Silver rushed back to where Brajon and Mele were waiting.
“What did she say?” Brajon asked. “Is she going to help us?”
Silver shook her head. “She’s not the person we thought she would be. She said Nebekker…” Silver swallowed thickly. Nebekker had shown she would do almost anything to protect Kirja. But leave someone to die? “They’re not friends anymore.”
“What are we supposed to do now?” Brajon groaned.
“What we always planned on doing. We have to go through with the Winners’ Audience. I have to get Kirja back on my own.” Arkilah’s words echoed in her head. “And then we have to get out of here.”
“Easier said than done, cousin.” Brajon drew his brows together. “Look around.”
Silver glanced at the walls of the room. The number of guards backed against the tiles seemed to have grown exponentially in the last few minutes. But they weren’t the only reason chills were crawling up Silver’s spine. It seemed the entire room had its eyes on her. The crowd had formed a long circle around Silver and the entrance to the throne room.
“I told Brajon we should get out of here now,” Mele said. “But he refused.”
“You’re free to go,” Brajon countered crossly. “Aren’t you just here to gawk?”
“Enough! It’s not safe,” Silver said. “Mele, they’ve seen you with us. I don’t want you walking out of here alone.”
“I knew I should’ve minded my own business,” Mele said, crossing her arms over her chest.
The energy shifted as everyone turned to watch Queen Imea slowly climbing the steps into the throne room and disappearing inside with a flourish of silks. Arkilah followed, but she paused at the top of the steps and faced the crowd.
“Our five winning racers are now invited to their audience with the queen,” she said. “May your desire be pure, and your favor granted.”
Sagittaria Wonder strode up the steps like it was second nature, followed by the rider of the Shorsa from Silver’s first race.
“Go,” Brajon said. “I’ll be waiting for you at the base of those steps. Scream if you need me.”
“Desert foxes don’t scream,” Silver said. “They snarl.”
Silver saw Ferdi sidle up next to Brajon and Mele, and having them there boosted her confidence. She could even feel Hiyyan tentatively paddling down the coastline, from the cove to Calidia, as the most important moment of her journey beckoned. She would get Kirja back.
Silver climbed the steps and entered Queen Imea’s grand throne room.
FORTY-FIVE
Queen Imea cut an imposing figure. Her throne was constructed of swirls of tall iron, upon which colorful embroidered cushions perched. It sat upon a raised dais made from thick glass. A stream flowed through the room and under the dais, and in that stream, two Abruqs circled lazily.
Each throne arm was an iron water dragon, and Queen Imea placed her palms over their two heads. Another dragon head, this one pure gold, hung from the ceiling, surrounded by dripping gemstone tassels. To the right of the queen’s throne, five gilded wooden boxes sat on a small table. Each one contained, Silver assumed, a small fortune in coins. But it was the view behind the throne that caught her attention most.
Three ornately tiled arches led out to a stone balcony. Beyond that, the obsidian sky opened up over the sea. From there, Queen Imea could watch every water dragon race—and she probably had. The view stretched so far that Silver wondered if one could see all the way to the Island Nations. Now, though, Arkilah stood on that balcony, her back to the throne room, staring up at the stars. How much had Nebekker’s once-friend told the queen about Silver? How much could the heavens reveal?
“Sagittaria Wonder,” the king regent, standing to the left of the queen, announced, summoning her forth.
Silver watched as the queen’s favorite water dragon racer stepped onto the dais. She bowed before Queen Imea and took the wooden box offered her without a single word passing between them. They had obviously done this many times before; Sagittaria looked almost bored with it all.
“She will bring the desert great glory,” came Arkilah’s prediction from the balcony.
Silver didn’t miss the way Sagittaria clenched her jaw, almost like she was suppressing a grimace. Or was it laughter? Perhaps the water dragon racer and the nomad didn’t get along, each vying for the queen’s favor. But then again, it had been Arkilah who’d led Sagittaria Wonder to Kirja.
The other three winning racers were called up in turn, two of them requesting the contents of the wooden box, while another requested a gift of farmland for his extended family in the southern regions.
“What a thoughtful and selfless request,” Queen Imea said. She smiled and doubled the amount of land the racer had initially asked for.
“The riches to come to your family will exceed all that stood upon the table,” Arkilah said.
The southern water dragon racer grinned and bowed again. All requests had been granted with a warm smile from the queen, which gave Silver confidence.
“Desert Fox,” the king regent announced. Silver lifted her skirts and walked forward. She tried not to pay attention to the way Sagittaria Wonder noiselessly set her wooden box on the ground and folded her arms across her chest, or the way the other racers squinted to try to see under Silver’s veil.
“Queen Imea,” Silver said, bowing. When she rose again, she noticed that the queen had not reached for a wooden box like she had with the other racers. Instead, Queen Imea sat so still and blank of expression that she could have been carved from granite.
Silver swallowed. Had those guards, positioned along the arches in the back of the room, shuffled a few inches closer, or was that Silver’s imagination? Was there more noise behind her, streaming in from the courtyard, or was that a trick of the room?
The way everyone watched her, waiting, was no trick. Silver’s arms went cold, and her head went light. She could really use one of Ferdi’s diversions right then.
I need you, Silver said to Hiyyan. Her body warmed. She could tell that her Aquinder was close to Calidia now.
Before Silver could make her request, Arkilah reentered the throne room, standing to the side of the dais. The queen pressed her hands on the iron water dragon heads impatiently and snapped at Silver: “Who are you?”
The question hit Silver with the force of a sand storm, bringing her to life.
“I am Desert Fox,” Silver said.
The queen stayed silent, waiting expectantly.
With her blood pounding in her ears, Silver slowly pulled the veil off her face.
Sagittaria Wonder started forward, her mouth twisting in a frown. “I know you. You’re that annoying little ele-jeweler from Jaspaton.”
Silver began to cringe, but then she stopped herself. She wasn’t ashamed about where she came from. It was a jeweler who’d taught her to work metal, so that she could make bindings for Hiyyan’s wings. It was a yarnslady who’d taught her to work wool, so that she could disguise herself for the races. It was a community of family and tradition that had taught her to be strong and resilient, that had sent her into the world with useful gifts and the desire for greatness.
Silver Batal had all those things, and more.
“I am Desert Fox,” she repeated, her voice carrying through the throne room and into the courtyard. “I am the ele-jeweler. I am a yarnslady’s daughter. I am a Jaspatonian.”
Her voice grew even louder, pride swelling in her chest. A roar began in her ears, as though all the deep desert applauded her efforts. The healing wound on her wrist burned deliciously, like it was brand-new. Somewhere in the sea over that throne room balcony, Hiyyan was sending Silver feelings of strength.