Page 57 of Barbarian Daddies

I owe it to her and to our child to see this through, however.

Our work isn’t done yet.

We’ve only won a battle in a long-lasting war.

28

Cynthia

Once I patch up Maur’s hip wound, we go up to the roof of the research lab and plant the Fire Tribe’s flag on the edge for everyone to see. Kingo is alive, but he’ll need stitches and plenty of ointments for his burns. Salim and the others in our crew are currently busy either carrying the injured into one of the medical rooms or killing any mercenaries still trying to storm the building. The chaos unfolds all around us, but we can only watch from up here as the universe sets its own pieces in motion.

The people of Sapphire City have spoken, and their will has spilled out onto the streets. The Fire Tribe warriors fight fiercely against the remaining Sky Tribe soldiers. Blood glazes the sidewalks and the cobblestone streets. Bodies are littered everywhere. Ours. Theirs. Civilians. No side is spared in this painfully necessary violence.

The Mal brothers lead their men into Selina’s palace. We can see them from up here as they take the building and kill their way through the hallways and up the stairs until another Fire Tribe flag is raised in the heart of Sapphire City. It hurts my soul to watch this, yet I cannot look away. It’s the result of three years’ worth of covert ops and spy missions, of intense studies and research, of campaigning and diplomacy. It should have ended differently, but Selina Sharuk didn’t leave us with another, better option.

As the violence dies down, it becomes clear that the Fire Tribe are the victors. Our flags shimmer red under the rising suns of the morning, the cool air brushing through my hair as I breathe deeply. I tell Kai and Maur about the orange water first, sparing no detail of my experience and praying they believe me. To my surprise, they listen with renewed interest, seemingly drinking every word before a heavy silence falls between us.

“Well?” I ask, worried I may have imagined everything.

“You’re not the only one who drank from Sunna’s inner fire,” Kai finally says.

“What?”

“The orange water. We’ve been hearing stories about it since we were kids,” he replies, and Maur smiles, nodding in agreement. “Our father once claimed to have drunk from it, as well. When he was a child, before the plague broke out.”

“We believe you, Cynthia,” Maur says. “There’s no reason for us not to believe you. Besides, it’s a good omen.”

“There’s no such thing as a good omen,” I reply bluntly.

The brothers laugh lightly. “There is. Here on Sunna. We do not have miracles. We do not believe in miracles. But we believe in the fire of Sunna, in what it gives, in what it takes,” Kai says. “Nothing is free. Something is taken when we accept something from Sunna. It’s really that simple.”

“What was taken from me, then?” I ask, suddenly alarmed and genuinely worried about my baby’s health.

Kai kisses my cheek softly. “You went through a veritable ordeal before the fire of Sunna revealed itself to you. That was the something taken from you. Your innocence, I guess.”

“Dahlen wasn’t the first man I killed,” I say, lowering my gaze as I remember our skirmish with Umok. I’d hoped I’d never have to raise a weapon against anybody after that, but Dahlen pushed me. He forced me to become the monster I never wanted to be. “My innocence was long-lost.”

“You’re talking about Umok,” Maur says. “You were victims, you were defending yourselves from men who were ready to do the unthinkable. It was different with Dahlen, even you have to admit it.”

“It was premeditated,” I reply, nodding slowly. “I knew what I was doing. I planned it. The minute I realized what Dahlen was doing, the moment I understood he was taking me back to Sapphire City, I decided to kill him. I didn’t have to.”

“You didn’t have to, but it was the right thing to do,” Kai says. “It couldn’t have been easy, Cynthia, I know, and I’m sorry you had to go through it. But that was your true innocence lost, and Sunna recognized your sacrifice and decided to reward you.”

“I thought I was going to die in that desert. I don’t even know how I got there in the first place,” I say, remembering my wretched journey after I left the wild orchard behind. “I knew the way into Sapphire City.”

Kai and Maur exchange glances, more smiles etched across the lips as they seem to make connections I am clearly missing. The brothers then look at me with warm reassurance, and for the briefest of moments, I’m at peace with everything I did. The nightmares will come later, though, I know it.

“Here’s the thing with our faith,” Kai says. “Most of the Fire Tribe folks recite the history and the stories of our ancestors, but few have actually touched Sunna’s inner fire.”

“That’s what faith is all about,” I reply.

“Fair enough. But we also do universally agree on one thing. It exists. We feel it in our blood, and we feel it in the bonds we create with our soulmates,” Kai adds. “We feel it in our love for you, Cynthia. If Sunna deemed you worthy, then it is an incredible honor, and it makes you even more special to our people, to our entire culture.”

“You drank Sunna’s fire, Cynthia. There will be songs written about you someday,” Maur says. “I’ve got a feeling you’ll have a special place in our history if you manage to find a cure for the plague, too.”

The three of us chuckle as the twin suns rise proudly above the Crimson Sea. Plumes of black smoke reach for the heavens, remnants of the explosive devices our fighters set off at the city’s gates. All four have come down, though we will rebuild them—thicker and stronger. No one is taking Sapphire City away from us, that much I know for sure.

“I need to tell you something,” I say, remembering some of Selina’s last words to me. The twins look at me, curiosity glimmering in the scarlet pools of their eyes. “Selina said the plague was likely designed. Not a natural occurrence. She didn’t know who was responsible, but based on my own studies from downstairs, I’m ready to confirm her suspicions. There’s something about the way this virus works. It was designed to target a specific portion of the Sunnaite demographic. It was made to only attack organisms where a womb is present. I would need more studies to further confirm and assess everything, but Kai… Maur… if this is true…”

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