Blood Rain (Warrior Class Book 3) Read online

  Asad stared her down. “Just as broken up as you seem about it.”

  “Ashni’s not dead,” Nakia said.

  “Then prove it.”

  Nakia scoffed. “Prove to me my beloved is dead.”

  “We sent people to that hellhole of the north and no one saw her.”

  Nakia shook her head. “I’m expected to believe your spies over my own people?”

  Adira frowned. “You can’t prove your claim any more than we can prove ours.”

  They were at a stalemate. It would boil down to who people would follow. Glancing around, Nakia wasn’t sure the brothers even had the support of the nobles in the throne room. Everyone seemed tense, but it could be the situation in general rather than the coup. This was about to be a big mess, but Nakia wouldn’t back down. This was her kingdom. She was Ashni. But are you?

  ***

  The scene around Ashni dissolved into another memory. Tiny-Ashni chased after her older brothers. They were on their way to the circus, getting a chance to watch the matches.

  “Wait for me!” Tiny-Ashni managed to catch up to them. She panted but kept her stride. Her brothers didn’t bother looking back.

  “You’re too young. You can’t come,” Amal said, his voice a hiss.

  Jay tossed a glance over his shoulder. “It’s just for the sons of the Great Amir anyway.”

  Tiny-Ashni scoffed. “Fahim isn’t with you.”

  “Fahim’s too young. Go away,” Jay said.

  The words wouldn’t have hurt as much coming from Asad or Amal. Coming from Jay, it was like being punched in the chest. Until that moment, Jay had avoided her, but hadn’t spoken his dislike.

  “Jay.” Ashni had to hold in a whimper. “Why can’t I come? Asad and Amal aren’t old enough either.” They were short a year.

  “They are sons of the Great Amir,” Jay replied, and he sneered, as if disgusted. She didn’t understand.

  “You know, my lightning’s a gift from the gods,” Ashni said. “Everyone says so.”

  Jay sucked his teeth. “Yeah, and everyone also says you’re not a son of the Great Amir. So, go away!”

  “You’re beneath us.” Asad turned and shoved her.

  Ashni walked right into the push, giving it more force than Asad intended. It hurt her chest and she fell off balance, dropping to the marble floor. It was cold and hard against her butt and palms. She picked herself up as her brothers backed her into a wall.

  “You can’t come,” Jay said as if his word was law, and it practically was. He was the oldest and would probably inherit the throne. He didn’t care about her gift from the gods.

  The harsh tone in his voice froze tiny-Ashni long enough for them to get away. There was a burn in her eyes as she watched them disappear down the hall. Growling, she punched the wall behind her. Pain throbbed in her hand. If only the wall were her brothers. With a stomp of her foot, tiny-Ashni turned on her heel and marched off, not sure where she was going. She wandered by a room where her mother happened to be, sitting with the sleeping baby twins.

  “Mommy?” Tiny-Ashni stepped inside.

  Her mother put a finger to her lip. “Quietly, my little gift from the gods.”

  Tiny-Ashni grinned. Her mother thought she was a gift from the gods and since her mother was half-god, it had to be true. She puttered into the room as quietly as her shoes allowed. She was about to crawl into her mother’s lap but stopped. A little kid would cuddle into her mother. She wasn’t a little kid, even if her brothers thought she was.

  “You like sitting with Kek and Kiran, even though they don’t do anything?” tiny-Ashni asked as she flopped down on a pillow. The babies were asleep on a mat next to their mother.

  “Their presence gives me joy,” her mother replied.

  Tiny-Ashni scratched her head. “But they’re not doing anything.”

  “I don’t need any of you to do anything. I just need you to exist and it makes me happy.” Her mother ran her hand through her hair.

  Ashni opened her mouth and then closed it. She wanted to ask something but was scared of the answer. Would her father love her, even if she wasn’t his?

  “You love Kek and Kiran, right?” Ashni asked.

  Her mother smiled. “Of course I do.”

  Tiny-Ashni could feel her face scrunch up as she tried to think how she wanted to go about her questions. “If they had a different talent, like not Fire, would you still love them?”

  Her mother laughed even more. “Of course. Your talent doesn’t mean anything. Although, I’m still waiting for one of my darling children to come for spell crafting lessons.”

  Tiny-Ashni held in a scoff. Spells were boring. Picking flowers, measuring and stirring, and tasting nasty things. Who would want to learn that? “You still like us even though we don’t want to know spells, right?”

  “Of course I do. You’re entitled to like what you like.”

  “And to not like stuff, too?” Then her brothers had a right to not like her. It didn’t seem fair. Jay used to like her. They used to do stuff together. He shouldn’t be allowed to just turn that off.

  “Of course.”

  “And you’d still love me even if I didn’t like the same things, right? You can’t just stop loving me, right?”

  Her mother leaned down, embracing her. “My precious flower, I could never stop loving you. When you truly love someone, it’s always with all of your heart. I love you and your brothers like that.”

  “Dad loves us like that, too, right?”

  “Your father loves you with everything inside of him and he always will. You love us like that, right?”

  Ashni nodded. “I do.”

  “When you love people, you accept they’re different from you.” Her mother blew out a breath. “I could spend the rest of my life telling you how different I am to your father and how much we love each other.”

  Ashni twisted her mouth up. “Are you mean to each other?”

  “You know sometimes we are, but we don’t love each other any less.” An attitude she probably hoped her children carried.

  Tiny-Ashni took those words to heart for a long time. “Right. You love people in your family, even if they’re not your family.” Her mother and father weren’t born related to each other. They learned to love each other.

  Her mother blinked. “One of the things I actually love about Roshan culture is that family is always so much more than something you’re born into. You’ll meet people you bond with so deeply and you know they can only be your family.”

  “And what about this family?” Tiny-Ashni made a circle with her finger.

  “And we’ll accept your new family as our family. That’s one thing I love about my culture. You always have your family.”

  Oh, Mommy. That’s why you’re this way. I forgot. Maybe her mother was right. You always have your family, but your family isn’t always the same. If Jay could cut her off so easily, he never was her family.

  Tiny-Ashni squirmed. “What makes you family, Mommy?”

  “Love, of course.” Her mother shrugged. “You know your family by the way you love them and the way they love you.”

  It made sense, though her heart sank at the thought of Jay. And it was worse with Asad and Amal. Those were her brothers, but she felt nothing for them. Asad pretended she didn’t exist, and Amal constantly lashed out at her. They didn’t love her. They treated her as if she was nothing, less than nothing.

  Had Jay loved her and then it faded somehow? Because of her lightning…it seemed odd. She couldn’t figure out how to ask her mother beyond a general question.

  “Can you stop loving someone?” tiny-Ashni asked.

  Her mother frowned. “You can, but it takes a lot of work. That person has to mess up very bad.”

  “I haven’t messed up.” Tiny-Ashni didn’t mean to say that aloud, but she couldn’t have messed up. It wasn’t her choice to have lightning. The gods made that decision, and the gods didn’t make mistakes.

  Her mother kissed
the top of her head. “No, you haven’t.”

  Tiny-Ashni grinned, but then slapped at the air to get her mother to back up. She was too old for kissy faces. Though this was good. She didn’t mess up. Jay was just confused. He didn’t understand the gods made a choice, not her. When he figured that out, everything would be fine.

  ***

  “The nerve!” Nakia fumed. She was surprised smoke didn’t come off of her as she paced the room hiding Ashni from the world.

  “You need to gather noble allies immediately. The more support you have, the harder it’ll be for them to make a claim. Then we’ll wait on word from the Empress. She’ll side with you,” Adira said, making a fist.

  Her confidence was hardly misplaced. It was no secret the Empress loved Nakia as her own, but if Nakia lost control before the official word came in, nothing would matter. Her people wouldn’t follow her regardless of any decree.

  “This would be easier if Ashni woke up,” Layla said with a glance over at Ashni. She was pale, dark marked, and barely breathing.

  Samar shook her head, her voice grim. “The poison damaged much of her body. Sleeping helps the healing process, but I haven’t been able to put together any medicine that’ll help the process go faster. Don’t rely on Ashni simply waking up.”

  “She’s healing, yes?” Nakia’s heart jumped into her throat. She couldn’t lose Ashni and Ashni’s kingdom at the same time.

  A frown marred Samar’s features. “The information provided by our now allied tribes helped, but it was only the ingredients of the poison. They’re certain it’s fatal and listed potential potions that haven’t done a damn thing. Not to say my own work has done any better.”

  “So, we’re just considering it a victory she’s not dead?” Adira sighed and rubbed her forehead.

  Samar blew out a breath. “Yes. Ashni has to keep fighting. Right now, it looks like her body is fighting the medicines, but that might not be a bad thing. This isn’t the first time she’s been close to death.”

  Nakia’s chest hurt. “How is her body fighting the medicine not a bad thing?”

  Samar waved the question off. “It means she’s fighting to keep herself alive. Ashni’s body is strange because she’s part god. So, things designed to kill someone don’t work on her, but sometimes things designed to help keep people alive don’t work on her. Sometimes she doesn’t need the help. Her body’s trying to repair itself.”

  “Let’s hope that remains true,” Nakia said.

  With a scoff, Adira waved her words away. “She’s lived through much worse. We have to secure the throne for you. You obviously have the Shadow Walkers and their clans, which is good because no one wants to fight them.”

  “And we will fight them if necessary,” Layla said. Her mother made a noise of agreement. Badar, tucked in the corner near Samar, nodded.

  Nakia nodded. “I’ll go see the nobles of the city and remind them of the good things Ashni and I have done.”

  “Saniyah will remind the wealthy nobles around us,” Adira said.

  “Merchants should be easy to secure. We offer more trade routes than anyone else,” Nakia said.

  Adira scratched her chin. “There might be more than enough existing trade to keep the merchants happy and expanded routes tend to be less secure in the beginning. They might not want to chance it.”

  “True,” Nakia said, thinking fast. “I should be able to count on the military.”

  “Of course, but most of the military is up north building forts. You don’t want to take them off of that detail or the barbarians will see it as a sign of weakness,” Adira said.

  Nakia shook her head. “I had no plans to call all of them back. If necessary, I’d recall a third and fill some numbers with new recruits.” There was never a shortage of people willing to join the military for adventure and status.

  “Good.” Adira nodded.

  “Should we get Wicus and Thia?” Layla asked.

  Nakia bit her lip. “Not yet. Wicus and Thia might look at this as a chance to regain their autonomy. They could back Jay and Asad, especially if Jay is serious about this being too much land for the Empire. I love Thia and I believe she loves me, but she has people to worry about as well. She’d do what she feels is best for her people. I can’t fault her on that.”

  Adira nodded. “We’ll secure your position and then contact her if necessary, but we have to make sure surrounding cities stay with us. We need to watch for any sterlings that might betray us and worst of all, we have to find the fucking scum feeding information to those two bastards.”

  Layla pointed to the door. “We should move on it then.”

  “Can’t move without a plan of attack,” Adira replied.

  They came up with a list of groups Nakia needed the support of to remain in control and moved out to make it happen. Nakia met with people in the halls on her way out of the palace. People flocked to her, wanting to pledge their allegiance. As she looked at the throng of people, Nakia smiled. So many people wanted to talk to her that she never even made it out of the palace. Maybe things would be all right. Though she hoped Adira and Layla made it further than she did.

  “Nakia, what’s happening?” Saffi rushed to her and looped her arm around Nakia’s. She steered Nakia away from the crowd, who respectfully didn’t follow.

  “What do you mean?” Nakia asked.

  “Are the kings in charge now?” Saffi sounded a little frantic and her eyes darted around the corridor as they walked.

  Nakia frowned. “No, I’m in charge. This is my kingdom.” Well, her spouse’s kingdom, but she’d keep it while Ashni fought for her life.

  Saffi tilted her head. “They said it was Ashni’s?”

  “I’m Ashni’s spouse. Hell, I am Ashni. We share a soul. They can’t take that from me any more than they can take my kingdom.” She didn’t expect Saffi to understand, but she wanted to reassure her sister as best she could.

  Saffi’s pale forehead wrinkled. “The rules say otherwise, right?”

  “No. They’re bending the rules to suit them.” And they won’t get away with it. Won’t they? You’re not equipped to fight them. She growled at the voice in her head, trying and failing to ignore it.

  “How so?”

  “Why?” Nakia didn’t see the reason for Saffi to need that information.

  Saffi shrugged. “I want to know what’s going on.”

  “Why?” Her sister hadn’t been this curious before.

  “Perhaps I can help.”

  “Unfortunately, you can’t.” There was a gnawing in Nakia’s gut. She suspected Saffi and hated that. Nakia had gained such an appreciation for family over the past few years. She wanted to be able to go to family with anything, but she couldn’t trust Saffi right now, not with how intrigued her sister seemed Jay and Asad.

  Even if Nakia trusted Saffi, she wouldn’t share everything with her right now. Saffi had been through so many traumas. She wanted to make Saffi’s life easier, comfortable.

  “This is my kingdom. Not only was I left in charge by Ashni when she left, I’m Consort,” Nakia said.

  Saffi pursed her lips. “Does being Consort count since she’s a woman?”

  “Of course it counts!” Nakia held in a growl. “Excuse me, but I have things to do.”

  Nakia didn’t wait around for Saffi to respond, rushing off to seek more support. She had forgotten how many people could be in the palace on any given day. Most people seemed firmly on her side and respected her claim. Eventually, she was able to relax a little.

  And it was in that moment Asad eased by her side.

  “We should dine together and discuss the transition of power from you to me,” he said with a smile, daring to wrap his arm around her waist.

  Nakia didn’t know she could move so fast until she was a safe distance from Asad. “You seem to think you hold power over me. I’m in charge here.” She placed her palm against her chest.

  He chuckled, and it sounded so dark she wouldn’t have been surprised
if tar-colored smoke came out of his mouth. “If you have to say you’re in charge, then you’re not in charge.”

  She gave him a sickly smile. “Then, by your logic, you and your brother aren’t in charge. You had to announce it in the throne room, after all.”

  Asad glared at her with more malevolence than she could’ve imagined, like a demon, trying to destroy her soul with his eyes. “You’re nothing if I say you are. You only exist by my goodwill, which will no longer extend to you if you don’t learn how to behave.”

  Nakia sneered. “Good luck making me not exist then. It might prove harder than you think.”

  No one seemed to be in the brothers’ corner yet. Besides, she had stood in front of more powerful people and didn’t blink. He wouldn’t be the one to change that.

  ***

  The scene melted to another one, Ashni just a helpless passenger as all her memories swam before her, all her lessons learned in youth. Tiny-Ashni was on the outside looking in, quite literally. She stood in the doorway, watching her father spend time with her baby brother, Fahim. Fahim liked to read stories and tiny-Ashni understood even at this young age how smart her little brother was. He was barely four and read better than any of his older siblings, Ashni included. She liked that about him.

  “Can I listen, too?” Tiny-Ashni stepped inside the room.

  Her father looked up and smiled. “You’re listening anyway. A front row seat is the best.”

  Tiny-Ashni nodded and zipped over to the pair, flopping down on a pillow. Fahim grinned in a way that reminded her of their father and continued reading. His voice was squeaky, but he read at a good pace and it was fun to watch his eyes light up when he got a hard word correct.

  Her older brothers didn’t know how to exist in a space like this. Maybe they couldn’t exist in a space like this—quiet, small, almost out of the way.

  “I’m going to get another book.” Fahim got up and went to his stack of books.

  “Fahim tells good stories,” tiny-Ashni said.

  Her father nodded. “He does. I miss them when I’m out on campaign.”