Red Hood's Revenge

would not be happy. She picked up Snow’s knife as well, tucking it through her belt.
    “I would have made Arathea great.” Zestan shivered. “Just as we made you great. If not for us—” Her body tightened, wings stiffening beneath her.
    “My parents trusted the fairies who spoke such words. Who offered to save me, to make me better than human.” Talia bent down, grabbing Zestan’s tunic in both hands. The peri was lighter than Talia expected. “Khardija. Faziya. Beatrice. Snow and Danielle. They made me who I am today. You just make me angry.”
    With those words, she threw Zestan’s body from the wall, then went to search for her friends.

CHAPTER 24

    “S NOW?” TALIA MADE HER WAY THROUGH empty hallways and abandoned rooms. The stables were a putrid mess of mud and decaying grass. A single whiff told her this must be where Naghesh had slept. She could smell traces of fairy magic, and she spied a handful of tiny animated wisps of wind and water cowering on the far side of the stables. None were strong enough to be a threat. “Danielle?”
    The palace swallowed her shouts. She hurried through the garden, where Zestan’s flowers had already begun to wilt in the sun.
    “Talia!” Danielle’s voice came from the northern wing.
    Talia found them at the base of the broken windcatcher. Snow was leaning against Danielle for support, but they were both alive. Talia hurried to take Snow’s other arm.
    “I’m all right,” Snow protested. “I can walk.”
    “I know,” said Danielle. “You walked right into the wall, remember?”
    Snow flushed. “I didn’t think you saw that.”
    “What happened?” asked Talia. “Are you—”
    “What happened is you yelling at me through my mirror,” Snow complained, “demanding an illusion with no time to prepare.” She squinted at the sky. “The moon is gone. I assume that means Zestan is dead?”
    “Your magic worked,” said Talia. “Thank you.”
    “Of course it worked.” Snow stumbled over a half-buried stone. The collapse of Zestan’s whirlwinds had dumped several dunes worth of sand. “Did you have to get sand all over everything when you killed her? I’ve never felt this gritty in my life.”
    Outside, the survivors had split into two groups. Many of the Kha’iida were gathered around Zestan’s body, singing a deep, somber melody that reminded Talia of a mourning chant. She recognized neither the tune nor the language. Farther away, people worked to treat the injured. Talia searched until she spied Faziya.
    “I think I’d like to go home now,” Snow said.
    Talia smiled and helped Danielle lower Snow to the ground, settling her in the shade against the wall. When she straightened, Muhazil was coming toward her. He carried Danielle’s sword.
    “A magnificent weapon,” he said, offering it to Danielle.
    Talia translated, and Danielle bowed as she took back her sword. “How do you say thank you?”
    “Kuhran,” said Talia. Danielle repeated the word.
    Talia turned to watch as the Kha’iida took turns kneeling before Zestan’s body. One by one, they each used their knives to cut off a lock of hair, which they set in the sand beside the peri.
    “She meant to enslave you all,” Talia said.
    “I know.” Muhazil touched the short hank of hair at his neck. “The peri founded the Kha’iida tribes. They protected us from the deev. We grieve for what she was, not what she became.”
    “You barbarians have some strange customs.” Talia handed him the remains of the crystal knife. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize—”
    He dismissed her apology with a flick of his hand. “Each blade was meant to be used but once. Only by releasing all of their power can they overcome the strength of a deev.” His voice softened. “Or a peri.”
    “What of the other peri?” Talia asked.
    “We will send riders to the mountains,” said Muhazil. “There are ancient roads leading to the green peaks, hidden to all but a handful of our people. Our seers will awaken the peri and tell them of Zestan’s betrayal.”
    She could feel the wolf urging her to fight, to follow the Kha’iida back to the mountains and kill every last peri, to make certain they never again threatened Arathea. As far as she knew, the peri had never spread beyond the borders of this land. Destroying them here would end their threat forever. “If they’re asleep, maybe you’re better off leaving them that way. Zestan might not be the only one who’s tired of waiting for