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

She stared up at him just as defiantly as all the others. Perhaps she hadn’t heard their sultan was a Beastkin man as well. Or perhaps, like so many others, she simply didn’t care.

“What is your name?” he asked.

“Tahira.”

“What do you turn into, Tahira?”

She glared at him and remained silent.

Nadir noted the thick metal around her throat had rubbed the tender skin nearly raw. Red tendrils spread out from it, and he wondered if that might mean it was infected. “You are safe here,” he tried to reassure her.

“Safe?” she spat at him, anger simmering until her eyes were nearly red. “I’ve never been safe in Bymere. Neither has any of my people.”

“You are now.” He hoped. Nadir realized he couldn’t quite promise that, and in fact, it was likely still a lie. He was the only Beastkin they tolerated, and that was because he was useful. Blowing out a slow breath, he shook his head. “Or will be. So why don’t you tell me what you turn into?”

“You’ll find out someday, boy king.”

He likely deserved that, but it wasn’t particularly an answer that helped him. Glancing over at Abdul, he nodded at the woman. “She’s not an easy one.”

“There are ways to break a person.”

“And none of them you will use on her.” Nadir looked back at her in time to catch her expression of surprise before it shifted back to anger. “We’ve done enough to this poor woman.”

Her cracked lips spread into a smile. “You have no idea what goes on behind closed doors, little sultan. You think you’re a man? You haven’t seen a single thing of what your advisors do when your eyes are closed or your back is turned.”

He’d suspected as much. There were a hundred things he’d uncovered and he’d likely find another thousand more. But here was a chance for him to start making amends. In an exaggerated sweep, Nadir bowed low to her and quietly murmured, “I know, huntress.”

The honorable word was only given to women who had proven themselves to their sultan and to their country. He only knew of a handful, and they all lived in Falldell where the greatest assassins were trained.

Glancing up, he saw her face turn white. In horror or shock, he didn’t know. Neither mattered.

Nadir nodded at one of her guards. “Have her placed in the other Beastkin woman’s quarters for now. Tell the concubines to wash her and dress her.”

“Sultan?” Even the guard was surprised he’d place her with the women who were considered the nation’s flowers.

“They’ve dealt with two Beastkin women before,” he replied, amused. “They’ll know how to deal with her as well.”

Truth be told, he wasn’t so confident his concubines knew what they were doing. But he’d give them the benefit of the doubt and hoped they knew how to do something with the woman. Unlike Sigrid and her people, they enjoyed making other women look like delicate little flowers. They were good at that, and their skills were far beyond his own.

His advisors thought they were going to catch him with this. They thought he wouldn’t spend the time to encourage the Beastkin woman to be more human than animal. That he wouldn’t work with her or put forth the effort.

He was curious what she turned into. That would help him perhaps understand her mind. As far as he knew, the Beastkin were different personalities depending on the creature they had inside them. He’d observed that with Sigrid and her friend, Camilla.

Gods, he hoped he was right.

Waving his hand, he gestured for the guard to take the woman away.

She glared at him. Tahira, the woman who had no fear in her eyes. He’d have to remember her as something like this. She might be a little more frightened in the coming days.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked the guard. “Another prison?”

“Something like that.” The guard’s voice was amused, and Nadir’s lips twitched in a small smile.

At least there were a few Bymerians who were more curious about the Beastkin than the others. This guard in particular seemed to see the women as something more than just an animal. Men? It was a little harder to look another soldier in the eye and think them stronger. But women pulled at the heartstrings. They were bringers of life. They deserved respect no matter what they were.

Nadir turned back to the table and again took his time reseating himself. The advisors hadn’t moved from their places around the table, so he assumed there was more that they wanted to tell him. As if he had time for this foolishness.

Sighing, he dragged a hand through his hair and yanked it from the tie. The strands pulled too tightly at his scalp when he already had a blistering headache. “What is it?” he spat.

“There’s more, Sultan,” Abdul replied. He pitched his voice low as if what he was about to say would anger Nadir.

It likely would. Everything did these days when there wasn’t an icy woman next to him soothing the anger in his soul.

“Out with it then.”

“The King of Wildewyn has requested another audience. He would like to end the war before it begins.”

“What war?”

“The one we started when the Beastkin attacked us. Wildewyn is standing by their… animals.” Abdul carefully chose the one word that would get under Nadir’s skin. “He wishes to speak with you directly and come to an understanding, apparently. The messenger he sent wasn’t particularly forthcoming with his king’s plans.

He was too tired to deal with this. Nadir squeezed the bridge of his nose. “I am also uninterested in continuing a war that will only hurt both of the kingdoms. Return the messenger to the king and tell him so. We will not be launching any other attacks upon his kingdom unless they attack us first.”

The advisors stilled. One whose name he couldn’t even remember cleared her throat. “Tis a little too late for that, Sultan. The people are calling for blood