Page 92 of A Kingdom of Sand and Ice (Kingdom of Gods #2)

He watched as she tore into the meal with her hands, licking sauce from her fingers with the gusto of someone who hadn’t eaten properly in weeks.

She demolished her plate in minutes and was just lifting it to her mouth to lick it clean when Kai stopped her with a pointed look and a slow shake of his head.

‘Drakonians don’t eat like pigs.’

‘Then they’ve never truly been hungry,’ she replied, unbothered.

‘Can’t you behave yourself?’

‘Why?’ Dawn crossed her arms over her chest. ‘Do I embarrass you?’

‘No,’ he said, glancing around. ‘But they might grow suspicious. Drakonians don’t speak about cocks, or eat with their hands.’

Dawn bit her lower lip, eyes roaming around the room. ‘I know that,’ she said, voice low. ‘I spent years pretending to be one.’

‘Then why…?’

‘Because I hate it,’ she snapped, pushing to her feet.

‘You don’t know what it’s like to pretend for years to be someone else.

To feel accepted. To be loved, and then to be despised the moment you show who you really are.

’ She turned her back to him, spine stiff with pain she refused to show. ‘I’m going to get a room.’

Kai wanted to follow her, but he remained seated, frozen in place. She needed space, that much was clear. A moment to gather her thoughts, to breathe without anyone watching. He would give her that, for now. With a weary sigh, he pushed his plate aside, his appetite long since vanished.

He couldn’t begin to imagine what it must have felt like spending years cloaked in a false identity, building friendships, a home, a life, only to have it all crumble the moment people glimpsed the truth behind your face. The fear. The betrayal. The rejection.

Kai shook his head and cursed under his breath. He refused to pity the witch. No one had forced her into that life. Dawn could have stayed in her own kingdom, where no one would have asked her to wear a mask. It had been her choice… hadn’t it?

Still, as he rubbed a hand over his tired eyes, he knew, deep down, that no matter how much he tried to place the blame solely on her shoulders, it didn’t fit. It wasn’t her fault her home had been taken. It wasn’t her fault the world recoiled at the sight of purple eyes. None of it was.

But .

She had chosen to fight in this war. She had chosen a side. And in doing so, she had helped bring about the deaths of Haven and Alina. And for that, for them, Kai would never forgive her. No matter how real she seemed now. No matter how tired her eyes looked when she thought no one was watching.

When the innkeeper returned to clear the table, he leaned forward.

‘What can you tell me of Fireheart?’ he asked, voice low and clipped.

‘Most of the drakonians fled before things turned truly dire,’ she said, gathering the empty dishes. ‘They’ve scattered across villages and cities, hiding where they can. Fireheart is a battleground now, and has been for weeks.’

‘Who’s fighting the witches?’

‘The Red Guard,’ she replied. ‘The ones still stationed in the city, and those who arrived from neighbouring towns when the news spread. But without a royal family, there are no commands, just chaos. Everyone’s fighting for survival. Some citizens have stayed behind to defend their homes, but…’

‘But?’

She shrugged, her expression sombre. ‘Hope is fading. Fireheart may soon fall to the witches, just as Spark did.’

Kai nodded, offered a quiet thank you, and paid for the food and room. Without another word, he climbed the stairs to the small chamber they'd been given.

Dawn was already stretched across one of the cots, her eyes narrowed into slits the moment he stepped inside.

‘You could have asked for two separate rooms,’ Kai said coldly.

‘Trust me, commander, I would have if such an option had been available. I do not wish to share anything with you.’ Kai snorted. ‘You could be a gentleman and sleep outside.’ That wicked dangerous smile appeared.

‘Not a chance, but nice try.’

Dawn shrugged. ‘I think deep down you’re tempted to see me naked on this bed. I bet tonight you’ll be fantasizing about what that little cock of yours could do to me.’

‘You want to help Ash, don’t you?’ he replied, pulling off his armour piece by piece, setting it carefully to one side, completely ignoring her. ‘Then you’re going to tell me how to stop Hagan.’

Dawn had dropped the glamour, her purple eyes sharpening with resolve.

Kai would never voice it aloud, but he preferred her like this, unmasked, unhidden.

In her true form. Those eyes he had so long claimed to loathe had a way of speaking when her mouth stayed silent, always brimming with emotion.

When she’d donned the guise of a drakonian, all trace of that spark had vanished, as though some essential piece of her had been stripped away with the illusion.

She doesn’t have a soul, Kai reminded himself.

‘We need to find my sisters,’ Dawn said, her voice clear, unwavering.

‘We can work out a plan to draw Hagan’s attention.

If Ash can command the Red Guard, and your forces strike at the right moment, we’ll have a chance.

Hagan leans on magic for everything. But against a true army, even he can’t win. ’

‘He must know that’s a possibility,’ Kai replied, settling on the opposite cot. The room was modest, barely large enough to house the two narrow beds pressed against opposite walls, a chipped basin, and a single window that looked out onto the quiet road below.

Dawn shrugged from where she lay curled beneath a thin blanket. ‘He never shares his true intentions. He keeps everything to himself.’

‘Don’t witches have a Council?’

‘They do.’

‘Do they support what Hagan’s doing?’

Dawn shook her head slowly. ‘No. They never wanted this. Not like this. For years, they thought of rebuilding ties with the other kingdoms, to form alliances again. But some disagreed, some splintered off. Hagan’s mother was one of them.

That’s when the plan was born. Infiltrate the kingdoms, gather secrets, and destroy the noble Houses from within.

The Council fought against it for as long as they could…

though even then, most of it was hidden from them. ’

‘Then why haven’t they tried to stop him?’

Dawn bit the inside of her cheek, her attention drifting towards the window.

The sun had vanished beyond the horizon, and night had draped itself across the sky.

Moonlight spilt through the glass, bathing her in silver.

It kissed her cheeks, caught in her hair, and turned her eyes to faceted gems, like amethysts ablaze with a quiet, mournful fire.

The room was hushed, wrapped in a darkness that felt both intimate and heavy.

‘They tried. They even thought of warning the other kingdoms, but they couldn’t stop him,’ she whispered at last, the words barely more than breath, as though afraid to let them exist in the world.

Kai’s brow furrowed. ‘Why not?’

She turned to him, her voice laced with sorrow.

‘Because he slaughtered them all.’