Dawn of Cobalt Shadows (Burning Empire Book 2) by Emma Hamm (best e ink reader for manga .txt) 📕

“In this case, my wishes are irrelevant.” Nadir reached forward and took the parchment back from Hallmar.

He wished he didn’t feel powerless now. When Abdul had brought the documentation to Nadir, he’d done everything he could to prove it wrong. Surely this was forged. There was no way that the Beastkin had been sent by a previous Earthen King. No one was that foolish.

But apparently, they were. There were problems across every kingdom on this godsforsaken rock, but this was something that couldn’t go unnoticed. It didn’t matter that it had happened centuries ago. It didn’t matter that Nadir’s line likely hadn’t even risen to power yet.

It mattered that the Wildewyn people had hunted, murdered, and eaten many Bymerians in their days. Something like that couldn’t slide by without a good sultan addressing it.

He’d tried to argue they could seek restitution in another way. That the Wildewyn king could pay them in food, grains, water—anything that would make the people prosper and grow without more bloodshed.

His advisor council had shot down each suggestion, growing more angry each time. They wanted bloodshed. They advised that a kingdom grew more during times of war. That he would be a fool to pass up an opportunity like this.

And then Abdul had said the crowning words which had forced Nadir to this moment in time.

Nadir would never forget the words that were now burned into his mind.

“You may love her, Sultan, but that doesn’t mean we won’t take the steps to give this kingdom what it deserves. If you aren’t prepared to do this, then the council members will take it upon themselves to reveal the truth to our people. No matter what the cost.”

At first, he’d thought it a bluff. The council wouldn’t go behind his back. They wouldn’t try to strong-arm their sultan into doing what they wanted.

Only after he pushed did he realize they were all very serious about the transgression. The copy they had given Nadir was nothing more than a copy. The original was locked away somewhere, far from Nadir’s grasp. They would do whatever it took to make sure the Bymerian people knew that the Earthen folk were the monsters underneath their beds at night, the howl of the winds at their door, the drag of a sword across their throats.

A war was coming. Whether Nadir wanted it or not.

The tension in the back of his neck burst into an aggressive headache that made him wince. He touched a hand to the tender flesh at the back of his neck. “I wish there was more I could do, Hallmar. I really do. There’s so much our people could build if we could but work together. I want you to know I see that. The future in my mind is not war or bloodshed.”

“And yet, you will do nothing to stop this.”

“I cannot.”

“You are the Sultan of Bymere. The fact you still think there are chains around you shows that you haven’t grown as much as I thought you had.” The Earthen King stood abruptly. His eyes stared down at Nadir, disapproving and cold. “The way Sigrid spoke, it sounded as if you were well on your way to being a respectable ruler. I see now, she was wrong.”

“There’s only so much I can do.”

“You are the royal blood. You are the Sultan, their leader, their god if you wish to be. Do not tell me there are limits to what you can do.”

Hallmar stalked to the door without looking back. He slammed the door open, the precious wood hitting stone walls with a thud that echoed throughout the room.

Soldiers snapped to attention, the metal of their armor clanking as they tried to prepare themselves for the wrath of their king.

“We’re leaving,” Hallmar snapped. “This was a wasted effort. The entire kingdom is filled with fools.”

“Careful what you say,” Nadir called out, eyes still on the desk in front of him. “You are in my kingdom, Earthen King. Only so many insults will be ignored before I will have to take action and make sure you remember insulting the Sultan of Bymere is a dangerous thing to do.”

Rage shook Hallmar’s shoulders. His voice deepened in his reply, “You are nothing more than a boy.”

An answering anger rose in Nadir’s chest. Slowly, he stood from his desk and straightened his broad shoulders. He waited until the Earthen King looked toward him, then Nadir lifted a dark brow.

“I may be a boy king,” he replied, “but I have an army at my disposal and a dragon in my chest. Threaten me one more time, and I will pick your soldiers’ meat from between my teeth with your bones.”

The Earthen King and his soldiers stalked away, leaving Nadir with a pit in his stomach. What had he just begun?

5

Sigrid

Sigrid crouched on top of the highest peak of the keep, watching the Beastkin work in their daily toils. Her hand curled around a tall wooden spire. It crumbled beneath her solid grip, but she continued to slide her hand down to give herself balance.

If anyone looked up, they would see their matriarch precariously close to falling. Not that it mattered really. She would change before she hit the ground.

But that was the main problem, now wasn’t it? The Beastkin were almost too powerful. They could change at will, tumble from the sky, fall off a cliff, and they would still come out unscathed. How was that fair to the humans who had looked to them as monsters in the night? They couldn’t fight against animals. They couldn’t battle creatures that looked one way and then changed in a moment’s notice.

In some small way, Sigrid understood why the humans feared them so much. Why they would want to destroy every last one of them if only to sleep well at night.

Feathers touched down on stone beside her. Sigrid hadn’t heard Camilla approach. The owl’s wings were far more silent than any leathery appendage, or even that