Page 112 of Blood of the Sands

I screamed, voice echoing back at me in the close quarters. It wasn’t enough to drown out my pain, at being separated from the desert—from Keera—forever.

The desert gives and it takes, and it had given Keera to me only to snatch her away in the cruelest way possible. I pounded against the floor, skin on my fists ripping until blood dripped down my wrists but it wasn’t enough. I clawed at my face, trying to pull off the stifling mask and take a full breath, but it had attached itself to my face. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t hear, couldn’t think.

The stone walls around me shattered, and I lay on the floor, staring up at the canvas of Lord Alasdar’s tent.

A soft ping of liquid dripping against my mask drew my attention, and I focused my eyes to see the bloody tip of a saber—my great-grandfather’s saber—hovering above my face. It was protruding from the center of Lord Alasdar’s chest, a look of utter shock etched onto his face. A single drop of blood bubbled from his mouth, dripping down his chin.

“You don’t get to hurt him anymore.” Keera’s voice was weak but sure. She wrenched the blade from his body, and he crumpled, dead before he hit the ground. Crimson spread from where he lay, staining the rich rugs beneath him. I could only stare at his slack-jawed face, the gray eyes that held so much power over me now empty of life.

My savior and my torturer, my mentor and my jailer, dead at Keera’s hand in one decisive strike. Trembling overtook me as I stared at the corpse, relief rushing through me, turned bitter by the grief for what Lord Alasdar might have been for me—the father that I had painted him to be.

I looked up at Keera, finding her panting, complexion ashen, eyes red and swollen from crying so much, and utterly perfect.

She wavered where she stood, balancing on her unbroken leg through sheer will alone, although she trembled with weakness. I lurched forward, but Izumi got there first, helping her keep her balance as if she hadn’t just slain the man we’d both had pledged our life to—somebody Izumi had betrayed her clan for. I wanted to ask her why, but it didn’t matter right now. Not when Keera was about to pass out.

I struggled to my feet, reaching for Keera. Before I could grab her by the shoulders and press my ear to her chest to make sure she was alive, a crash sounded outside the tent. All three of us froze.

A moment of silence stretched, followed by the sound of screaming. Izumi shoved Keera toward me before rushing from the tent. Clashing metal split the air, but my focus stayed pinned on the woman in my arms as I lowered her back to the bed of pillows.

She whimpered as her skin touched the fabric, and I stroked the remaining half of her hair gently. Reaching up, her fingers trailed down my mask, coming away red from where Lord Alasdar’s blood had dripped. Without further thought, I ripped it off, throwing it down on the ground next to Lord Alasdar’s corpse.

“You saved me,” I murmured in awe.

Keera grimaced, her eyes watery, but I got the impression she was trying to smile at me. “I meant it. You’re mine. Nobody gets to touch you but me.”

“You saw how broken I am.” I shook my head. “I’ll happily be yours until the day I die, but I don’t think you can fix me.”

Keera’s voice was thin as she spoke, clearly succumbing to the exhaustion and pain she had battled during the confrontation. Still, every word hit me like a punch to the gut. “You don’t need to be fixed. You just need to be loved.”

A lump rose in my throat, and I choked around my own words. “And I love you.”

Keera’s eyes fluttered closed as she went limp in my arms before I even got the words all the way out. I touched my fingers to her neck, finding her pulse to make sure she still lived. It was steady if rapid and thready beneath my fingers. She had just overexerted herself.

Before I could set to work getting her comfortable, a clatter drew my attention to the tent flap. I glanced up to find Izumi, armor disheveled and sword drawn. Crimson glimmered off the wicked blade.

“Kelvadan attacks,” she panted.

I didn’t respond, looking between Izumi and Keera. To the body on the floor.

“You must fight,” Izumi insisted with increasing urgency.

“Lord Alasdar is dead. There is no point!” I spat.

“No point?” Izumi’s eyes flashed. “The desert still rips itself apart at the seams, and Kelvadan is still to blame. You might have fought for Lord Alasdar, but I fight for the people of the desert. They now stand against the riders of Kelvadan, unorganized and afraid, and they are the ones who will die tonight.”

“Then lead them!” I snapped, turning back to Keera, wanting nothing more than to bundle her into my arms and ride away to somewhere safe. There had already been too much pain and death in this tent.

Izumi stomped over to me, clapping her hand on my shoulder. “You must lead them.”

I looked up at her, the sincerity in her eyes taking me aback.

“You are the one they are here for. The Viper was named Champion of the Desert, and he is the one that delivered the clans from the lava wyrm. The lord of Clan Otush arrived and pronounced her clan loyal to you, not Lord Alasdar. They know the power you wield, and they only ever followed Lord Alasdar because of you. Now they have gathered here to serve you, and if you do not help them, their deaths will be on your hands.”

I clenched my jaw, looking back and forth between Keera and Izumi. Keera had nearly died fighting the lava wyrm to protect the clans of the desert. She spilled Lord Alasdar’s blood for me because she thought I was worthy. Would I be worthy if I let the people she was willing to die for perish during a surprise attack in the night?

“When the encampment is secure, we will help her. She is strong and will survive until the threat is driven away.” Izumi’s voice was gentle but brooked no argument.

“Sands,” I swore.