Page 177 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
Kai let out a short snort. ‘Do you really believe that nonsense? That she’s a goddess?’
Alina shrugged.
‘Thought you didn’t believe in the gods.’
This time it was Alina who snorted softly. ‘I don’t know what to believe in anymore.’
‘Then believe in yourself.’
Kai smiled when she turned to face him. In the deep brown of her eyes he saw it plainly; the worry, the quiet fear of what awaited her in the arena.
‘But what doyouthink?’ she pressed.
‘I think, Alina, that you should do what you believe is right,’ Kai said. ‘I told you long ago not to live by what others expect of you.’
Alina shook her head. ‘I’m not asking you to tell me what to do, Kai Blackburn.’ A soft smile touched her lips, and for a fleeting moment it reminded him of the old Alina, the gentler girl she had once been. ‘I’m just asking you as a friend. Your opinion.’
Kai found himself smiling in return.
‘I think you shouldn’t trust anyone,’ he said. ‘But I also think you can do this.’
Mareena appeared at one of the side doors of the arena, offering them a small, silent nod. Alina rose at once, and Kai followed as they left the sand behind and made their way through the winding hallways of stone, climbing the stairs that led to their chambers.
Mareena guided them into the room she now shared with Alina.
‘Your staff is fully charged with magic once more,’ Mareena said, lifting it from where it had been resting upon the bed and placing it carefully into Alina’s hands. ‘You may use it in your fight against Saren.’
Alina frowned as she accepted it. ‘Wouldn’t that be cheating?’
‘She may use her godly powers against you,’ Mareena replied calmly.
‘She won’t,’ Kai said.
Both women turned towards him.
‘If it’s true and she truly is a god walking in mortal flesh, the moment she uses those powers, she exposes herself. Would she risk that?’ He shook his head. ‘No. Because then what Alina claimed would beproven true, and everyone would know it.’
Alina’s fingers tightened around the staff.
‘Then perhaps I should tempt her into using them,’ she said slowly. ‘At least then the truth would be revealed to everyone.’
‘If she uses her powers, you will die,’ Mareena said quietly.
Kai lifted an eyebrow. ‘I thought phoenixians and drakonians didn’t believe in gods.’
‘It is not that we deny the existence of other divine beings,’ Mareena explained. ‘We simply recognise only one as truly divine. The one true god.’
‘The Sun God,’ Kai said with a soft sigh. ‘And the rest are what, exactly?’
‘Creations of the Sun God,’ Mareena replied. ‘He shaped all that exists. The others are not truly gods, they are merely beings he brought into existence.’
Kai tilted his head slightly. ‘Then why call them gods at all?’
Mareena gave a small, practical shrug. ‘Because it is simpler that way.’
There came a knock at the door, and a moment later Dawn appeared in the narrow archway. She slipped inside quickly, pulling the door shut behind her. With four of them now in the small chamber, the space seemed to shrink even further, the air thick with quiet tension.
Dawn’s attention fell immediately upon the staff Alina held pressed against her chest.
