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

It wasn’t that Raheem wanted to be cruel to those who protected the palace. He wanted them to take their jobs seriously, and only find reward in good behavior. Becoming a palace guard wasn’t like a city guard. So many people, important people, lived within these walls.

He’d need his position back immediately. Whomever Nadir had hired to take on the role of Head of the Army was doing a terrible job.

Raheem walked briskly through the halls toward Nadir’s private quarters. The boy would be there, as he always was. A few maids raced past him with sheets in their hands. Another one with a swath of brightly colored fabric.

Were the concubines being outfitted? The boy had seriously lost his mind.

Rage boiling beneath his skin, Raheem didn’t knock on the sultan’s door. Instead, he opened it immediately and strode into the room with words already dripping from his tongue.

“Have you lost your damn mind, boy? I walked into this palace without a single question from any person!”

He’d expected Nadir to be relaxing on the bed, perhaps even at the desk overlooking some documents. But no one stood where the boy usually entertained himself. Even the sheets didn’t look slept in.

Had he gone to spend more time with the concubines? After having a wife like Sigrid? Raheem wasn’t going to just yell at the man he considered his dearest friend. He was going to punch him so hard in the mouth Nadir tasted blood.

The cold prick of a blade touched his throat. “And you are?”

“Raheem,” he grunted, reaching up to yank the fabric away from his face. The blade held it in place at his throat, but at least the boy could see who he was. “I’d thought you’d know that, however.”

“I’m afraid I don’t. You’ve entered the private room of the sultan without permission. The punishment for that is death.”

The voice wasn’t… quite right. The tones were correct, the accent as well, but there was the faintest dip in the sentences that rang a bell in Raheem’s mind. It wasn’t wrong exactly, but it wasn’t the boy he knew.

In fact, the lyrical voice was almost like one he’d heard long, long ago. And only in the Beastkin of Bymere.

Raheem slowly canted his head, glancing over at the man standing behind the doorway with a wicked looking blade. “You aren’t the sultan.”

A bandage wrapped around the man’s head, crimson fabric hiding any blood which might have dotted the fabric. He was the right build for Nadir. Strong and broad, taller than most men and a wicked look in his yellow eyes.

Raheem was certain this wasn’t the boy he’d helped raise.

The man narrowed his eyes. “Perhaps you’ve forgotten what I look like.”

“Who am I to you?” he asked.

“Raheem, Captain of the Guard and wiped from all history for leaving with the Beastkin of Wildewyn and the dragon woman who destroyed the city.”

“But who am I to you.”

The man didn’t have a response. His eyes remained narrowed, then he slowly removed the knife from his neck.

Raheem pressed a hand to his throat, making sure no blood dripped from a wound he couldn’t feel, and nodded. “That’s what I thought. Who are you?”

Staring down at the man was a little more difficult than he might have expected. There was something sinister about this one, unlike Nadir. It was the aggression in his shoulders, the way he tilted his head down and looked up rather than looking down his nose. He’d need to be a lot more careful than this if he wanted to be successful in impersonating the sultan.

“My name is Solomon,” he gruffly replied. “I was sent by the Alqatara to take the sultan’s place while he is trained amongst their ranks.”

Raheem stiffened. “The Alqatara have awakened?”

“They have an interest in this sultan as no other. A Beastkin man ruling the kingdom is a good step toward a better future, but it must be the right Beastkin man.”

“And you are?”

“The one who can take his place believably should something arise that keeps the sultan away longer.”

Gods, Raheem thought he knew what that meant, but didn’t want to consider the idea. He knew the sultan’s story wasn’t as cut and dry as the others believed. Hakim had a different look about him than the boy. He leaned much more toward his mother’s side of the family. Whereas Nadir had a faraway appearance that always made him different. And he hadn’t looked like the sultana at all.

“What does that mean?” Raheem asked. “And be straight with me, I don’t want any of the veiled truths the Alqatara are so talented at giving.”

“I don’t know if I can trust you.”

“My entire life has been dedicated to keeping the sultan alive. Not Hakim. Not the bloodline. Nadir. He saved my life when I had nothing left, and I have vowed to make decisions that benefit that boy.”

“Like leaving with the dragon who destroyed this place?”

Raheem wanted to punch the man. How dare he question motives that were pure? Motives that benefited Nadir? He straightened his shoulders and glowered at Solomon. “I followed her, because she is everything that is good in Nadir. She was the one who taught him to realize there was more to life than sitting in an opium den with women on his lap. She is more important to this story than others could ever imagine.”

The pretender watched Raheem’s words with rapt attention, then slowly nodded. “My mother is the leader of the Alqatara. She is the first woman to train the many armed assassins, the highest of our guild. She is also the woman who brought Nadir into this world, and then gave him to his father.”

Raheem’s mind reeled with the knowledge. Nadir wasn’t truly the royal bloodline? A bastard on the throne was sure to be removed if anyone found out. “Why?”

“There is a prophecy. That a dragon shall arise to the throne and bring about a new age for all our kind. The time