Gifting Fire by Alina Boyden (read my book .TXT) 📕

I thought Karim had said she was Yaruban, and while I had never been to Yaruba, I knew that they didn’t wear clothes like these. She had adopted Mahisagari fashion herself. So did that make her recommendation the sort of friendly advice an older wife might pass to a younger one, or was it something more?

“I do, your majesty,” I replied, bowing my head to her, forcing myself to smile. “I hope you will forgive me, but I had no time to prepare for this journey, nor to procure suitable attire.”

“There is nothing to forgive, dear,” she assured me, smiling brightly. “We’ll simply have to bring tailors to the palace to see to the matter.”

“I’d be most grateful, your majesty,” I lied. The last thing on earth I wanted was to dress up like a Mahisagari bride, but if it would keep their suspicions at bay, then it was a small sacrifice.

“Akka, you should see my new room, it’s so beautiful!” Lakshmi exclaimed from her place beside Sakshi.

“It really is,” Sakshi agreed, smiling at me, though I saw the concern in her red-brown eyes as they searched my face for some sign of how I was feeling. “We’re very grateful to have been given such magnificent chambers.”

“Nonsense, you are my daughter-in-law’s sisters,” said Asma, waving away Sakshi’s words of gratitude with a swipe of her palm. “I wouldn’t dream of giving you anything less than the very best this palace has to offer. Though once we return to Rajkot, your chambers will be more glorious still.”

My eyes perked up, but I fought to keep my alarm from showing through on my face. “Are we going to Rajkot?” I glanced from Asma to Karim, searching their faces for an answer.

“Not right away,” Karim said, placing his hand over mine, the heat of his rough palm on my skin making my insides twist. “But as soon as the marriage is concluded, we will discuss it. Though I might prefer to have you with me here in Kadiro, or even in Ahura. Much will depend on how Shah Ismail reacts over the coming weeks to our presence there.”

“Well, if he decides to fight, we stand ready to defend you, cousin,” the young man I didn’t know told Karim.

“Thank you, Rais,” Karim replied, and he seemed to realize that I didn’t know who Rais was, because he said, “Razia, this is my cousin Rais, my uncle Nasir’s firstborn son.”

“The emir of Jesera?” I ventured, hoping that I’d remembered Karim’s lineage properly.

“That’s right, dear,” said Asma, looking quite pleased with me for knowing the name of the city. “My brother is the emir, and my nephew Rais was kind enough to join us with a few of his friends, to help keep Kadiro safe.”

That explained the fire zahhaks. Yaruba was a great, vast desert land, richer in fire zahhaks than almost any other nation in the world. And Jesera was the most prosperous and powerful of Yaruba’s many competing city-states. Much like Registan, Yaruba was a land divided among a large number of kings, known as emirs, but one that came together to oppose outside threats. I didn’t think even a man of Nasir’s prominence would be able to convince the other city-states of Yaruba to join him in fighting for Mahisagar, but the prospect of facing Yaruban fire zahhaks changed things. Now, even if Arjun was able to bring a substantial number of men from Registan, they would merely offset the numbers Karim could call upon from Jesera.

“Akka, can I fly Mohini after breakfast?” Lakshmi asked. “I want to practice dogfighting with Nuri again today.”

It was the perfect chance to ask Karim for permission to do some flying of my own. I smiled and said, “I don’t know, sweetheart, that’s up to Prince Karim.” I looked to the man in question and asked, “Would it be all right, your highness?”

“Of course it would be,” Karim answered, looking directly at Lakshmi with a smile that made me want to slap him. “Someday you’ll be called upon to fly in Mahisagar’s defense, just like all of our other acid zahhak riders. So you’ll have to be very good at dogfighting.”

Lakshmi nodded eagerly, rushing to eat the rest of her breakfast so she could fly as soon as possible. The idea of her flying for Mahisagar made my blood boil, but how could I blame her? From her point of view, Karim had given her back her beloved zahhak, he doted on her, and I had brought her to this place, in effect giving it a mark of approval.

“Sakshi also needs to work on her skills, your highness,” I informed Karim. “And I was hoping that I might supervise matters with Hina, to make sure that Lakshmi and Nuri are staying safe.”

Karim raised an eyebrow. “We talked about all of your sisters flying at the same time, didn’t we?”

“We did, your highness,” I allowed, dipping my head in acknowledgment, “but I was hoping that you and your cousin might fly with us, and perhaps your mother too, if she is amenable.”

“Me? Fly?” Asma asked, and I noted a flurry of competing emotions flickering across her face. There was genuine surprise, followed by suspicion, but also eagerness. She wanted to go up almost as much as Lakshmi did.

“Well, I don’t know what saddles Rais has brought, and I certainly don’t want to make any offers on his behalf,” I replied, bowing my head to the Yaruban prince and keeping my eyes carefully downcast, “but before I recovered my Sultana, I would often fly in a double saddle with Prince Arjun of Bikampur atop his fire zahhak, Padmini. I thought perhaps if you hadn’t flown in such a fashion before that you might enjoy it, your majesty, though I wondered if perhaps you hadn’t done such things in Yaruba before your marriage to Sultan Ahmed.”

“My brother used to take me up on flights when I was little,” Asma recalled, a bittersweet smile playing at her lips. “We would fly