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Judging from Mara’s surprise when she’d seen Zeke, she wasn’t here for him either. So it was time to find out exactly what Hunt had brought Mara Capewell to Ansora.

“They haven’t questioned her,” Dashiel had said, fresh from his reconnaissance mission. “She was unconscious when she arrived at the palace. Stian was ordered to treat the most pressing wounds, but to leave the rest.”

“Arun wants her to suffer before he kills her,” Goren said darkly.

“I thought he was the Minister of Intelligence.” Perla looked between us, arms crossed. “Shouldn’t he want to interrogate her?”

“For an incident this public,” Valeria said, “he would have to report his findings to the council.”

“And therefore reveal how long Mara’s been roaming free without his knowledge,” Lye added from where he was bandaging Osana’s wounded arm.

“He can’t afford to do that right now,” Keil said, frowning. “Rheya never named a successor, so as her second-in-command, Arun currently holds the reins. And if Rheya doesn’t recover, he’ll be counting on the council to let him keep those reins.”

“They would really elect him as emperor?” I asked in quiet horror.

“Rheya hadn’t finished closing the military deal with Banarrat. With our defenses in the Western War at risk again, they’ll choose the best person to successfully continue negotiations.” Keil’s voice darkened. “Even if that person is Arun.”

We all shuddered in unison. But we would have to deal with Arun later.

Osana’s jaw flickered as she looked at Dashiel. “The Guard force?”

“Stretched thinner than usual. Arun’s making a show of increasing security. There’s now a checkpoint between here and the palace.”

The first crossing had been manageable, with Keil swaying the guards to let us pass. But the crossing back would be different.

Now my heart raced as I strode through the palace corridors, following the route Goren had laid out for me.

“It has to be you?” he’d asked at the gates, his dullroot scar taut with tension.

“Yes,” I’d answered. “Mara won’t talk to anyone else.”

“All right.” He’d nodded. “I have your back.”

Then he’d turned with Keil toward the service entrance, both of them dressed in civilian clothes so they wouldn’t draw attention. Both primed to take out the guards who lined my escape route.

Miles behind us, Valeria, Dashiel, and Lye waited at the security checkpoint, armed with a canister of ithoric. Not to use against anyone, but to ignite as a distraction, allowing us to return through the checkpoint without being detained. Because it was only within the Arcus estate, under the Law of Sanctuary, that we would all be protected. If Arun caught any of us before we made it back . . . I didn’t want to imagine what he might do.

I refused to let that possibility overwhelm me as I passed the armored guards stationed against the walls, their expressions unreadable behind helmeted masks. Still, my stomach swooped with nervous anticipation as I met the dark eyes of one of those masked figures, their gaze following my strides toward the council chamber.

Noticing my approach, another guard straightened outside. “The meeting is private—”

I smacked him away with my specter. Then I blew through the doors.

The Ansoran council chamber was already in mayhem. The space resembled a golden theater, and councilmembers stood congregated before the raised platform, feeding their voices up as though they were heckling a show.

“The execution should be made public!”

“No. We should wait for the empress to return.”

“Her Imperial Majesty is injured on Banarrat. Why waste our resources tending to the Hunter’s wounds when there are so many refugees in these halls who require aid?”

“It’s inhumane to prolong the Hunter’s suffering; it makes us no better than them.”

“Has the fire been confirmed as arson?”

“Of course it was arson, how else do you think—?”

I blazed through the crowd, sending out tendrils of power to clear my way. Amid the growls of indignation, I kept my focus on Arun, who held council on the ruler’s dais in Rheya’s absence.