Page 93 of Black Salt Queen

“I’m sorry, Imeria,” she whispered as she reached for her.

Imeria folded into her embrace. Her hands clung to Duja’s filthy hair. Her touch was gentle. This time, no pain came.

“I’m sorry,” Duja said again. Her arms tightened around Imeria’s shaking shoulders. The other woman’s long, ink-black hair tickled her collarbone. A spark of the decades-old yearning burst in Duja’s chest. She leaned in and pressed her lips to hers.

Imeria gasped in surprise. Duja reeled her close by the neck, deepening the kiss. Imeria’s lips tasted like soured feast wine, but they were warm and full and softer than orchid petals. Softer than Duja remembered.

I’m sorry, my heart.

“Duja,” Imeria sighed, crumpling in her arms. By the time she noticed Duja withdrawing slightly, thrusting one hand to the ground, it was too late.

The delicate island below their feet gave a violent lurch. The ledges of the crater began to crumble. Giant chunks of rocks chipped away and tumbled into the clear water of the lake. With her free arm, Duja reached deep into the earth and yanked with all her might. The mountain peak groaned, and the tremors escalated.

“Duja,” Imeria gasped. She tried to pull away, but Duja held her tightly to her chest. The crater started to cave in on itself with a deafening roar. Duja sucked in a breath. A shallow calm washed over her.

Together.

This was how it was always meant to end.

Imeria tried to press her hand to Duja’s temple, but Duja drew back, shaking her head. “My power has already penetrated deep into the mountain. You cannot stop it now.”

“No.”Imeria shook her, digging her nails into her arms. “Duja, please. Think of your children,” she begged.

But Duja did not relinquish her hold on the earth. She steeled her jaw and pulled harder on the invisible threads. The trembling intensified.

“It’s for my children that I must do this,” she said.

She dug her fingers into the energy thrumming at the heart of the mountain and turned her wrist. Tremendous mounds of earth gave way from the walls of the crater. Faster, the rocks tumbled down, down, down. The ground beneath them sank deeper, swallowing the lake. Imeria cried out in fear and clung to her. Duja met her eyes. This time, Imeria stared back at her with resolve?—both women had accepted their fate.

Lower and lower, they sank. Imeria’s fingers curled around the nape of her neck. She pressed her forehead to hers. Vaguely, Duja remembered the promise they had whispered to each other as girls:until the end.

Rocks tumbled over and around them, jagged shapes that devoured the sky. She could no longer hear her own heartbeat. She could no longer hear Laya’s thunder. She felt only the heat of Imeria’s breath as they descended into the darkness together. A moment of quiet, and she thought she heard Aki’s deep, hearty laugh resonate from the other side.

The last glimmer of light faded. The island, reduced to a delicate sliver of ground, cracked open beneath their weight. Duja’s heart leaped from her chest, too heavy with grief and tenderness and pain. Images flashed before her eyes. She saw her daughters, the round-faced girls they’d once been and the women she watched them become. She saw her husband looking up from his book to gaze at her. He awaited Duja. He was standing alone across a luminous river that sang as it coursed around the bend. He was holding out his hand, inviting her to cross over to the next life.

Around her, the jagged rocks continued to fall. She had broken the delicate balance that held the crater together. The entire summit vibrated, and she could do nothing to stop it.

I’m coming, my love.

Hara Duja closed her eyes and allowed the mountain to swallow her whole.

Five

A Dawn Feast

A Coronation Prayer

All hail Hara Laya

Our kingdom’s chosen steward

Summoner of the sky’s might

And daughter of Mulayri

Whose blood flows through her veins.

All hail Hara Laya

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