Page 94 of Scourged

“Are you all … leopards and panthers? Or cats?” Mariah’s curiosity was insatiable.

Rylla smiled. “No. We are not all leopards and panthers. Some of us are felines; others are wolves and foxes. Some are bears, or horses, or even great birds of prey. But no matter what form we take, we are all blessed with a shared connection to the sky above our heads, the earth beneath our feet, and the steady pulse of nature around us all.”

Ciana sighed. “I want to visit Kreah someday.” Delaynie hummed in agreement.

Kiira nodded, lips tipping up in a faint smile. “You are always welcome. All of you.”

They fell silent for a moment, watching each other. Mariah sat up straighter, planting her feet on the ground, running her palms along her thighs.

“I … I wanted to thank you both. For … everything.” She swallowed, twisting her hands together, fighting off the memories of darkness and cold and fear. “You have no obligation to this court or to me, and you didn’t have to risk your lives like that. So … thank you.” Her words felt weak, not adequate to convey what she felt, but they were the best she could do.

Kiira and Rylla glanced at each other, a shared look between sisters, before turning back to Mariah with a curious gleam in their eyes.

“Did you know,” Kiira started, “that Kreah has no queen or king?”

Mariah furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”

A smile brightened Kiira’s smooth, ebony skin. “I mean, Kreah is not ruled by a monarch. There is no single person who holds all the power. Instead, we are governed by a Council of Elders who make decisions for the nation amongst themselves. There is a High Counsellor, but they simply preside over the Council; they do not rule. The Elders are chosen by eachksetra, or region, and serve for their whole lives or until theirksetradecides they are no longer able.

“The second—and third, and fourth, and fifth—children of each family are permitted to roam the world.Encouragedto. To see other lands, to learn other cultures, to share the livelihood of Kreah with others. Many journey and eventually return to their homeland. But some choose to stay and are free to choose a loyalty beyond that of the Elders or theirksetra.

“Many have settled in Leuxrith, in Idrix, in Vatha. Some even made homes in the Kizar Islands, and even more have sailedbeyond the Mirrored Sea for whatever lies beyond. But … none have settled in Onita.”

“Because Onita’s borders have always been closed,” Mariah murmured, her mind whirling.

Kiira nodded. “Yes. For so long, Onita kept its borders shut. While there were some who snuck across, no one was formally allowed to visit, and even trading ships had to stay far from port and unload by ferry. But with yourPorofirat, suddenly Queen Ryenne opened the borders. To allow delegations from the other countries to attend, to see Onita for the first time in thousands of years. Onita has certainly progressed, technologically.” Kiira glanced around the room, at theallumechandelier above, the modern kitchen, the panels oflunestairon the walls. “But in other ways … Onita has fallen behind. Lost its way.”

Mariah couldn’t disagree. She merely nodded, her lips pressing into a firm line as Kiira continued.

“Lost its way … until you.”

Mariah straightened. Ciana did, too, and Delaynie folded her hands in her lap. An instinct prickled at the back of Mariah’s neck.

“You pushed back against some of Onita’s antiquated ways. That despite all their power, they were still so lost, so weak. We saw it in you, that very first day in the stables. And we saw it again at thePorofirat. When Ryenne invited us to stay—something that has never happened to a Kreah citizen, not in modern memory—we knew we had to remain close. We’d made a choice but needed to wait until we were needed before making it known.”

Something in Mariah’s blood stirred, her magic waking in her veins. It reached the tips of her fingers as she said, “What choice did you make?”

“My sister told you that we, as fourth and fifth daughters, are free to choose a leader to follow,” Rylla said, this time witha wide smile. “Someone who deserves our undying loyalty, the leader of a nation we wish to call home.”

Everything in the room stilled. Mariah didn’t even dare a breath.

“You are not our queen by birth, Mariah,” Kiira said, her voice soft and low. “But you are the queen we choose. If you’ll have us.”

As one, the Kreah sisters stood from the couch. They wore Onitan clothing—familiar black leggings and soft wool sweaters—but Kiira still had gold jewelry woven into her braids, and Rylla’s silver necklace and bangles tinkled as she moved. Together, they sank to their knees on the plush rug, heads bowing and hands clenching into fists over their hearts.

Mariah’s heart raced, magic flowing unimpeded into the air around her. Ciana, her amber eyes wide, hurriedly stood and moved to sit beside Delaynie, whose blue gaze was warm and bright with emotion.

Mariah grounded her toes into the rug as she stood. She cleared her throat, finding the right words.

“Stand, Kiira and Rylla, daughters of Kreah, beloved of Rulene, Goddess of the Day Sky.”

They rose together. Two sets of eyes—one brown, one hazel—leveled expectantly at Mariah.

She hadn’t felt much like a queen since her return. Had felt too cowering, too meek. Too quiet and damaged.

But with those Kreah warrior shifters watching her the way they did, with the words of the Goddess fresh on her mind from the previous night, how it had felt to cleanse the magic of that awful, tainted darkness …

Something in Mariah remembered the taste of power.

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