A fist slammed into Jasim’s face, and he went down. I couldn’t see where he landed behind the mass of armor. Alarm blared through me, my ears ringing with the force of it. “Jasim!” I made a move toward him.
“Don’t even think about it.” Sara’s blade dug into the base of my throat, her hazel eyes aflame. “Move, and I’ll gut you.”
I guess you should’ve been nicer to her, mused the king.
I bared my teeth at her. “Traitor.”
She chuckled. “Can’t betray someone you were never loyal to.”
“Not me, you fucking idiot. Nasir. Your people. You were going to get your land back, a position in my court, unrestricted access to the Lotus River. And now you—”
She grabbed my collar and jerked me closer. The blade sliced against my throat, sending a ribbon of pain through me. “I’m doing this to protect my princeandmy people. We won’t let Shaya be freed. And Reeda will not be a pawn in your game, Gods-Chosen.”
“Anwar won’t let you return to the Lotus River.”
“Neither will you.”
“I will. Once I’ve—”
“Save it,” she spat. “If Anwar refuses to give our land back, at least we’ll be fighting ahuman.”
“Jinni-descended,” I corrected.
“Weaker than you,” she fired back. “You would have turned on us as soon as you were too strong for us to resist.”
“You stupid bi—” I didn’t get to finish my uninspired insult because she rammed her hilt into my head just as she had with Nasir’s.
Everything went dark.
THIRTYSAMIRA
I came back to consciousness reluctantly, bracing myself to be sick again. But when I opened my eyes to the log ceiling, I thanked the Mother that my stomach had settled. My forehead tingled and throbbed softly.
Every muscle was sore, and I groaned as I pushed myself up to a sitting position.
Velka and Keir were seated in front of the fire, and they turned sharply when they heard me. They’d washed off the white clay, and a quick glance down showed I had been cleaned, too. Velka and Keir appeared like they usually did, Velka with her braid slung over her shoulder and Keir with the top half of his face darkened by kohl.
“You’re awake!” Velka exclaimed, and rushed over to me. “Are you all right? How do you feel? Are you in pain?”
I smiled at her fretting. “I think I’m all right.”
“Thank the gods. I’ll get Rade.” She bolted out of the room.
Keir stood, and my eyes flicked to him, immediately on guard. He watched me carefully, head cocked to the side.
I waited for him to ask me what I’d seen, to reveal they’d disobeyed Rade’s command and overheard the whole thing, to accuse me of being called Samira and having black runes, to demand I tell him about the Seer’s words, those horrible sand dunes, the amulet, the being of shadow.
It was greed that brought you here. It is greed that will seek you out. Greed destroys, greed burns. But out of fire were you born, out of water were you found. To both must you return before all is razed to the ground.
Zarqa’s words echoed against my skull. Meaningless, I tried to reassure myself. A fortune for a dead girl was meaningless. And yet immediately following that was,You do not know yourself. Let me show you.
I had wanted to see it, whatever the shadow meant. I still did. When that shadow creature had reached out to me, it was the first time in a long time I hadn’t felt scared. I hadn’t realized until that moment how badly I hated this fear that plagued me even now as I waited for Keir to speak. I wanted that again, that confidence, that courage.
Keir pulled me from my thoughts as he crossed the room toward me. He didn’t say anything. Made no accusations or threats. He simply moved to my bedside, picked up a cup of kefir from the end table, and held it to my lips.
I hadn’t even realized I was thirsty until then. I drank greedily, noting the subtle taste of honey. Keir’s hand came up to cradle the back of my head, his fingers sliding between the short strands of my hair, and my eyes cut to his.
He remained quiet as he pulled the cup away and set it back on the end table.
