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

out soon enough. For now, I’m the man who looks enough like you to take your place on the throne. Now, I need you to go back and allow me to cut your face, like Tahira said. It’s not exactly the best situation, but it’ll have to do. “

Nadir lifted a hand. “Stop talking. Explain who you are, why you are qualified to take on the role of sultan, and what makes you think I’d go along with this plan so willing. I have no idea who you are.”

“My name is Solomon. I have dedicated my life to the Alqatara, and thusly, am a trained assassin. I could kill you with just one hand. Likely the rest of your guards as well. And you should trust me, because the leader of the Alqatara does.”

“Trust isn’t laid at your feet like roses because you exist. Give me a reason to trust my kingdom in your hands.”

The man, Soloman, scoffed. “Like you’ve cared about the kingdom so much during your reign? I won’t change much, if that’s what you’re asking. My role is to stay as silent as possible, stop your advisors from doing foolish things, and give you the time you need.”

“How long is that exactly?”

“Depends on you,” Solomon replied, shrugging. “There’s much you have to learn. I wouldn’t expect you to be able to do it faster than a year.”

“I don’t like challenges.”

“Why? Because you rise to them or because you don’t appreciate being challenged?”

Nadir found he didn’t like this man’s face. No matter how much he looked like Hakim, the arrogance in his features was decidedly wrong. This man wouldn’t make a good sultan. He wouldn’t make a good leader or anything else that needed someone with a level head and a kind heart.

He wouldn’t replace Nadir well at all. The man wouldn’t be able to keep his mouth shut long enough for Nadir to walk five steps away.

Two heartbeats passed and suddenly Nadir was an inch from Solomon's face. He didn’t remember moving. The dragon in his chest heated so powerfully that he was no longer in control of his body.

Smoke curled out of his nose, obscuring his vision for a second. “You walk a dangerous path, wanderer.”

“I do what a true warrior bids me to do. I feel no fear.” Solomon's nostrils flared. “Do you, Sultan? Do you recognize fear in your chest? I wonder if that’s why you’re reacting so poorly. You really should control your dragon better.”

“I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“We don’t have time to argue like this. Your guards are going to wonder where you are, and I very much would like to kill them. It wouldn’t end well for either of us, but I could paint your walls red and remind you why the Alqatara are feared throughout both kingdoms.”

Nadir stayed as long as he dared. The man obviously meant the words he said, even though they were cruel and unusual. Stepping back a few feet, he clenched his fists and forced the raging dragon back beneath his skin. “Are you able to impersonate someone you don’t know?”

“I’ve been watching you for months now, actually. You didn’t see me. No one did. I know how you act, how you speak.”

“Prove it.”

Solomon's entire posture changed immediately. His shoulders were a little straighter, his face more relaxed, his eyes softening. He’d sucked in his cheeks, perhaps, and all of a sudden it felt very nearly like Nadir was looking in a mirror.

He circled the other man, looking up and down while nodding. “It’s not bad. But how’s your speech?”

“Better than yours.” Solomon’s accent even changed in the slightest, so he sounded more like a royal Bymerian who was comfortable both in their language and the common tongue. “I have trained extensively for this moment in time.”

“You make it seem as though the Alqatara have always planned this.”

Solomon fell silent, his dark eyes finding Nadir’s before he reverted back to himself. “Fine. I wasn’t supposed to tell you, but we have planned for this. The goal was always to take you back home to your mother.”

“Why?”

“That’s a question you’ll have to ask her, not me.”

Nadir wanted to push. The moment he opened his mouth, however, he saw this man wasn’t going to budge. This was a warrior who had dedicated his life to a single person. Secrets would never flow from his lips like a waterfall. Not to Nadir, at least.

Was this the right choice for the kingdom? The man had already said he didn’t plan on changing things. The Alqatara didn’t want to replace the royals with their own people. And from what he’d read of their association, that was true to who they were.

They were assassins who served the Sultan in times of great war and strife. They didn’t try to overthrow the kingdom. They worked for it.

But he hadn’t been a good Sultan in the past few years. Or… well, really ever. He wouldn’t blame them for thinking it was something in the blood that made him such a poor ruler. Perhaps it was more than just his mind, but the way he was raised, and the bloodline that had ruled this kingdom for centuries.

Looking at the man in front of him, Nadir was quite certain that wasn’t their intent. They wanted to meet with him. No one would tell him why.

He narrowed his eyes. “If I let you do this, why do you need me to wound my face?”

“Didn’t Tahira already explain this? If someone looks at me, they’ll know it isn’t you. Anyone close enough to see you every day would know. We can’t have that. I will need some excuse to cover that pretty face of yours. A little knife injury is quick enough to heal, but if you take time then I can explain it’s the scar that makes me uncomfortable.”

“You’ve really thought of everything, haven’t you?”

Solomon inclined his head, “We do that.”

“Yes, so I’ve heard. I spent hours in the library a few nights ago trying