I still felt so cold, my flesh clammy, my passageways narrowed like I was breathing through a pinhole. But I ignored it, knowing it would pass.
Halna crouched over me, his yellow eyes pleased. “Good. Good, Amaia.”
I sat up with his help, trying to hide the way I struggled to breathe as I wiped my hands on my already filthy pants.
Halna clapped me on the back firmly but gently. As always, he was a male of very few words and went to attend the mother, who was busy nuzzling her offspring with her sharp snout. It took me a while to catch my breath, and by the time the crowd began to thin out around thepyrokienclosure, I felt mostly like myself, though in need of a long—very long—rest.
Just then, I caught the eye of someone in the crowd. Someone achingly familiar as a wide, surprised smile split across my face.
I rushed over as quickly as I could, though it was more like a hobble.
“Don’t you dare hug me with all that muck on you,” my brother said when I reached the fence line. But he grinned, his gold eyes twinkling in the sunlight. I hadn’t seen him in a couple months, but he looked so very official in his armor. “I just had my uniform polished.”
One of theDothikkar’s personal guardsmen. Our king. It was one of the most respected positions in Dothik, and my brother had ascended to it. All on his own, through sheer determination and strength and will.
We lived within a few stone throws of one another. And even still, we barely saw him. He lived in the barracks in the palace, was only allowed leave every now and again, and yet our mother always set a place for him at our meals. Just in case.
“I’m coming for supper tonight,” Kiron told me. “You can hug me then.”
“Am I even allowed to hug you at all?” I teased, gripping the fence with both hands so I didn’t fall over. “Or would theDothikkarhave me in chains for daring to touch one of his prized guards?”
“I won’t tell him if you don’t,” he said, a quirk of a smile lifting his lips. I laughed, though it sounded more like a wheezein my state. He nodded behind me. “You did well. Everyone was enthralled.”
I was about to run my hand over my forehead but remembered the mess coating it.
“What in Kakkari’s name are you doing here, Kiron?” I asked, studying and memorizing every change in my brother. He looked older, lines around his eyes that hadn’t been there before. He’d let his brown hair grow. It was braided nearly to the middle of his back, just like adarukkar’s—a warrior’s—might if he lived on the wildlands and belonged to one of the hordes. “We both know you didn’t come to see apyrokibeing born.”
Something changed in my brother’s eyes at my question. “There’s something I’d like to discuss with you. But not here.”
I frowned, hearing a strange tone in his voice, one I couldn’t place. A bite of alarm went through me. My brother wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t serious. “You know I hate that. Just tell me now. What’s wrong?”
Kiron glanced around, still hesitating despite most of the crowd having left and no one being within earshot. “I don’t think it’s the right time. I shouldn’t have said any?—”
“Kiron. Tell me.”
He dragged in a breath. Then leaned closer. “It’s about the Karag.”
I sucked in a breath, rearing back to meet his eyes. “What? What about them?”
“The accord exchanges are coming up, for a territory named Grym. Your name is among them on the manifest.”
I froze, feeling a new wave of dizziness that had nothing to do with my heartstone magic. “What are you talking about? Ineversubmitted my name.”
“No, you didn’t.” His lips pressed. “ButIdid.”
“Youwhat?” I breathed. Shock numbed me. “What possessed you to?—”
“Amaia,” mypyrokimaster called from behind me. I turnedto regard him in a daze, my heart nearly beating its way out of my chest with the swirl of new knowledge. I waved a distracted hand at him, knowing we had to get Witha and her newborn back to her nest.
I turned back to Kiron, reeling.
“I didn’t want to talk here,” he reminded me, rubbing the back of his neck. “But I’ll explain. It’s not mandatory, Amaia. But I have reason for submitting you, and I want you to hear me out before you make a decision.”
“Well, the answer isno,” I told him, already stepping back. “I can tell you that now.”
As I turned, a little flint of anger struck inside me. What made my brother think he could do something like that? Without everaskingme? We hadn’t seen each other in months. And now this?
“Amaia,” Kiron called suddenly. I looked back at him. He beckoned me closer, and my nostrils flared as I trudged back over. “You need to be more careful.”
