Cyrus was trying to unsettle him, and he would not allow it, not when he was this close to victory. With a sudden cry, Kamran propelled his opponent back a final time—and Cyrus fell to the floor with a harsh exhale, his swordclattering as it struck marble.
Kamran wasted no time, approaching his fallen rival with a ferocious determination. One final time he raised his sword—
And froze.
A breathtaking paralysis took hold of his body where he stood, so severe the sensation that Kamran could hardly breathe. He watched, as if pressed between panes of glass, as Cyrus clambered to his feet, sheathed his sword, retrieved his staff, and searched for his hat. Once the strange article was settled firmly on the tyrant’s head, he walked up to Kamran’s statue and smiled.
“There is very little honor left in me, Melancholy King. Certainly not enough to die when I deserve it.”
In the distance, someone screamed.
Kamran thrashed against the prison of his own body, but he felt his lungs weakening by the second, his organs being compressed from the outside in.
Cyrus’s smile did not waver.
“Unfortunate as it is,” he went on, “a flicker of humanity persists in animating my flesh. So I will leave you tonight with a beating heart. Anyway, it’s better if you live, isn’t it? Better for you to suffer consciously, to grieve your vile grandfather, to live every day with the knowledge that you have been betrayed not only by those you loathe, but by those you love—and to fail, tremendously, while trying to lead a pathetic empire.”
Kamran felt his heart seizing in his chest, his eyes burning with the threat of emotion.
No, he wanted to cry.No, no—
“I look forward to fighting you again,” said Cyrus softly, tipping his hat. “But first, you’ll have to find me.”
Then he vanished.
Two
FOR A LONG TIME, ALIZEHdid not move.
She felt paralyzed by fear and disbelief, her mind assaulted by a tumult of uncertainty. Slowly, sensation returned to her limbs, to the tips of her fingers. She soon felt the wind against her face, saw the night sky drape itself around her, a midnight sheet studded with stars.
By degrees, she began to relax.
The beast was heavy and solid, and seemed to know where it was going. She took deep lungfuls of air, trying to clear the dregs of her panic, to convince herself that she would be safe for at least as long as she clung to this wild creature. She shifted, suddenly, at the feel of soft fibers grazing her skin through what was left of her thin gown, and looked down to examine it. She hadn’t realized she was in fact sitting on a small carpet, which—
Alizeh nearly screamed again.
The dragon had disappeared. It was stillhere—she felt the beast beneath her, could still feel the leathery texture of its skin—but the creature had gone invisible in the sky, leaving her floating on a patterned rug.
It was deeply disorienting.
Still, she understood then why the creature had disappeared; without its bulk to blind her, she could see the worldbelow, could see the world beyond.
Alizeh didn’t know where she was going, but for the moment, she forced herself not to panic. There was, after all, a strange peace in this, in the quiet that surrounded her.
As her nerves relaxed, her mind sharpened. Quickly, she yanked off her boots and chucked them into the night. It gave her great satisfaction to watch them disappear into the dark.
Relief.
A sudden thud shifted the weight of the rug, startling her upright. Alizeh spun around, her heart racing once again in her chest; and when she saw the face of her unwelcome companion, she thought she might fling herself into the sky with the boots.
“No,” she whispered.
“This ismydragon,” said the Tulanian king. “You are not allowed to steal my dragon.”
“I didn’t steal it, the creature took— Wait, how did you get here? Can you fly?”
He laughed at that. “Is the mighty empire of Ardunia really so poor in magic that these small tricks impress you?”
