Page 5 of Heart of the Desert

Aderyn fingered the hilts of her weapons, but she glanced over her shoulder hesitantly at the tent behind her. She had scarcely ventured beyond the fire pit in front of the borrowed dwelling since arriving, spending nearly every minute at Neven’s side as he recovered from his brutal injury.

“How is he?” I asked, unable to suppress a grimace at the memory of his mangled hand, bone poking through shredded skin. Even worse had been his screams as the healers set each tiny joint, in the hopes that he’d be able to weave again someday.

“He never should have had to suffer such violence,” Aderyn bit out. “That was the promise of Kelvadan.”

I nodded, guilt heavy as a stone in my stomach. “Help me make it so again. Come meet the lords with me.”

She squared her jaw and nodded jerkily. “I’ll make things right.”

“We will make things right,” I promised. Even as I said it, the words tasted bitter.

I had promised myself I would do whatever it took to protect the people of Kelvadan. I was even willing to tear my heart in half and marry somebody else to keep them fed, but in doing so, I had doomed the city and the clans to the whims of a tyrant. If I had been the one to bring their destruction, did I truly have the power to make the desert whole again?

Chapter three

Erix

Dhara’s nostrils flared in frustration, and her golden nose ring glittered in the light of the braziers. Without looking, she shoved the paper at the next lord in the circle, Lord Elion, so hard it nearly crumpled against his chest. He eased it gently from her fingers, but she snatched her hand away as if his touch burned.

“I will gut him like a snake,” she hissed.

“You will have to fight me for the privilege.” My voice was little more than a rumble, like the threat of thunder in the distance.

The air stirred as Keera shifted at my side. I took a deep breath and clenched my fists until my nails bit into my palm. My rage unsettled her. I did not wish to add to the numerous burdens she already carried. I needed to master my mind and my magic.

“Kelvadan will not be easily breached,” Lord Elion pointed out.

“We did it once before,” Lord Noc of Clan Vecturna pointed out. “Could we not breach the walls the same way we did last time?”

I inhaled sharply as a new voice chimed in from the far side of Keera. “Last time, Kelvadan was in disarray after the death of Queen Ginevra, and the walls and gate were not guarded as they should have been.” Aderyn’s voice was so tight, I could practically hear the wounds admitting such a thing dealt to her pride. “Calix is cunning, and he was in the city during the last battle. He will not make the same mistakes.”

“Even then, it took the riders of all nine clans, and the battle was cut short,” Keera said, glancing sidelong at me.

“With the strength of only four and a half clans, and Calix well supplied from beyond the mountains, we have little hope of retaking the city,” Lord Dhara concluded, folding her arms across her chest.

“There are five other lords anxious to renew their siege on Kelvadan,” Lord Elion said.

My hands curled into fists on my lap, tight enough that my knuckles ached. Even with all nine clans, it would be a grim task to drive Prince Calix from Kelvadan, although not as insurmountable as it was now. The clans had been fracturing from the moment leadership fell into my hands, though, and I had driven in a wedge that splintered them further. Getting the clans to unite once more would be just as difficult as the battles we faced, but I saw no other alternatives.

“Izumi and the other lords’ blind rage against the great city makes them dangerous,” Lord Dhara said cooly.

“The desert is dangerous. I am dangerous. Yet you followed me into battle when I asked it of you,” I cut in. “We have no safe allies left to turn to. Their anger against Kelvadan can be a sharp blade if wielded properly.”

A muscle in Lord Dhara’s jaw ticked, but she did not object. Quiet fell around the fire as we all absorbed what needed to be done. The clans had only been united once before, briefly under my rule for the first siege of Kelvadan. With the violent fracture rent between the two factions, the broken edges would be even harder to fit back together.

Fit them we must, though, if Kelvadan were to be retaken.

“I will go,” Lord Elion broke the tense silence.

Lord Dhara tensed, and the fire before us flared suddenly before returning to its merry crackle. I had nearly forgotten how Dhara’s power seemed to manifest in flames.

Elion stared at her, as if waiting for her to object, but she raised her chin and refused to meet his eyes. The other lords watched the strange game between them with raised brows, but Dhara did not rise to the bait. If I hadn’t been watching closely, I wouldn’t have noticed the way Elion’s proud shoulders slumped just slightly as he looked away.

“I will journey to the other encampment to negotiate with Izumi and the other lords. Before the clans fractured, Clan Tibel often played kaman with Clan Ratan, and I considered Lord Davina a friend. Perhaps I can call on that old friendship to heal the rifts between us,” he continued.

I nodded, still chewing my cheek in indecision. The rift with Izumi had been created by me and should be mine to heal. I shifted, and the two halves of the Heart clacked heavily in my pocket.

There were too many things to heal and too little time.