Page 38 of Crown of the Dunes

With a sharp nod, I put it back into its scabbard and strapped it around my torso so the blade rested across my back with the handle sticking up over my right shoulder. I briefly considered changing into clothes more suitable for fighting, but the hum of approaching battle sang in my blood, pulling me toward the gates of the palace.

My embroidered vest and loose pants might be rumpled and covered with specks of blood, but Neven had made them for a queen. And a queen was what Kelvadan needed right now.

“What’s the plan?” I asked Aderyn, tone clipped as we marched side by side down the wide stone hallway to the palace doors.

“I sent out the first wave of riders to meet the clans at the city entrance. Hopefully the new gates will hold them long enough for our forces to get there. Meanwhile, we need to evacuate all the civilians we can and bring them into the palace or at least within the top tier of walls.” Aderyn’s mouth twisted. “I wish I had had a chance to change the gate there to a solid door, but Queen”—her voice stuck in her throat at the name—“Queen Ginevra liked to be able to see her people.”

My eyes burned, and I bared my teeth at the grief that coursed through me. There would be a time for tears, but now was the time for blood. However, the reminder of how Ginevra had ruled gave me an idea.

“I’ll help with the evacuation.” I volunteered. “That way the people can see me and know that they have not been abandoned. The riders trust you to lead.”

Aderyn glanced at me out of the corner of her eye before nodding her assent.

We pushed through the double doors into the courtyard. The growing brightness of the dawn sun streamed straight at the city, making me squint after the dimness of the stone halls. Hoofs clopped on the hard ground and people shouted everywhere.

Immediately, a familiar mount approached, accompanied by a grim face. Kaius’s eyes were rimmed with red, and shadows haunted the hollows of his cheeks—as if the life had fled his face.

“Thank you, Kaius,” I said as he brought me Cail, only sparing her a quick pat on the nose and a murmur of encouragement before jumping onto her back. Aderyn mounted her horse beside me.

“Every rider that is ready to fight, form columns and follow me to the city gates! We must hold the clans at bay while Queen Keera helps evacuate our families.” Immediately, every one of the warriors in the courtyard hurried to follow her orders.

I sat stricken for a moment, the sense of being outside my body washing over me at the use of the title “queen” before my name. A hand on my shin drew me out of my stupor. I looked down to find Kaius looking up at me, eyes overbright. With his normally jovial and mischievous demeanor, I sometimes forgot his age. Now it lay heavy in the lines around his eyes and the sag of his shoulders.

“I lost my wife today. I know he’s not my son anymore—not really—but I’m still not sure I can bear to lose them both in one day.”

His words rent a chasm in my heart, deep and dark and full of bottomless hurt.

“We won’t be losing anything else today if I have anything to say about it,” I promised. I kicked Cail into a trot to follow the others out of the courtyard, even as doubt clung to me. I had vowed to protect this city—even from Erix—but the thought of uprooting the tether at the base of my spine made me want to retch. If I had to end his life to stop his attack… my brain refused to continue processing the thought.

I shook myself, turning right once I passed under the gate into the palace’s tier of the city. For now, there were citizens that needed to get to safety.

Aderyn’s riders broke into a canter and took off down the main road as I wove down the side streets, where the houses of citizens lined the cramped stone pathways. Already, people stumbled out of their front doors, blinking in confusion in the dawn light at the rising noise in the city.

“Kelvadan is under attack!” I shouted. “Make your way to the palace! You will find shelter there.”

The voice coming from my mouth sounded like it belonged to somebody else—strong and sure and full of authority. It sounded almost like Erix’s tone when he had given orders to other riders or instructed me in controlling my magic. My hands shook as I repeated the refrain over and over so all could hear.

I didn’t belong here, giving orders and hope to people who looked at me like I was somebody to put their trust in. I was an instrument of destruction that had destroyed their crops and their queen with careless misuse of my power.

The chanting of doubt in my head nearly drowned out my own voice as I rode through the streets, urging everyone to hurry to the palace where they would be protected. Only a high-pitched scream broke me from my internal battle.

A woman stood in a doorway, a tiny baby cradled in one arm while the toddler on her other hip ripped the hood from around her head and wailed. She paid them no mind though as her mouth hung open and her wide eyes fixed on something down the street.

I followed her gaze to find a third child, looking to be scarcely past its fifth name day, tearing down the street away from the palace. His short legs carried him remarkably fast toward the sounds of clashing steel and screaming horses. The clans must have breached the wall to enter the city, and this child was careening straight toward them.

“Go!” I shouted at the woman, waving to signal her to retreat up the street. “I’ll bring him to the palace.”

With a sharp nudge, Cail and I took off down the roadway, dashing past the rest of the retreating citizens toward the empty end of the street. I tilted sideways, holding on to my mare with my legs as I leaned completely off her back, reaching toward the retreating child. He squealed in delight as I caught him around the waist, kicking his feet as I lifted him.

My right leg screamed in protest, not yet used to being used like this as I flexed my thighs to bring myself back into my seat on Cail’s back. I placed the child in front of me, arm still firmly wrapped around his waist.

My mouth was open to chide him for giving his mother such a fright, when the breath exploded out of me. My teeth clacked painfully as I was wrenched backward off my horse, giant talons wrapped around my torso like steel bands.

I thrashed wildly, and my elbow connected with something fleshy, causing whatever had grabbed me to shriek, like the sound of a thousand sabers being drawn across a whetstone.

I hurtled toward the earth, managing to roll as I landed, although still hitting it hard enough that I would surely be covered in bruises tomorrow…if I lived that long. As I let my momentum carry me to a crouch, I looked up to see giant wings blocking out the rising sun, casting the street in shadow.

Cail's eyes rolled in terror. It looked as if she wanted to buck in fear but settled for stamping in place to avoid unseating the child still on her back.