A Queen of Gilded Horns (A River of Royal Blood #2) - Amanda Joy Page 0,86

both for it.”

I shut my eyes for a moment, trying to make sense of her words. I’d always envied the bond between Isa and our mother so much, it never occurred to me that Isa might feel the same. I was so tired. I could’ve lain down in the sand right then and fallen asleep for a year.

And yet an entire crowd of people waited for me to decide what I would do. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me; the waiting was like a cloying perfume in the air.

I turned from my sister and walked back to where the General stood, speaking quietly with one of his soldiers, a brown-skinned, younger woman with pointed fey ears.

Truth was, as much as I was reeling, Mateen’s appearance, and apparent loyalty, changed little, except to give us a real chance of surviving a rebellion at Sher n’Cai. His Jackals’ skill in battle and magick might be the edge that granted us a victory. And I had a notion to seek out the rest of the Generals in my father’s letter. If they joined us at Sher n’Cai, I might actually be able to mount a force against the rest of the army when they came to root out rebellion.

“Mateen, you say you’re still loyal to my father. Well, I’m going to give you a chance to prove it. We go north, to Sher n’Cai. I hope General Sareen is no friend of yours.”

Mateen rocked back on his heels. I couldn’t decide if he was impressed at my boldness or troubled. After a moment, though, he nodded. “We go where you command.”

“And you have no problem following the commands of a khimaer?”

“Well, I didn’t know it at the time, but I’ve been following the commands of a khimaer for nearly two decades. I don’t see why that should change now.”

I just prayed at least some of his colleagues felt the same.

– II –

QUEEN OF REBELS

Many scholars say the khimaer planned for rebellion the moment they surrendered in the First War. Others theorize that the human rulers’ unforgiving laws forced their hand. One truth we know for certain: there was no avoiding insurrection. The khimaer will never consent to human rule.

—From Killeen: The Cobalt Dagger of Myre,

by Kreshi Isomar

Chapter 21

Baccha

“You lied to me,” Ysai growled in lieu of a proper greeting. She shoved a cup of tea across the rickety table between them.

He’d been forced to sleep in the “cages” in the back of camp for the past four days. The cubes, made from woven strips of teakwood and packed mud, were only half his height. He’d been folded up on himself, contemplating kicking out one of the sides, so at least he could lie flat, when Ysai finally retrieved him. She said nothing as she undid the latch holding the cage shut. When Baccha half crawled and slithered out of the cursed little box, she’d surveyed him with a curling lip.

The indignity of it all might’ve infuriated a younger version of Baccha, but right now, he was just glad to be smelling something other than mud, sour sweat, and piss. Besides, he’d once been locked in a pine chest and left in a citrus grove for three months by a fellow magickian wanting to test the limits of his immortality. This was only a minor annoyance compared with that.

When Ysai walked away, Baccha knew he was to follow. They went to her hideaway cave, where they’d first spoken at length.

“What a lovely surprise,” Baccha said, settling down on a tree stump that passed as seating here. “Good morn to you, Mother Ysai. How can I, a lowly Hunter, be of service?”

She held up an empty tin cup, opened a small wound in her palm, and bled into it. She pushed it toward him with one clawed finger. Baccha hadn’t noticed the claws the last time he’d seen her, but he’d noticed she favored small shifts in her form. One day when she visited his cell, she would have large fox ears, the next, long canine teeth poking out of her lips or a tufted tail lashing the air. A very tasteful, if curious, use of Khimaerani’s power that made Baccha want to know the young Mother of the Tribe more.

“Drink.”

“You know, Moriya used to brew me a cup of tea to make this a little more pleasant. Have the Elderi come to a decision yet?” Baccha said, stalling as he stared down at the swirling crimson liquid. “It has been several days