Page 86 of Crown of the Dunes

A smile softened the corners of the rider’s lips, despite the hard set of many clansmen’s faces that was born of difficult times.

“I’m surprised you remember, Lord Viper,” the man, Nabu, said. “But I hope you did find what you were looking for in Kelvadan, both for your own sake and for the desert’s.” His gaze darted over to me so quickly I thought I imagined it in the brief moment before Erix spoke.

“My search continues, but I will fight for all who call the Ballan Desert home,” Erix responded. A roiling wave of discomfort rolled down the tether in my belly, tinged bitter with something akin to guilt.

“Well, then I hope you will join us in our fight tonight,” Nabu invited before inclining his head and turning away toward his own fire.

At his words, Lord Dhara stood and dusted off her loose linen pants, the movement making the bangles at her wrists and the knives at her waist jangle. “Speaking of which, we should head to the field before the riders start to get restless.”

I wondered at what she might mean as I stood and trailed her and the other lords toward the edge of an encampment, where there lay a patch of sand smoother than the rest, as if it had been combed into a flat surface. At each end of the long rectangles stood bent arches of date palm branches.

Lord Elion strode over to a rack nearby and lifted a length of wood from among a large stack. He tossed it back and forth in his palms a few times before turning to Erix. He held it out, and I took in a long, thin branch, sanded down smooth with a flattened hook on the edge. Familiarity sparked in my mind.

“Do you play kaman, Lord Viper?” Elion asked.

My lips quirked. Kaman was a common past time among Clan Padra during my youth, although the game of athleticism turned brutal more often than not. On one occasion, crossing paths with Clan Caillte resulted in a match of kaman between the two clans, suggested by the lords in favor of a duel of honor that seemed inevitable between two of their riders. The match had ended in several broken bones and even more bruises, but it had been preferable in the eyes of the lords to the death that would be the inevitable end to a duel.

It seemed that these four and a half clans were looking to keep the peace that sustained their alliance in the same way.

“I’m familiar with the game, but I’ve never played,” Erix admitted.

I stared at him for a long moment before snapping my mouth shut, not realizing it had fallen open. In my youth, I had wormed my way into almost every match of kaman played by Clan Padra, something about the ruthlessness of the game always calling to the constant restlessness in my veins.

“I take it you’ve played?” Lord Dhara asked, picking up another curved stick and passing it to me. I hefted it in my grip a few times, finding it lighter than a saber and slightly unfamiliar, but still solid and reassuring under my fingers.

“It’s been years,” I admitted. A decade, really.

“Something tells me you’ll fare all right,” Lord Dhara said, jerking her chin toward the field.

I glanced at Erix, who was about to hand his stick back to Lord Elion. Without a thought, I stopped him with a hand on his forearm. He froze, and I swallowed.

“Come on,” I encouraged. “I’m sure you’ll be able to master it. All you have to do is try to hit the ball through the goal.”

I felt the muscles of his forearm ripple under my touch as he squeezed the stick tighter.

“All right,” he conceded, before letting me lead him out onto the cleared field.

We stopped near the center as more clansmen grabbed their sticks and drifted toward us.

“Kaman isn’t played in Kelvadan,” he admitted, “and I was never truly one of the riders at Clan Katal.”

I considered him, watching out of the corner of my eyes as both Elion and Dhara also selected their sticks and walked toward the gathering crowd of riders. From their posture, I could not tell if their words were hostile or not, but Elion’s lips quirked in a smile, telling me that he did not mind whatever barbs Dhara threw at him.

I considered before I responded. “Lord Alasdar wanted you to be alone—to be isolated so you were more easily controlled. But you were clearly more than The Viper he intended you to be to these people. They believed in you as their leader… they believe in you still.”

“Not all of them,” Erix grumbled, clearly referring to the other half of the clans who had splintered off to continue the fight against Kelvadan.

I shook my head, wanting to say more, but Lord Dhara stopped in the middle of the riders and held a leather ball up above her head, gathering their attention.

“Lord Elion and I will call teams,” she announced, her voice projecting with all the strength of one who commanded their riders with no room for disobedience. In a matter of minutes, I found myself standing on Dhara’s side of the field, while Erix was called away to stand by Elion.

Dhara jerked her chin toward the center of the field. “Why don’t you take the first hit?” she asked me.

I nodded my thanks and headed to the small circle traced in the sand. Dhara followed me, holding the tightly stitched leather ball we were to use. Another rider met me there, and we faced off against each other, crossing the curved ends of our sticks between us.

Lord Dhara held the ball above them, and everybody on the field fell quiet. Then, she dropped it.

Fire surged in my veins as I struck hard and fast, batting the ball back toward Dhara’s team. I didn’t waste any time shouldering the other rider out of the way as the game kicked off, and a loud grunt escaped him at the contact.