Chapter Four Amunet
FOUR AMUNET
Moonlight flashed across puddles of blood in the grass of the inner garden. Metal crashed against metal as scimitars met swords and battle-axes. Above it all rose roars, those of great beasts.
There were plenty of stories about the Kaldfolk’s ability to shape-shift. I’d only gotten a glimpse before, but when I glanced around the garden, my throat closed up.
Hulking men with black markings twisting up their bodies battled against my soldiers, but so did massive bears with brown fur streaked through with blue, and claws that tore through soldier after soldier as easily as swatting away gnats.
I watched as one of the bears morphed into a man with a swinging braid, the blue fur shifting into tattoos on his skin, the symbol of his gift, just like that Kald who had spoken to the king.
But where that Keir of the Wild Valley possessed some rational thought, this one was all animal.
Bright yellow eyes gleamed as the Kald grinned maniacally into the face of a guard, mouth foaming, before shifting back into a bear and tearing the man’s throat out.
My ears rang with the screams; blood and viscera sprayed. I headed straight for the large arches on the other side of the courtyard. They would take me to the front of the palace.
Jasim caught me and pulled me in the other direction. “It’s faster this way—” We swung around a corner that led into a palace vestibule and screeched to a halt as we came face-to-face with a human Kald.
Though most of his body was hidden in shadow, made even more opaque by his black runes, the Kald was a huge, lumbering figure with saliva dripping from his mouth. He grinned at me, eyes shining in the dark, full of bloodlust.
Jasim shoved one of his scimitars into my hand. “Run!” he shouted, and launched himself at the Kald, his own blade held high. The other guards followed suit, slashing viciously.
I did not need to be told twice. I bolted down the hall.
Swords and arms tried to catch me. But for the first time in my life, I was grateful for the training the king had foisted on me.
I didn’t slow even as I used my scimitar to parry and dodge incoming blows, sinking my blade into a chest, a stomach.
I plunged the scimitar into a Kald’s thigh and sliced.
The woman screeched as blood gushed out of the wound and her leg gave out. I leaped over her and kept running.
I didn’t know where I was going, where Jasim had been leading us, but I sprinted as fast as my sandaled feet would take me. If I could reach the other courtyard, I knew it would let out right by the Lotus River, and then I could run for one of the principalities and ask for sanctuary.
I rounded into a long corridor and froze. A bear had his back to me, thank the gods, but in two seconds, he’d smell me. Even with my training, I wouldn’t stand a chance against such a beast.
I ducked into a random room and pulled the door shut behind me. Nothing more than a closet. No windows, no other doors.
I was trapped.
A guttural laugh sounded on the other side of the door.
My whole body locked up as heavy footsteps thumped closer, punctuated by the clicking of claws against the tiled floor.
“I can smell you, little girl,” said the Kald, voice deep and thick, like it was difficult to speak past all those teeth. “You smell… delicious.”
Nausea rolled through me. The Kald chuckled again. “Oh, you’re going to taste good.”
I brandished my scimitar in front of me and gritted my teeth. Baba! I cried out in my mind. Shaya, please, save me. Please!
Another thump sounded, heavier, right outside the door, followed by a choked cry. I tensed, eyes wide as I stared at the door. Such a pathetic shield. The sweat on my palms slickened my grip on the scimitar’s hilt; I tightened my fingers until my knuckles were white.
Please, please, please, I will do whatever you ask of me. I swear it!
The door whipped open, and I swung my blade—
Jasim dodged it and held up his hands. He was covered in blood, some his, some not, and the beginnings of a bruise forming on the right side of his face. He put a finger to his lips, warning me to be quiet.
When I dared to glance down, I saw the bear lying on the floor, yellow eyes open but unseeing, his slit throat pouring out blood.
It ran across the floor and pooled around my feet.
I flexed my toes in the blood, sticky, still warm, and felt a modicum of relief.
Where there was death and sacrifice, Shaya was near.
Death was his conduit to the living. I waited for the rustle of his wind.
Some silent assurance that he was back, that he was sorry, that he would help me.
Chick, chick, chick…
My relief drained like the Kald’s blood between the limestones.
Jasim waved me forward, and before I knew it, we were in the queen’s old chambers.
The furniture in the room was covered in white sheets, unused since my mother’s death, and a dusty tapestry hung innocently against the wall beside the large bed. Jasim pushed it aside to reveal a heavy door. He heaved it open and ushered me through.
I lifted the skirt of my mother’s dress and stepped into the dark hallway. Jasim pulled the secret door shut behind us.