❖ QUEENKILLER, KINGMAKER Book 2 ❖
A year has passed since Isla rescued Tam Mai from the dungeons, but her sister's mind is still trapped and broken. There is only one person Isla knows can help her.
Meanwhile across the sea, a prince seeks justice f...
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'Eldest, are you sure this is a good idea?'
'No.' In fact, Isla was certain it was almost the exact opposite.
They sat by the Tanmoji harbours, sheltered from the blistering sun under the eaves of a diner's tent. Tam Mai sipped on the last drops of her iced tea, back turned to the ships at port.
'How are you feeling?'
Tam Mai chewed on her paper straw. Her response was barely audible beneath the clanging of pots and bubbling of soups. 'I can do it. It's just a flag.'
'And she's gone. Remember that. Not just the woman who took you, but all her soldiers and loyal servants, too. She can't hurt you any more.'
'She's gone. I know. I saw it too, Eldest.'
Isla turned away. It was still awkward for her to speak of that night. They never spoke of it at all before, but Eshe's sessions had opened something between them. It was part of Tam Mai's recovery—Isla knew that—but every time she thought of that night in the labyrinths, all she saw was her sister, barely more than a skeleton, broken in all ways and lying in her own filth.
Her blood boiled at the memory, but where was she to direct her anger? The woman responsible for it was already dead. All she had was her own guilt; that she had lived a full life in a safer kingdom, all the while her sister was treated less than an animal.
Kiet's lotus mandala flapped in the full afternoon breeze. His ship was set to sail. Men had spent the entire day loading it full with trunks.
If she knew ...
Isla needed to tell her. Perhaps she would refuse to board the ship, then. Perhaps she would spend the entire voyage locked in her cabin; but Tam Mai needed to know, and it was better now, through her sister's own mouth, than accidentally learning it later as Isla had.
'The maharaj,' she said after a false start, 'Kiet, whose ship we will be taking ...'
'Who you've met before.' A small smile played on Tam Mai's lips.
'That's right. Do you know who he is?'
'Yes, Eldest.' Tam Mai sighed, annoyed. 'He's second in line to the throne. I won't go jumping into his or any of his men's heads. I'm not stupid, you know.'
Isla drew in a deep breath. 'He's her son.'
That wiped the smile clean off.
'The lotus mandala is their House crest.'
'But ... we're taking his ship.'
'I don't think he knew what his mother had been doing.'
'You know that? Or is that what you want to believe?'
It was a good question. One she asked herself many times. It did not matter. There would be a way to know for sure. 'He was going to help me find you that night, Tamma. His own mother poisoned him, trying to get to me. If he was working with her, she wouldn't have needed to do that. He could've just brought me straight to her himself.'
