Dawn of Cobalt Shadows (Burning Empire Book 2), Emma Hamm [list of ebook readers .txt] 📗

do that to the people, couldn’t reveal that the sultan wasn’t even in the palace where a man should be ruling them. Their sultan was wandering the deserts like a mad man, desperately trying to find Falldell when he knew damned well the kingdom had been lost for centuries.

No one knew how to get to the home of the assassins. Only the few people who had been brought there by one of the Alqatara themselves.

Stumbling, Nadir fell to his knees on top of a sand dune and tilted his head back. The wind was blistering and unforgiving. The sun burned through the haze of the sky, and his water had run out a day ago.

He didn’t know how long he could go without water. He wasn’t like human men. He could likely go much longer, but that would only prolong his death.

Wasn’t this what he deserved? Finally, after all his years searching for a way to end this curse of life, he was finally at the point when it would happen.

Again, the coil of hair slid across his face, trailing around his neck like a noose. He felt her lips against his ear, her voice so comforting he leaned into it.

“You don’t really want to die,” she whispered. “Not yet. Now get up, Nadir. There’s so much more for us to conquer.”

The dragon in him lifted its head, pleased at the sound of her voice, but even more at the images she conjured. They could take the world if they wanted. Spread their wings wide, breathe fire upon the kingdoms that didn’t want them and take back everything they should have.

She pressed her lips against the whorls of his ear. “Get up, Nadir.”

With her voice in his head, he slowly lifted himself onto his feet. There was more to do here, more than he could conquer and more he could learn. She was right.

Giving up wasn’t an option.

His steps wavered, but he continued with shaky steps. There was a kingdom here, a city filled with people who knew how to kill with the smallest finger on their hand. He could find them. He was sultan of these lands, and damned if they would hide themselves from him.

Mere moments after the thought, or perhaps hours of nothing but quiet in his mind, he saw a figure appear on the horizon. This one was clearly more solid than the last, but it wasn’t the woman his eyes caught upon.

A lion stood beside her, far larger than any creature he’d ever seen before. The woman was tall herself. Nadir had to look up to meet her gaze, but she barely reached the lion’s shoulder. The beast was far too big for him to fathom, and yet there it was. Real and as solid as the sand beneath its feet.

He came to a stop at the bottom of the dune where they stood and looked up. Slowly, he peeled the fabric over his face away and called out, “Greetings.”

The woman looked him up and down, clearly unimpressed. Her skin was as dark as the night sky, her eyes sparkling like stars captured within it. Vibrant blue fabric swirled around her figure, pieces of it whipping out like snakes snapping in his direction. “You are him I suppose?” she asked.

“I am the Sultan of Bymere, first of his name.”

“You’ll find there are no titles here, Sultan.” She gave him a mocking bow, then stood up. Her hair was twisted into two buns on either side of her face, a rather unusual looking hairstyle but one that seemed to fit the laughter in her eyes.

“And you are?”

“A friend, for now.” She nodded toward the lion. “He’s here to make sure you actually make it to our leader.”

“How so?” Nadir looked for a litter behind the lion, something the creature could drag along the sand so Nadir could rest for a few moments. There was nothing attached to the creature’s hide. He furrowed his brows, glancing up to meet the creature’s gaze that seemed to smile back at him.

The woman coughed. “You’re going to ride him, Sultan. Or did you think we could make it all the way to Falldell on foot?”

“Am I not near it?”

This time, she tilted her head back and burst into laughter. “No, Sultan, you aren’t even close.”

He watched the woman make her way to the lion’s side, grasp a handful of his mane, and pull herself up onto his back. He didn’t seem to react at the tugging of his hair, although Nadir was certain it must have hurt. She was no small woman, but strong and broad.

“Come on then,” she said. “He’ll manage you and your pack just fine.”

Nadir didn’t have to be told twice. He understood this was likely a one-time offer, and the lion was already pawing at the ground, ready to run. If they left him, then he was really going to die in this sands. Just another body lost to the desert like so many before him.

Sigrid’s voice whispered in his mind again, and he refused to give up. Like she said, there was much left to do. He strode up to the lion, tossed his pack to the woman, and yanked himself up behind her.

Let her do all the work. He didn’t know how to ride a lion like he did a horse. There was no saddle for him to hold onto. There was nothing but fur beneath his thighs. Gods, he was going to fall off as soon as this thing started to move, wasn’t he?

The woman glanced behind her while leaning forward. “Hold on tight. This is going to be a quick ride, and if you fall off, we aren’t stopping.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. Nadir reached out, hooked his hands in the belt at her waist, and held on for dear life as the lion lunged forward.

The beast flew across the sands in great, leaping movements that evened out and quickly became far smoother than a horse. The wide pads of