Page 176 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
‘Da king of all kings,’ she said. ‘Lucifer.’
Even though the desert is ruled by a king, and separated into twelve regions, which are all governed by different tribes—I’ve come to understand that the true power of the desert lays in the hands of the Saqar. For it is belief that moves the desert folk. Belief that will march them to war.
Tabitha Wysteria
‘Faster,’ Kai urged, slipping aside just in time as Alina’s blade cut through the space where he had been standing only a heartbeat before.
She was far better than he had expected. Or perhaps, if he were honest, far better than he had allowed himself to believe.
Months of relentless training had forged Alina Acheron into something formidable, a weapon honed sharp with discipline and fire.
Kai had never taken much interest in the various fighting styles practised across the kingdoms. Such things had always seemed unnecessary to him. Yet after countless evenings spent watching Mareena guide Alina through the precise and elegant techniques of Phanax combat, he had begun to understand what his brother Kage had always tried to show him through thedusty pages of those books he so loved.
The truth was painfully simple.
Kai had never cared to learn.
He had always believed his own kingdom needed nothing from the rest of the world. He had liked the distance between them, the way each realm kept to itself, untouched and unconcerned with the others. And somewhere deep inside, he had carried the quiet certainty that a wyverian warrior would always stand above the rest.
How wrong he had been.
How terribly wrong he had been about almost everything.
His attention drifted to the far right side of the enormous arena.
Dawn stood there, watching.
Her gaze lifted and met his across the wide expanse of stone.
And suddenly the world seemed to tilt beneath his feet.
The distraction cost him.
In the brief instant his attention wavered, Alina struck. She moved swiftly and with perfect precision, throwing him onto his back before he could recover. A heartbeat later, the sharp tip of her desert sword hovered against his forehead. Her lips curled upward in quiet amusement.
‘You’re growing slow, wyverian,’ she said.
‘I thought I had taught you not to be presumptuous, princess.’ Before she could react, Kai hooked his foot around her ankle and twisted sharply, sending her tumbling down beside him. She hit the sand with a startled breath, and Kai laughed as he looked over at her, her eyes wide with irritation.
He pushed himself upright, brushing the sand from his clothes. Reaching over, he patted Alina’s arm in an almost brotherly gesture. It seemed to irritate her further, though she smiled all the same.
‘Do you think I stand a chance?’ Alina asked as they sat together in the middle of the vast arena.
The space stretched wide and open around them, large enough for several fighters to train at once. Across the arena others continued their practice, steel clashing against steel, while beyond the fighting grounds the rest of the city carried on with its daily rhythm. The gambling dens, in particular, were thriving. With the day of Alina’s fight drawing ever closer, wagers were being placed in growing numbers.
Kai rubbed the back of his neck, grains of sand still clinging to his skin. ‘She’s just a woman, Alina.’
‘She’s a Dunayan woman.’
‘And you are the Fire Princess. You learnt to fight like them, so use that against her. You’ve also learnt the ways of the Phanax… and of the wyverians.’
Alina exhaled slowly. ‘I’m still not strong enough.’
She glanced up towards the towering walls that circled the arena like a great stone crown. Now and then curious faces leaned over the railings above, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Fire Princess before the day of her fight arrived.
‘She’s just a woman,’ Kai repeated.
‘What if she isn’t, though?’
