Page 14 of A Kingdom of Sand and Ice (Kingdom of Gods #2)
‘Do you truly think I would do this to myself?’ Alina snapped, gesturing towards her bare, disfigured crown. ‘The witches have returned, and they’re coming for all of us.’
‘Yes… perhaps you are right.’ Mareena released a sigh, slow and weary. ‘My Seers have spoken of omens, dark and disturbing things. May we be blazed by the light.’
‘May we be blazed by the light,’ Alina echoed softly.
‘I am sorry for what has been done to you,’ Mareena said, her hand moving in a vague gesture towards Alina’s head as the princess quickly covered herself once more.
‘And I grieve for what you’ve lost. You as well, Hessa Waadi Al-Dunasi.
’ Her voice gentled. ‘My family will be informed of the truth behind Zahian’s death.
In the meantime, I hope you’ll remain at the palace a few days and rest from your journey. ’
‘We don’t wish to impose,’ Alina began, but was swiftly silenced by a sharp pinch to her arm from Hessa.
‘My beasts…’ Hessa stepped forward with a lopsided grin, throwing Alina a look full of mischief.
‘Will be seen to,’ Mareena assured them. ‘What do they eat? We’re unfamiliar with desert serpents.’
A snort escaped Hessa. ‘Naughty people.’
Alina cast the desert princess a withering glance, silently begging her to behave.
‘I’m sure we can spare a prisoner or two,’ Mareena added smoothly, unperturbed by Hessa’s glib reply. ‘The servants will escort you to your rooms. I must pray for my brother now.’
She rose from the throne, and at once the chamber responded.
Everyone moved, shifting into stillness or motion depending on their proximity to royalty.
Alina watched as Mareena was escorted from the hall by the Phanax, no longer a soldier in plain garb, but a princess enveloped in ceremonial splendour.
Just hours before, she had walked among them as a warrior, unguarded and unflinching.
Now she was trailed by blades and solemnity, like a relic to be preserved. Intriguing.
‘Most people don’t know she’s Phanax,’ Hessa said as they followed the servants through a long corridor.
‘Word is, when she walks the city streets, she sometimes wears a serpopard-shaped helmet to mask her face. To be fair, this land is so vast most wouldn’t recognise the king’s face, let alone the princess’s. ’
Alina was certain of one thing; she would never find her way around the palace.
Every space they passed seemed grander than the last, each corridor more elaborate, each chamber more ornate.
Rooms opened out like dreams carved in stone, filled with fluted columns and scatterings of velvet cushions.
Board games lay untouched on golden-yellow tiles beside gently steaming pools, while strange and beautiful creatures wandered freely through the still air.
Trees—palm trees, if she recalled her history lessons correctly—grew not in gardens, but inside the very rooms themselves, their green fronds brushing the ceilings, their trunks rising like ancient sentinels among silken drapes.
The servants led them through a maze of rooms and passageways until at last they reached their chambers.
Alina entered hers with the cautious awe of someone stepping into a storybook.
Yet despite the beauty of the space with its arched doorways, gilded mirrors, intricate mosaic floors, one thing puzzled her. There was no bath.
She searched every corner, every alcove, expecting to find a tub tucked behind a screen or hidden within a side room, but there was nothing of the sort.
It wasn’t long before Hessa arrived, watching with quiet amusement as Alina rifled through the room, increasingly distressed .
‘There’s no tub, amira,’ Hessa said, her voice light with sympathy. ‘We bathe in the pools.’
‘The pools?’ Alina turned to her, frowning. ‘You mean the ones anyone can use?’
‘They are meant for bathing. That’s their purpose.’
‘But…’ Alina hesitated, biting her lip. ‘Other people… use them.’
This time, Hessa didn’t tease. She knew well enough now why Alina struggled with such a notion.
Once, it would have been because she was a pampered royal unused to sharing even the air around her.
But now… now it was different. The thought of anyone seeing her stripped not just of clothes but of dignity, of the beauty that had once been her pride was unbearable.
‘I’ll make sure we’re alone,’ Hessa said gently, stepping forward and placing her hands on Alina’s arms. ‘You have my word.’
As she turned to leave, Alina stopped her with a whisper. ‘Shouldn’t we wait to be escorted? We can’t just wander the palace.’
Hessa laughed softly. ‘It doesn’t work like that here, amira.’
‘Oh.’
So Alina followed, reluctant but trusting.
They meandered through the palace, retracing their steps more than once when Hessa’s confidence gave way to uncertainty.
Eventually, they stumbled upon one of the many bathing pools tucked within the vast estate.
Alina suspected Mareena had a private wing of her own, perhaps with her own pool.
She tried not to feel slighted that nothing similar had been arranged for her.
Ash would have scoffed at her pride, she thought bitterly.
The memory of him rose so suddenly, so sharply, that it caught in her throat.
‘Are you all right, amira?’ Hessa asked, concern wavering in her voice.
‘Yes… it’s nothing.’ Alina looked away quickly.
She refused to let herself dwell on thoughts of her brother, her parents… of what had been taken. She had spent too many days crying, crumbling beneath the weight of grief. That time had passed.
Now, she needed to become steel. She would avenge them all.
And for that, tears would not serve her.
‘How do you know so much about this place?’ Alina asked, her voice low with curiosity.
Hessa snorted. ‘How is it that you do not? I thought drakonians and phoenixians were meant to be inseparable.’
‘I’ve had more lessons than I can count on phoenixian history and customs, but…
’ Alina trailed off, her gaze drifting to the shifting water.
‘They never taught me this. Not how the cities feel, or how the people live. It was all royal family lineages, etiquette drills, and how to look presentable should I ever be fortunate enough to marry one of their sons. My brother Ash had lessons too, though separately. I imagine he learnt practical things, while I…’ she gave a small, bitter laugh, ‘could never quite be bothered to pay attention.’
The ache pressed hard in her chest. She should have felt angry at the way she’d been raised, at how unprepared she was for the world beyond court walls. But the sadness of all she had lost silenced every other feeling.
‘Why do you always call me amira?’ she asked, turning as Hessa returned from instructing a nearby servant to ensure they were not disturbed.
‘Because it means princess in my language,’ Hessa said simply, tugging off her robes and letting them fall carelessly onto the warm stone.
She stepped into the steaming water with a pleased sigh, the rising heat wrapping around her like an embrace.
Alina hesitated, suddenly aware of her own limbs, of her own vulnerability.
Though Hessa had seen her wounds and tended them with reverent care, the idea of shedding her clothes again still made her pulse stammer.
She drew in a deep breath, then slipped out of her garments and stepped into the water after Hessa.
‘I know that ,’ Alina said at last. ‘But… you’re a princess too. It almost sounds as if you’re beneath me.’
Hessa let out a soft laugh, the sound echoing across the tiles. ‘When I first called you amira, it was to mock you. Instead of using your name, I called you by the title you held so tightly.’
Alina smiled faintly at the memory, sinking into the water beside her.
The warmth embraced her bones, unwinding knots she hadn’t realised she’d carried.
She reached for one of the sponges and began gently washing Hessa’s back, careful around the faint scars that wove like silver threads across her skin.
Alina never imagined she would share such a moment with another woman.
Bathing together, caring for one another like sisters…
or something else entirely. Hessa had told her, once, that to wash another person in her culture was the highest form of respect.
It had been during one of the earliest nights, when Hessa had washed Alina’s hair with the utmost tenderness, careful not to reopen the wounds that still ached across her skull.
From that moment on, Alina had insisted on washing Hessa in return. A wordless thank you. A gesture of trust.
‘And now?’ Alina asked softly, grateful that Hessa could not see her face. Her eyes remained on the sponge, her fingers gliding across sun-kissed skin and the stories etched upon it.
‘Now…’ Hessa paused, her voice laced with a gentleness that curled like smoke through the still air. ‘Now I say it with af fection. I can’t imagine calling you anything else.’
Alina smiled faintly, but it never quite reached her eyes. Because no matter how many times Hessa called her amira, the truth echoed inside her like a bell in an empty hall.
She was no longer a princess.
Her kingdom was lost. Her family, slaughtered. Her castle, overrun.
Alina Acheron was no longer anything at all.