The Fire Queen (The Hundredth Queen #2)(81)

I step out of the cover of the trees and jog toward the demon rajah’s army.



The late-day sun shines down on the soldiers’ gleaming machetes and khandas lifted to the sky. The demon rajah, visible by his glowing blue fire, leads the armed soldiers and civilians toward the city. Prince Ashwin marches near the front with him. I blend in with the amassed troops and fall in line with the ranks.

At the city gates, a line of elephant warriors, all bhutas, obstructs our way. A regiment of foot soldiers holds the line behind them.

“You cannot pass,” calls out a commander. He rides upon a large elephant with great tusks. He holds out his hand, and the ground trembles. A fissure opens up in the land, and a crack spreads, creating a gap between our army and his.

The demon rajah throws a stream of blue across the divide, striking the commander in the chest. He falls off his elephant, and the ground stops parting. The unnatural flame scares all the elephants, and they stampede away with their riders. The demon rajah jumps over the crevice to engage the rival regiment.

Our soldiers charge forward to defend their ruler, but he needs no aid. In one swipe, the demon rajah’s blue fire flattens the first line of men. Prince Ashwin leaps over the divide and joins his imposter father. I jump over the gap and rush after him. The opposing regiment breaks its line. Our troops barrel past them through the gate and into the city. I try to maintain sight of Prince Ashwin, but I lose him in the foray.

The demon rajah pushes into the roadways lined with huts, his blue fire burning homes and trees and markets. Crimson soldier uniforms fill the roads like streams of blood. Screaming women and children run everywhere. I spin around and spot the prince slipping between two huts. I run after him and seize him from behind.

Prince Ashwin points a dagger at my face, struggling against my hold, and then recognizes me from his peripheral view. I release him, and he lowers his blade. I identify the dagger’s turquoise handle as one of Kali’s.

“Did you rob that from the kindred before you abandoned her?” I growl.

The prince recoils from my rancor. “I only left her to draw away the Voider.”

“Don’t pretend you’re a hero. You unleashed this thing.”

A blast of blue flames illuminates the sunset sky.

“I had no other choice,” Prince Ashwin says, glowering.

“Tell that to the people whose city is being destroyed.” I check around the corner for the demon rajah. “A riverboat is waiting to take us out of here.”

“What about Kalinda?” the prince asks, eyeing the palace high up on the hill.

“She’s meeting us at the river. Try to keep up.”

I take off down the road. Prince Ashwin matches my speed, and we run downhill for the waterfront. Slivers of the dark-green river can be seen through the huts. Nearly there.

Blue flames explode at us from behind. The demon rajah casts another blast of fire at the hut in front of us, and the walls collapse. I haul Prince Ashwin out of the path of the raining debris, and we roll away. The prince turns onto his back and groans. He was struck in the forearm, his flesh burned white.

“I wondered if I would see you, Captain Naik.” Rajah Tarek’s voice sends a torrent of memories down upon me. I spent years serving this man. I saved his life over my brother’s during an attack. A small part of me still seeks his approval, but this is not Tarek. “I am unsurprised my son is with you. He has always been a disappointment.”

Prince Ashwin sits up, biting down on his pain. “Stop lying. I know you’re not my father. Tarek was the disappointment. He failed the empire.”

“Tarek’s work was left unfinished, but I have come to put everything right.”

The demon rajah collects a blue fireball in his hands. We cannot outrun him, so I hunch over the prince and prepare for agony.

Real fire flares above us, red as a sunset, and pushes away the Voider’s icy blue.

Kali plants herself between us and the demon rajah. Her hands are aglow, her face set in a defiant glare. Her soul-fire brightens her veins like rivulets of gold and reflects off her dark hair. Life and light glimmer around her, radiating supernal power, a beacon casting away shadows. Almost immediately, my eyes ache like I am staring into the sun. Kali resembles a goddess destroyer, terrifying and glorious.

“Get Ashwin to the boat,” she says.

The river is not far, but upon a closer look, Kali’s side is bleeding, and one of her legs is misshapen. My fears warn me that if I leave now, I may never see her again.

The Voider collects more blue flames for attack, his powers endless.

Kali bends into a fighting stance. “Deven, go! Protect the rajah.”

The rajah. My ruler. Our future.

I heave Prince Ashwin to his feet and push him into a run. He cradles his burned arm, the scent of charred flesh rank, but he meets my speed. We dash around the corner for the riverfront, and I lose sight of Kali.





31


KALINDA

My fire streams through the Voider’s blue flames, dispersing them to plumes of smoke. Deven and Ashwin depart, on their way to the boat. I was there moments ago but ran back when I saw how close the demon rajah was to us. Indah is still at the vessel, waiting with the others, including Natesa and a fatigued Yatin.

The Voider starts toward me, his hands glowing with aberrant powers. “You are bold, Kalinda.”