‘Waa pada vankar palida farahi,’ Arena fired back, her voice clipped with pride.
‘And that means?’ Kai asked warily.
Alina sighed, shaking her head. ‘That we could defeat you in a fight.’
Kai snorted, amused despite himself.
Alina’s brown eyes glimmered with challenge. ‘You don’t believe us?’
He hesitated, noticing the three women now united in their glare, like wolves eyeing prey. With a rueful shake of his head, he raised both hands. ‘Never doubted your abilities for a moment.’
Before Alina could muster a reply, the doors to the training hall swung open with a whisper of polished hinges.Mareena stepped through, a cluster of attendants flowing behind her like a silken tide. There was a quiet majesty to the phoenixian princess. Every movement deliberate, elegant to the point of intimidation. Alina felt a faint sting of envy, wishing, not for the first time, that she might move with such unstudied grace.
Kai was already moving before Alina could even think to stop him. It was always the same: the moment he glimpsed the phoenixian princess, his questions would tumble out in an unrelenting rush. Abouther, always about the witch. How was she faring? Could he see her? When would she be brought back to him? And always, Mareena’s answer was the same: the witch still slept, and patience was a virtue he would simply have to learn. Each time she spoke those words, those crimson eyes would flicker briefly, almost knowingly, to Alina’s own.
‘The witch is awake,’ Mareena announced, her expression carved from marble, revealing nothing. ‘She has returned to her chambers.’
Before a single question could be voiced, Kai was gone, sprinting out of the hall like a storm unbound.
Mareena’s gaze lingered on the training room, sweeping over Arena and Isla, who still flanked Alina with swords poised awkwardly in hand. The princess’s eyes softened slightly before she spoke.
‘Shall we walk?’ she asked, the subtle weight in her tone making it clear there was more to this stroll than idle conversation.
Alina dipped her head in silent agreement, pivoting on her heel to return her sword to its rack. With a brief gesture to Arena and Isla, she led them out into the open air.
The sunlight struck her face with a sudden, unrelenting warmth, forcing her to squint. At once, servants unfurled vast silk fans to shield Mareena from the blaze of day, their sweep ofshade falling over Alina too, a luxury she hadn’t asked for, but one she was quietly grateful for nonetheless.
‘I have received word,’ Mareena said, the soft slap of her sandals echoing faintly against the tiled floor as they stepped into one of the palace gardens. It was a place of cultivated splendour: fountains whispered their crystalline songs, palm trees stretched languidly towards the heavens, and strange creatures prowled the edges, creatures that Alina now understood were not entirely born of nature’s hand. ‘From King Siroc.’
Alina froze mid-step.
‘He wishes to know if his daughter’s killer walks among us,’ Mareena continued evenly. ‘If so, he demands that I surrender her.’ The princess stopped as well, turning to face Alina, crimson eyes glimmering in the dappled sunlight.
‘Saren must have reached him,’ Alina said.
Mareena inclined her head once, a measured, regal nod. ‘I shall tell him I do not know your whereabouts. Let him waste his time chasing ghosts.’
‘No.’ Alina straightened her spine, resolve solidifying in her tone. ‘I will go to him. To the king himself.’
Mareena’s eyes widened a fraction. ‘Why?’
‘Because he deserves the truth,’ Alina replied. ‘And because Saren must be stopped.’
The phoenixian princess regarded her for a long, silent moment before nodding again. ‘When?’
‘We wait until the witch is strong enough to travel. We may have need of her.’
‘Very well,’ Mareena answered, pivoting to return towards the palace. Yet she paused as she drew level with Alina, leaning in until her lips hovered inches from Alina’s ear, her breath soft and warm against her skin. ‘I will see to it that the weapons areprepared for our departure.’
Alina blinked, startled by the certainty in her tone. ‘This isn’t your fight.’
‘Perhaps not,’ Mareena replied smoothly, a flicker of dangerous amusement tugging at her lips. ‘My father may choose to keep his hands clean, but I am Phanax, and I will not allow the desert kingdom to grow into a threat against my own. Besides…’ Her smile sharpened into something dark and promising. ‘I cannot allow you to have all the fun, can I?’
Despite herself, Alina found her own lips curling into an answering grin. Wicked, sharp, and full of the same promise of blood and reckoning.
…
Kai paid no heed to the protests of the servants and physicians, brushing past them as though their startled cries and muttered curses were nothing but a distant hum. It had been days, nearly a week, since Dawn had been torn from his arms, since he had last seen her breathing, whole. They had forbidden him from visiting, from seeing for himself that she still lingered in this world. Each day had brought only the same meagre comfort: a curt message from the phoenixian princess that the witch yet slept, still healing.
