The urge to run gripped me powerfully, but Shazeera and I stood rooted in place as we glanced skyward.
There were five Eagle Riders. And they were landing.
14
Zara
Instantly, the mounted guards who had lined the canyon had moved forward to stand in front of the queens, Mariyah, and me. With arrows drawn, they watched the Eagle Riders in the sky above us.
“Hold,” General Isa commanded, and I realized the rider who was in the lead held a white flag in his hand. Were they surrendering? But that didn’t make sense…Why would they fly here and surrender?
Shazeera shivered beneath me, and I wished I could talk to her. We had never been this close to an Eagle Rider and not been under attack, but that didn’t make us any more relaxed. Still, I couldn’t help but notice things I’d never had time to see before, like the fact that they all wore a supple type of armor that seemed to be made from leather, only it was a dusky gold in color, and it was accented with eagle feathers on their pauldrons.
On their heads, they wore helms that looked like the head of their eagles, with a curved beak that shielded their eyes, and feathers that spread all along the back. Up close, their eagles were terrifyingly large, with wingspans that measured five horseswide, and standing taller than three horses put together. I glanced at Ama, but she was so tense that Nafalla was repeatedly pawing the ground.
“The emperor has received your message,” the lead Eagle Rider said.
Was this a trick to draw the queens out of the canyon? I reached out and touched the wind blowing from the west. My gaze shifted to each of the five eagles. Before, I had knocked three times that number out of the sky. If it came down to it, I would call upon the wind power again to defend my people.
Suddenly, the line of our archers parted, and Queen Samira rode forward on her stallion. “Thank you for coming,” she said, and the lead Eagle Rider bowed his head in acknowledgment.
I stiffened in shock as, beside me, Ama and Jazela both gasped. So even they hadn’t known. I turned to look at Ama, and her face was as dark and ominous as a summer storm.
“Samira, what—” Ama hissed in our native tongue, but the other queen continued speaking to the Eagle Rider.
“I’m glad to see your emperor is willing to talk peace at last, particularly in light of recent events.”
I could feel my whole face contort in confusion; I still had no idea what she was talking about. I had to wonder, too, why she had ridden all the way here. If she had truly contacted the Zephyrians—which was unbelievable—then why wouldn’t she have arranged to meet them in her own territory?
Queen Samira ignored Ama and turned to Queen Jazela. “We should have a meeting in your pavilion. I’m sure you and Rana will want to hear what they have to say.”
Queen Jazela looked like she’d rather tell Queen Samira to go to hell, but in the end, she swallowed her anger and nodded. “Come with me,” she said tightly.
The leader with the white flag dismounted by sliding down his eagle’s wing in a single graceful movement. He strode toward Queen Jazela while the others stayed mounted on their eagles.
Ama rode over to Samira’s side and grabbed her arm. “What is the meaning of this, Samira?” she demanded.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” she said.
The Eagle Rider removed his helm and tucked it under his arm as I approached on Shazeera. His gaze flicked to me briefly, and without the helm hiding part of his face, I froze in horrified shock. This was the Eagle Rider who had hunted Shazeera and me down near our camp, when I first called upon the power of the wind. Shazeera must have felt my reaction and came to a jarring halt. How had he survived? What was he doing here?
But then Queen Samira was dismounting and showing him the way, and the moment passed. I could only follow them in a cloud of disbelief, Ama at my side, her head high and her back stiff.
As we wound our way down the canyon path toward Queen Jazela’s pavilion, people looked out from their tents, their faces twisted in surprise and fear.
When we arrived at Queen Jazela’s purple pavilion, the Eagle Rider had to duck slightly to fit through the entry, and his muscular body took up most of the space. He stepped inside without hesitation, as though he had nothing to fear from us. And maybe he didn’t. Maybe he was just as skilled a warrior without his giant eagle as he was while riding it.
The rest of us dismounted. With so many horses, they would have to wait outside until the meeting concluded. I ran my hand down Shazeera’s soft cheek, desperately wishing I could talk to her.
Before Ama and I could enter, General Isa strode over to us. “I’m coming, too,” she said, in a tone that promised she was walking into that pavilion whether Queen Samira wanted her to or not.
But the queen said nothing, only walked through the opening, which I noticed was flanked by two armed guards—a son and a daughter. There were more guards waiting when we entered the throne room, and once we were all inside, it was crowded to the point where all of us were pressed close together. All except the Eagle Rider, who seemed to maintain a personal bubble of space around himself no matter how close the rest of us got.
Queen Jazela and Ama seemed content to force us all to stand awkwardly, but Queen Samira jumped in like she had the right. She held out her hand to the rider. “Please, sit.” She indicated one of the wide, plush pillows on the floor, like they belonged to her.
Queen Jazela sucked in her breath in obvious irritation.
When I stole another glance at the rider, his expression didn’t reveal much, but I thought I saw a hint of a lip curl before he finally did as she asked. I wondered if it was because he wasn’t used to sitting on the floor, or because the pillow closest to him was made of purple and pink satin. Supposedly the Zephyrians were averse to color.
