Page 125 of Conspirators' Kingdom

“There’s nothing safe about what we’re doing, or what we want.”

“You have a wonderful way of calming my nerves, wife.” He scowled.

Taisiya chuckled. Watching as he memorized every line of her hand and every detail of her fingers, she could see that he was lost in his own little world. Sometimes she suspected that he craved the feel of her simply to reassure himself that she was alive. Sometimes, in the night, she did the same. If life had taught her anything, it was that everything could change in an instant and that the people she loved could die far too easily.

“Write a letter for Bas, so that you can return from this on good terms. Then come to bed for a few hours, Meri,” she beckoned, rising from her seat to stand before him. His eyes were filled with uncertainty. Running her fingers through his hair, she kissed his head. “Neither of us will get much of a chance to sleep properly for the next couple of days. Radjedef and this little suicide mission can wait for a few hours at least.”

“I can think of other things I’d rather do.” He pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her.

“And you can do them all,” she whispered in his ear, “as a reward for when we return safely. We need to be at our best, and I suspect you’d want to keep me up all night.”

Mereruka chuckled and leaned his head against her collarbone, his breaths fanning out across her chest.

“Cruel.”

“Effective.”

Mereruka laughed in earnest at that. When he looked up at her, he was smiling, the shadows banished for a short time. Success.

“I have no counter to that.”

“Then you’re losing your touch. You know what would help?”

“Sleep?”

She kissed his forehead.

“Precisely.”

Chapter 48

Adayintotheirill-fated journey, someone sabotaged the barge. As it lay tethered in the night, some malefactor pulverized enough of the floating stones to cause it to fall to its side, irreparably damaging it and wounding several. Mereruka had exited his pocket realm that morning and plummeted into the opposing wall. Thankfully, he’d had the wherewithal to turn around and cushion his wife’s inevitable fall using his magic. Forced to go the rest of the way on summoned beasts, and send his wounded back to repair the barge, tensions were riding high.

Fewer than half of the men and women on this suicide mission came from Mereruka’s household. While his soldiers were loyal and well-trained, they didn’t have access to the very best weapons, armour or spells that Khety could afford to lavish on his military force. Taisiya sat beside Mereruka but was careful not to touch him, lest she need to use her lightning at a moment’s notice.

“Our only hope is to isolate him entirely,” Taisiya whispered.

Mereruka grunted his agreement. Indeed, Vasilisa had been unable to locate a friend or lover important enough to Radjedef that he might waver in following the king’s orders. Vasilisa refused to give up, and was shadowing Radjedef without his knowledge even now. If need be, they could still have him dragged into the void in the dead of night or in the middle of a confrontation with a feral dragon.

Mereruka sat beside Taisiya, both in their travelling clothes and shoes, safely and comfortably ensconced inside a palanquin carried by a summoned beast. It took an effort of willpower not to smirk whenever he saw it, for Taisiya had been the one to insist that the creature resemble Radjedef perfectly in the hue and texture of his red, scaly skin. The resemblance had not been lost on Radjedef or his men, and his brother had summoned a creature with Mereruka’s colouring in retaliation. The difference was that Mereruka could take a joke.

As a rule, the convoy travelled quietly. Dragons came in all shapes and sizes, and there was no sense in attracting the attention of a ground-dwelling one with undue noise.

“You see a dragon, you strike Radjedef first, then call Vasilisa. We’ll hide in the void until the creature has sated its hunger on his soldiers,” Mereruka said.

“And what of our soldiers?” she asked, brow raised.

“They have their orders—protect us first, then retreat. And none of mine are foolish enough to try their luck against a dragon,” Mereruka answered.

Mereruka looked out to his men and women atop their beasts in the bright light of morning, their scaled armour glinting and their eyes constantly scanning the horizon. They had travelled through the night, but were unfazed. All around was the hard-packed, reddish gold sand of the desert, for they’d left the rich, verdant black of the inundation zone some time ago. Stark, dry cliffs and parched valleys greeted them as they marched along the proposed route of the canal to the sea far beyond. It wouldn’t be long before they stopped for mid-day. No sane person travelled or worked in such heat, but it would also mean they would rest right on the edge of the safe zone.

Taisiya’s hand gripped his thigh. Haunted amethyst eyes met his own.

“Do you hear that?”

Mereruka’s ears twitched as he concentrated on the sounds around him—the breaths of the beast, the dull thud of its reptilian paws on the path, the clink of weapons against armour, the faint sound of the wind through the empty valleys, the disgruntled whispers of his people. He shook his head, certain none of those things were what his wife was speaking of.

“There must be a graveyard nearby,” she whispered. “I can hear their hearts.” Her breath hitched and her hands fisted.

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