Page 118 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
‘It is powerful,’ the Altaa Saqardatis said beside her. ‘If oneis not careful, you could awaken hours later still listening to the chants.’
Alina blinked, as though surfacing from water.
She realised, with a faint unease, that she had no sense of how long she had been standing there. Minutes, or something far longer, had slipped through her grasp without her noticing at all.
‘I didn’t kill your daughter,’ Alina said, forcing her mind to remain her own. The rhythm of the chants pressed against her skull, urging her to surrender. She pinched the flesh of her palm,hard. The sharp sting anchored her, pulled her back into herself.
‘I know you didn’t,’ the Altaa Saqardatis replied, her voice steady beneath the veil. ‘But they do not. You must prove yourself to them.’
‘How?’
‘By killing Saren.’
‘I intend to.’ Alina pinched harder as the chanting swelled, the sound climbing like heat against her skin.
‘You seem to believe that you stand a chance.’ There was no mockery in the woman’s tone, only an unadorned truth laid bare.
‘Why wouldn’t I?’
‘She is not like us.’
Alina stilled. ‘What is she, then?’
‘A god, wearing a vessel.’
Alina gave a dismissive shrug, though something cold shifted in her chest. ‘Then I will have to kill a god.’
The words sounded bold, reckless even, but she held onto them. Deep down, she knew how absurd it was. No mortal could slay a god. Yet she did not truly believe this fever of whispers about divinity walking among them. Saren was flesh and blood. A jealous Dunayan hungry for power. She hadwanted leadership, had wanted Hessa removed from her path. And when Alina had been thrust into their lives, Saren had found the perfect opportunity to strike.
God or not, Alina would make her bleed.
‘The Saqar stand against you,’ the Altaa Saqardatis said, her voice weaving through the rising cadence of prayer. ‘But if you win their trust, you will hold power over the desert.’
‘And they will trust me if I kill Saren?’
‘No.’ The veiled woman did not hesitate. ‘But they will if you kill a god. I have been guiding them. Preparing them to see what is true.’ The chants swelled, echoing off the carved stone. ‘If you slay a god, they will believe.’
‘If I kill Saren, what will that change? Why would they think she’s a god?’
‘Because I will make them believe she’s one.’
Alina frowned. ‘Is she?’
‘That is irrelevant. Whether she is or isn’t. I am the Altaa Saqardatis. If I say she’s a god… they will believe. And if you kill her, you shall become a god-slayer. They will fear you.’
‘I don’t want them to fear me.’
‘Fear is the one true power.’
Alina tore her gaze from the sea of bowed bodies and fixed it upon the woman beside her. ‘Why are you doing this? Why help me?’
‘I am not helping you.’
Confusion shone across Alina’s face.
‘This was always the path,’ the Altaa Saqardatis said.
A chill crept beneath Alina’s skin. She took a slow step away. ‘Did you know?’ she asked, her voice tightening. ‘Did you know what would happen to Hessa? To both your daughters?’
