She only needed to follow the noise. It came from all the way on the other side of the compound; a resounding shudder like a great rakhsa was stomping through the earth. Isla had just exited the bath house when she heard the first boom, sending her scampering behind the closest pillar.

The cabin had led out onto a raised walkway, sheltered under a trellis propped by rows of columns draped in flowering vines. Isla leaned back against the hard wood and hid until she was calm enough to peer out and assess her surroundings.

But the place was utterly deserted.

The walkway cut through an edge of the rajini's gardens, running parallel to the compound walls that stretched just across a row of trees and flowering bushes. Kiet's main estate stood some distance ahead of the walkway, where it merged right into a porch that straddled the southern wing of the estate. There was no movement, no light behind the windows far across the line of pillars. The estate looked haunting with bougainvillea crawling up its walls and grappling the sills in red blooms.

Where was everyone? Were they all taking refuge in the labyrinths? Surely Kiet would know Khaisan had his men waiting at all its exits.

Isla stepped from behind the pillar and made for the estate, her eyes on the compound walls and the countless spearheads that rose above them. Kiet's bird was a shadow in the darkening sky, calling out every so often as though to warn its master.

It was between its high-pitched cries that the voice came, startling Isla in her skin. The royal herald had been selected specifically for his theurgy—a gift that allowed him to project his voice and dampen others—and now it came bearing down upon her as though the man stood yelling through a horn a mere inches from her face.

Maharaj Khaisan had arrived, and he was calling for Kiet's surrender.

No. There was no way he would refuse the offer—not if it meant saving his men. No, no, no, no. Isla ran down the walkway, the wood creaking under every weight of her sandals. She reached the porch, pounded against the first window she passed, trying to peer through the panel blinds. 'Kiet! Akai!'

Anyone!

There came no response, only the loud, rhythmic battering continued in the distance far ahead. Isla gave the window a final blow before abandoning it entirely. Her fist was raw and bleeding as she sped further down the porch. All the other windows she passed were just as unyielding; she tried a door but it felt barricaded shut—and then she saw it. Light, spilling out from an entrance near the end of the porch. Her breath was hitched by the time she reached the door, left gaping open.

She called into the empty hallway, but just before she stepped inside, she saw him.

She would have missed him if she had not spared that one glance. The porch extended past the estate into another walkway; one that led straight to the front gates. And there under its treillage he walked, calm as an afternoon breeze, the lotus mandala on his back.

'Kiet!' she yelled after him, but he did not hear, for at that moment the gate splintered open with the deafening screech of metal and shattering wood.

Isla forced on down the porch, screaming Kiet's name, calling for him to wait.

At last he turned, his eyes widening upon sight of her. He stopped dead in the middle of the walkway, hidden from the surrounding gardens by the overgrowth of ivy and bougainvillea cascading down the trelliswork.

He's alive. He's still here. She had found him in time.

He gasped out her name as she threw herself onto him. 'Don't go, don't go.' She pulled him close, as though it might convince him. 'I know a place. We can escape unseen. All of us.'

'Why have you come?' he muttered, his own hands tight around her.

'What do you think? I'm not leaving without you.'

'They are wrong, Isla. I've not killed my father.'

She pulled away, just a fraction. Just enough to study his gaze. The look in his eyes crushed her. 'Of course not. Kiet, I know you would never.' She had no love for the Rama, but she was crying before she knew it. Isla wiped her eyes clear. 'This is all my fault. I'm sorry—Kiet, I'm sorry. I put you up to all this, and now—'

He pressed his fingers against her lips to silence her. 'Never say such things again. All this is on Khaisan alone. You were right, Isla; he always will be a thorn.'

'We don't have much time.' She grabbed his arm and made to leave, but Kiet stood firm.

'No,' he said. 'We have not. Sindhu looks for you. There is a tunnel under my bath house, he will lead you through it and—'

'You know about the—' Isla stopped herself short. 'What do you mean? Aren't you coming? There's no reason for you to surrender—Khaisan will never make good on his word.'

'Which is why Akai should now be leading my sisters and servants to their escape. But Khaisan will have his Maha Garda swarm this entire place if I fail to appear before him within the next few minutes. I must buy you all time.'

'You're being foolish!' We don't have time for this. Isla tugged at him, but he was so strong. 'Kiet, listen to me—'

'No, you listen, for once,' he interrupted, though not unkindly. His smile only tore at her more. 'You need to find your truth-weaver and bring him back to Kathedra. He is the only one who can force Khaisan to testify the truth at my trial. Never mind the Emperor's wrath, I will deal with that when it comes.'

'Your trial?' Isla snapped. 'There will be no trial! You will hang this very morning!'

'I am not entirely without support. People will demand a trial, farcical as one might be.'

'Even so, Jinsei's theurgy will never overcome Khaisan's jii! Never!

'Isla—'

'Please, Kiet!' She reached out once more for him. 'Please! I'll do anything! Leave with me. I was wrong. I lied when I said nothing else matters. None of this matters, not without you. You're the only one who—no. I don't care anymore! Please, just leave with me.'

She did not wait. She lit her core into a blaze, ready to leap into him. But she could not bring herself to do it. Of all the people she could weave around her fingers, he was the one she needed there most, yet he was the one she never wanted her theurgy to touch. He did not even raise his mind shields against her, so great his faith. The only person who always had faith in her.

No. It is a matter of his life or death. It was not the time to heed conscience. Isla willed herself to do it, but the tenderness in his eyes was another force to contend, and suddenly he was leaning into her, drawing her close, and then his lips were on hers—just as tender, just as soft. He was warm and patient like they had all the time in world, and she savoured his kiss like she had known it all her life.

He smelled deep and rich of mahogany, clear and sweet like lavender. She folded into him, growing faint with his touch, but the moment passed too soon and he pulled gently away. 'Forgive me, my love.' His hand lingered in her hair before he released her.

Isla started to argue, but found no strength. She stumbled back, confused, her legs giving out beneath her, until Kiet put her carefully into someone's hands. 'What—why—'

'I must go now, Isla.' Kiet gave her a wan smile and nodded at Sindhu behind her. Then he turned and started down the walkway and never looked back.

I have to go now, Isla. A different voice, a different time, but the same scraping of steel and commands rising in the distance. No, no, no. Isla pushed against Sindhu's iron grip, but Kiet's back was already disappearing into the deepening shadows. This time she did not fight the tears. Not again, not again.

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↝ END CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE ↜

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☆ this chapter is dedicated to Dropletsrain ☆

Video: Song is 그냥 나를 버려요 (Just Leave Me) by Ha Dong Qn
Image: Centre right image—© 青山鸟 at lofter; bottom left image—© sion_428 at postype; remaining images—original artists unknown