.

Breathe.

Then, the cheering died down, and Thalia heard a familiar voice.

"Excuse me. Pardon me."

Sweet like a lark…

"Please let me through."

Thalia had heard that voice a thousand times.

A woman with honey eyes and painted lips pried her way through the crowd, her long, aubergine hair pulled back into a bun. "I would like to see…" She paused as soon as she locked eyes with Thalia. "... my sister."

Roaring. It was all Thalia could hear, a roaring in her ears. She took a trembling step forward as tears welled in her eyes.

Princesses don't cry.

Blinking them away, Thalia took another step forward. "Kayra?"

"Thalia!" Kayra ran toward Thalia, tugging her into a suffocating embrace. "My dear, sweet sister. Don't you know how you've worried me?"

Thalia tried to choke out a reply, but her throat was constricted. She stood in a daze in the arms of the woman who told her she was inferior, the woman who had done everything in her power to protect her. She had betrayed Thalia's country. She had searched for Thalia all these years. What was the truth? Did Kayra love her?

Princesses don't…

Kayra's hand stroked Thalia's hair affectionately, and it was almost enough to undo her. Thalia's vision blurred as she took in her sister's scent. She smelled the same as ever— of spices and perfumes and honey and home. Hesitantly, Thalia raised her hands to return her sister's embrace. This didn't seem to be a trap. Kayra genuinely seemed to have missed her.

When Kayra finally pulled away, she glanced around at the crowd surrounding them.

That's right, Thalia thought, they're still watching. This is good for my image too…

"If you don't mind, let's take this somewhere private." Kayra gestured to one of several sets of doors in the back. "You and I have so much to catch up on.

Thalia nodded slowly, allowing her sister to lead her by the hand. Part of her couldn't believe this was happening. It wasn't real. Kayra had been dead in her mind for so long, it was like seeing a ghost.

They sat in chairs opposite one another, Kayra sitting up straight as Thalia shifted uncomfortably. She kept stealing glances at her sister, ethereally beautiful, impossibly composed. Thalia suddenly felt small again, small and insecure.

She wasn't small anymore, though. She was bigger and braver.

Speak.

"I-"

"How-"

Both women interrupted each other at the same time and fell back into silence. Thalia picked at the peeling leather of the chair nervously as she looked around. There were dozens of bookshelves all lined with tomes. She recognized the binding of Sinbad's works and smiled. His stories had found their way to a place like this. He was so talented.

Kayra's gaze followed hers to the books. When she looked back at Thalia, she frowned.

"The boy you came in with, Sinbad." Kayra shattered the quiet with her observation. "You like him."

"I- I don't know what you…"

Thalia tried to deny it, but her tongue was suddenly too clumsy to lie. Instead, she averted her eyes, training them on a black knife by Kayra's side. It seemed to emit some ominous glow, or the opposite of one, like it sucked the light out of the air around it. Looking at it made her feel unsettled/

Kayra sighed, folding her legs demurely under her chair and resting her chin on her hand. Thalia returned her attention to her sister. "It seems we both have poor taste in men. I was hoping you had better judgment."

"Sinbad and I aren't—" Thalia cut herself off, noticing the implications in Kayra's words. "I thought you were announcing your engagement to Barbarossa tonight."

Thalia had practiced her fake smile and empty congratulatory statement for hours in the mirror preparing herself to face that man after what he'd done…

Breathe.

"We'll see. Ambitious men are fickle that way." Kayra let out a bitter laugh. "But at some point, when you've sold your soul to be with someone, there's no going back. I spent my life chasing him, becoming someone powerful enough that he could use, and he-" She cut herself off. "But I'm yours isn't like that, is he?"

Thalia let out an anxious laugh and held up her engagement ring. "Sinbad's not mine. I have a fiance."

"Do you make a habit of holding the hands of men who aren't your fiance?" Kayra's cherubic lips pulled up into a grin. "Or is it just with Sinbad?"

Thalia stopped fiddling with the leather. "Excuse me?" Wasn't this a little invasive for their first conversation in years? Couldn't they talk about something a bit more neutral, like the weather? "You were watching me come in?"

"My dear, I have eyes everywhere in Parthevia. Information is vital to maintaining power." Kayra ran her finger along the blade of the black knife. "And I happen to know power is what you need."

"What are you saying?" Thalia sat up straight. "I have power. My fiance is one of the most powerful men in the world, and he has sworn—"

"Your fiance." Kayra's eyes glinted, her expression amused. "Yes, the Alexius boy. I know all about him. Indeed, he is powerful, but he cannot help you."

Thalia's mouth ran dry. He couldn't help her? But Asena had said… she had promised. I had a vision. The goddess-"

"Yes, your destiny is to follow that strange religion of yours and become a stepping stone for a great king to come along generations from now." Kayra held her hands out pityingly. "As for you, you're going to die during childbirth, all for some greater plan set in place by an arrogant fool."

Thalia shook her head, trying to wrap her head around the nonsense Kayra was speaking. Her life itself… it was meaningless? She had gone through all this just to die tragically young and bring a child into this world? A child she would never even get to hold?

"How would you know?" Thalia gripped the armrests of her chair. "How can you know my destiny?"

Kayra looked over her shoulder. "Falan, would you please show yourself? My sister is having trouble believing, and I can't blame her. I was skeptical myself at first."

Thalia followed her gaze and found nothing but bookshelves. Then, a flash of bright light blinded her. When she opened her eyes again, a veiled woman in a pink robe stood where there had been no one before.

Thalia stood up, trying to ascertain how this woman could have gotten there so quickly. The only door was on the other side of the room.

"Who are you?" Thalia demanded. She wished she had her sword with her right now, but she had left that with Sharrkan after the vision. She didn't think she would have to protect herself. The goddess was supposed to protect her, but this situation raised her hair on end. She didn't trust it.

"I am a seer," she responded. "I see the rukh, and it tells me the future."

Thalia recognized that lilting voice. She would have recognized it anywhere. It was the voice of the charlatan who had given that phony prophecy so many years ago. She was part of the organization, the one that had been interfering with Thalia's life.

She began to lunge. "You motherfu—"

"Watch your language and sit back down." Kayra's voice came as a command, and Thalia's body instinctively obeyed. Kayra directed her attention back to Falan. "Show her what you showed me."

Thalia scowled. "I don't need to see anything. That woman ruined my life!"

"She was trying to save it." Kayra gestured to Falan. "Explain to her how the magic works."

"This is clairvoyance magic," the woman lifted her staff. "It can only show what was, what is, or what will be. When I cast the spell, you will see fragments of your future, Thalia Alexandris."

"Bullshit." Thalia contemplated disobeying Kayra's order to claw her eyes out, but the little girl in her remembered that Kayra's guidance had always kept her safe before. Falan was a magician, and Thalia had nothing to defend herself with. There was no situation in which Thalia could win.

Falan's staff clacked against the ground, and a blue portal opened where the table had been moments ago. In it, Thalia saw herself with Muu Alexius, their smiles strained and uncomfortable. She saw her swollen belly, her sunken cheeks, her husbands' awkward attempts to comfort her. Then, she saw herself screaming, blood gushing out from between her legs— too much blood. She was bleeding out. She was dying, and she barely looked over twenty.

No, nonono. It couldn't be true. That meant, she had three, maybe four years left at most. It meant she would never be happy, never do anything. Four years wasn't enough. Four years was nothing…

"Stop!" she screamed, her nails digging into the leather of her armrests. Her lungs drew in a shuddering, heavy breath. "That's enough… please."

Slumping in her chair, she looked from Falan to Kayra. "I don't… how am I supposed to believe this? It could be some kind of illusion. Why are you…?"

"As I said," Falan explained, "This magic cannot show anything but the truth. You can choose to ignore this warning, but it is at your own peril."

But the goddess said…

That's right. The goddess said Thalia was worthless, that she existed only to serve her. Thalia was disposable to her.

Visions of her own and Sinbad's death swam through her head. If she rejected her destiny to be with Sinbad, the goddess would destroy him. If she followed her destiny, she would die after a painful, meaningless existence. There was no situation where she could win. There was no way for them to exist in the same world, together or apart.

Kayra gave Thalia a sympathetic expression before turning to the magician. "I think she gets the idea, Falan. Please leave us."

"Yes, Lady Kayra."

There was another flash of light, and Thalia was certain that if she looked up, she would find the magician was gone.

"If you were to simply reject your destiny, I could give you the power to forge your own." Thalia raised her head to find her sister was holding out the black dagger.

"Following destiny… it's the right thing to do," Thalia whispered. "You're asking me to fall into depravity, but a life of hatred and anger isn't any better than dying young."

"Spare me your martyr complex." Kayra closed one hand around the handle of the dagger. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to live. There's nothing wrong with cursing the unjust, either. Selflessness is not a virtue, not when there are people working so hard to keep you alive."

Thalia was silent.

"At this point, it doesn't matter anyway." Kayra set the knife back down. "If you don't curse your destiny, your boyfriend will for you. Do you know what he and my beloved fiance are discussing as we speak?"

"Excuse me?" Boyfriend… she was talking about Sinbad, right?

"They're in negotiations for the sale of Attica."

What?

"My guess is that he won't turn down the offer. After all, he might never get another chance like this."

Thalia tried to stand, but her legs wouldn't work. Sinbad… was going to buy Attica. To give it back to her?

No…

His dream… he would never give that up, but if she let him interfere with her life, he might…

"That boy is beloved by destiny. He can do no wrong in its eyes, but you… At this point, you'll never fulfill your destiny either way. It's a broken system, I know." Kayra picked up the knife again, pricking her finger and drawing blood. It absorbed into the blade, and the ominous atmosphere around the thing seemed to grow even darker. "And you don't have a choice but to let him push you around. I just thought you might want the power to stick up to him."

Attica… the thing Thalia had worked for, her only reason for existing… how could Sinbad just take that from her? She needed this. She needed something, anything, to live for. And he was going to take that from her.

Kayra stood up and placed the knife in Thalia's lap. "Why don't you keep this on you and think it over." She started to exit the room, then paused. "I hope this will make up for all the times I hurt you, Thalia. Even if I didn't show it, I always loved you."

Breathe.