Keir opened his mouth but then thought better of it and snapped it closed. He set his shoulders and stared straight ahead. I’d seen that stance in the guards at Khada Palace. A soldier at attention while being addressed by his superior. “I am sorry, my king. It won’t happen again.”
“Am I, Keir? Am I your king?” Rade got directly in Keir’s face. “Because you have given me more and more reason to doubt your loyalty.”
Keir’s nostrils flared as he struggled to rein in his temper.
The floor creaked under my foot, and I winced as they both whipped in my direction. Keir’s eyes flashed. “She wouldn’t havebeen in harm’s way if she hadn’t been reckless enough to throw herself off a sprinting horse.”
I replied, “I couldn’t leave her behind. She would have died.”
He blinked once. Hard. Almost a flinch.
The ire in the king’s eyes melted away as he gazed at me, and he let out a slow breath. He looked drawn, aged five years in the span of a few moments. “Keir, get Velka,” he instructed. Then, to me, he said, “I promised you an explanation. It’s time you heard it.”
EIGHTEENSAMIRA
The king’s room was expansive, located down the hall behind his throne, within the mountain. An enormous four-poster bed, a fireplace, bookshelves, and a sitting area made up the suite, just about as large as my queen’s room in Ashorah. Wolfskin rugs covered the stone floor, leading to a desk littered with papers, feather quills, and small figurines.
Rade gestured for me to sit in one of the large chairs in front of the fire, its wooden arms and legs thick like tree roots, while he went to his desk.
Velka dropped into the seat across from me, exhausted. I wondered how many trips she’d made. I’d only done the one and it had drained me.
Keir remained standing beside the door like a sentry and didn’t take his eyes off me. I fought to keep my spine straight under his blazing stare.
Rade rummaged through his desk, papers rustling. He finally found what he was looking for and sat in the chair beside mine, figurines held between his fingers. He offered one to me. It was small, about the size of a thumb, but it was sturdy. When I turned it over, I gasped.
Decorative metal armor, slitted eyes, and curling feline smile.Shaya.
“How do you have this?” I asked, examining it from every angle, as if it would stop being Shaya if I just turned it the right way. The Kaldfolk were heretics. Monsters who had turned away from the gods. Had one of the Seven stolen this when they’d snatched me from Ashorah? But why? What would a figurine mean to heathens—
“The Seven Monarchs,” the king began. “All holy, all sacred, but only two of them are Uncreated, existent since before the dawn of time.” He placed another figurine in my hand.
She was beautiful, a laurel wrapped around her head, one of those leaves serving as a patch over her missing right eye. Twin braids hung down to her navel, slightly lifting off her body, like they were floating in a breeze.
“Ketet, the Mother, Goddess of Earth and Sea,” I murmured. But… but the Kaldfolk wereheretics. That was one of the first things I’d ever learned in Khada Palace. King Zaid had fought and beaten backheretics. He’d been charged with that mission by the gods themselves. I’d even seen evidence of that heretic magic today, when Rade had turned Finan into a puppet.
But I was holding renderings of Ketet and Shaya in my hands, whittled out of wood, which meant the carvings could not be Ashoran. Every statue we had was molded out of clay or carved from stone. More durable, longer lasting, like the gods deserved.
No, these couldn’t have been taken from the palace.
These were Kaldfolk statues.
“Ketet and Shaya,” Rade said with a nod. “Life and death. They have existed since the beginning and will exist after the end. Which makes your father one of the most important deities we have. I’m sure you know their story well.”
The exact same doctrine we had in Ashorah…
Rade waited for my response. I swallowed hard and said in a hoarse voice, “Ketet and Shaya used to rule together as husband and wife. Ketet gave life in this realm and Shaya watched over it in the next.”
Rade nodded. “Until Ketet’s love for humans began to overshadow her love for Shaya. She plucked out her right eye, wrapped it in fire, and placed it in the sky to create Phadar, God of the Sun.” His voice was soothing as I listened to the familiar story. “Human life was sustained longer because of him, weakening the Underworld.”
I stared, breathless. “We believe the same in Ashorah.”
“You sound surprised,” Keir said, and I couldn’t miss the accusatory tone.
“Hush, Keir,” Velka murmured.
“What do you know of the War of the Ancients?” asked Rade, drawing my attention back to him.
“The War of the Ancients,” I repeated blankly. “Is that what the Shroud is? Left over from the war?”
