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When Sana’a raised her brow, Kalila’s ire grew, turning to Kesia and Kaniz. ‘Didn’t you two tell her? We take turns spreading our wins and losses amongst the k?st. Given we are of the same one roost! She broke tradition.’
Kaniz lifted her shoulders in a dismissive shrug. ‘I must have forgotten whose turn it was this time. I was caught up in the excitement of having a Shotelai fight in the arena for the first time.’
Kalila leaned in, close to Kesia, but kept her finger pointed at Sana’a. ‘You owe me for my dues today!’
The younger noblewoman slanted away from her, wrinkling her nose at the intrusion of feathers. ‘Nada, I do not. You made your bed when you over-extended yourself with your lenders. I can’t control the quantity you place on the table. I, for one, end up being more conservative, so I’ve banked schills tonight. It’s a strategy I urge you to consider.’
The Dead King’s sister snapped. ‘Kesia, you did this. You played me, and now I have creditors circling my eyrie!’
Kesia laughed in derision. ‘Oh, the barefaced entitlement! Why don’t you plumb the depths of the imperial coffers to pay your debts? Lord knows you’ve plundered it quite often in recent months.’
Kalila blanched. ‘I can’t. Someone put a hold on my access. Was it my feckless brother, your insidious husband?’
Kesia smiled. ‘Kaadiq is too busy tending his fields to contend with your allowance and schill nests. I can ask around to find out why your credit has been frozen.’
‘Nada!’ The royal Kíntí snarled, affronted by the thought of her under-plumes airing in public. ‘Don’t breathe a word. I’ll be the laughing stock of Kos.’
‘Ah, Kalila,’ Kesia sighed. I can never figure you out. You marched here like you needed a problem solved, and now you reject my kind offer. It seems you needn’t have your feathers in a tizzy.’
Kalila gave her sister-in-law a nasty look. ‘Don’t try me, Kesia.’
Her contender smiled. ‘I wouldn’t dare.’
They stared off at each other for a moment like circling vultures until Kalila turned her birdlike skull to Sana’a. ‘As for you, I’ll have to use my mystic arts in my fighting k?st to challenge you.’
Sana’a bestowed her a slight smile and an even tinier bow. ‘Do your best.’
Kalila raked her eyes over the Shotelai woman before swinging her cloak and strutting back to her waiting retinue, who all flounced out behind her.
Chapter 14
Killen walked the streets of Kos, past small shops and marketplaces, taking in the bustling city’s sights, sounds, and scents.
This was heaven and peace compared to the onslaught of relentless shouts and commands of the drill sergeants he’d endured in recent weeks.
Incessant and insistent, they’d echoed through the training grounds, accompanied by the cacophony of clanging koya sab?rs.
He clamped down on more klaw.
His muscles ached.
Nada. They screamed in protest from a day of pushing his body to the brink of exhaustion.
The discipline of repetitive and gruelling exercises, mental fortitude tests and draining simulations was wearing down his soul.
They were all designed to mould and shape him and his fellow cadets into finely tuned and disciplined warriors.
But there was only so much a man could take.
Needing relief after the evening meal, Killen had taken off for Kos.
He slowed when he spotted a girl in front of a tiny cart at one alley corner. She was no more than ten, too young to be out this late hawking wares.
He paused in the darkened eaves of a shop, curiosity piqued by the sadness in her face.
She was working the street, rushing her products in a tray to passersby.
Her hands cradled a small, intricately crafted wooden figurine.
