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Chapter Thirty-Seven: Bahira

After interviewing three families in Molsi this morning, I had been surprised when Kai offered to explain more about the magical blight over a bite to eat instead of treading back to the palace. Side stepping a vendor selling grilled meats, I catch the shifter king looking down at me from the corner of his eye.

“What?” I ask, pausing my steps to let a small shifter run ahead of me on the stone pathway.

“Do royalty in the Mage Kingdom always dress so casually?” At the look he sees on my face, he adds, “I don’t mean it as an insult. I just assumed—”

“That dressing down is frowned upon? You seem to allow it in your own court,” I interrupt, dragging my gaze down his body.

Kai keeps his attention trained ahead but the flex of his hand at his side betrays him. He wasn’t really asking me about clothing, he was comparing my kingdom to his.

“I choose clothes for comfort, as is generally the case back home, excluding official royal events.” Kai’s eyes flick back down to mine. “Though if your assumption of me was that I’d be a docile female prancing around in flowy garb, then I’m happy to have destroyed the illusion.”

Kai snorts, shaking his head before looking forward. “Always so quick to think the worst of me.”

I suppose I couldn’t refute that. He leads me to a small hut set a few feet farther back from the other businesses, a male leaning against it while a group of young shifters chase each other nearby. The male’s curly black hair is pulled back, a few of the shorter strands hanging loose from his ponytail.

“Your Majesty,” he says, dipping his chin as he rights himself. “And Lady…”

“Just Bahira,” I answer. We stop right as the most delicious smell coats the air, the savory herbs and spices making my stomach growl.

“I am Adrian.”

“What is that incredible smell?”

The male smiles broadly, his arms spreading out wide. “The king can attest, I cook the finest food in all of Molsi! The usual for you, Your Majesty?” I look to Kai, who nods, his lips still set into a grim line. “And for you, Bahira?”

“Whatever is your favorite to make.” Adrian hastens into the hut, and a young male breaks from the group he’s playing with to follow him. “He seems happy to see you,” I say, somewhat surprised by such an outright display of excitement towards Kai when I’ve only seen the opposite so far.

Feeling my stare, he turns his head towards me, and immediately, my throat tightens. I hate the way he draws a reaction from me without even trying, my own curiosity begging me to etch away at every layer of armor he hides behind.

“He’s a good male.” His eyes leave mine to roam my face, my hair, and then my body, the act more like he’s studying something he doesn’t quite know what to do with than it is sexual in nature.

“Here we go!” Adrian’s voice breaks our connection, both of us drawing in a deep breath.

“Thank you, Adrian,” Kai says gruffly, grabbing two paper bags from him and paying him for the food before turning to walk in the direction of the beach.

“It was nice meeting you,” I say with a wave.

Adrian waves back, his other arm going around the small male who went into the shop with him. “And you, Bahira. Enjoy your meal!”

I jog to catch up with Kai, the stone beneath our feet eventually giving way to sand. He guides us towards a shaded spot between two shorter palm trees, taking a seat and setting one of the bags out in front of him. He waits until I sit down before handing the other to me. Quietly, we dive into our food, each of us holding a different wrap filled with warm vegetables and grilled meat. Kai’s is nearly twice the size of my own. The first bite I take draws a low groan unbidden from me as I tilt my head back dramatically.

“This is fantastic .”

“I’ve been going to Adrian’s since I started living at the palace full time.”

“And how long has that been?” I ask.

“About ten years.”

“Have you been king for that entirety?” I’m embarrassed that I don’t actually know.

Kai shakes his head, waiting until his bite of food is chewed and swallowed before answering. “No.” He gives me nothing else.

We eat in silence for a few more minutes before I tell him I officially met Jahlee.

“She told me,” he responds, taking another bite.

Unsurprised, I laugh as I tilt my head. “She is—” His eyes snap to mine in warning. “ Vivacious ,” I settle on. The corner of his mouth lifts for a moment before falling into that straight line once more.

When our food is gone, I stare out at the rolling waves, opting to change the subject. “So, tell me what I need to know about the blight.”

Kai only hesitates for a second before he launches into what he knows. He isn’t entirely sure when it started, as the reports of those getting stuck grew gradually over time during his father and grandfather’s reign. He adds that those near the edges of the island are more highly affected than shifters who live near the center.

“Jahlee said that it’s not just those who get stuck as animals but that sometimes people can’t shift at all?”

He nods, resting his elbows on his bent knees as a salty breeze ruffles through his hair. “It’s more rare, but it is happening.”

“Are there any similarities for those that are affected by one or the other?”

Kai mulls over my question before his gaze slides in my direction. “I cannot be sure that this is the case for everyone, but of the shifters I have been made aware of, I think those unable to shift into their animals are older and those stuck as their animal are of prime age.”

I pinch my lips together, my fingers drawing in the sand next to my hips. “We’ll have to interview as many shifters as we can who are affected by both parts of this blight to try and find more common ground, then.”

“We can only talk with the ones who are willing. That is what Tua has been doing this past week.”

“It took him all week to find a handful of families willing to talk with us?” At Kai’s nod, I scoff, shaking my head. “Why would they be so reluctant to receive help?”

“You are smart. I know you’ve noticed that I’m not exactly revered as a leader.”

“Feelings on you aside, they must know your intention as ruler. That helping them and wanting to find a solution for the blight is your idea.”

Kai chuckles, the sound as solemn as the look on his face. “In the Mage Kingdom, do the people separate the ruling of the crown from the male who wears it?”

Fair point. “No, I suppose they don’t.” Still, there must be more to Kai as a ruler than what I’m seeing. Something worth all of the derogatory glances sent to both him and his sister.

“We should head back.”

He stands, offering his hand to help me, but I’m already up at his side. My instinct is to stiffen, waiting for the sigh of annoyance or muttered comment I’m so used to Daje giving me in a situation like this. Instead, Kai’s cheeks lift with the faintest smirk before he turns to walk back towards Molsi. I keep a few steps behind, pushing down the confusion stirring in my chest as I follow him.

We’re about halfway through the capital when a scream rises above the normal clamoring of the busy city. Mere seconds pass before there’s a loud boom , my ears ringing as Kai yanks me behind one of the street vendor’s carts. The single scream is replaced by a symphony of them, flashes of light sparking around me as males and females shift into their animals.

“What was that?” I shout, turning to look past the cart and to the cloud of black smoke rising in the direction we had just come from.

Kai is silent as he moves back onto the main road, people and animals running past us in panic. He doesn’t look at me as he begins to walk towards the chaos. “Go back to the palace.”

“There could be people who need help,” I counter, brushing against his arm as I jog past him. “There’s no fucking way I’m going back.”

He doesn’t argue, and together, we sprint towards the unknown danger.

Adrian’s establishment is all but gone, only the charred husk of its frame remaining. Goosebumps break out over my skin, not due to the still smoking building or the scent of burnt wood in the air but to Adrian’s screaming.

His keening wail saturates the air in anguish. My chest heaves from my run here, but it’s what Adrian is cradling in the ashes of his business that forces my heart into my throat. He sways as he holds a small body to him, the young shifter’s clothing melted to his skin from the heat of the flames.

Kai steps up to me, power radiating from him in a way that I’ve never felt before. “His son?” I ask him quietly under my breath.

“Yes.”

His gaze stays locked on Adrian while my eyes scan the gathered crowd, some holding onto others for support as tears draw down their cheeks. Others stare in open shock, their attention not on the grizzly scene but on the message written in black coal on the tan stone walkway in front of the remains of Adrian’s place.

I lean in closer to get a better look, tilting my head to read what it says. A single word, the letters all capitalized, makes me blink in surprise. USURPER.

“Clear out the area, everyone. Come on, make some room.” I recognize Tua’s voice behind me, the crowd beginning to disperse at his command. “Miss, are you— Oh, Bahira. What are you doing here?”

I don’t answer him, my focus still on that single word and its implication. I turn, eager to ask Kai what’s next and if there is something I can do to help, but the space where he was once standing is empty. A quick look behind me shows his looming figure heading towards the edge of the jungle. “Where the fuck is he going?” I ask Tua.

The king’s advisor sends me a morose look, his lips tugging down into a frown. “I’m assuming to try and hunt the people down who did this.”

I grit my teeth as I look back to Adrian, his cries quieter now as a few people kneel at his side with their hands on his shoulders. “Shouldn’t he have people he can send off to do that for him?”

Tua ponders the question, his hands clasping behind his back. “I suppose he should, but Kai has never done well in situations where a gentle voice is needed to lead. That’s why I’m here. Why don’t you head back to the palace and wait for His Majesty there?” Giving me a curt smile, he walks towards the carnage left by the rebels and kneels with the other shifters, their teary eyes meeting his in gratitude.

My gaze roams over the people still gathered here, catching the wary glances of those who know my face isn’t a familiar one in the capital. So, despite my instinct to stay and help in some way, I do as Tua suggested. I know that he must care about his people—my being here is evidence of that. Yet Tua’s warning to me on the ship rings clear. If the goal is to try and better Kai’s image with his people, then Tua is failing as his advisor. Either that, or Kai is simply ignoring his suggestions. If I am going to try and learn as much as I can about the blight, I need the people to trust in Kai—in us —and to share with us as much as they can.

As the palace comes into view up ahead, the leaves of the palm trees lining it swaying in a gentle breeze, I realize that I have to help with much more than just fixing magic.

I need to fix a broken king.