Page 176 of A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash

A scream tore from her throat, raw and ragged, shattering against the walls as her body arched in agony. Blood splattered her face, warm and thick, painting the floor in gruesome patterns. The metallic scent of it filled her lungs, choking her.

No matter how fiercely she fought, how violently she thrashed, he did not falter. He had been right—the more she resisted, the more it burnt.

‘Hagan, please!’ Her voice cracked, her pleas swallowed by the room’s cruel silence. ‘Stop it! STOP! I’ll do anything—please, I can’t—I can’t take it—’

She sobbed, the sound dissolving into hoarse gasps. Her body trembled uncontrollably beneath him, the anguish reducing her to nothing but a raw, quivering wound.

And then—somewhere, amidst the horror, amidst the blood and the agony—Alina left.

Her mind unshackled itself from the suffering, drifting far, far away, beyond the walls, beyond the pain. She found herself on an island where the air kissed the land with gentler hands, where women stood tall and fearless, wielding steel and feathers, where they knew how to fight, how to never be powerless again.

Her vision blurred, but she refused to look at him. She focused instead on Zahian. On his lifeless form slumped in the chair, his red eyes forever robbed of their mischief, his lips never to curve in another wry smile. He had died before he could fight.

She would not make the same mistake.

If she survived this, she swore upon the blood coating the floor, upon the fire still smoldering within her—she would kill Hagan herself.

And no one,no one, would ever hurt her again.

I grew up learning the Sandhii language because I have always enjoyed learning the different tongues. Recently I discovered they do not have a way of saying “I love you”. Instead they say, “Waa kair janta” which means “we fall together”. To the desert folk dying for another is the greatest form of love one could have, and therefore it is the only way to express the emotion of love in their language.

Waa kair janta.

Tabitha Wysteria

Kage maintained the perfect distance, his body coiled like a serpent ready to strike. His dark eyes raked over the witch—a mirror image of Vera, yet different in the subtlest ways. Her eyes, rounder and lacking the sharpness of her sister’s. Her hair, just a touch shorter, less wild. Close enough to be mistaken, yet just different enough to feel wrong. She blocked the door like an executioner awaiting the final order. His only way out.

‘Where is my sister?’ The witch’s voice was silk laced with steel.

Kage offered a nonchalant shrug. ‘No idea.’

‘Liar.’ The accusation hissed from her lips, her purple eyes glinting with something venomous.

He tilted his head towards the three still figures at the table,their lifeless forms a grim painting of betrayal. ‘Why did you kill them?’

A slow, pleased smile curled across her face, a predator delighting in its own savagery. ‘Because by tonight, all the princes and princesses will be executed.’ She sighed, almost wistfully. ‘And I’m afraid that means you won’t be leaving this room alive.’

Kage exhaled, his boredom deliberate, his stance deliberately at ease. ‘Just turn around and walk away,’ he said, his voice as soft as a lullaby. ‘I’d rather not harm Vera’s sister.’

The words had the exact opposite effect. The witch’s fingers twitched, and magic—thick and pulsing green—unfurled from her hands like a living, writhing thing.

A pity. He truly hadn’t wanted to harm her.

Kage Blackburn had never been weak. His mind was sharp, his body sharper. A scholar, yes, a strategist, but not a stranger to war. He was wyverian. And wyverians were not bred for mercy.

Before the witch could react, before her spell could lash out, he moved.

One heartbeat, he was across the room, still as a nightmare. The next, he was upon her. His fingers wrapped around her throat, slamming her against the cold stone wall, the impact rattling through her bones. Her magic flickered, faltered.

‘Why are you doing this?’ His grip remained firm, tight enough to control, loose enough to prolong.

The witch’s lips curved, her breath uneven but her arrogance unwavering. ‘You should be less concerned withwhyand more worried aboutwhereyour loved ones are right now.’

A quiet chill swept through Kage’s veins. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t show it.

‘Killing us will not erase the past.’

She laughed.Laughed. A bitter, twisted sound. ‘Nothing will erase the past.’ Her voice turned to something darker, something frenzied. ‘But razing the other kingdoms to the ground? That would be a fine beginning.’

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