Rise of Legends (The Kin of Kings Book 2) (6 page)

She was shocked to discover Basen had suspicions about her, some distrust even. Without psyche, Sanya never would’ve guessed. He was a much better actor than Alabell,
far more dangerous as well
. Sanya had to be careful. She reminded herself that Cleve and Reela were right outside, and Reela was probably strong enough to feel if Sanya made any drastic changes to Basen’s emotions through psyche.

Why did Basen let me in if he thinks I might be the murderer? He must want to question me, and he probably assumes I would never try something with Cleve and Reela outside.

He’s wrong.

“A lot of people are doing what they can to protect you,” Sanya said.

“I appreciate it, but the guilt is nearly unbearable.” There was no more levity in his tone.

“If they’re anything like me, they want to help. You shouldn’t feel guilty.”

“Perhaps I could ignore the guilt if I knew when this would end.” Basen’s shoulders slumped. “But it could be weeks before the murderer strikes again.”

No, I can’t be here that long.

“I was here last night,” she whispered, coy and hinting. “I wanted to see you, but you were...out. And now I know where.”

“You were here?”

She felt that he was genuinely surprised.

“Yes. I was unable to sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about the night Nick died. I knew I could use some comfort and thought you could as well. Or maybe I had a sense something terrible was happening.” She shook her head, feigning sadness. “Can we lie down as we talk? You might be able to sleep.”

He glanced up at his window. Cleve was there watching. Reela stuck her head over his shoulder for a glimpse, then murmured something to Cleve. They disappeared out of view. Basen sat up straight, reluctant to speak or move. He didn’t trust her.

“Are you suspicious of me, like Alabell is?” Sanya put her hand on his back in hopes of soothing him.

“I’m suspicious of everyone who matches the height of the person I saw last night.”

She stood and sighed. “I understand. I’ll try not to take offense.” She got to his doorway before he called out to her as she’d hoped he would.

“Wait, Sanya.”

“No, this was a bad idea,” she said while intensifying his guilt with psyche. Reela might feel it, but the half-Elf couldn’t be certain the change was unnatural.

He came after Sanya as she reached the hall. “You don’t have to go.”

She turned and feigned anger. “If I stay, are you going to demand to inspect me?”

His eyes ran up and down her body.

She scoffed and lifted her arms. “Go ahead. I can see that you want to.”

He quickly crouched in front of her. “I’m sorry.” His hands frisked her legs one at a time, pressing up and down in a futile search.

She spun on her heels as his hands rose to her waist. They traveled up her torso and then down her arms. Soon, they came to rest on her shoulders, squeezing gently.

“I’m so sorry I did that. It was foolish.”

No, it was smart.
She turned and showed him a sad look. “Maybe we don’t know each other as well as we thought.”

His guilt couldn’t have been worse than it was in that moment. Now was the time to regain his trust. She wrapped her arms around him and told him sweetly, “I know this must be a tough time for you, so I forgive you.”

He returned the embrace but said nothing.

“I think I should go,” she murmured without letting go. “I came here to see if I could help, but I just made things worse.”

“No, it would only be worse if you left now. Stay. Your company will help me relax.”

She nodded and they walked back into his room. Basen removed his shirt, and Sanya forced herself not to notice how well he was put together.

She hung her coat over his chair. The dusty seat indicated a lack of use, and there were no books on his desk, just a short stack of scrolls that every student was given for letter writing. However, no one would be sending or receiving any mail until the war was over.

Tauwin had responded to each letter Sanya had sent him while she was still able to send mail. He worried for her safety and, at the end of every message, pleaded for her to leave the Academy. He was at least smart enough not to mention anything that might get her caught in case someone decided to read their mail, but sometimes his words were too much for her to stomach. The worst was when he included poetry about his love for her, which was clearly written with too much talent to be his own work.

He didn’t know the real reasons she’d come to the Academy. Her plan, soon to be carried out, required using the akorell stone she’d taken from the lockbox in Jack Rose’s room, but she’d also come here because she couldn’t stand living within the same walls as her father and soon-to-be husband any longer. It didn’t matter that the Takary mansion was enormous—there still wasn’t enough distance between her and the men she despised.

Tauwin wanted to take the Academy without damaging it. He would attack with full force only as his last option. Unfortunately, it had come to that, and she knew his army would strike once his catapults were built.

Basen squirmed to get comfortable beneath his covers, leaving as much room as possible for her. There was so much she wanted to tell him. She hadn’t planned to kill anyone. No one within the Academy was supposed to die except Terren, and that was before Sanya knew what kind of man he was.
And what kind of man his nephew is.
If she’d known them already, she wasn’t sure she would’ve been able to stomach Tauwin’s plan to assassinate Terren during the night.

“Something wrong?” Basen asked.

She shook her head and then got up to pull his curtains across his window for privacy. Afterward, she settled beside him again on his small bed.

She wanted him to know why she was doing all of this. He deserved to know. Sanya closed her eyes and told herself to stop thinking about it.
Just wait for him to sleep, then do it and escape.

She used a small amount of psyche to calm him as she put her arm over his waist and pressed herself against his back. “I’m so sorry about everything that’s happened,” she said, surprised at the sadness she actually felt. Did she just give him a true apology?

He patted her arm. “It’s fine. I just want to sleep now. I’m already feeling as if I can’t keep my eyes open any longer.”

She still felt a hint of suspicion carried into the air by his warm energy, but it must not have been enough for him to get rid of his weapons in his room. Or perhaps he was just too tired to think clearly anymore. No matter. Soon it would be time.

Sanya didn’t know why she was reluctant to do this. What happened to the promise to herself to stop at nothing until her plan was complete?

That was before I found out someone was making portals,
she reminded herself. If Basen had never discovered his ability, Nick and Alex would still be alive and Basen would live through this night.

And I wouldn’t be a murderer.

But everything had gone wrong. Terren was supposed to fall, and the Academy was supposed to be led by Abith Max. This was all supposed to end in one day, but now a war had begun, and there would be so many more deaths.

Sanya swallowed, knowing the time to kill Basen was coming shortly. He fell asleep with a quick jolt of his body, as if wanting to free himself from Sanya’s hold. He breathed softly and rhythmically, a sweet sound to her ears. He’d never completely trusted her before he fell asleep. He should’ve listened to his instincts.

Cleve and Reela must’ve thought it was strange for Sanya to close the curtains and sleep there. She wanted to reach out to feel their energy and read their emotions, but it was difficult through the walls, and Reela might detect Sanya’s efforts if she tried too hard.

Now she just had to retrieve Basen’s knife. She didn’t move for a while, using psyche to send him deeper and deeper to sleep. It helped that he was exhausted.

When she was done, she easily scooted away from Basen without waking him.

She stood and took in a slow breath, then walked across his room and pulled out the dagger she’d been eyeing.

She paused, wondering why this was so difficult. Just last night she’d been ready to kill anyone to get to Basen. There was no thinking during the fight—she took her opportunity to slice Alex’s throat as soon as it came. Why had she acted so quickly then and was stopping herself now?

She recalled her actions before arriving at the Group One training area. She’d donned her black robes and cloak and had run to where she’d felt the portal opening. Nothing had gone through her mind except that she needed to stop whoever was casting it. Psyche had told her there were three of them, but they’d detected her attempts to figure out who they were when she’d examined their energy too closely. If they’d screamed and run away, she might’ve gotten caught, so she attacked. She’d made a mistake, the second one she’d made after killing Nick.

Was she about to make a third one?

No, killing Basen will end the portals and no longer put her mother in danger.

Bastial hell, why was she crying? Was this guilt that she felt roiling her stomach? She thought years of suffering through her father’s experiments had carved this emotion out of her, but she was almost certain now that it was indeed guilt poisoning her mind and body. It made her feel weak, as if she were ill.

In case Reela was reading the BE in Basen’s room, Sanya altered the energy coming from her body to make it seem as if she was calm. She could go further and actually alter her energy, but she didn’t want to be calm. As painful as this feeling was that made her want to double over, it seemed wrong to ignore.

Perhaps she’d given up trying to be human too early, for there was still some semblance of decency somewhere deep within her and now it was lashing out.

She still needed the portals to cease until she could bring back her mother, and she still cared more about enacting her plan than about Basen’s life, but now she’d seen the devastation that death could cause. For years she’d trained herself to be comfortable with the thought of killing. But she’d never learned how to be comfortable with the aftermath.

She wiped her tears and cursed under her breath.

CHAPTER SIX

It took the better part of an hour for Sanya to confirm she was ready. Using Basen’s sheets to tie his ankles together and bind his hands behind his back was the quick part. She took the rest of the time to figure out what to do next. She stuffed one of his socks in his mouth, then tied one of his shirts around the gag while psyche kept him asleep.

She could feel that Cleve and Reela were still outside the house, but if they were speaking to each other, Sanya couldn’t hear. Basen most certainly would try to call out to them when he woke, but hopefully the gag would keep his voice from reaching their ears. What the gag couldn’t stop, however, was Basen’s panic. Sanya would need to keep his BE under control so Reela thought all was well.

Fatigue had begun to set in, making all of this even more difficult than it needed to be. Part of her wondered if she should just slit his throat like she’d first planned.

It felt as if two different versions of herself were at war: the Sanya who cared only about getting rewarded for all of her hard work; and the one who’d rather see her hard work pay off
without
causing unnecessary suffering in the process. The latter was the new Sanya, and she wasn’t sure she liked this version of herself yet, but she was willing to give it a chance.

She carefully manipulated Basen’s energy to gently rouse him from sleep. His eyes came open and widened in surprise.

“Everything’s fine, Basen,” she assured him, keeping him as calm as possible with psyche. “I just need to say something to you, and then I’m leaving.”

He tried without success to move his arms from behind his back. Then he attempted to speak, but his voice came out garbled. He grew even more agitated and began to struggle furiously.

“Shhhh. I won’t hurt you if you relax,” she whispered in as soothing a voice as she could muster.

But Basen thrashed and tumbled off the bed. This wasn’t working. She knelt on top of him and pressed the dagger against his chest.

“Stop it now or I’ll kill you.”

He froze, his dark eyes wide as he stared at his own blade.

Keeping his energy under control tired her immensely. He might as well have been screaming, his BE silently telling any psychic nearby that he was desperate for help. But Sanya corrected it as it came off his body to make him seem calm.

He made another unintelligible sound, probably a curse. He’d clearly figured out she was the murderer, his fear changing to anger.

“I could’ve killed you while you slept,” she whispered. “But I’ve seen how death affects those left behind. I’m tired of spreading such grief, and you deserve to live.”

His eyes burned with rage, though he remained still. Squatting over him, she put the dagger back in his sheath. She’d strapped his belt around her waist. It barely fit at the tightest eyelet, but it would stay up. She wore her coat over her nightgown, warming herself as much as possible in case things went awry and she needed to flee. She’d promptly shed the weight if that happened.