"That Gavriel twat should pray to the gods I don't cut off his head and put it on a spike," said Arynn angrily as she paced in her bedroom. She'd been going at it for a while now, and if she went at it for a little longer, she'd most likely wear her footsteps into the carpet. "Who does he think he is? He's just a glorified lapdog who can't keep his mouth shut."

"Mind your mouth, Arynn," warned August as he poured himself another glass of water. "The walls have ears here." He was sat behind the desk on the other side of the room, and was already on his third pitcher of cold water.

Arynn pulled a dagger from her belt and said, "Maybe they have eyes as well—I'll cut those of too." The dagger left her fingers and embedded itself in the window. "We've only just gotten here and I'm already sick of most of these people."

She was just about to pull the blade from the wood when Aleksei came into the room, looked at her, and asked, "Are you going to replace that?"

"Sorry," muttered Arynn as she yanked the blade out and put it back in its place. Her eyes went to the heap of black fabric in the girl's hand, and asked with a sharp edge to her voice, "What is that?"

"It's your dress for the queen's funeral tomorrow," she answered as she laid it out of the bed. The bodice was of a darker shade of black than the skirt, and was embroidered with golden flowers—roses, Arynn realized when she looked closer.

She looked up sharply and said, "Those are roses." When Aleksei simply stared at her, she asked, "Why are there roses embroidered on my dress? I hate roses."

Aleksei's eyes cut to the white rose in Keelie's hand, which he was playing with—the one she'd given to him this morning. "The white rose is on your family's crest, isn't it? Roses and a serpent," she said.

There was a sharp inhale of breath and then the sound of August unsheathing his sword, to which Arynn said, "Don't. Aleksei doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Yes, I do," said the girl, "Your name is Evander Sidewinder, and you're here to lay claim to Iyer's throne."

"Don't," Arynn said again, when August started advancing on her. Her lips pulled apart in a wolfish grin as she said, "Well, I can't deny what you've said now, since August keeps trying to move past me to sever your head from your shoulders."

Aleksei didn't respond, making Arynn close her eyes and press her finger to the small scar on her nose. She said to Keelie and August, "Leave us." And then said it more harshly when Keelie started to protest.

They paused for a moment and then nodded in defeat as they moved toward the door and shut it behind them. Arynn waited for their footsteps to retreat and then took a step toward Aleksei, to which the girl thankfully didn't flinch back from like the first time.

Quietly, she asked, "How do you know this?"

Aleskei took a tentative step forward and then hesitated. "I saw your birthmark when you were bathing," she said, making Arynn blanch. She had forgotten that that small mark—a pale upside down crescent the size of a grape, that sat on her left shoulder blade—could betray her to anyone who knew that particular mark was hereditary.

Arynn unconsciously palmed one of the daggers in her belt as she took the final step that would put her right in front of the girl. With an even quieter and slightly panicked voice, she asked, "And have you told anyone?"

Aleksei shook her head.

Arynn inclined her head. "Will you?"

"No," said Aleksei. "Unless you give me a reason to."

Arynn's spine stiffened. "And what would that reason be?" Her voice had gotten dangerously low, she realized. And her eyes were almost completely shut as she looked down at the girl in front of her.

"If I feel you're a threat to the realm, I will tell the Addinells." She lifted her eyes to Arynn's and then shrugged her shoulders. "Otherwise, I don't care who's on the throne."

"And what do you want in return for your silence?"

"Just don't hurt or kill them." She sent a pointed look to the well-stocked belt of weapon around Arynn's hips. "They're good people. It was only Laura who deserved to die."

Arynn nodded and then let her eyes fall back on the dress on the bed. She grimaced. "Do I really have to," she asked with a whiny edge to her voice. "We're in a godforsaken desert and the people here still have the courage to wear these breath constricting clothes. Why?"

Aleksei rolled her eyes. "Come here," she said, and started unlacing the tunic Arynn was wearing. She bit down on the smile that pulled at her lips as she thought about how pathetic it was that a warrior was complaining about something as simple as a dress, and left Arynn in only the corset as she pulled the tunic from her shoulders. Softly, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Arynn breathed as Aleksei helped her out of the breaches. She unfastened the weapons belt herself and laid it on the bed next to the dress. "No," she shook her head as she walked away from Aleksei and willed her heart to slow down.

Arynn flinched when she felt Aleksei gather her hair in a hand and drape it over one shoulder, and went rigid when she asked, "What is this?" Her finger traced over the thin lines of the tattoo on the back of Arynn's neck. It was a sun with its rays depicted as straight and dotted lines, sharp pointed triangles, and wavy lines that met together in a single point.

"It's nothing," Arynn said as she whirled around and wrapped her hand around Aleksei's wrist. "Now, what do you say we get me into that dress? I feel I have to start learning to fight in these things if you're going to force me to wear them for the rest of my life."

Aleksei looked at her oddly, and said, "Yes, we'd better get to it, then."