Sita and Karim looked at each other with dread.
They ran the rest of the way without waiting for Zev to catch up. Sita tore out of the stone portal into the scorching light of day. It was so bright and sudden that, at first, she couldn’t see a thing. She blinked rapidly, and out of the white radiance, she glimpsed a small figure dashing toward her, shouting her name.
Aya.
In her haste, the little girl tripped over the hem of her robes and went down in a cloud of sand. Sita was upon her in an instant.
“Aya!” she exclaimed, pulling the girl to her feet. “What’swrong?”
Aya’s face shone with terror, and her voice was high and thin.“Something is coming!”
Sita put her arm around the girl’s shoulders, then startled as an insect scuttled over her hand. She cried out in surprise, flinging it away. The creature landed at Karim’s feet.
Zev rushed up behind them, skidding to a halt.
Together, the four stared.
The huge scarab beetle crawled across the sand, its shell gleaming green and gold in the sunlight. Scarabs were common in Khetara, so seeing one shouldn’t have been a surprise—except this scarab was quite a bit larger than usual.
Another scarab erupted from the sand beside the first.
Then another.
And another.
“What is this?” Zev exclaimed, backing away from what was quickly becoming a writhing, crawling mass. “What wickedness have you brought upon us?”
Sita’s attention was drawn to the head of the valley. Far in the distance, a dark shadow appeared against the lapis blue sky. Sita glanced away when a beetle skittered across her foot, and when she looked again, the shadow had vanished.
She shivered as Aya’s warning echoed in her ears.
Something is coming.
16Rae
Rae lay on her woven mat in the servants’ quarters, surrounded by soft, sleeping bodies.
“Are you awake?” a voice asked.
Rae turned on her side. Tamerit lay next to her, her dark eyes luminous in the moonlight.
“I’m awake,” Rae replied.
Silence stretched between them. They’d hardly spoken since the king’s party the night before, since Rae defied Tam’s wishes and blundered into a situation she wasn’t prepared for. The experience left Rae feeling violated—her deepest desires exposed and exploited for the pleasure of thatsnake.
Rae had spent the morning working, still muddleheaded from the blue lotus wine. Then came the midday meal, and the news that changed everything.
And what of the Low Khetaran dogs?
They too must be prepared for the ritual.
They’re the main event.
The exchange between the king and the high priest had given her confirmation that her father was alive.
It also told her that his time was running out.
Worse still, the king wasn’t planning an execution, but a sacrifice. One that would curse all his enemies—including Rae.
