Page 79 of Heart of the Desert

I reached subconsciously for the two halves of the broken Heart tucked into my sash. At first, I just put my hand over the broken pieces, hesitating. The tether tied to the base of my skull quivered, and I glanced sideways to see Keera gazing at where my hand lay.

Izumi already knew the truth, as did Aderyn, Elion, and Dhara. But the other lords and Warrick did not know about the Heart. A small piece of my mind still told me to hide it—to keep the temptation of power from others’ hands like Lord Alasdar, or to keep the information close until the most advantageous moment like my mother might have.

Keera nodded at me slightly, and I felt her resolve solidify alongside mine.

No, we would not rule as our predecessors had. We had both tried to fit ourselves into their molds and failed when our skills did not match those that kind of leadership required. If we were to be the new High Lords of the Ballan Desert, we would have to rule as ourselves. Honest, flawed but strong—and together.

I pulled the Heart out for all to see. “Do your legends tell you of the Heart of the Desert, Warrick?”

His eyes widened, and he shook his head. “Last year in the courtyard at Kelvadan was the first time I had heard of it. But I knew if Prince Calix sought it, it could only bring harm to Doran.”

“This is the Desert’s Heart, and it has been broken. We must heal it if she is to be whole again,” I declared. Carefully, I told them what I had learned about Kelvar and the key to the desert’s restoration lying in Kelvadan, although I remained somewhat vague about how I knew this. I tried to suggest that I was privy to the story of Kelvar simply by being his descendent.

“Not only must we reclaim the Great City to drive the invaders from our home,” Keera added in, once I had finished. “We need to reach the top of the palace if the Heart is to be healed.”

Warrick’s eyes stayed glued to the broken gem in my hand as she spoke, and a shiver of apprehension climbed up my spine. I teetered on the edge of trusting him. He had shared so much information that he didn’t have to and saved us when he could have let the wave wash us away. Maybe I did not have to trust him to not have his own purposes to let him fight at my side—after all, clan lords shifted allegiances and served their own people above all but still banded together when it suited them.

He sat back and unfolded his arms. “Some stories of creation say that each of the goddesses was born holding the answer of one of life’s greatest mysteries. The Goddess of Doran—the eldest—was gifted the future. Although some say time. The Middle Goddess was gifted the mastery of death, and what lies beyond. And the third in all her passion, was gifted the unknowable power of love. I never put much stock into such an interpretation, but perhaps that is why her Heart is the key to her power.”

I glanced at Keera to find her already looking back at me. It was similar to what we had seen in the temple, where the drawings clearly depicted two people, joined together in the leadership of the desert. Perhaps Warrick had already seen the carvings and twisted his story to align with ours for his own gain.

“And why should I believe you wouldn’t want this power for yourself?” I asked him.

Warrick huffed and looked around him. “Once, I might have thought to claim it. But the longer I spend in your lands among your people, the more I am convinced I would gain no advantage from such a power. It is fickle and unpredictable—”

“Just like love,” Elion interjected slyly.

Warrick glared at him as he continued, “…and it leaves no room for proper strategy. I prefer the favor of a goddess who values steadfast tradition. Besides, I’m not sure the Youngest Goddess’s power extends beyond the edge of the desert and”—he sighed heavily, as if embarrassed by the next admission—“I hate this heat and all the sand. I miss the snow and the rocky mountains that don’t give way underfoot.”

“And yet you would still journey all this way to aid the Clans in recapturing Kelvadan?” Keera pressed.

“As I told Izumi in messages when we conversed by eagle, I want to see Viltov fall. I want to see Calix bleed, and you will need my help.” He reiterated his point. “With only one city in the desert, you do not lay siege the same way we do in Viltov and Doran. You do not know of the catapults and trebuchets Calix will have built—giant engines of war that throw flaming rocks. You will need my knowledge of his tactics.”

“If your tactics were truly superior, you wouldn’t covet our horses for your cavalry,” Dhara argued. “With our horses, we can face these devices. It would seem that you are the ones that would need help to traverse the desert, as you have no mounts.”

A twinkle lit Warrick’s eye, and I was reminded that he was indeed a devious opponent. “Izumi had already mentioned that, and so I came up with a rather artful solution. Come and see.”

Chapter twenty-eight

Keera

Doran’s camp was in nearly as much disarray as the clans after the hasty retreat, but I barely spared it much thought as Warrick led the group to where his boats had been pulled up the beach. The men were hard at work on them—as they had been before—but now I saw that they did not work on the wooden sides. Instead, they were building something off the sides: Long narrow wooden planks that nearly lifted them off the ground.

On occasion, when conditions were harsh and a clan wanted to carry more water on their journeys to follow the herds, they would construct sleds. Horses could pull heavier water barrels this way, until they were empty and lighter. The effect with the boats was similar.

“Our horses will not be pulling your boats,” Aderyn said automatically, clearly thinking along the same lines I had been. While Aderyn had been quiet during the meeting with the other lords, Izumi and the Lords of Clan Ratan and Miran now looked at her curiously as they nodded approvingly.

She might not be of the clans, but she honored the ways of the desert, and that was the surest way to win their respect. A seed of an idea that had taken root in my chest began to unfurl a tentative tendril, but I turned my attention away from it. If we could not retake Kelvadan, a discussion of who would rule the city would be purely theoretical. I preferred the practical.

Warrick scoffed in response. “I would not expect such. I’ll admit I understand little of your ways, but the fact that you love horses more than your own children is apparent.”

“We can love both,” Aderyn muttered, and I did not miss the way her hand drifted to her now obviously swollen belly. There was no hiding from the others that she was expecting a child.

“You’ll notice we kept the masts up.” Warrick pointed at the tall wooden poles at the center of the boat, adorned with curled canvas. It looked almost like a tent flap, rolled up to be kept open. “In the flat lands of the desert, I was hoping there would be enough wind to carry them. After all, the swells of the dunes look so similar to the waves of the sea. I figured, why not sail them as well.”

“These vessels look heavy. You are unlikely to be able to sail as fast as our horses,” Izumi pointed out.

“I will admit, I was concerned when we first made land. But then, an unnatural storm whipped in. If that wind could be harnessed and maintained…” Warrick trailed off, looking pointedly at the group.