Dawn of Cobalt Shadows (Burning Empire Book 2) by Emma Hamm (free novels to read TXT) 📗

sisters!” she called. “Do not listen to these poisonous words for that is all they are! Poison to turn your mind away from the future which we could have!”

A ripple spread through the crowd. Some of the Beastkin turned to see her, and she knew these were the ones who thought she was the better fit as a ruler. They were the ones whose opinions she could easily change. It was the ones who looked to Jabbar for his reaction that would be much more difficult for her to convince.

“The humans are not monsters,” she said, letting the wind carry her voice to the Beastkin below her. “They want to leave us alone. This is what the Wildewyn King told me, and I believe him!”

Jabbar’s laughter filled the air like a cloud had passed over the sun. “You believe him? The king of fools who kept your people in cages? I know you have a soft touch, Sigrid, but I thought you would be more inclined to condemn him for all the things he has done to you and your sisters.”

“I don’t claim what he did was right,” she replied. “I don’t claim that we should remain in cages. I acquired this kingdom for us in a political deal, not through bloodshed for violence. This is the direction we should turn our minds. How can we convince the people of Wildewyn that we deserve what we have taken? How can we assist them so that, in return, they assist us? This is the life that we have desired for so long. To be seen as people, not as animals.”

For a second, she thought she might have them. The Beastkin below murmured among each other. Maybe Camilla was right. After all this time watching them, Sigrid might have been wrong. They might have wanted more than just animalistic natures that beckoned them into the forests where they would disappear forever.

Then, one of her own sisters raised her voice. “We don’t want to be humans, Sigrid. That’s something you could never understand, because you always favored them over us. But we don’t want to be like them. We want to create a kingdom of our own, not mimic something humans have done for centuries. Look where’s it’s gotten them! Nothing but war and violence. We can stop that right now.”

As quickly as she had gotten their attention, she lost it. They turned in on each other, voicing words of agreement that the humans had done so many wrong things. No Beastkin wanted to be like the humans.

Why would they? Humans had kept them in cages. Humans were the ones who had made them work or hunted them nearly to extinction.

She could almost feel the surge of triumph that made Jabbar’s back straighten and his chest puff out. He could control the crowd of Beastkin with a single word, and he knew in that moment he had won.

Or, at least, he thought he had won.

Sigrid glanced toward the tower where Camilla was waiting. The sunlight glinted off the metal point of the arrow pointed directly at her.

It could have been no one else. She didn’t trust even Raheem to shoot her from such a distance. But she had trained her entire life with Camilla by her side and knew how dangerous her sister was with a bow. If she wanted to shoot an apple off a mountain peak, Sigrid thought she might be able to do it.

Breathing out a slow breath, Sigrid nodded. “I ask you to trust me, Beastkin brothers and sisters. Did I not fight for you? Did I not destroy a city and rend another dragon from the sky? How else can I prove myself to you? That I seek only your best interest at heart?”

Jabbar pointed up to her. “You are nothing more than a child. Never been married. Never had children. You haven’t experienced enough of life to be able to guide us.”

If she could have torn out his throat where he stood, she would have. The man had no right to judge her knowledge based on a limited number of years. She had experienced more in her time than most her age. That didn’t change how much she knew, or what was right and what was wrong.

“I am begging you now, my people, my family, my friends. Do not turn your eyes away from the humans so easily, or we will all be lost.” She tried to pour all her feelings and worries into the words, but knew they would be lost under the swelling wave of hatred pouring out of Jabbar.

For a moment, she thought she could almost see it. The burning ties of anger and rage that had festered inside him for so long. They stretched out toward her people and tangled around throats, wrists, ankles, anything they could find that would bind the users until they couldn’t think, breathe, or hear anything but his twisted words.

“They won't listen to you on this, Sigrid,” Jabbar called back. “They need to listen to me now, so they will remain safe.”

“Safety isn’t hiding away in caves or creating a dark space where you can remain until you rot,” she replied. “Safety isn’t a place; it’s a state of mind.”

The laughter which erupted from his mouth would echo in her mind until the end of time.

She looked back toward the window and gave the slightest of nods. Her people wouldn’t have seen it. They weren’t even looking at her anymore as Jabbar continued with his poisonous talk.

If one of them had noticed, they would have seen her eyes locked on a figure in the distance, and that she poured so much love into the look that she could hardly breathe.

As the arrow whistled through the air, Sigrid let out a soft sigh. “It could only be you,” she said quietly, hoping the words would fly on the winds to her dearest of sisters. “I could only trust you with this.”

The arrow thudded into her torso with a blistering