A Queen of Gilded Horns (A River of Royal Blood #2) - Amanda Joy Page 0,108

debating the merits of each dish Daischa had served last night. While most of the khimaer forces had already been in the caves for two days, we stayed in the Aerie, aiding in the evacuation. Most people simply went about their business in the market, and instead of returning to the Aerie, they’d waited for a gap in the soldiers’ patrols to enter the caves. But the children and elders who couldn’t easily navigate the steps, they helped. I hadn’t even considered that to have the measure of freedom the Aerie offered, many were confined to it. The isolation was an additional layer of the terror Throllo had inflicted.

Yaya stood at the head of the tunnel armed with a bladed staff, listening for any movement outside. As Dthazi rightly predicted, General Sareen hadn’t mounted any search for the dead soldiers, but a waiting hung in the air. Like we had forgotten something, but couldn’t quite remember what.

Dthazi, who had been walking back and forth talking and laughing with everyone he passed, seemed the only one at ease. When he stopped in front of me, I’d expected a joke or sarcastic remark to his brother. But he folded his arms and looked down at me. “Let’s see it, then. Your magick.”

“Excuse me?” I asked. I was in the midst of oiling my sword, and we were supposed to be setting off soon. Now he wanted a display?

“Really, Dthazi?” Aketo groaned. “I told you she can handle herself.”

“Psh, I’m not worried about that. Your bragging has me curious. Besides, would you expect a leader to go into battle without knowing all the weapons in his arsenal?”

“Fair enough,” I muttered. Dthazi’s booming voice had drawn stares, and my stomach lurched at all the attention. “What do you want to see? I can’t exactly use my magick without a target.”

“I see all those weapons inked on your arms,” he offered.

At least he hadn’t mentioned my khimaer magick. I had followed Aketo’s advice, and all the picturing didn’t manifest a thing.

I looked to Aketo, wishing that Baccha was here. It was easier to ask someone for blood when you knew they would heal immediately. “Do you mind?”

Aketo bit into his wrist and held it over my waiting palm. Soon as the blood touched my skin, I could taste the magick in the air.

I drew my sword and let the magick drip down my hands until it cloaked the blade. Dthazi made a noise of approval and went to touch the flickering crimson power, which moved like flame over the metal but produced no heat.

I inched the sword back from his curious fingers. “Don’t. Unless you want to bleed from that hand.”

Next I found the arrow on my forearm and, with the last of Aketo’s blood, called forth the quiver of arrows I’d discovered while trapped in my mindscape, with only magick for company.

Unlike the blood magick I used in tandem with actual blades, these arrows were pure crimson power. When I drew an arrow from the quiver, it was as hot as blood and felt insubstantial in my hand.

“How will you use them without a bow?”

“Duck,” I said with a grin, before I released the arrow.

I didn’t throw it. I simply told it to stop at the tip of Dthazi’s nose for a moment, before it arced around him and whizzed through the room. Pleased with Dthazi’s frozen expression, I bade it to return to my hand. “If you want to know if they strike as hard as arrows, let me know.”

I only noticed the cave had fallen silent when Dthazi let out a low whistle.

I looked around and found wide-eyed, fearful expressions staring back. Heat rose in my cheeks and I released the power and the quiver immediately disappeared. What had I been thinking, showing off blood magick like that? This was Raina’s magick, the murderous gift that had won the war, resulting in a rebellion that left them trapped in the Enclosures.

“Brilliant, Eva,” Aketo murmured, giving my hand a squeeze.

“I’m glad you fight with us,” Dthazi said with a wink, his bright expression so at odds with the fear he must have felt spreading through the room. “Little sister.”

He moved on to the next group of khimaer soldiers. Silence broken, the chatter throughout the rest of the tunnel began again.

I released the breath I’d been holding, and excused myself, intending to find my sister.

I made my way toward the caves deeper in the mountain, where the rest of the khimaer who wouldn’t be