‘What are you staring at?’ Aric demanded. ‘What’s happening to me? What did he do?’

  ‘Where did he go?’ Mala whispered.

  ‘Fuck this,’ Wil said. He glanced back and forth between Tseren and Aric, backing away. ‘No way you’re a fucking Mysica. A once in a generation mystic? No way. This is messed up. We need to warn people.’

  ‘Yes,’ Tseren said. Bukidai wouldn’t listen to her, but the other kingdoms would listen to these people, they had to. More crystals set against her armour. The magic was getting stronger. ‘Now.’

  Mala turned, but not towards the staircase. Instead she took Aric’s hand and pulled him forward. Aric recoiled, but didn’t pull away. The crystals around him pushed across the ground again.

  ‘I’m not letting you stay alone when that man is around,’ Mala said. ‘Come on. Chief will understand.’

  She pulled the still stunned Resei towards the stairs, and Tseren rushed for the other set at the other end of the hall. Taking them two at a time, she reached the top just in time to hear another argument had broken out, but this time with more voices and a lot angrier. A hand grabbed her arm before she could approach Bukidai, pulling her out onto a nearby balcony.

  Altani Yesugen was terrifyingly pale in a way that made her hard to look at, with long silver hair and a narrow frame that looked both lithe and gaunt at the same time. Tseren hadn’t even noticed that the chairs next to Bukidai were empty, but there was no sign of the other so-called twin.

  ‘Alright, what’s your game?’ Altani demanded.

  ‘What game?’ Tseren asked.

  ‘The one you’ve been playing all night,’ Altani said. ‘We both know you have no loyalty to the King. What exactly is happening that you feel the need to warn him?’

  It was true, she had nowhere near as much loyalty to the Bulatuug crown as she should have, but she had even less to the twins and the men they worked for. Though, Tseren knew there was a knife somewhere on her person. ‘The Wild Folk are here.’

  Altani paused, raising an eyebrow. ‘You’re sure?’

  Tseren nodded. The arguments inside the doorway were dying down. Chaos was about to break out, one way or another.

  ‘Then I believe you and I have a very rare opportunity,’ Altani said. ‘We both know the King isn’t going to survive the night.’

  Tseren’s stomach churned. Now, of all times, was not a time for her to start caring about this shit. ‘Which King?’

  Altani’s eyes narrowed. ‘The one pretending to be in charge of Bulartuug, you weird shit. If it’s happening now, you have until now to tell me the truth. Are you with him, or with us?’

  Tseren glared at the other woman. How many bad choices had led her into these corners? She couldn’t even keep track of them anymore. She missed home more than anything, but they didn’t even know how deep into this mess she had gotten. They didn’t know how far she had strayed. Both of these choices were the wrong one, but that wasn’t anything new. It was just another hole she’d fallen into. How far she could fall if she pushed this vile woman off the balcony. It was tempting.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  ‘You know Bukidai won’t last,’ Altani said. ‘He’s already scrambling. You know what the right choice is here. Why are you hesita—’

  Altani vanished into thin air.

  Tseren recoiled, falling against the parapet as Altani jerked backwards, then blinked out of existence. After a moment to compose herself, she rushed to the other side and leaned over the balcony, scanning the darkness for signs of a falling body, but there was only the craggy cliffs below, the white foaming rapids of the ocean smacking against the edge of the land. She could taste her heart pounding in the back of her throat, but before she could string two thoughts together, a scream tore through the air behind her.

  Tseren rushed back into the ballroom as the High Empress Aelfswith leapt to her feet, immediately doubling over as the motion strained her massively swollen belly. The seat on the other side of her husband, where the older daughter of the High Crown had been sitting, was empty. High Princess Caedicia was nowhere to be seen.

  ‘What’s happening?’ This came from Altani’s other half, Turakina. She turned to glare at Tseren, and opened her mouth to ask an obvious question, before she too jerked backwards and disappeared into thin air. The ladies sitting at the table in front of them screamed.

  ‘Everyone remain calm!’ Emperor Willibrord’s voice boomed through the space, but the panicked murmuring continued. ‘And get your hands off my Resei!’

  Both the older tribe princes were standing with Aric, the one that wasn’t Harman was gripping the Resei’s shoulder protectively.

  ‘Where did Caedy go?’ Empress Aelfswith demanded. ‘Where is she?’

  Bukidai whirled around to glare at Tseren. ‘You couldn’t think to do something?’

  ‘I—’ Tseren’s words cut off as the Bulartuug King charged forward and grabbed her by the throat, pushing her into the pillar of the wall.

  ‘You had one job,’ he growled. ‘Of all the times for you to rebel, you have now irreversibly damaged our Kingdom. Where are they?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Tseren choked the words out as her windpipe closed, her lungs growing tight as she struggled for air. She couldn’t see what was grabbing them. Magic was at play and she couldn’t see it. Something was seriously wrong.

  ‘Let her go!’ One of the tribal chiefs barked the words at them. ‘This solves nothing!’

  Bukidai glared at him, but loosened his grip enough to let her breathe. ‘Stay out of this, you barbarian.’

  ‘We don’t need to start a fight,’ the other tribe chief said. ‘We’ve been told the Wild Folk are here. If this is retaliation, we must remain at each other’s side.’

  ‘What do you mean, retaliation?’ Bukidai demanded. ‘What are you getting at?’

  ‘I agree with the savage,’ the High Emperor said. ‘We have already defeated these creatures. We will win again.’

  Harman fell back against the table and blinked out of existence. One of the younger tribe boys screamed and rushed to the older boy, wrapping little hands around his waist. Across the room, the Eldwylle boy mimicked the motion with Wil, hugging the retainer tight.

  ‘It’s alright,’ the older tribe boy said. ‘It’s going to be alright.’

  Both the tribe boys stumbled back, then disappeared. The two remaining tribe girls took each other’s hands, colour draining from their faces. The room froze, tension hanging like a volcano about to explode. There was a beat, then both girls fell backwards and vanished.

  The Eldwylle Prince whimpered, breaking the silence in the room, and Bukidai whirled on Tseren again, rage flickering in his eyes. His other arm lunged toward her, and Tseren threw her fist out first. She caught him flat in the nose, bone crunching as a dull pain burst across her knuckles. Bukidai staggered back as blood exploded from his face, and Tseren felt the heat drain from her body.

  She’d just attacked the King.