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Gloved fingers tap against the arm of the chair, the rhythm the only noise in the room. I stare out the window where people mill outside, going to classes, talking with friends, living their lives. It's strange to observe them while my own life is stagnant, without purpose, without a path to follow.

"Elder Palmira believed you to be special," Rashida says from the sofa opposite me. I tear my gaze from the window to look at him as he sips from a porcelain cup, his pale gaze directed towards my boots. "I sense it too."

"What do you sense?" I question.

He lowers the cup and tilts his head like he's listening to something, his brow furrowing. "It's hard to explain. It's the way your blood moves through your body. Lighter, somehow. And the way your skin sounds."

"My skin sounds?" I narrow my eyes at him, trying not to scoff.

"Yes. Think of it this way." He runs his dark hands over his robes, the fabric moving between his fingers. "When you touch cotton, it scratches slightly. As opposed to silk that flutters. That's the difference in how you sound. You are more like silk."

"I've been called many things," I muse. "But sounding like silk is certainly not one of them."

He huffs, his lips stretching into a smile. "I apologise. I'm aware it's odd."

"A little," I tell him. But it's also not. I remember hearing Ari when we kissed, when I felt the power under his skin, when I could almost feel what animal he shifted into.

Then I see his blood on the marble and I force such memories away.

"You said there was something you wanted to discuss with me."

"Indeed." He places his cup on the table before him and sits up straighter. "Rumours have reached me about Emperor Ulric's assassination and the black-haired fiend who did it. I assume that was you."

I press my lips together and study him, wondering what else he senses about me. Can he tell when I lie? I flex my fingers. "It wasn't me," I say.

Rashida shakes his head and sighs. "I know you have little reason to trust me, Azura, but I can assure you we are on the same side. There is no reason to lie."

I run my tongue over my teeth and nod, slightly disgruntled by my assessment. "Yes, I killed him," I relent. "I suppose that means you're now winning this war." I keep my eyes on him, watching each movement.

There's a possibility he knows about Palmira's betrayal, that he knows the war he's been fighting has been a facade. I want to believe he doesn't know, that he can be an ally, but I won't take that chance. Vera also suspected Palmira has something against him. All the possibilities are making my head throb.

"I suppose that means you know," Rashida says.

"Know what?" I narrow my eyes at him, my pulse beginning to race in my throat.

"That Ulric was a god. The God of Lies, but still a god."

My fingers begin to tingle and I swallow.

Give them what they want, but keep everything to yourself.

"Ulric wasn't an ordinary man, but that doesn't mean he was a god," I say, keeping my voice measured.

Rashida leans back. "You have seen this world, have you not?" he asks and I don't reply. "Demons. Magic. Shape-shifters. Are the gods really so far-fetched?"

I grit my teeth.

"Or maybe you just don't want to believe."

My jaw tightens until it aches.

Rashida stands, his heedful walk taking him towards the window where he tips his face to the sun. He doesn't squint as the light pours over his features. "I have been alive for a long time. Longer than most. It's a gift to my people, those who first discovered magic and sygils." He slides up the sleeve of his robe where sygils have been embedded into his skin. Countless of them, most I've never seen before. "So, I have witnessed a lot of this world. And I know the gods are real."

I glance away to glare at the porcelain on the table before me. The gods can't be real because that means... It means there's some merit to Palmira's actions. If they're truly as ruthless and unkillable as she says, as killing Ulric showed me, then it means Palmira's actions can be justified. But I don't want them to be justified. What she did to Ari, what she did to his people, to Vera's people, to the Order, to Suri, she needs to pay for it all.

Rashida sighs and I glance to him again. "You left the Order for a reason, Azura. I need to know that reason."

"To see Suri. To make certain she's well."

Rashida turns his head a little, his lips pressed together. "Palmira did something, didn't she?"

My heart stutters and he must hear it because he turns to fully face me.

"Tell me what she did."

I grimace, struggling with myself. What do I tell him? What does he already know? My fingers twitch in my lap and I know I need to say something.

But nothing comes forth. If I tell him, if I reveal everything to him and he doesn't know, then it could be the spark that ignites a civil war. Rupteran is a powder keg. Everyone knows that. We're always on the brink of some sort of war, whether that's the slaves rebelling, the rebellion making their move on the Empire, or even just the demons growing brains and becoming an organised threat.

War is always on the horizon. And war will kill a lot of innocent people.

Didn't I escape the Order just to prevent the deaths of innocents?

"I've been alive since before the Order's formation," Rashida tells me, shattering my thoughts and I'm grateful. "I was the one who organised an alliance with Palmira and her brother and welcomed them as part of the rebellion. But I've always known they've had ulterior motives."

"Have you searched for answers?" I question, staring at him and willing my heart to settle. "Or has Palmira got something against you to make you hesitate?"

"Thankfully anything Palmira can threaten me with I'm in a position to keep safe within these walls." Rashida clasps his hands behind his back. "I don't know what she's been doing, but recently I've begun to fear the worst. I just haven't been able to confirm anything."

I let out a breath and force words out. I don't expect the truth to spill from my lips. "Elder Palmira destroyed the Tacree Kingdom," I find myself saying, the words tumbling from me before I can think to stop them.

Someone else needs to know. I can't be the only one.

"She did it because she believes Lucifer is going to try again to destroy this world. She took over the Empire, enslaved people again, made people afraid, easier to control, so when the gods do come, Rupteran will be ready. But she's missing one piece." I glace up to look at Rashida's face. His skin has paled and his lips are pressed into a thin line. "A way to kill the gods. She's missing me."

Rashida's throat bobs as he swallows. "I... suspected something was happening between her and the Empire. But not this. Never this."

"She plans to make the entirety of Rupteran kneel so we have a united force. It's the only way she believes we can defeat the gods. She was going to use me to do it. So, I ran." I blink and wetness slides down my cheeks. I hastily wipe it away.

"She told you all of this?"

"She did. After I'd killed the emperor for her when she made me seek revenge. She told me Suri had died in the attack she orchestrated against her own school." I sink my teeth into my cheek, the pain stopping me from spiralling down into those memories.

"I'm so sorry," he breathes.

I glance at him again, my back stiff. "Rashida, I..." I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment, trying to find strength within myself to ask what I need to ask. "Is there a possibility that what she's doing could be... could be right?"

"No," he snaps, his chin lifting. "Slavery, genocide, none of that is justified. I believe the gods are real, I believe they have tried to destroy mankind in the past, but that doesn't make what Palmira has done right."

My shoulders slump, relief crashing through me to hear those words. But relief in also perhaps finding another ally. The sincerity in his voice... There's no mistaking that Rashida never condoned Palmira's actions.

"There's something else you need to know." Rashida moves to sit back in the embroidered sofa across from me, a deep crease between his brows. "With Ulric's death, his son will inherit the crown."

"Prince Norvin?"

Rashida nods. "I suspected Palmira was somehow colluding with the Empire because I haven't heard from Princess Isadora."

"What does the Princess of Oranday have to do with Norvin?"

He lets out a breath, clasping his hands together. "They're... lovers. Prince Norvin has never been fond of the Empire. In fact, he's worked numerous times with me to aid the rebellion over the years. But I've not heard from him or the princess in months. Yet, more of Palmira's hunters have been seen in Oranday than ever."

I blink, taking in that information. Vera mentioned her brother is stationed in Oranday, that he's one of Palmira's trusted soldiers. "You think Palmira is using Isadora to get to Norvin."

"Palmira will still need a way to control the Empire now that Ulric is dead. I believe she's been planning this shift in power for a long while now."

"Perhaps ever since she learnt about me," I mutter, looking down at my gloved right hand to where the marks glow beneath, the memories of my brother standing before me—offering me his bloody hand—are branded into the back of my mind.

"Azura, I know we may not trust each other, but we can't let Palmira continue on like this. We need to find a way to free people of the Empire and of Palmira."

My spine stiffens with his words and I shake my head. "I don't want this to start a civil war. I shouldn't have told you."

Rashida sighs. "I don't want a war either, and hopefully there won't be one. But we can't let Palmira continue."

"And what about this supposed war with the gods that's coming? What do we do to prepare for that?"

A smile curves Rashida's lips and I frown at him. "I know of a group of people that can help us if they can be convinced to. They're powerful, but they've been in hiding for decades since the Empire drove them from the mainland. I've only called upon them once, so I've known for a long time they're hiding in Kitala, amongst Mount Krashira."

"Who are they?"

"The witches."

I stare at him, my lips parting. The witches. The witches. The ones who built the mansion the Order resides in then abandoned it. The ones that live in the shadows, harbouring power. A whole group of people, tucked away in Rupteran, ready and waiting.

This is what Erasmus meant. Find a way to succeed without hurting more innocent people. Find the strength to fight this war without enslaving all of Rupteran. This is why he let me go.

The witches are our last hope.

"It will take time to find them, to reach them, but in that time I want you to return to Sharlikire. I want you to reach Prince Norvin, reassure him that I will do everything in my power to protect Isadora."

"Why me?"

"Because I can't trust anyone else with the information about Palmira's betrayal yet. My own people could be in danger from her if she realises I'm moving against her."

I glance away from him, gnawing at my lower lip. "The last time I was in the Empire, I nearly died."

"I'm not asking you to assassinate anyone, Azura. I'm asking you to speak to a man that was once my ally and could still be. Or he could be another puppet for Palmira."

I stand up, unable to sit anymore with the energy coursing through my veins. I pace, boots thudding against the hardwood floor. "So, we get Norvin back on our side. We protect Isadora. But Palmira will know that someone is moving against her and it won't take her long to figure out who when she realises that I came here."

"Tell Norvin to do as Palmira commands," Rashida replies, his voice calm and in such contrast to my whirling thoughts and doubts. "He'll be able to tell us Palmira's moves, and he'll be able to give us aid when we ask."

"So, an inside man."

Rashida nods.

I stop walking and tilt my head back, letting out a breath. "We keep everything in the dark for now? Move what pieces we can?"

"The gods haven't made their move yet, so Palmira is our only adversary at the moment."

"The gods haven't made their move yet," I repeat with a humourless laugh. How absurd this all is. A few months ago I was kneeling in the forest with a group of hungry and desperate kids, eager for freedom from the tyranny of the Empire, not realising the true tyranny came from the people who were supposedly on our side.

I see the world so differently now that I know who the true enemy is. And it's harrowing.

"When should I leave?"

"As soon as possible."

I nod, my stomach twisting in knots as I think of leaving Lilja and Suri. I need to tell them that Ari is gone, that Palmira is to blame and that... that I can't stay with them anymore. "I'm going to make preparations," I murmur before turning away.

"Azura?"

I stop, glancing over my shoulder at Rashida as he stands.

"I have no doubt in my mind that we'll win this struggle and restore Rupteran back to what it was."

I smile at him. "I'm glad one of us has no doubts."