A tiny house lizard crawled over the cracked stone walls of his cell, approaching him with exaggerated caution. The castle had been left uninhabited for so long, Shwaan supposed the fauna here had become quite used to the isolation. The baby reptile certainly didn’t seem to appreciate the intrusion.

He placed a finger on the wall – intercepting the lizard’s intended trajectory – his shackles jangling as he did so.

The creature stopped, twitching. Then, with what looked to Shwaan like a tiny reptilian shrug, it continued forward until it had climbed fully onto his hand.

He turned his hand over, getting the lizard settled on his outstretched palm. The patterns on its little body danced in the dim light of the cell. It nibbled on a bit of scraped skin, twitching contentedly.

Shwaan held still, not wanting to startle his tiny host.

Ruban didn’t like house lizards, but he’d always found them fascinating. There was one at the flat, almost double the size of this one. Hiya thought it was cute, so Ruban couldn’t get rid of it. She’d named it Puri.

He wondered if he would ever see Puri again.

The ancient, metal-framed doors creaked open. Puri’s cousin twitched irritably, gazing up at him through bulging eyes.

Moving slowly, Shwaan placed his hand on the floor, allowing the reptile to scamper off.

“Didn’t mean to interrupt your special bonding moment.” Kaheen pushed the door shut before folding herself onto the floor beside Shwaan.

He shrugged, shrinking back to keep the sif-lined chains from brushing her skin. “I don’t think she likes the company, anyway. Bit of an introvert, I think. The one at the flat is more outgoing.”

She watched the little lizard as it darted up the wall, before disappearing into a shadowy corner of the cell.

“You said you wanted to go back home. With me.” She picked at her threadbare sleeve, refusing to look at him. “Did you mean it?”

“More than I’ve ever meant anything in my life.”

She nodded, her throat convulsing slightly. “I’ll help you. I’ll help you get out of here.” When she looked up, her eyes were wide and misty. “I don’t know how, but–” she swallowed. “I’ll find a way. I have to. If I have to do that ever again...” She shuddered. “I couldn’t live with myself.”

“We can’t risk it now.” He tried to keep his voice calm, soothing. It wasn’t difficult. Enveloped in sif, he was too exhausted to feel very strongly about anything. “I’m too weak to fight. And you can’t take on Janak’s men and the Exiles on your own. Attempting an escape at the moment would be suicide.”

“I don’t care! I’d rather die than have to do that to you again. I can’t, Shwaan. You can’t ask that of me. It’s not fair.”

He wished he could take her hand, pull her closer. Offer reassurance without these clumsy, empty words.

But in this dank, cold cell, words were all he had.

“You’re right. I can’t. But I won’t risk your life on a coin toss.”

The baffled tilt of her head made him laugh. He’d picked up the expression from Hiya, who was on her school’s cricket team. He wondered if they’d won the midterm semi-finals. It was scheduled for the week after he’d left for Ghorib with the Hunters. He had promised he’d come watch her play.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Kaheen snapped her fingers inches from his nose.

He shook his head, trying to clear it. With every passing day, it got harder to maintain his focus, keep track of his surroundings. This was a profoundly inconvenient time to be losing his mind. “Look, we can’t fight our way out of here. But maybe we could call for help. At least, you could.”

Kaheen laughed, surprise coloring her features. “And who’d want to help me? I’m a traitor to every side in this conflict.”

“The Hunters.” Shwaan closed his eyes. The pieces were clicking together in his head. Now, if only he could see the full picture, get it to make sense. “Ruban and Simani. You know them, of course. Perhaps better than you should. You can take a message to them, can’t you? Janak wanted you to prove your loyalty to him, and you did. He has no reason to keep you locked up here anymore.

“Tell him you want to further prove your devotion to the cause by personally hunting down Ruban and his team, removing one of the major thorns in his side. He can’t refuse you without pissing off the other Exiles, and he wouldn’t want to do that. The Qawirsin still needs them for their Hunts.”

“I don’t understand.” She frowned, skeptical. “You think the Hunters will come here? To rescue you? They bartered you to Janak for one of their own, willingly.” Her voice was soft, sympathetic. “You do remember that, right?”

“They’ll come for Janak, if not for me.” He shrugged. “They’ve been trying to apprehend him all year. Dismantling the Qawirsin is one of their topmost priorities.

“It’s not ideal, but it’s the best shot we have. You’re still officially an Exile. You can’t enter Vaan without risking your life, so taking a message directly to Safaa isn’t an option. The Hunters might try to kill you as well, but even Ruban isn’t as bull-headed as my sister. You might be able to convince him, if you play your cards right.”

“Convince him how? I’ve attacked his workplace, killed at least five of his colleagues. I’ve fought by Janak’s side for months. It’s no secret that I’m – that I was – loyal to him. Ruban Kinoh has no reason to believe I’ve changed sides now. I wouldn’t, if I were him. I’d think I was being led into a trap. And so will he. You know that.”

Shwaan sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back against the wall. She was right, of course. Ruban wouldn’t believe anything Kaheen had to say. He had a personal grudge against her, and he could be as mulish as Safaa, when it came to holding grudges.

And Shwaan could admit that he wouldn’t be entirely wrong to distrust her. After all, any information she provided as verification of her shifting loyalties – any secrets or anecdotes Shwaan might reveal to her – could easily have been obtained through torture. Ruban knew Janak’s reputation as well as anyone.

He reached for the back of his head and let his fingers comb slowly through the tangled locks of hair. It was a risk, but he couldn’t think what else to do. Like he’d told Kaheen, this wasn’t ideal. It was just the best of bad options.

Ruban might kill him for it later, just as a matter of principle. But he would know that Shwaan wouldn’t have done it, had there been the slightest risk of any harm coming to Hiya.

He found what he was looking for, but it was a moment before he could tease it out of his dry, knotted hair. Once he was out of here, he’d trade half of Vaan for a bottle of herbal, moisturizing shampoo.

When he held the hairclip out to her, the feathers barely hanging on to the plastic fastener by two thin strands of glue, Kaheen’s eyes widened comically.

“Where did you–” Her fingers glided over the clip, her touch oddly reverent. “What is this?”

“A gift. From a friend.” Cautiously, he took her hand in his and placed the battered hairclip on her palm. “Her name is Hiya.” At the last word, his voice hitched. “If you fail, Kaheen; if Janak captures you before you can get to the Hunters… Promise me you’ll incinerate this.”

A hint of skepticism lingered on her face. Nevertheless, she nodded gravely, tucking the clip into the folds of her feather cloak. “Getting Janak’s permission to go after the Hunters won’t be the major problem. He’ll expect me to get myself killed, trying to eliminate them alone.

“And if I manage to take some of them down with me,” she shrugged. “Two birds, one stone. If I betray him to the Hunters, he’d have a legitimate reason to get rid of me, without antagonizing any of my brethren in the Qawirsin. There’s nothing I can do that wouldn’t serve his ends, in one way or another.”

Shwaan raised an eyebrow. “And yet, you think he might intervene.”

“Not directly, perhaps. But he’ll almost certainly send another Aeriel after me. To spy on me. Help me fight the Hunters, if necessary. And to report to him if I try to double-cross the mafia.” She bit her lip. “It’ll be impossible for me to lead the Hunters to the castle without alerting Janak and his men.”

“Well then, you’ll have to find a way to lose the tail, won’t you?”

Her eyes darted to the door and back. “And if I can’t?”

“Then you’ll have to find a way to kill it.”