Her face was concealed with half a mask, a few bits of dark hair escaping around her nape. She didn’t look like one of the knights Nev had left her with, but she wore the same armor, same boots.
“Just come with me.” Her grip tightened around Kamari’s arm, sending warning bells to her brain.
“Where is Lieutenant Nev?” The woman said nothing, pulling Kamari along through the Citadel. More screams rose outside, louder now that they were back above ground. “I really don’t think Nev would have–”
The woman yanked her arm forward. “You’re coming with me,” she said again, her voice severe, her fingers crushing around Kamari’s arm. Her eyes were frantic as she scanned the corridor. Like she was waiting for someone–something. Kamari wriggled her arm, trying to free herself.
“Unhand me,” she said but the woman’s grip only tightened. “Nev! Rahashi!” Her shouts were drowned out behind the screaming outside. Gusts of wind blew bits of dust into the open windows of the corridor.
“Stop making a fuss,” the woman hissed but Kamari fought back. Scratching at her with her free hand, putting all of her weight into her feet, planting them into the ground. “I didn’t want to have to do this,” the woman said as she pulled a small knife from her side. “You will come with me and you will not fight me any further.” The blade was sharp as she angled it under Kamari’s chin. “Do you understand?”
Kamari did her best to nod without the blade pricking her. The woman moved behind her, walking so the blade was tucked into Kamari’s side. There was no one in the corridors. No one in the halls as they moved their way through the Citadel. Everyone would be in their respective hiding places or fighting at the wall. A tiny spark of relief lit inside Kamari’s chest.
Hanna.
Nev went to get Hanna and when they returned to the keep to see Kamari was missing, they’d look for her. The woman led her down the final steps that would take them outside the Citadel.
Metal clashed together, smoke and flame filled the air from the torches that lined the wall. A group of soldiers breezed past Kamari but when she opened her mouth to scream, the blade dug into her side. She jolted at the sharp pierce of pain, her eyes burning from the smoke in the air. They wove through the crowd, hysteria sweeping over the courtyard. Kamari glanced up, to where dozens of monsters flew overhead, sharp teeth illuminated by light of the torches.
Muscular bodies and wide-spread feathered wings soared over the flames, their sharp teeth painted red. Kamari knew these beasts. Knew them from a rogue encounter in Novaria.
They were more bird than cat but the way they dove and struck their prey was predator nonetheless.
Kamari’s heart raced. The armada moved through the courtyard, shields positioned over them like a tight shell. They stopped, bodies going completely still. Waiting, Kamari realized, for another beast. The flap of many wings tore through the courtyard then they were there. Feathered and furred and screeching, they swooped over the wall.
The shell of shields shifted, giving enough open space for a single flame-tipped arrow to pierce the air and land in the beast's chest.
Horror seized Kamari but the woman dragged her forward. Bodies pressed against them as they pushed their way through the crowd all the while the blade in Kamari’s side dug further in, warm liquid pooling against her silk robe.
“Almost there,” the woman’s voice was against her ear, her arm tight around Kamari’s middle. They slipped through the last of the crowd, finally an open space, just before the massive iron gates that would open up to the desert.
Kamari took a deep breath, smoke and iron filling her lungs, then she spun, the blade twisting between her ribs. She grit her teeth through the pain, elbowing the woman in the nose. Hot, bloody spurts poured down her face. The woman dropped her grip on the blade, her eyes going wide. “Wait–”
“Your Majesty!” Nev’s voice filtered through the chaos. The woman scrambled for Kamari again but missed, falling to her knees. “Arrest that woman!” Nev’s voice was closer now.
The gleam of the blade caught Kamari’s eye as it lay abandonedon the ground. She reached for it, but it was too late. The woman snatched it before Kamari could take another breath and disappeared into the crowd, her hair and mask fading into the crowd of people and beasts. “Forgive me Your Majesty,” she said. “I came for you but–”
“I need a healer,” Kamari managed, then the world spun and she was on her knees.
Twelve
Aesira
Aesira tightened the blade around her thigh one more time for good measure. The dress Stone gave her hugged her chest but flowed loosely from her hips to the ground. Beads and charms were woven into the smooth, red fabric and loose sleeves hung slightly off her shoulders.
She let her hair down, shaking it out to give the curls some volume, frowning at her reflection in the small washroom mirror. If she’d known going as Stone’s partner was the only way to see this mysterious man of the desert, she would have thought twice.
It was too late now, he was already outside knocking on her door.
“Wow,” he said. “The dress fits.” She smoothed out her skirt then pulled the door closed behind her.
“Wow yourself.” His normally slightly worn shirt and pants were replaced by a pristine black shirt, buttoned to his throat with pants to match. His hair was slicked back, glasses tucked into his shirt pocket.
She followed Stone’s lead down the hallway, where the several flights of stairs would be waiting for them.
“Just something I had lying around,” he said over his shoulder and Aesira couldn’t help a small laugh. She hadn’t seen Stone in anything other than well worn mechanic pants, but the effort he went through to garner their outfits for this meeting sparked a flame of curiosity in her.
“I know it’s a fuss but the Den isn’t somewhere you go in knight’s armor.” They wound down the several staircases. “They’re not fans of the law or anyone who might–”
