Page 38 of Blood of the Sands

“He’s a spy,” I spat out.

“It seemed Izumi pays closer attention than you, considering she gained his trust and then brought him to me before you even put it together,” he explained coolly.

I glanced up at Izumi, and although she did not smile, an unmistakable flash of pride danced along her features. So this was her bid to gain Lord Alasdar’s favor.

“As I was saying,” Izumi started when I continued to stare, sword still drawn, “Queen Ginevra is obviously concerned about the threat we pose and knows of our progress in uniting the clans if she sent a spy to watch our actions. I spotted Oren sending a messenger bird and became suspicious.”

At that, Lord Alasdar stood and walked to stand before the man kneeling on the floor—Oren I guessed. Even as his sandaled feet stopped in his line of view, Oren did not look up, although I could see a muscle working in his jaw.

Izumi kicked him in the side, none too gently. He grunted in pain, but his eyes remained fixed on the ground. Lord Alasdar, seemingly unperturbed, lowered himself to one knee, crouching before the spy in the way one would lower themselves to speak to a small child. My stomach clenched.

With a hand on his jaw, Lord Alasdar forced the spy to look at him. Oren resisted, and Lord Alasdar’s long, spidery fingers dug into his cheek.

“What have you told the queen?”

The magic binding together everything in the tent began to shudder, and I tensed against it. Izumi remained expressionless, unable to feel it as Lord Alasdar tugged on the tethers of Oren’s mind. Even as Lord Alasdar focused his power on the spy before him, a slithery feeling of unpleasantness ran up my spine at this use of the desert’s magic.

While Lord Alasdar didn’t harbor nearly as much raw power as I, his iron control gave him skills I could scarcely dream of. I’d never reached into the thoughts of another, aside from the gentle nudge of reassurance against the consciousness of a horse, knowing I would likely shred their sanity on contact. I could barely keep my magic from ripping into my own brain, always inches from falling into the madness that would one day be my fate. My magic was better suited to wild outbursts, shaping the desert around me to its will.

Oren bit his lips as if trying to resist speaking. Lord Alasdar’s eyes narrowed as his power flared and Oren began to shake.

“The Trials,” Oren blurted out as if saying the words were both pain and relief. “I told her that if the Viper is crowned Champion, the clans will unite.”

“What else?” Lord Alasdar’s tone was as casual as if he were asking about the weather.

“Nothing.” Oren spat the word in disgust. I could tell he was disappointed in his own weakness, giving in to Lord Alasdar’s probing, although he shouldn’t be. Very few would be able to resist for more than a few seconds.

Lord Alasdar considered him, not withdrawing his power yet, as if checking to see if he were telling the truth.

“Very well.” He stood with a brusque nod to Izumi. “Then he is of no more use to us.”

Izumi drew her sword from her hip.

I lunged forward. “Wait!”

It was too late. Blood splattered across the thick layers of rugs as Izumi drew her blade across Oren’s throat in a savage swipe. He gurgled and swayed for a moment, before pitching forward to crumple at a heap on the ground.

As connected as I had been to the magic of the desert in the tent, the sudden extinguishing of his life left me dizzy, a hint of nausea rolling over me. Lord Alasdar turned to look at me, eyes narrowed as if he could sense my weakness.

“It’s good that one of you does not hesitate to do what needs to be done.” His tone was icy, but it burned just as deep as hot iron across my back.

I owed Lord Alasdar everything I had but failed to carry out his wishes.

“He could have had information on Kelvadan’s defenses or been used to feed false rumors to the queen,” I pointed out. Even as his blood soaked through the rugs into the sand, and I felt the desert purr at the lifeforce that was returned to her, rage built in my head at the wastefulness of Izumi’s actions.

“He would not have known anything you haven’t already told me,” Lord Alasdar dismissed. “Leaving him alive would only have given him a chance to escape, as you did with the exile girl.”

I bit my tongue so hard my mouth flooded with copper. Izumi raised her chin triumphantly, standing over the fallen spy with a look of victory that spoke of conquering more than just an unarmed man.

So, this was Lord Alasdar’s ploy: to use his disapproval of Izumi to pit her against me, driving her efforts to new heights and punishing me for my failures. My hesitation to make the sacrifice and use brute force to bring the last five clans under our control had not gone unnoticed. Lord Alasdar’s message was clear.

I bowed my head. “We are lucky Izumi remained vigilant.”

I would do better. I had given up everything for Lord Alasdar to do my duty and save the desert. He saved me from my madness, and I would do whatever it took to help him in his mission—our mission.

Chapter Twelve

Keera