Page 116 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
She turned to witness Hessa’s reaction, but the space beside the dragon was empty.
Hessa was gone.
A hand brushed her arm and Alina flinched, turning sharplyto find Mareena standing just behind her.
‘Did I frighten you?’ Mareena asked, one brow arching.
‘No… I was simply… meditating.’
Mareena inclined her head, though the depth of her red gaze told Alina she was not convinced.
‘The Altaa Saqardatis wishes to see you,’ Mareena said.
‘For what?’ Alina struggled to keep the edge from her voice. The Altaa Saqardatis was Hessa’s mother, and a bitter spark still flared within her at the thought of a woman who had chosen the gods over her own child.
‘I do not know,’ Mareena admitted, casting a pleased glance at the dragon beside them. ‘But the Saqar are attempting to persuade the people that the evil upon this land is not Saren, but you. If you can convince the Altaa Saqardatis of the truth…’
‘I do not care what any of them think.’
‘Alina.’ Mareena’s voice remained soft, patient, yet threaded with warning.Be clever. Be better than them.‘You grieve, but you must not let that grief blind you to what stands before you.’
‘And what is that?’
‘An opportunity.’ Mareena’s smile deepened, bright as a blade catching the sun. ‘To earn their trust. To draw them to your side. To bind them to your cause. You would no longer stand as merely twelve dragons against the world, but twelve dragons with the desert kingdom behind you.’
‘That will not happen.’
‘It could,’ Mareena said, stepping closer still, her presence warm and deliberate. ‘If you play your cards correctly.’
Alina wanted to ask why Mareena was helping her, what she stood to gain from it all. But the question lodged like a stone in her throat. She feared the answer too much. So she swallowed her doubts instead and inclined her head.
A quiet gasp escaped her when Mareena took her hand, herfingers warm and deliberate as they traced over Alina’s knuckles. She lifted Alina’s hand and pressed a slow, reverent kiss to it.
‘You and I could change the world,’ Mareena said, stepping closer until the space between them vanished entirely.
Alina’s instinct was to retreat, as she always did. To guard herself, to place distance where her heart might be exposed. But she was so unbearably tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of standing alone.
And so, for once, she did not step away.
Mareena’s fingers rose to trace the line of Alina’s jaw, the curve of her cheek. The touch sent a tremor through her, her body tightening with a hunger she had tried so hard to bury. She wanted to return the touch. To pull Mareena down into the sand and feel her heat. To drown in her and forget the world entirely.
But white eyes flashed in her mind. White as the stone around her neck, burning into her flesh as a reminder that Alina was not just fighting for her own revenge but for Hessa’s too. She could not,would not,allow her loneliness or sadness to wash Hessa away from her truth. From her world.
Alina stepped back, away from Mareena’s touch.
And in that red gaze an understanding shone.
To wait. To be patient. To give Alina the time she needed.
Alina cleared her throat and turned away.
Between them and the mountain stood a group in silent witness.
The Saqar.
Watching.
Mareena smiled softly, almost sadly. ‘Take as long as you need,’ she whispered, the promise in her voice curling low and dangerous, settling deep within Alina’s body.
