Page 26 of The Moon's Fury

Heartbreak had thieved her senses, and so, Shamsa imbued her power into a living, mortal girl.

A Daughter.

Shamsa channeled her essence, welding a piece of herself inside the vessel. In her new mortal form, the goddess went to win the affections of her love.

But, alas, her scheme did not work.

It was his young wife who answered the door. Upon seeing her face, Shamsa, through the Daughter, was overcome with uncontrollable rage. Her eyes flashed white, and light shot forth from her palms, killing the innocent woman.

The man returned home, in time to witness his wife’s death. He rounded on the Daughter, poised to kill her, until she revealed herself as the goddess. She proclaimed her endless, undying love, begging him to accept her in this new, mortal form.

He turned away.

Shamsa left the mortal girl’s body and returned to the heavens, where her furious sister waited, depleted of their shared power.

The sisters raged and fought. The sky turned pitch-black for days as the goddesses contended with one another.

The man, enraged by his wife’s death, prayed for—

The rest of the pages had been torn out. Layna rubbed her tired eyes, the story of the twin goddesses weighing heavily on her.

Was there any truth to this tale? It seemed a story meant to entertain children, full of fantasy and wonder—but could shedismiss anything as fanciful now, given what was happening to her?

A sudden pain gripped her chest, sharp and aching. Oh, how she wished she could speak to Baba—hear his thoughts, his calm, steady insight.It’s a children’s qissa, she could almost hear her father say.But even the wildest tales are rooted in truth.

With a sigh, she rose to leave. The hidden library, for all its secrets and knowledge, hadn’t yielded anything useful about controlling her powers.

Puffing out the candles, she returned to her chambers.

She’d try again tomorrow.

The next day crawled by slowly. Layna feigned a headache and took her meals in her chambers to avoid her mother’s machinations with Nizam. In the evening, there was a sharp rap on her door.

“You may enter,” Layna called. The door opened, and a servant stepped inside.

She bowed deeply and said, “Your Majesty, Lord Ebrahim requests your presence.”

Layna frowned, following the servant to Ebrahim’s private office.

Her heart sank.

Sitting beside Ebrahim was her mother.

Hadiyah pursed her lips. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

“Whatever gave you that impression?” she bit out as she crossed the room and sat opposite them. Her patience with hermother was perilously low. Layna shot an incredulous glance at Ebrahim, hoping to convey her annoyance. He had consistently taken her mother’s side in this entire ordeal. Ebrahim only gave her a sad, weak smile.

Hadiyah sighed, steepling her hands below her chin. “Nizam leaves tomorrow,” she finally said. “The trade treaty was signed today.”

“I am aware,” Layna retorted. “I signed it.”

Hadiyah clenched her jaw. “Layna. You are making a mistake. Nizam is agoodman. And he cares for you deeply. I have no doubt he will put your happiness above everything else. He already has!Heis what is best for you.”

“For me? Or for Alzahra?” she snapped.

“For both youandAlzahra. Is that not what you’ve wanted your entire life? An alliance that benefited your heartandyour kingdom?”

“I don’t know what’s happened to you, Mama,” she said woodenly. “I don’t like this at all.”