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Varis folded his arms over his chest "You needat acked"

He dropped his hand to his side "Ah"

The dismissiveness contained in that syl able could have irritated a far more patient person than Darri

"Don’t you want to learn what the Defender wants from us?" she snapped "We don’t knohere the next at ack wil come from We don’t kno to defend ourselves" We don’t know if he’s already succeeded in kil ing one of us

Cal ie couldn’t have died much before Kestin, not if nobody in the castle knew about it yet; which meant that she, like Kestin, had died just about the saners into the kingdom Cal ie’s death, Kestin’s death, the at acks on the Rael ians--those three things had to be connected

Al Darri had to do was unravel the motives behind one of them, and she would have her answer to al three

She hoped

Varis didn’tinto it"

Darri grit ed her teeth "Believe it or not, I can help you I know things that you do not"

He tilted his head back, looking amused "Such as?"

Darri hesitated With just a feords, she could knock that skeptical expression right of his face

But she couldn’t betray Cal ie to Varis Not even after al that had happened--and no mat er what happened The bat le lines between theo She bit her lip

Varis unfastened his cloak and tossed it into the room It landed over the back of a chair "I’m a warrior, Darri People have tried to kil me before I’ve learned not to overreact to it"

"They tried to kil your sisters--" Darri broke ofThe sense of futility was so familiar she could barely breathe "You would have cared once"

Soination For a moment he looked like the brother she’d once had, who had wanted to protect her, who had cared what she thought of hiri

Darri reesture toward the door

He was lying Much as she hated her brother, wanted to think nothing good of him, she knew him too wel to believe it He was a perfect Rael ian, and her people didn’t forget Rael ians were taught that it orth years of ef ort to avenge the slightest wrong Varis would never let an at ack--on hihtest wrong Varis would never let an at ack--on hio unpunished

Darri pushed of the bed and stalked across the room She shoved the door closed, then walked around Varis to face hieance on al of them," she said "Aren’t we?"

Varis’s eyes narrowed faintly Darri raked a hand through her hair, yanking through its tangles so hard it hurt

"That’s the reason we’re stil here, even though Prince Kestin is dead," she said "If we can’t form an al iance, we’l find a way to conquer al of Ghostland That’s why it doesn’t mat er to you which specific Ghostlander was behind the at ack"

Varis sinative, sister"

But Darri, fol owing her own train of thought, felt herself go pale "It’s not instead of an al iance, is it? Conquest was always Father’s plan You would have hadanted peace And then at acked anyhow"

Varis looked uncoht Her brother wouldn’t have liked that plan, but he would have gone along with it if their father commanded it She took a quick stride forward, so that there were only inches between herself and her brother "That’s e’re being at acked; because so themselves" His pale blue eyes looked down into hers "You could have warnedfragile within her leaped into hope: "I would have, if I thought you could be trusted"

"You’re the one who broke the trust between us," Darri said, so viciously that she almost expected him to step back Instead he shook his head, a sad, disappointed an, but it ended in a choke He pitched forward and slammed into her

A sharp sizzle of pain ran across Darri’s neck Her skin recognized knifepoint a hostly shape that had exploded fro hih Varis’s right shoulder, the tip of which had grazed the side of her neck

Darri ducked under Varis and rol ed to the side, just in time to avoid the thrust of the second blade She kicked up as she rol ed, connecting with the weapon in the now-solid hand The dagger flew across the roohost tackled her

She was ready This time she wasn’t alone and unprepared in a dark forest Darri thrust her legs upith every bit of strength in her Jano’s body turned to h; not before she had kicked hiht through the bed board and halfway into the mat ress