Page 36 of Crown of the Dunes (The Ballan Desert #2)

Chapter thirteen

Keera

M y boots slapped on the stone steps, and I glared daggers at the back of a palace attendant who carried a bundle of my things in his arms. I didn’t own much beyond my sword and the clothes Neven had gifted me, but a shot of anger had run through me when I returned to my bedroom after the funeral to find half of them missing.

After a decade of having no more than the clothes on my back, I treasured every single scrap of cloth I was given.

I had cornered the next attendant who entered to pick up the trunk at the foot of my bed, only for him to stammer out an apology that he was just following the Archon of Trade, Torin’s orders and moving my things to the set of rooms in the tower.

The queen’s rooms.

“Torin has a point,” Aderyn pointed out as she trudged beside me.

I grunted. Even if the Archon of Trade gave sound advice from time to time, I would have to have a word with him about making personal decisions for me.

“Moving you into the royal quarters will help send a strong message about the transfer of power,” Aderyn continued, ignoring my discontent .

“I don’t understand how where I sleep affects whether people respect me as a queen or not,” I grumbled, although it was partially untrue.

The lord of a clan always slept in the biggest tent at the center of the encampment, decorated with a flag of the clan’s emblem.

The true source of my objection was the pit of unease lodged under my breastbone, like a rock stuck in my boot, poking me with every step.

I was not ready to be a queen.

I had never aspired to leadership, but now that I stared it down, I couldn’t turn away. The lonely exile buried in my chest grasped at it as concrete proof that I now belonged somewhere, and I couldn’t pry such a precious gift from her bruised and battered fingers.

I opened my mouth to fabricate another excuse but was cut off by a familiar figure in burgundy robes appearing before us on the landing.

“A moment, Queen Keera, Aderyn?” Dravis, the Archon of Agriculture asked, clasping his hands before him tightly.

The attendant carrying my chest hesitated on the step above, and I waved him on. I would catch up later.

“Yes?” I said, trying my best not to sound harried. A funeral, a relocation, and a battle with a creature of legend seemed quite enough to be getting on with for one day, but the seriousness of his expression gave me pause.

“It’s about the grain situation,” he started.

I ground my teeth so hard they creaked to avoid growling at him.

The impending famine was not his fault, but watching helplessly as it bore down on Kelvadan made me feel like a caracal caught in a snare.

Too much longer and I would be ready to chew my own leg off.

People would be going hungry soon, and I grappled for a solution to no avail.

The only solution in my mind for calming the desert’s fury was the Heart, locked in the top of the tower. As soon as the idea entered my mind though, the sight of the queen’s lifeless gray eyes staring up at the ceiling filled my vision, and guilt would almost bring me to my knees.

Erix had mentioned wanting to retrieve the Heart as well, but bile burned my throat at the thought of trying to break the blood glass again—of how I would react if he was the one to end up broken and lifeless on the floor of the tower.

The stone room might not be enough to stop me from tearing the palace from the mountainside.

Dravis cleared his throat, and I blinked myself back to the present.

“What is it?” I asked, failing to keep all my frustration out of my tone.

“I have been presented with a potential solution,” he said, his tone halting.

My spine straightened, and I leaned forward in excitement, wondering why he of all people did not seem ecstatic over a way out of our situation.

“Yes?” I prodded.

“Prince Calix informed me that he sent an eagle to his father, the King of Viltov, with a missive asking for permission to trade us grain. He indicated that Viltov might be more amenable to trading supplies than troops, given they are already entangled in their own war with Doran. And frankly, we may need the food more than we need an army at this point,” Dravis explained.

The doubt in his tone was heavy and began to worm its way into my own chest.

“What does Viltov want in return?” Aderyn chimed in beside me.

The archon grimaced. “He didn’t say. But given that we have yet to come to an agreement with them so far, I doubt their price will be cheap.”

My stomach turned leaden. Viltov and Doran both coveted the horses of the Ballan Desert, hoping to mount a cavalry force that would finally give them an edge in their endless war.

Trading them felt like sacrilege. The desert was already angry, and something told me selling her sacred creatures would not assuage her rage.

I wanted to say so, but Aderyn responded first.

“Let us know what Viltov’s terms are when Prince Calix gets a response from his father,” she instructed. “For now, Keera and I need to discuss the city’s protection after the day’s events.”

Dravis tapped his brow in respect before heading off down the staircase. I resumed our climb, making sure he was out of earshot before speaking.

“The thought of trading our horses to Viltov sets my teeth on edge,” I said.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea either. ”

I glanced sidelong at her in surprise. Ever practical, I thought Aderyn would jump at the idea of the much-needed grain—even though the idea of trading horses away from the desert made nausea churn in my stomach.

“It would be wildly unpopular,” Aderyn continued. “There is a reason we have never traded our horses before, as even the people of Kelvadan see it as a crime against the desert herself. Those who don’t want you to be queen would jump at the opportunity to turn more people against you.”

“More?” I asked, grimacing.

The exile beneath my skin clutched the scraps of belonging and acceptance even more tightly to her chest.

Aderyn laid a hand on my shoulder as we reached the landing leading to my new rooms. “Many believe in you. They see you as a Champion, sent by the desert to save them after you wandered out of the wilderness to challenge the Viper. You saved them from the avalanche and the tricrith. If you continue to protect them and fight for them, they will follow you.”

I laid my hand over hers in thanks. Still, I couldn’t stop myself from pointing out, “Erix protected them from the tricrith too.”

“Even more reason for you to work to inspire faith in the people. Those who disapprove of your rule might turn to him,” Aderyn pointed out.

I folded my arms. “Are you agreeing with the archons, that he should be executed?”

Aderyn stared at me with hard eyes for a long moment, and I almost thought she was going to agree, but then her shoulders slumped infinitesimally. “No. Queen Ginevra would not have wanted that. I… I don’t want that.”

Something in her iciness regarding Erix called to the wildfire of anger that smoldered in my gut.

I chewed my cheek, debating asking her about it, but the question died in my chest. If she told me the source of her rage, then she might ask me why I still yearned for him, even though he should be my enemy.

She might ask me why I had gripped his hand like a lifeline after we defeated the tricrith.

Deep in my gut, something told me she already knew; she had seen the way he knelt before me in surrender.

But knowing the truth and speaking it into the world were two different things, especially when games of power were afoot.

Instead, I just nodded. “I guess I should get settled in my new room. Tomorrow is likely to be a long day.”

My earlier objections to moving into the queen’s rooms near the top of the palace evaporated like moisture in the desert sun as I stood on the balcony.

Situated just above the terrace where I used to meet Queen Ginevra for tea, I could see for miles across the endless dunes.

The only higher points in the city were the royal library and Kelvar and Alyx’s own rooms.

As I let my focus drift, staring out over the desert to where the purpling sky met the horizon, I almost imagined I could see the ocean.

The desert whispered in my mind with the sound of waves and the smell of salt, even though I struggled to picture that much water existing all in one place—in the entire world .

With a sigh, I turned away from the edge of the balcony to stare at my new quarters.

The stone room was elegant, yet simple, the ubiquitous gray stone of the palace softened by embroidered hangings on every wall.

There were no doors separating the room from the spacious balcony, just open arches that separated inside from outside.

The bed was large and plush, topped with multicolor pillows and flanked by gauzy golden curtains.

I cocked my head, assessing the furniture’s weight and debating if I might be able to drag it out onto the balcony.

I had finally managed to accept sleeping indoors while I had been injured, having no choice but to rest under the solid ceiling of the infirmary.

I had still always stared out the small, high window at the stars every night as I waited for sleep to take me.

Sometimes, in the stretched-out moments between consciousness and oblivion, I would remember the way that Erix had shown me the stars in his mind, clasping my hand in his as we found sleep together in a faraway encampment .

I pushed away from the railing at my back, determined to find a way to take advantage of this exquisite view. Even if I couldn’t relocate the bed, there was a plush rug tossed across the foot that would provide ample cushion. I could easily make my own nest of pillows and blankets in the open air.

As I crossed under the archway, a quiet scratching caught my attention. I froze, the hairs on the back of my neck prickling and adrenaline shocking my muscles into stillness.