Page 156 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
Somewhere along the endless stretch of sky and sand, Dawn must have drifted into sleep. She woke only when Kai’s hand gently shook her arm, his voice low and warm against her ear, murmuring that they were descending.
For a brief moment, she did not move.
She remained leaning against his chest, the steady rise and fall of his breathing beneath her cheek, reluctant to relinquish the fragile comfort she had found there. His arm, looped loosely around her waist, tightened for the smallest of seconds as though he, too, wished to pretend they could stay suspended in that quiet in-between forever. But the dragon dipped lower, and the spell broke.
What she saw as they landed stole the breath from her lungs.
She had imagined the north of the Desert Kingdom to mirror the rest; an endless procession of dunes, wind-scoured and merciless, broken only by the occasional lonely outcrop of rock. Instead, the landscape unfurled in startling contrast.
To their right, the sea stretched wide and restless, its waters dark and glinting beneath the sun. To their left, the desert had thinned into a rugged realm of stone and mountain, jagged peaks rising where sand once ruled.
It was as though two worlds had collided and decided to coexist.
And for the first time in days, Dawn forgot the weight in her chest and simply stared.
‘If we kept heading north, we would reach my kingdom,’ Kai said, his lips brushing so close to her ear that the warmth of his breath sent a traitorous shiver down her spine.
They guided the dragon higher, climbing towards the jagged peaks until the mountain range opened before them. Dawn stilled, staring at the sight carved into the earth.
At the summit lay a vast circular hollow, and within it anentire city. Stone dwellings spiralled inward towards a colossal arena at its heart, tier upon tier of seating rising like the ribs of some ancient beast.
‘Is that what I think it is?’ Dawn asked quietly.
Kai followed her gaze, his expression unreadable. ‘This place is famous for gambling,’ he explained. Dawn glanced back at him, brow lifting in mild surprise at his knowledge. ‘I remember my brother’s lessons,’ he added. ‘They wager on everything here. The whole city was built around that arena.’
Dawn’s mouth tightened. ‘That’s barbaric.’
Kai merely shrugged, the motion careless but not unkind. ‘Each to their own.’
She studied the arena again, imagining the roar of crowds, the clash of steel, the desperate hope of those fighting for more than glory.
‘So what is this place called,’ she asked dryly, ‘so I may ensure I never return?’
Kai laughed softly. ‘Aruna.’
The name lingered on the wind as they circled lower.
‘How far are we from the borders of your kingdom?’ Dawn asked after a moment, her tone casual though her mind was anything but.
‘Not far,’ he replied. ‘Two hours by dragon, perhaps less. Why?’
She shrugged, pretending to focus on the terrain below.
She did not wish to voice the doubt creeping through her bones. Alina’s plan to confront Saren felt like walking willingly into a storm with no shelter in sight. If things unravelled, and Dawn suspected they might, retreating back into the desert would be foolish.
North was safer.
North meant distance.
And perhaps, if it came to it, escape.
‘What exactly is Alina’s plan?’ Dawn asked, leaning slightly to one side to peer down at the city spiralling beneath them, its stone tiers coiling around the arena like a serpent around its prey.
‘Honestly?’ Kai replied. ‘I’ve no idea.’
‘That’s reassuring.’
A corner of his mouth lifted. ‘It’s Alina. No one ever truly knows what she’s planning except Alina.’
