Page 12 of Twin Crowns

It was so bright, Rose had to squint at it, but the sight was a welcome one. They had been riding for hours. Miles and miles of sand, punctuated only by the undulating dunes. She had never been so exhausted. Her thighs hurt, her back ached, and she was drenched in sweat. She had been so focused on not falling off the horse as it raced through the desert, she hadn’t let herself think about how frightened she was of what lay before them.

Or how frantic everyone back at Anadawn must be. She could imagine all too well how fiercely Willem would be interrogating the guards and the punishments he would be doling out. Whenever the Kingsbreath was in a fury, all of Anadawn quaked. And someone always paid for it.

And then there was Celeste. She was certainly in a panic! She would chase down Rose herself if given half the chance, and likely do a farbetter job of finding her, too.... But Rose couldn’t think about her best friend right now. Or Anadawn. She couldn’t afford to let herself fall apart. She had to stay focused and alert.

Storm carried them to the base of the mountain, where four arched openings tunneled into the rock. Shen hopped off the horse and offered his hand to Rose.

“I’m fine,” she insisted, but as her bare feet hit the blistering sand, her knees buckled.

He caught her before she hit the ground. “Steady there.”

Rose glared at him. “Do you always talk to women the way you talk to your horse?”

“You should be flattered. There’s no one in this world I respect more than Storm.” Shen’s gaze sharpened, and his face grew suddenly serious. “You look as if you’ve caught sun fever.” Rose froze as he pressed the back of his hand to her brow. “The forehead goes red first.” He traced his finger along her cheekbone, making her breath catch in her throat. “And the cheeks go white.”

He dropped his hand, trapping a curse between his teeth. “I should have made sure your face was covered. I didn’t realize how little time you’d spent in the sun.”

Rose took a step away from him. “I am not as delicate as you seem to think. I spend plenty of time in the sun. I am often in my gardens.”

“All the same, you should drink water. Come, there’s plenty inside.”

It was blessedly cool inside the caves. The light that filtered in from the entranceway cast a glimmering kaleidoscope across the walls, while sparkling clear water pooled in a natural basin at their feet. “I’d recommend drinking from higher than Storm does,” said Shen, just as thehorse ducked her head and drank greedily from the pool.

Rose eyed the basin with disgust. “You want me to drink alongside yourhorse? Using myhands?”

Shen cupped his hands and drank deeply. “This water is the cleanest in Eana. It trickles all the way down from the Mishnick Mountains, which are just north of—”

“I know where the Mishnick Mountains are,” she snapped. “They belong to me.”

“Well, so does this desert, but you don’t seem to know a thing about it....” Shen ran his fingers under the water and then raked them through his hair, smoothing the wayward strands from his face. “It’s the only fresh water for miles around, so drink up or expire, Princess. It’s up to you.”

Rose reluctantly rolled up the sleeves of her nightgown and rinsed her hands in the water. “Oh! It’s so cold!” And it tasted divine—cool and clean and fresh—though she was mindful not to show it.

Shen watched her carefully. “Admit it. It’s better than the water you drink in that stuffy old palace.”

“You sound as proud of this water as you do of your horse.”

He grinned crookedly. “Desert horse, desert water, desert guy... all the best you’ll find in Eana.”

“Oh, please.”

He ducked for another sip of water, and Rose’s gaze slid over his shoulder, to where the walls were covered in strange symbols.

A gasp stuck like a fishbone in her throat. “Witch markings!”

They were little more than a mismatch of lines and circles grouped together, but Rose knew them for what they really were. These samemarkings had stained the palace walls the night her parents had been murdered. And though they had been long scrubbed from the stone, sometimes when the morning sunlight flooded the palace, she could trace the shadows the ink had left behind.

She tried to yank Shen away from them. “Get back!”

When he didn’t move, she leaped in front of him and raised her arms above her head. Fear guttered inside her as she waved them back and forth, and then in circles, while blowing air out in fierce puffs. “Gone! Gone! By the will of the Great Protector, be gone!”

From the corner of her eye she could see Shen staring at her in alarm. “What are you doing?”

Rose briefly halted the ritual to glare at him. “I suggest you stay behind me if you know what’s good for you. Everyone in Eana knows this is how you ward off a witch’s curse.”

Shen raised an eyebrow. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of this... precaution.”

“Well, you are lucky you’re with me.” Rose summoned another bout of courage and puffed up her cheeks. She began to swing her hips, her arms spinning wildly above her head. Having never been confronted with such fresh witch markings, she couldn’t tell if it was working or not, but she was starting to feel dizzy, and she took this to be a good sign. She wished for Celeste with a sharpness that stung her heart. Whenever they chanced upon faint witch markings in the palace, they would do the witch-warding dance together. Twirling and spinning and huffing until their fear faded into laughter. With her best friend, Rose felt brave, as if she could face anything.Doanything. But Celeste was far from these cursed desert caves. And worse—Rose was protectingan insufferable bandit, who hardly deserved it!

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