Page 90 of Black Salt Queen

“Duja,” she whispered, unable to ignore the sinking feeling in her chest.

The queen pressed her lips together. “It didn’t work,” she said flatly. She tried to appear strong, but Imeria knew Duja’s stony resolve was about to crack.

“Impossible.” Imeria looked down, dumbstruck. She had healed Luntok’s body. He was lying beside her, young and handsome and whole. But when she laid her hand once more on his chest, her fingers free of the power’s glow, she could detect no heartbeat within. “Luntok,” she whispered, resisting the urge to shake him awake. But his eyes were sealed shut. He wasn’t breathing.

“Imeria.” It was Gulod. He knelt beside her and placed a hand on her arm. “He’s dead,” he said in a low voice. “I’m sorry.”

“It can’t be.” She shook her head in disbelief. “You saw him. He was awake. He was looking at me. He?—”

She hadn’t imagined it. Luntok was not merely alive. Luntok wasflying.

Gulod frowned. Imeria looked around and saw the same confusion stark on everyone else’s faces. A pit of dread formed in her stomach.

They had not seen what she had seen.

“It didn’t work,” Duja said again, jolting Imeria from her haze. The ground shook as the queen took a step toward her. Imeria hadn’t forgotten?—execution or exile. Those were the queen’s terms.

Gulod groaned. “I told you,” he hissed. “We should have run when we had the?—”

If I had more time. If I could try again?—

Imeria shoved Gulod to the side and scrambled to her feet. She ran for the queen. “Wait?—”

Duja raised her hand to the sky, erecting a stone pillar from the ground.

Panic gripped Imeria’s throat. “Duja!” she screamed.

But Duja didn’t relent. With a great cry, she lifted the pillar from the ground and hurled it straight at Imeria.

Thirty-Three

Duja

A chorus of surprised shouts rang out across the Black Salt Cliffs the moment Duja delivered the first strike. Merely an hour earlier, the king had been at her side, desperate to pry their daughter from Imeria’s clutches. Now his blood soaked the sunbaked grass. For her entire life, Duja had taken great care not to succumb to fits of rage. She was not her brother, nor was she like the generations of wrathful Gatdulas who’d come before them. But when she looked at the other woman, she could see nothing but the joy Imeria had stolen from her. And when Duja’s gaze fell on Imeria’s quivering lips, all she could taste was vengeance.

Courage.This in Pangil’s voice. His ghost was right; it was time to end Imeria Kulaw once and for all.

The last remnants of precioso pulsed in Duja’s veins. The pillar soared through the air at her summons. It struck Imeria square in the chest, knocking her to the ground with a resounding thud. The next time Duja blinked, the other woman was lying sprawled across the cliff face like a broken doll. She drew in a shaky breath. Tears sprang to the corners of her eyes as shocked cries tore through the crowd. From the ground, Imeria didn’t budge. Had Duja killed her at long last? She ought to scream in triumph or crumple in relief. But all that filled her was a weary and bone-deep sadness.

No time to examine Imeria’s unmoving body. From the sides of the cliffs, Kulaw and Gatdula warriors readied their weapons.

“Your Majesty!” Ojas was at Duja’s side in moments. He tightened his grip on his sword, awaiting her order. Imeria Kulaw might have fallen, but her people wouldn’t surrender without a fight.

Duja stole a glance at her husband’s body lying several feet away.My love, my love, my love.She steeled herself against the renewed rush of pain and nodded. “Charge.”

The ground shook, not from her beckoning, but from the stampede of royal guardsman rushing to meet their foes. The air filled with cries of pain and clanking metal as the clash resumed with unrestrained fervor. The fighting earlier had already taken large chunks out of both battalions, leaving dozens of bodies strewn across the Black Salt Cliffs, but Imeria’s allies had suffered the greater blow. Those who remained would fight to their dying breath. Without Imeria Kulaw’s infernal powers, they were hopelessly outmatched. If they were lucky, the Gatdulas’ forces would make short work of them.

Duja sucked in a breath, readying herself to reenter the fray, when a head of curly hair darted past her.

“Bulan, stop!” she cried, grabbing her by the shoulder.

Bulan jerked back in surprise. “But General Ojas. He needs?—”

Duja shook her head firmly, swallowing the lump in her throat.I cannot lose you too.“Fall back,” she told her. “Go to the palace. Take your sisters and?—”

She faltered and spun around. Chaos had broken out all around her. The rage that had overcome her mere moments before faded to blind panic. Her eyes widened in fear as she searched for her daughters. Amidst the mass of clashing bodies, she could not see Laya or Eti anywhere.

When she opened her mouth to call for them, booming thunder rolled overhead. She looked up. Black clouds blew in from across the Untulu Sea, shrouding the cliffs in darkness. The air above them cracked and sizzled. At last, Duja’s gaze fell on Laya. She was standing at the cliff’s edge once more. Harsh winds swept her hair from her face. When she raised her palm, lightning exploded in the sky behind her head. Its blue light flashed across the gold plates of her headdress.

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