“Now, you go back and you act like the man I raised.”
Returning to the pain and devastation made his stomach drop.
Cassia cradled his face, thumbs brushing his cheeks. “I know you’re tired. I know you’re in pain. But you stay strong. You fight. You survive. That’s what our family does.” She paused, and her voice shook when she said, “I love you, my little starfish.”
The burn returned to his eyes. “I love you, Mom.”
“Wake up now. It’s time.”
Behind her, the once-quiet sea roared.
And Augustus welcomed the pain.
Chapter
Forty-Two
The Hall of Thunder earned its name tonight. Steel rang like lightning. Boots thundered across the packed earth. Humid air clung to the sweat of eighty-plus exhausted warriors, thick as steam from a forge.
Kai’s shoulders had long ago gone numb, but her mind was still on the battlefield of her latest nightmares. A land stripped of color. Her warriors turned to ash beneath the gods’ wrath. She refused to allow her people to die so easily. So they trained long after much of the mountain had retired for the night.
Kai swung her sword and broke Otekah’s guard, nearly clipping her second’s shoulder. Otekah bent at the waist to catch her breath, her brown skin topped with a thick sheen of sweat. Her bright blue headband was soaking wet.
“Are you all right?” Kai asked.
Otekah shook her head and straightened. She opened her mouth to respond when Poloma’s shout stole their full attention.
“See this space?” Poloma, standing in a wide gap between two younger females, drummed the packed earth with the butt of her spear. “This is where your sister dies. Do it again. Tighter.”
Otekah grinned. “Suddenly very happy to be right where I am.”
Kai chuckled. “Take a minute. Catch your breath.”
Otekah sheathed her sword and picked up her skin of water. “Are you ready to tell me why you’re punishing all of us?”
“I’m not punishing anyone.”
“What does Fala think of all these late sessions?”
Kai released a breath, and her stomach flipped, a sick twist that settled lower than it should. “She’s distracted elsewhere.”
She told herself it didn’t matter where Fala was. That Atsadi’s presence at her side wasn’t a betrayal. Not truly.
Otekah’s eyes widened. “Oh?”
“She and Atsadi are…getting to know each other better.”
“Oh?”
Kai stretched her neck from one shoulder to the other. “I’m trying to be open. He’s not a bad male. I just…”
She believed his innocence most days. But on the others, the nightmares came, and the mere mention of his name made her jaw clench.
She’d get through it once they spent more time together. Once she was satisfied that her warriors didn’t require more intensive training. And after this situation with Usti was resolved.
Kai came out of her head, staring toward the massive east gate, currently sealed by a thick crossbar. Two secondary exits flanked the north and south ends of the chamber, and a fourth, older tunnel loomed near the rear—big enough for oxbeasts to pass through on their way to their airy.
High above, the viewing galleries yawned empty. No one stayed to observe this late.
