What is it?I asked.
Nafalla has asked us to return.
I groaned. Nafalla was my mother’s bonded mare.Ama wants to start training this early?
Considering I couldn’t even detect the wards just now, I was sure it would go as well as it ever did.
Most considered it a useful ability that the horses could all communicate with each other mentally within a short distance, especially during battle. For me, though, it was just a way for Ama to track me down quickly.
I would say we could make a run for it,Shazeera said, stepping out of the stream,but Nafalla specifically said if we tried to skip training again, she would put me on foal duty for a month.
I thought you liked the babies,I said as I lightly grabbed hold of her withers and vaulted onto her back.
Only from afar,Shazeera replied.Up close, the little beasts bite and kick.
I smiled for a moment at that image. She wasn’t wrong. The foals were like long-legged toddlers with boundless energy.
But Shazeera’s amusing commentary could only briefly distract me before the dread pulled me down again. Nothing made me so aware of my inability as these training sessions with Ama. Especially since every one of them had ended in embarrassing failure.
Shazeera set the pace at a fast canter, and I tried to convince myself that maybe this time I would finally tap into the power that should be my birthright.
Before it was too late.
Shazeera slowed as we entered the camp, and many called out in greeting or simply stopped and bowed their heads as we passed. Our camp wasn’t the largest of all the tribes, because of the frequency with which we had to pick up and move; the Queen of All Queens moved camp frequently to change the radius of the wards’ protection. But of the ten tents here, all were large, with at least two rooms in each. The largest of all, though, was the pavilion, which had three distinct points to its top and golden thread woven amongst the bright colors. It was the queen’s tent, and my home.
I stood before it now, breathing in the familiar scent of sage, which wafted from beyond the doorway of the pavilion.
Well met, daughter of my heart,Nafalla’s greeting passed to me through Shazeera. She dipped her head to allow me to touch her velvety nose, the soft lamplight disappearing into the deep shadows of her onyx coat.
The pavilion soared above the tips of the horses’ ears, supported by light wooden rods that were flexible and strong. It created a space large enough for everyone in the camp to fit inside the main room, which served as the throne room. There were bedrooms on either side, separated by vibrant blue silk drapery. The room to the left was mine, but I knew Ama would be waiting in the throne room.
Naomi, one of Ama’s guards, quietly greeted Shazeera and me with a bow as we entered.
We found Ama sitting before a bowl of polished bone, filled with burning sage. Her dark eyes, heavily lined with kohl, lit up when she met my gaze. With a smile, she gestured for me to sit. Nafalla took her place beside Ama, while Shazeera stood by my side. I tucked my legs beneath me and joined Ama on the floor of the tent, where a plush rug of many colors had been spread.
“You were up early,” Ama said to me as she handed me a cup of white flower tea. The bangles on her wrists jingled pleasantly, the sound as familiar to me as my own heartbeat.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I admitted, taking a sip of the honey-sweetened tea.
Ama tilted her head sympathetically at me, her thick hair slipping off her shoulder. My own thick hair was tied back in a long braid. Everyone said we looked so much alike. That the blood passed down from First Daughter to First Daughter for generations was strong. We had the same golden-brown skin, deepened by the hot plains sun; high cheekbones; full lips. The same large eyes framed by dark lashes, though my eye color was a much lighter amber, where hers was a rich chocolate.
I may have looked like her on the outside, but I had none of the power given to her by the Earth Mother. At her full strength, she had been able to heal someone on the brink of death, from the inside out. She could even use her abilities offensively, by causing a wave of agony over a small battalion of soldiers, enough to cripple them.
But I couldn’t even heal a scratch.
“I will admit that your power is taking longer to manifest than is common in our family,” Ama said, reaching over to touch my hand, “but earth magic has always been strong in the Sorayan line. It will come. We just need to tap into it.”
I glanced down at my cup with a frown. Ama believed that anything was possible if you justtriedhard enough. And maybe she was right. Maybe I didn’t put enough effort into it.
Nonsense,Shazeera said sharply.You tried so hard to connect to your abilities last time that your nose bled with the effort.
Yes, but I didn’t pass out, so clearly I wasn’t trying hard enough,I thought back with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
Shazeera snorted beside me.
“Let’s begin,” Ama said, and with an inward sigh, I angled my body to face her. The horsehair mantle she wore brushed against my arms as she placed her hands on mine. It was as black as Nafalla’s mane and tail, as it had been taken from them over the years, and dark as Ama’s own hair where it wasn’t streaked with silver. My own mantle, formed from the black hairs of Shazeera’s mane and tail, was much smaller, as I hadn’t had as many years to add to it. “Instead of trying again to sense the protective wards, let’s try to access the healing side of your magic.”
I shot her a confused glance. “Aren’t the wards the most important?”
