Page 83 of Crown of the Dunes

I could just make out Erix’s fingers loosening on the handle of his weapon, one by one as if it took a concerted effort. Finally, he dropped it, and it embedded itself point first in the baked earth.

The dirk at my throat stopped digging into my flesh, but it did not disappear. Instead, a hand grabbed my arm and hauled me off the rider who I still had partially pinned to the ground.

“Were you sent by Clan Katal?” the rider at my back demanded. Along with anger in his voice, I thought I could sense apprehension, although it was hard to say without being able to see his face.

A muscle in Erix’s jaw ticked as he considered the question. “No,” he finally bit out.

“Then why are you here?” the rider demanded again.

Erix simply raised his chin, the hard line of his mouth making it clear they would be getting no answer from him.

The rider who held me shook me lightly, and I ground my teeth to prevent myself from lashing out at him. It would only lead to bloodshed, and while I doubted many would recognize me as the current Queen of Kelvadan as I was dressed now, I wanted to do what I could to preserve the cooling of hostilities between the clans and the city. Killing several dozen clansmen would hardly endear me to them.

“Our Lords will have answers from you,” the rider promised, his tone menacing. “Get off your horse.”

Erix hesitated, but I nodded at him infinitesimally, and he dismounted. Another one of our attackers picked up the fallen saber where it stood buried into the sand. At the edge of my vision, I saw Erix’s hand spasm as the stranger touched it. The fading violence in the air pulsed, but I tugged at the bond between us, and it abated.

Another of the men tried to approach Daiti. Before I could warn him, a clack cut the air as Daiti’s teeth closed around where the man’s hand had been a second before. The rider hesitated, clearly unsure.

“He won’t let me out of his sight,” I commented. “If you take me, he will follow.”

They seemed satisfied with that answer, unwilling to take their chances with a war horse who still stamped and snorted with displeasure, even as they backed away. Instead, they settled for relieving me of the saber at my hip and the dirk tucked into my belt. One of the men grabbed a length of rope from where it hung looped on Alza’s back. He approached Erix and gestured for him to hold his hands out. I suppressed the urge to snort as Erix complied, letting his wrists be bound in front of him.

We had already learned in Kelvadan that very little could hold Erix if he did not wish to stay. And even if he had been unable to escape metal cuffs around his wrists, he had managed to help me fell a tricrith with bound hands regardless.

Once Erix was tied to their satisfaction, the rider behind me poked me between the shoulder blades.

“Walk,” he ordered. “The clan lords will be interested to hear whatever tale you tell about where you came from.”

For the second time in my life, I was dragged through an encampment as a prisoner, toward the center where the judgement of a Lord awaited. This time though, Erix trudged beside me, instead of being the one who had thrown me over the back of his horse.

Like then, clansmen began coming out of their tents to stare at us as the riders who attacked us marched us toward a half circle formed from the largest tents. Four stood in an arc, bearing the banners emblazoned with the fox of Clan Otush, the hyena of Clan Tibel, the hunting dog of Clan Vecturna, and the eagle of Clan Jal. Interestingly, a fifth much smaller tent stood in line with the dwellings of the other lords. A small scrap of turquoise fabric fluttered where it was tied to a pole just above the entrance, the color of a sash of Clan Caillte. I frowned but didn’t have time to consider it further as a man stepped out of the tent marked as belonging to the Lord of Clan Tibel.

“What do we have here?” He folded his arms over his chest. The face of a hyena was just visible in black ink on his dark skin. The image rippled as his bulky biceps flexed.

“They were sneaking up on the encampment,” said the rider who held me, apparently the leader of the group. “We suspect they are spies from Clan Katal.”

I tried to school my face as best I could, but I felt it spasm with equal parts curiosity and dread. The clansmen who had put themselves at the mercy of Kelvadan had mentioned infighting in the clans. I hadn’t imagined that divisions would have grown this deep in the short time that Erix had left them without a unifying leader, though.

The man, who must have been the Lord of Clan Tibel, cocked his head and smiled, the expression as menacing on him as it was on the hyena that was his people’s symbol.

“We will find out what their purpose is. I do not take kindly to those who would spill my clan’s blood needlessly.” I glanced at Erix out of the corner of my eye, and something flickered over his face. It was as if he was debating speaking but chose to swallow the words down.

I shifted my weight, wondering what he would say—what purpose he would claim brought us to the clans.

Before anybody else could speak, canvas rustled, and another tent flap swung open. A familiar woman stepped into the sunlight, and I tensed.

Lord Dhara of Clan Otush stopped just next to the other lord. No fewer than four knives lined her sash, and a gold ring glittered in one nostril. Her dark eyes narrowed as they flickered over me, before landing on Erix. Then, her brows shot up.

Without a word, she marched over to Alza, who stood with the other riders off to one side. She began to rifle through the small packs tied to her back. Confusion mixed with dread in my belly, until she grunted in triumph.

“Untie them,” she ordered. A shock of confusion ran through the group as she turned around, something metallic in her hands sharply reflecting the sunlight. She held them up before her, revealing a familiar metal mask. An ugly scar marred it where the tricrith’s venom had splashed across the smooth surface, but it was unmistakable. “It would seem our Lord Viper has returned to us.”

Whispers ran through the crowd. The muscles in my shoulders clenched, even as relief flooded my chest watching a rider hurry to untie Erix’s wrists. While I was glad these clans didn’t consider him an enemy, if it was a sign of their continued enmity against Kelvadan, I would be in grave danger.

Erix seemed to have the same concerns. He plucked the offered mask from Lord Dhara’s hands and glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes, as if trying not to draw too much attention to my presence.

Lord Dhara did not miss the expression though, and she turned toward me.