Pure elation, bubbling warmth caressed his heart while his bare feet sank in lush grass. He wiggled his toes between the soft blades and sighed. A hushed tune floated around him like a breeze. It reminded him of Ma, when she bounced him on her lap. Her love, her short curls, the unbridled joy in her soil-coloured eyes. His lips stretched, warm wetness dribbled down his cheeks and he tasted the saltiness.

Prince Zaki opened his overflowing eyes. His cheeks were drenched by the surrounding perfection. He saw colours beyond imagination, vistas that defied logic. Rolling plains of many greens, coated in fallen auburn leaves. Trees he didn’t recognised towered high, holding up clouds above them. Brooks of crystal water flowed like music to his ears. Pebbles glistened on the river beds, shining like precious jewels beneath the ground.

Zaki dried his eyes and answered the call of paradise before him. He floated with every step; feet cushioned by the softness. The prince caressed the pale streaming silk hanging off white branches. They caressed his curls as he came upon an open grove of lavender leafed trees. A spring streamed with bubbling called to him.

“Cleanse yourself, child.”

His mind enjoyed the embrace of wondrous music. Her voice danced within a bubble in his head, within their bond. He tasted the sweetness of her joy as well. The happiness warmed his chest as if it was his own. Melina filled his mind, especially the first time he tasted her lips. There was blood, they had fought and she sat atop him after pummelling him into the ground. She thought it would mock him, but they both didn’t pull away. Not until Mazin’s chuckling made her shy.

A lean Sinha padded around the spring in glowing golden glory. Her muscles rippled with every step. Yellow gold eyes streaked with darkness, smiled at him when her monstrous jaw couldn’t. Dawn was her name, not Melina, though he loved her just as much. Strange, he couldn’t recall her before she appeared. Yet, in his memories with Mazin, she lingered in the corner while he crawled around Ma.

Dawn darted through the streets of the lion district alongside himself and Mazin, causing as much chaos as they did, snarling her pleasure through their bond. She laughed with Mazin when they caught him kissing Melina, etching echoes of her teasing into their bond. His Tamed was there, watching beside Kumkani Lihle, as he fought Amira and Hazim. Her pride seared his chest when he stood victorious against Lihle’s displeasure at his harshness. She was there, always had been, and here she stood before him now.

“Where are we?” Zaki asked, scratching behind her ears and enjoying her purrs.

“Paradise.”

He laughed at her reply. Dawn enjoyed cryptic answers.

Wait, she does?

“I was always with you, even if our bond has just begun,” Dawn said, feeling his confusion. “I know you.”

The comfort her words gave him surprised him, as well as her gentle voice. He was so used to Pride’s gruff voice invading his mind; he didn’t think Dawn’s would be so different. Zaki caressed the fresh gash along her nose, pink and raw. A flash of pain exploded through their bond. He doubled over and groaned. It faded as swiftly as it attacked, but he never healed from it.

“As the elders said, I fought for you. I would have suffered worse pain if it meant we would still bond.”

Zaki wrapped himself around her, an awkward hug, but his heart cried out for it. Her surprise trickled through their bond and he pulled away. He attempted to adjust his clothes yet felt bare skin.

“What happened to my clothes? I was not nude when we… where are we?”

“Paradise, get into the water, boy.”

He frowned at her head tilt. Her amusement bubbled in their bond as he climbed into the natural bath made of volcanic rock. The air was cool, but never cold. Warm, but not sweat inducing. Zaki sighed after testing the water, then sank into the massaging bubbles.

Before his eyes shut for a final time, he saw a fiery violet sky. Lavender petals floated down into his pool, and the immaculate green grass decorated by auburn leaves shifted with the help of a serene breath of wind.

Prince Zaki awoke a new man, blinking up at the canopy of his bed, feeling a week’s worth of rest flowing through his veins. Echoes of the revitalising strength from mounting Dawn for the first time. He sat up and enjoyed the radiating warmth from the ochre stones in his room.

Zaki tossed aside his thin blankets and stretched, suffering his stale clothes immediately. Warmth radiated up his bare feet when he stood. Dawn lounged at the foot of his bed, still snoring. A monstrosity in her own right, not as large as Pride, but golden without the sun.

“I am large enough,” Dawn said, amused. Her voice was musical, greater than any minstrel who graced the great hall over the years.

“Those minstrels were nothing compared to me.”

Zaki grunted while scratching behind her ears, earning chest rumbling purrs. A constant companion she was, comforting. Their bonding was…

For how long did I sleep?

“Two days child,” Dawn said.

“Thank you.”

She was in every memory, crawling with Mazin around Ma’s ankles, watching them with amused yellow gold eyes in a corner. Dawn watched when Melina came to their aid against cutpurses in the lion district.

“This has been done already.” Dawn laughed.

“What?”

“This pondering on our bond. It happened in Sanctuary.”

“When did…”

Zaki stopped himself. There was no deceit from her, but all recollection of the place vanished. He owed Ma an apology. There was truth in her not knowing anything about Sanctuary.

The early morning dragged by as servants arrived with his bathwater and plain breakfast of honeyed oats and raisin bread. He washed it down with sweet chilled milk and enjoyed the industrious noise of Bil’Faridh barging into his room. His mind drifted while he bathed.

Mazin! When did he leave, is he still around?

Zaki rushed to scrape his body raw. He fumbled with the oiled perfume and forced on thick sparring clothes without a care for his appearance. Dawn laughed through their bond, which quickly twisted into concern when he reached for his khopesh. A moment after, frantic strides reached his ears, then came Ma’s lavender scent.

She beat him to his doors and entered with an aura of fatigue. Her face was plain, with bags weighing down her eyes. Ma’s anxiety was infectious. There was dried blood on her as well. He smelled something else; something rotten marred her perfume.

“Is it Mazin?” Zaki asked.

“What? No, no Zaki no. Come, it’s Melina.”

Ma had never been this frantic before, this visibly tired. She paid no mind to the grey ghosts and palace guards. The passageways were a blur for himself. Melina’s name filled him with joy, despite Ma’s tone. It was as the captain promised; she returned, but as they rushed through the palace, his heart hardened.

The mural of pharaohs and old Atum Ra’s gave way to Lions of lesser standing. Then they faded into neutral grey stone. Sanctuary’s gardens lost their strengthened pull, even if the elders were still around. A tickle, and only when he neared them, back to normal. He found comfort in his ironvine ring, fingering the gold and vinewood entwined together.

Zaki ignored the crystalline great hall while they crossed it, as the overgrown topaz pommel of his khopesh cooled his palm from his waist. Even the nesting birds above sounded shrill to his sinking heart.

Chaos surrounding the infirmary didn’t help. Bloodied physicians and assistants streamed back and forth amongst the litters of moaning Lions. There was rot and bitterness about. Ma handed him a silk kerchief, but it failed to keep the stink away. It worsened as they descended into the infirmary. Zaki glanced back at Dawn and Pride staying behind. Dawn did her best to lift his mood through their bond.

The passageways of the infirmary stifled any freshness. Zaki maintained an upright posture striding behind Ma, but the oppressive atmosphere weighed on him. Relentless wailing from the wounded haunted the walls. He felt a nuisance, jumping out of the way of frantic physicians and their assistants scurrying up and down.

Khadim Heka faced them as they approached, in a thankfully quiet section. Relief filled his eyes at first when they fell upon Ma, but it twisted when he noticed Zaki. The man became rank with fear, overpowering the unbearable rot at least.

“Pharaoh… is this…” Khadim muttered.

“Where is your father?” Ma asked.

“Finding the ingredients,” he quivered under Zaki’s gaze. “Please, come inside.”

“Zaki!”

A hoarse voice called from behind the doors. Zaki’s heart softened. He barged through the doors first. Nothing, no one else mattered to him.

It was a plain, sterile room, hellishly rancid and drowning any other scent to his nose. What little hope he acquired fizzled. The body lying in the centre stone bed was the source of the stink. Not a body, Melina, but the smell was beyond him. Not rot, decay, nor dried blood, it was an unusual bitterness.

He rushed to her side while his heart found a home in his stomach. Blackness oozed out of her numerous wounds. From her thighs to her chest, all the gashes and cuts were sewn shut. Yet black tendrils wriggled outward from them, like dead veins beneath her skin, pulsing a peculiar colour.

“You… here… am I dead?” Melina coughed. Every word forced through gritted teeth. He wanted to silence her, but couldn’t bring himself to deny hearing her voice.

“Very much alive,” Zaki said, smiling down at her. She didn’t deserve sorrow.

Melina smiled, grimaced then squeezed out tears. She was handsome, though scars and bruises riddled her face, which wasn’t unusual for her, he was enamoured. Her strong cheekbones remained, but scabs marred her full lips. The whites of her eyes turned black like her stitched wounds.

“Anubis calls.”

“Say no, death isn’t worthy of you just yet, tell Anubis I said so. You are Melina and,” it was pitiful. He begged, clasping her hand. Her face twisted in agony.

“What is wrong with her, Khadim?” Ma asked, he didn’t know they entered and closed the doors.

“I have seen nothing like it, pharaoh. It is a venom beyond the limits of my knowledge.”

“What ingredients is Kamal off to find then?”

“All of them, pharaoh. Any anti-venom will be tested against it, if it is venomous at all.”

“She is a Tamer!” Zaki snapped, finally turning away from Melina. “No venom can harm us. What did your healing hands observe, other than failure?”

Melina squeezed his hand, then groaned, weeping more blackness from her wounds. A magenta glow followed. The bitterness worsened, staining his tongue, wishing to peel back his skin and seep into him.

“Darkness… Tigers… fort burns. I lost my Sienna.”

Ma and Khadim gasped, while Zaki suppressed his shock. The lack of Tamed in her room was clue enough, but naming it for all to hear sent shivers down every fibre of his being. Melina wept again. Her grip weakened but her chest rose and fell still.

It took a moment for their collective shock to pass. Zaki watched Melina’s sickly slumber with increasing fear. Her heart was weak, her breathing became short and infrequent. He wouldn’t release her hand, he refused to accept it.

“Well, Khadim?” Zaki asked.

“Whatever harmed her blocks my healing hands. I feel her wounds, her rent flesh, but that is all. Hence the stitching, but that doesn’t last. This magenta blackness burns it away and she bleeds again.”

“A blood sickness then?” Ma asked, her own panicked scent joining his. “Have you leached her?”

“We did, but we might have accelerated her blood loss. To continue would spell…”

Zaki stopped listening. He clasped Melina’s hand with both of his. He begged for healing, anything, something to end her slow death. It arrived anyway, her breathing became haggard, her heart stopped its pumping. She squeezed his hand one last time and sighed her last breath.

“I am sorry, Prince Zaki,” Khadim said and Ma squeezed his shoulder, drawing the tears he hid from Melina.

Ceaseless blackness and sight stealing gloom, but he wished it was the void. Zaki never lingered in the deepest recesses of the palace. He avoided it. A temporary home for Anubis’ Hands, since Sinh’Chattaan remained empty during its slow restoration. Zaki made a jackal’s head with his hand and caressed his heart, warding off thoughts of Anubis.

A black stone door with a white jackal in its centre stood before him, with a green crook and flail to its left and a golden eye of Horus to the jackal’s right. Zaki raised his hand to knock again, and this time there was a crack, a grind of metal and the door groaned open. It was scentless beyond his own perfume.

A man wearing a black jackal mask emerged from the darkness, bearing a flameless crystal lantern with a sickly white glow. An emerald amulet of a crook and flail crossing each other hung around his neck.

“Prince,” the man greeted with a deep voice. There was no scent on him, not even perfume, despite his presentable black silks.

“Osiris,” Zaki said.

He waited for the jackal mask to be removed, but only frozen silence lingered between them.

“Did my aunt send for me?”

“Is that a serious question?”

The Osiris raise his mask and Zaki suppressed a gasp at the ghastly face beneath it. A living corpse, pale and grey, with pale eyes to match. He was gaunt and nothing like his aunt.

“There is a body that requires your handiwork.”

“Name?”

“Captain Melina.”

The ghoulish Osiris lingered, waiting for the second name to follow.

“This is irregular, she is…”

“I know what she was! Your prince demands it.”

The Osiris paused; his jackal mask might have stayed over his face for his was unreadable. His grey eyes were unflinching, becoming a lifelike statue, save for the slow heaving of his chest.

“Without word from the pharaoh,”

Zaki stepped forward, his chest ablaze while he snatched air. The Osiris was swift, but his lifeless façade cracked. A sparkle danced in his dead eyes; he garnered some satisfaction from his small reaction.

“I… I must speak with the head of our order, but we can preserve her body for now.”

“Good, I will watch.”

“Prince,” the Osiris’ navy lips curled.

“What do I call you?”

“Abdul, Abdul Osiris, son of Fayez.”

“The same Fayez who burned in Sinh’Chattaan?” Zaki’s tongue soured, but he controlled his anger. Abdul’s façade cracked again; he smelled pain on him when he nodded.

“Do not waste his sacrifice by worsening my mood. I’m more than capable of sending another Tamer to Anubis. I will wait until you are ready to do your duty.”

Abdul bowed, trickling with fear. Zaki said nothing more. The threat was excessive, but it was the least he could do for Melina. He turned around and made the jackal with his hand again.

It wasn’t a long wait, though enough time for his anger to simmer. Melina’s peaceful face softened him. Life’s warmth departed, and a deathly chill filled the room. Ma stayed with him, after sending Khadim Heka away. Zaki spent his tears already, but misery clung to him. Ma’s comfort wrapped around him during their brief privacy. She muttered some words, hummed something mournful, but it passed through him.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The jackals arrived, but they didn’t heed his final demand. Ma held him back before he could complain, whispering about the dangers of their duty while they carried Melina away. There was no rage left in him, only grief, and he buried himself into Ma’s chest.

His vision blurred, yet the tears didn’t spill. The jackals chanted while they carried Melina, chilling him further. After they departed, Ma’s warmth took over. Once alone, they wept together, and Ma’s fingers stroked his curls.

Drenched in his own sweat, shirt clinging to him, Prince Zaki puffed with his khopesh in hand. The midday sun seared through the soaked fabric, scorching his exposed neck and dripping face. Surrounded by splinters and scattered planks, shattered remnants of the targets he set up. He should have been using a club. Instead, sawdust caked the grand fighting ring.

Zaki hoped a few Tamers would offer themselves for a spar. He wanted to use his khopesh, blunted blades and clubs were beneath him. Dawn was his only company, lounging in the shade on the stony seats. Her golden eyes blinked at him, when she wasn’t licking herself.

He circled the ring, kicking the debris while he twirled his khopesh. His mind built new adversaries, dark Tiger Tamers with their black lamellar and tainted blades. Zaki’s chest warmed when their silhouettes formed in the centre of the ring. The prince stopped and raised his script strengthened blade, sunlight reflected off the blade, still perfect.

Zaki leapt into an attack, swinging wildly and hacking, twirling and dodging. He lashed out with his free arm, bashing the imagined shadows with an imagined shield. The silhouettes wilted against his brightness, seared away by his burning wrath. His eyes were shut, but every single lamellar clad murderer remained. One, two, three, four, five, six, then sharp lavender.

His eyes burst open and he skid to a halt. He sighed and lowered his khopesh, suppressing his fire. Ma approached with encumbered arms. Pride towered over her from behind, his eyes fixed on him. Zaki sheathed his blade and jogged towards her, softening the creases on his face.

Her eyes were still puffy, but her face glittered gold, with kohl doing its best to enhance her beauty. Ma’s smile was weak, yet sincere. Her painted lips quivered as she stood before him in wondrous white-grey silks.

“What’s this?” Zaki asked.

The cloth slid off and Melina’s golden door shield revealed itself. His eyes lingered on the script strengthened face, accompanied by the odd dent and scratch that blended well without deterring its beauty.

“Shouldn’t she be buried with it?”

“Her sword and spear were enough.”

Zaki caressed the Atum Ra sun closer to the rounded top.

“Something of Melina to keep.”

He strapped the shield to his off arm and tested its substantial weight.

“Your father made special arrangements for her, she will…”

“What about Mazin?” Zaki asked.

It was done, there no need to speak of Melina any longer. He bit his tongue when his eyes stung. Ma didn’t take offence, thankfully.

“What about him?”

“The emperor has made his move. He needs more than a pair of Tamers on his journey north.”

Ma’s face flickered with confusion.

“Oh, forgive me, you don’t know. He snuck out under the cover of darkness. He travels alone.”

“Fool, he never acts with sense!” Ma wasn’t pleased with his reaction. “We leave him to fend for himself then?”

“If we send soldiers, we risk drawing attention to him, if we assume the attack on the fort was the emperor’s doing. We must trust he will keep himself safe,” fear soiled Ma’s perfume. “A dark Feline attacked the lynx gate. Perhaps your brother as the best protection possible.”

Zaki bit back his retort when her fearful scent lingered. There were many things he wished to say about Mazin, but now wasn’t the time. Of all the moments to endanger himself, he chose the worst one.

A jolt sparked the back of his neck and he jumped. Ma’s eyebrow rose at him. Zaki glared at Dawn.

“What was that?” He asked.

“Think better of your brother.”

“What?”

His Tamed said nothing more. She felt faint through their bond. An unseen wall barred his attempts to delve into her, after a sudden burst of irritation thumped him.

“What is Da’s next move?”

“Scouts maybe, perhaps more Lions to defend Sinh’Chattaan, though I can’t imagine Jun repeating that.”

“Maybe I should…” Ma silenced him with a hand.

“You should mourn, be free, enjoy your first days with your Tamed. When duty calls, it may never stop.”

“But,”

“I will send word if anything important reaches me.” Another scent approached, one of honey and fire. “May I ask something?”

Zaki glimpsed a figure in dark ochre exiting the palace over Ma’s shoulder, then he nodded.

“What your reaction be, if you were pharaoh?” Her smile confused him, for seriousness unsettled him.

“Warn all the Sobeks and fort captains, reinforce our northern border, then wait for Jun’s next strike.”

Ma nodded, and his skin crawled.

Did she expect something else, a test that demanded more from him?

He wasn’t oblivious to her subtle preparations for him to take the throne. Sometimes she insisted he spend a few nights in the archives, with a special focus on the accounts of past pharaohs. Even leaving a tome or two in his room when he wasn’t around. Her nudges had become frequent recently, but this question still surprised him.

She said nothing more, and fed him a wider smile. Ma pinched his cheek while his discomfort faded. Pride nodded and followed her departure, allowing the kumkani to take her place.

“My condolences, prince,” he bowed.

Zaki grunted, squeezing the return of his emotions before they rose to the surface. He tested the shield on his arm again, eyeing the kumkani’s ivory billao blades.

“I see you’ve warmed up already.”

“I was hoping someone would join me.”

“Here I am.”

Zaki wasn’t in the mood in truth, but it was a great mistake to spar alone. Lihle despised it.

If you train alone, you will make a habit of your mistakes, he said. Zaki already feared the battering that would come, but he couldn’t back down now. It would a punishment, the kumkani would never admit it. Deep down, he knew he deserved it.

Dawn’s chuckles echoed in the back of his mind.

Kumkani Lihle skipped over the low wall and rolled his shoulders before drawing his blades.

“Come.”

Prince Zaki limped his way through the grey stone passageways, his shield arm hung limp at his side. The kumkani had to strap the shield to his back after the absolute hammering he received from the man. He hoped his arm was broken; it would have made it less shameful. Lihle held back, which worsened the humiliation. Every excuse failed to save his sunken mood, both from his mind and the kumkani’s own lips. It should have been a punishment, but the man’s pity filled Zaki’s nose whenever he was on his back.

“You carry unnecessary weight,” Dawn sent through their bond while following like a ghost behind him.

“You are more than welcome to take the shield,” Zaki forced a smile, hoping to avoid her seriousness. She fell silent again as they walked, but her insistence tickled his mind. “It is my duty.”

“Duty? Duty to run yourself ragged before it is truly yours?”

“I must be worthy of the mantle”

“You will not fail like your father.”

“How dare you!” Zaki spun around, his anger half-hearted.

“That is your own mind, not mine.”

He glared at her almond-shaped eyes. Palace guards and grey ghosts passed their little duel in silence. Zaki eventually relented to her unyielding power, he wouldn’t say it, but she knew it.

“Over prepare for something that is not yet yours, and you will lose sight of being what you prepared for when it does come.”

Prince Zaki grunted. He took enough losses for the day, there was no need to add another.

He resumed his limping, rushing past occupied gardens of Sanctuary with burning cheeks. As the bright ochre sunset coloured the palace, his face and neck burned. The grey stone changed into vibrant tapestries of Lions and old pharaohs; his fire surged.

Grey ghosts gasped at him, jumping out of his way as if his stink disturbed them. His chest boiled, along with his shoulders, drying the sweat clinging to him. Zaki’s vision brightened and his arms bubbled, his room was only a passageway away.

He burst through his doors which crackled and sparked against his touch, until he snatched his fingers away. A fire blazed all over his body, his shirt crumbled like burnt parchment off his torso. Melina’s shield and his khopesh clanged to the floor. Dawn’s concern filtered through their bond while everything brightened. His pants withered away, Zaki kicked off his boots and his fingers burned through the table he leant on.

What’s happening? Zaki complained when the brightness worsened.

His heart was calm despite his body turning into a furnace. There was no flame he saw, but he blazed hotter than the midday sun over Bil’Faridh. Dawn’s bond words came to him distorted, incoherent in his mind.

His fingers wrapped around coolness, his brass bath. Dawn nudged him in with her nose, and he felt her flinch against his heat. He slammed in, already nude, melting everything off his body save for the ironvine ring around his finger.

The brass cooled him at first, sending sharp chills through his body. It was fleeting however, soon the fire returned to set him ablaze. Zaki curled into a ball, begging for an end. Enraged shame, and it refused to dissipate.

Dawn hovered over his bath with a bucket in her massive jaws. She splashed him and he steamed. Dawn repeated it, splashing bucket after bucket until a puddle bubbled within his bath. Frantic voices swarmed around him, and more water splashed onto him.

More!

Zaki wanted to say it, but his lips became stone. His eyes became lead, for overwhelming fatigue followed the receding heat. Cool water chilled his neck. More water splashed over him, and the steam lessened. He shut his eyes. It was too bright to keep them open.

Just for a moment, he thought.

A moment later he was fast asleep.

Pitch blackness, unyielding and oppressive. It forced him to grovel on his stomach, suffering endless hammering upon his back. Zaki despised the darkness with the grating sounds and torturous barrage.

End!

The shout never left his lips. Not even air, he wasn’t breathing at all. Enraged, Zaki clawed the darkness beneath him. Soon he rose to his knees, roaring in his chest as he pushed the blackness back.

He screamed on his haunches, fighting to rise further. Zaki pumped his arms and slapped his thighs until they straightened. He stumbled forward and balanced himself when the blackness attempted to weaken him. Then it was gone, little more than scratching his body.

Shrill, incoherent jabbering concentrated ahead. He focused on it while it shifted. Zaki ignored the pain, clenched his fists and shut his eyes. His feet moved forward on their own, in search of the noise, shifting as it did. There was only pure instinct left to drive him, and he didn’t care about anything else.

A flash of light burned through his closed eyelids, forcing his eyes open. Silence fell, peace, oh so precious peace, but short-lived.

He came upon a meeting, a silhouette knelt with its head craned up towards an ever-darker mass of blackness. Its eyes were sharp, wine-red fire, blazing down at the kneeling one. In their small bubble came the noise, focusing into voices.

Prince Zaki dared another step, but the words didn’t clear. He took another, and the redness impaled him. Zaki gasped and his skin peeled back under its glare. Fear strangled him, but he couldn’t look away.

“Zaki!”

Hands snatched his shoulders, yanking him out of the darkness. It renewed the battering while he flew up. Pure agony, until he saw Ma’s panicked face.

Ice washed over him. His teeth chattered when it took hold. The winter making its slow journey south had finally arrived, and decided he alone should suffer the brunt of it. Months of cold for him, all at once, a chill so harsh he thought he still burned.

Zaki’s vision was a mess of tears and brightness. He was wet.

“Have care Pharaoh, he might still burn.”

“Then let him burn me! I will keep him warm.”

His ears muffled their voices, making their shouts sound like whispers. Ma’s voice comfort him, reminding him of her humming when he was little. He floated in her arms, shivering. A blink later he sank into cool sheets. Another bout of ice seared him. His teeth chattered despite layers and layers of wool wrapping around his nude body.

“Ma?” Zaki croaked. His throat refused more, fighting his words from spilling out.

“Shh baby,” she said, climbing into his bed, arms wrapped around him. He felt her shudders, but she was warm, and it spread.

A great mass leapt onto his left, Dawn, their bond strengthened once again. Her golden fur became a hearth, radiating while she lounged, and soon snored. Ma’s heart raced, thumping against him as she squeezed closer to him. She stank of fear, but he was glad to smell anything beyond ice.

“If there is nothing more your healing hands can do, you can leave,” Ma said.

“As you say, pharaoh.”

Zaki listened to the scraping of departing slippers, but sensed another presence. His eyes became heavy again, enveloped by growing warmth, melting the ice in his veins. Ma stopped him from rising with a gentle hand.

“It is only me, boy,” Pride grunted in his mind, with a snort that made Ma moan aloud. His voice wasn’t harsh, but he was too tired to care.

Dreamless sleep. Zaki didn’t know he needed it until now. Dawn on one side and Ma wrapped around him from the other. She stirred when he awoke, still squeezing him. He groaned at the stiffness ravaging him, tightening his limbs.

Dawn slid off his bed and yawned. Boasting her knife length fangs ad finger length claws, stretching her muscled limbs.

“Ma,” Zaki said, beads of sweat streamed down his brow.

“A little longer please,” she begged. “With Mazin go… and you giving me this scare? Just a little longer.”

Zaki sighed, and Ma snorted into his neck before loosening her grip on him. A small respite which allowed his mind to wander.

What happened?

Dawn’s interest tickled their bond and he glanced at her lounging beside Pride. Ma always complained that Pride never shared anything with her, so far Dawn proved to be far better, at least indirectly.

“I’ve made plans,” Ma said, sitting up and playing with his hair.

“Hopefully you will let me dress myself first.”

She pinched him.

“The Cha’Ath wants to meet you. A little after midday, she asked me to say nothing more.”

Zaki’s eyebrows rose. Another from the Tamer’s Council? Other than the Nau’Van, the others didn’t make tit a habit to appear beyond the necessity of their duties, especially in recent years.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Through the night, that’s all. Nothing to worry about.”

“It isn’t midday already, is it?”

“Almost.”

“Ma!”

Zaki broke free of her gentle grip, snatching one of the many silk blankets to cover his nudity. She laughed at him and followed him out of bed. He noted her weary face, the bags under her eyes. Ma aged, if such a thing was possible. He softened and turned away.

“I will leave you to it then,” he avoided her warm smile. She adjusted her dishevelled dress and caressed Pride’s mane as he rose to follow her out.

“Thank you!”

“There’s no need to thank me, baby.”

He bathed after she left in lukewarm water, then ravished the sizzling pig and fresh pig alongside oats and vegetable soup for breakfast. The chilled milk was sour on his tongue, the water too warm. It all became secondary when an unfamiliar scent approached his door.

Zaki adjusted his plain vest and silk skirt as the palace guard opened the doors for a clay gold Sinha. It bowed its bushy head at him, standing half a head taller than himself with topaz gold eyes. Its glorious mane sparkled with silver greyness at the tips.

“Great prince, I present to you my Tamer,” the Sinha’s voice was sweet, not what he expected from its size. It stepped aside and a plump woman stepped in, offering a bow of her own.

“Prince Zaki.”

“Cha’Ath.”

“Please, Nawal is enough,” she smiled with full brown painted lips. Her sandy umber skin glittered, she smelled pleasant, but unrecognisable. “Forgive my Tamed, she enjoys mocking me.”

“Nawal?”

“Indeed.” Her smile widened while she adjusted her sky-blue silks. She wore bronze jewellery well for a commoner. Her hair was blacker than black, curling wonderfully and tipped with more bronze. A wig.

“Forgive my appearance, I would have found something better if I had time.”

“There is nothing to forgive, Prince. Effort was only required on my part, I’m glad it pleases you.”

The doors shut behind her.

“I’m told you’re an immolator.”

Straight to the point.

“Is that what it’s called?”

“By those who are capable, yes, as far as I am aware. These names differ amongst the clans at times.”

“I see.”

“Before we begin, I wish to confess a concern, may I?”

Zaki nodded.

“The pharaoh risks much with this. Power is earned, and I fear what my knowledge might create.”

“Do I trouble you?”

“That is not my meaning, Prince. It is a dangerous path to walk, I cannot guarantee the safety of others, let alone your own.”

“It is your duty to heed the pharaoh, is it not? The Lion Tamer’s Council answer only to the pharaoh.”

“It is as you say, Prince.” She curtsied, but he didn’t buy it. There was no scent on her, but he suspected irritability on her part.

“Why the secrecy with Tamer abilities?”

“You know why Prince,” she glanced around his room. Cha’Ath Nawal fixated on an open space before turning back towards him.

“This place will be sufficient.”

“I want to understand why, I almost lost my life because of ignorance.”

“Power is earned, Prince, because we overflow with it. The Great Beast has empowered those who are capable of more, and even then, there’s no guarantee. Many who discover abilities perish before they learn to wield them. It is a balancing act you see. Not all Tamer abilities are life-threatening discoveries of course, but those that are demand our respect. When you are a Tamer, there is little you cannot do already, with the addition of Tamer abilities, the wicked amongst us become devastations.”

“Who decides who is wicked?”

“Ourselves,” Cha’Ath Nawal grinned and crossed her legs when she sat on the floor.

Zaki didn’t trust her, she was off-putting. She offered her hands to him and looked up, expectant.

“Shall we begin?”