Page 48 of Black Salt Queen

At the sound of his name, Laya let out a pitiful wail. “He refused to speak to me after the tournament. I know I shouldn’t, but I sent for him. And because of what Bulan did, he hates me. He will never come again.”

The tension in Duja’s shoulders receded. She was relieved to hear that Luntok was keeping his distance, but she didn’t dare tell Laya so. “He could never hate you,” she said, which was the truth. Imeria hadn’t lied earlier in the throne room. Luntok was obsessed with Laya, and Laya returned his infatuation. But Duja ought to have warned her that to tangle oneself with a Kulaw was dangerous.

Laya drew back and gazed at Duja, her eyes wide in watery hope. “If there was a way for us to be together?—truly together this time...”

Duja’s heart lurched. “Oh, Laya.”

She couldn’t indulge her. She couldn’t go down this road again.

Laya heard the resignation in her tone and grasped her hands, begging, “Please, Mother. I know you hate Imeria, but Luntok is different. He would never harm me... or anyone else. If you would allow him?—”

“No, Laya, I cannot allow that,” Duja said, more harshly than she intended.

“Mother, please.” Fresh tears spilled out of the corners of Laya’s eyes. Duja knew her daughter and her wily tricks. Knew how skillfully she could feign heartbreak, just to cajole others into doing her bidding. But these were true tears. And this was raw pain?—Duja knew because she had felt it once herself.

She wanted to comfort Laya the way she’d wished to be comforted. Instead, she gave her shoulders a firm shake. “You have no idea the danger these people pose to our family.”

Laya’s brow furrowed. “What sort of danger?” she asked. “I can marry Luntok without reviving any sort of ancestral blood­right. Don’t tell me you actually believe in those stupid myths.”

Except they weren’t mere myths. Magicdidlie dormant in the noble bloodlines. And the Gatdulas were no longer the only ones with divine powers. Fear pierced her body at the reminder.Imeria Kulaw, wielder of mind and flesh.

The memories flooded Duja’s mind with a vengeance. Her brother’s laughter. Imeria’s screams. Her nose stinging with the caustic scent of ash. Angry, black clouds billowing above the eastern wing, where Pangil’s fires continued to rage. Ear-piercing screams ringing out from inside the building, but all Duja could focus on was Pangil’s face.

His head lolled back into Imeria’s soot-streaked hands. He stared up at the smoke-filled sky, unseeing. Inky pools seeped out from his irises, blotting out the whites of his eyes.

Duja could barely bring herself to speak. “Imeria?—by the gods,” she had whispered.

“Duja. I can explain,” Imeria said, releasing Pangil as if his skin burned. She reached for her, but Duja recoiled from her touch.

“It can’t be,” she said in a strangled voice as she stared back at Imeria. Her gut knotted in dread. She squeezed her eyes shut, blinding herself to the horror. She wanted to scream.Not you, my heart. My dearest heart.

Duja blinked away the memories of ash and smoke. Imeria’s shadow disappeared. Laya was still sitting beside her on the bed. She clutched Duja’s hand, impatient for her reply.

“You wish to know what danger?” Duja’s voice cracked. The inside of her throat had gone dry. She shook her head once more as she pulled away from her daughter. “Let Luntok go. If you don’t, I fear you may not survive the consequences,” she said. The words came out harsher than she intended.

Laya’s eyes widened. “I don’t understand.”

“Let him go, Laya,” Duja repeated. “I don’t want to hear of this again.”

“No,”she said, her voice rising with the threat of oncoming sobs. “Mother, please?—”

“Enough of this.” With a heavy heart, Duja swept away from the bed. Laya’s sniffling followed her on her way out. Duja hadn’t told her what she wanted to hear. She could not bear to reveal the truth about Imeria’s powers, but how else could she make Laya understand? She paused, leaning against the doorway. “I promise you, Laya. You will find a better man?—a man worthy of your affection. Luntok is not him,” she added without turning around.

This time, Laya did not answer, but Duja could sense the storm inside her. Duja could say nothing to console her.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she eased the door shut behind her. It was too late to summon Maiza, even though every inch of Duja’s body protested at the slightest movement. Each step she took away from Laya was harder than the last. Her joints groaned as she made her way to her own chambers, where Hari Aki was in bed, reading. He set his book aside and looked at her with a somber expression.

“Well?” he asked.

“Laya is distraught.” Duja kicked off her sandals and stretched out beside him on the bed. Her fingers shook as she reached up to trace the fine black stubble on his chin.

He took her trembling hand and planted a gentle kiss atop her knuckles. “Give her a few days to mend her heart. She will understand in time.”

“I don’t know about that,” Duja said with a weary sigh. She knew that this kind of pain had a way of braiding itself into the fleshy tendons of your soul. Time did not heal this kind of heartbreak; rather, it allowed it to fester. Duja had not realized the extent to which such pain could endure until she spoke with Imeria in the throne room.

Earlier that evening, Imeria had wept just as she had the first time Duja sent her away. Imeria saw it as a punishment, but Duja truly had wanted to protect her. Marrying Imeria was out of the question?—and not simply because they were both women. If they had been born into different families, Duja might have continued to love Imeria all her life, taking a husband for the sole purpose of producing Gatdula heirs. The royal court was no stranger to such arrangements. But in their eyes, loving a Kulaw was not only dangerous. It was unforgivable.

In the years after the Kulaw rebellion, the scars remained fresh. Few of the datus loyal to the Gatdulas would have taken news of their power’s resurgence lightly if they had known. They might have demanded Imeria’s removal, or worse?—her death. And if Duja had allied with Imeria against their wishes, the other royal families might have banded together against them. The ensuing war would have brought an end to Maynara as they knew it.

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