“You must will it to listen to you.”
“I’m trying,” Zaki said through gritted teeth. Drenched in his own sweat. He sat cross-legged across from Cha’Ath Nawal in his loincloth.
“You do it, or do nothing, and at this moment you are doing nothing.”
She enraged him, but he bit his tongue. His frustration lasted for a couple of days now, with no sign of progress. Nawal wasn’t any help, beyond stopping himself from burning within.
Zaki was tense, every muscle in his body clenched. Yet the searing fire within surged through his veins without control. His blood bubbled beneath his flesh, threatening to explode. She swore it was a fraction of what he first suffered. The frequency of this torture, he refused to call it training, made it impossible to notice the difference.
It glued his curls to the top of his head, drowned by perspiration. The saltiness trickled down his brow, his ears and the back of his neck, but the fire blazing within kept his attention. Just when he thought he contained it in his right arm, his left calf burned. Before he recovered, his shoulders were set ablaze. The prince shut his eyes and squeezed his fingers into his palms, squeezing the fire to his stomach.
He felt faint, his head filled with air and he swayed. His body weakened; each limb went limp. He held on despite it all. The fire was no longer a shifting ball; it spread all over his body, attacking him on all fronts. Until a splash of excruciating chill came over him.
Zaki’s eyes burst open with a yelp. His vision sparkled, then became clouded. Steam hissed from his body, and he shivered when his inner fire melted away.
“You stopped breathing, prince,” Nawal stood over him. She sounded bored. Zaki rose from the floor with trembling arms. His vision cleared, but his head crashed back down.
Her red painted toes, wrapped in worn leather sandals, were close to his face. The pale scarlet dress was old silk. It suited her plump figure, hugging her thighs and hips. Bronze decorated her waist, keeping her ample bosom in place. Ink decorated her flesh between them, wings made of stone.
“They’re the wings of a world beast,” Nawal answered before he asked.
Ruby dust glittered her face. Kohl extended her lashes. Red baubles hung off the tips of her wig’s curls.
“What?”
“World beasts, from Musings of a Wild Wanderer,” she smiled and Zaki inhaled her aroma of sweet rain-soaked grass.
“Never heard of it.”
“I read it in Sinh’Chattaan, though I fear it didn’t survive the sacking.”
Zaki rose to his feet and drained the closest jug of water. It cooled his singed veins and calmed his blood while his strength returned.
“What did it say of these winged creatures?”
“They were giant winged beasts with skin like glittering stone. When the world was grander than now, they fought for dominance, breathing the elements against each other. A flap of their wings uprooted trees like chaff in the wind.”
“It’s a tale?”
“Indeed.”
Zaki wiped his and stood before her again, shivering. When he wasn’t burning, he forgot about winter. The stones below could only do so much to warm his feet, for an infirm sun shone its warmth through his windows.
“Again.”
“The sun is setting prince, I cannot give you fire now, or you will burn under moonlight and I won’t be able to stop it.”
“Perhaps danger is what I need?”
“No!” Dawn sent through their bond.
She lounged at the foot of his bed, beside Nawal’s slumbering Tamed Sinha.
“That is not for me to agree to. There is always tomorrow. I will come early.” Cha’Ath Nawal bowed, and her Tamed rose with a yawn.
“Wait!”
His patience had ended with her. She did nothing but feed him her fire and watch him suffer. Without a word on how to control it, not even a hint.
“Prince?”
“What is the point of this? You burn me and say nothing. How is this training?”
“Power is earned, prince.”
“Am I unworthy then?”
Nawal sighed again, still calm.
“How did you burn yourself for the first time?”
“I was walking back after sparring with Lihle, it came over me as I entered my room.”
Cha’Ath Nawal stared at him. She said nothing, but he could tell her eyes wanted more. When the silence grew, he grumbled and gave in.
“I took a battering. My mind was… the pressures of my duty weight on me. With the comfort of the sunset and my Tamed,” Zaki stopped when he caught her eyebrow twitch at his mentioning of the sunset.
Her eyes focused on his golden right eye. It was quiet again, but this time he sensed she searched for the right words.
“Have you used your Tamed’s eyes yet?”
Zaki frowned at her, of course he had. The sensation of…
Wait, have I?
A smile stretched her red lips.
“I will return in the morning, farewell prince.” Nawal bowed and sauntered out of his room with her Tamed.
He turned towards Dawn, who looked up at him with her yellow-gold eyes.
“Share your eyes with me.”
A bucket of icy water splashed over his head. He blinked, then looked up at a man in a loincloth. Lean, with rippling muscles, drenched in sweat. His umber skin had darkened, his dark brown curls were flattened. It was his eyes that surprised him. Instead of the mismatched combination of gold and onyx, they were both golden. Even the whites of his eyes.
Another blink later he looked down at Dawn again. The icy water sensation receded. Confusion filled him, none of that was unfamiliar, yet he couldn’t think of another time he did that.
“Is that what she meant? I already know how to control the fire; I need to speak to it?”
Dawn tilted her head at him, silent.
“Damn you both then!”
“Power is,”
“Do not finish that!” Her trickling amusement didn’t help.
“You do not listen. She tells you why she is vague. You are angry because you refuse to accept it.”
“Enough, I am hungry.”
Dawn’s giggling ground him down, his anger faded, but he was tired of feeling like a fool.
Prince Zaki sat cross-legged in the middle of his room. In his loincloth, far from all of his furniture, hands resting on his knees. The morning sun was better today, warmth emanated from the stones below him. A hint of roses tickled his nose and soon Cha’Ath Nawal’s knocking arrived.
He grunted his welcome, and she strode in wearing ochre silks with copper wings dotting it at random. Her black wig glittered with gold dust, the source of the sweet roses, along with her neck.
“Prince Zaki,” she bowed at him. “Shall we begin?”
She sat across from him after he nodded. Her Tamed padded towards Dawn, they glared at each other before lounging to watch. Zaki offered his hands to her, but she hesitated, her kohl decorated eyes narrowed at his face.
“Problem?” He asked.
“I sense a change.”
“Just do it!”
Nawal’s eyebrow rose, but her calm façade yielded nothing else. She clasped his twitching hands. Zaki enjoyed the warmth oozing from her soft fingers. His palms tingled as the heat surged into him.
Cha’Ath concentrated as she fed him. It seared through his wrists and crackled along his forearms. Zaki watched her, ignoring the pain. He watched as the strain to control the fire wrinkled her face. Sweat dribbled down his brow, but there was no better chance than now, with her mind focused.
He slid his hand over her wrist at a snail’s pace, watching her. She filled him with more than usual, he wasn’t sure how much time remained. Fire exploded through his wrist when he wrapped his fingers around hers, then her eyes burst open when he squeezed.
“What?” She asked, failing to free herself.
Zaki’s head snapped to her growling Tamed. The Sinha bared its enormous fangs at him.
“Stay yourself Sinha! Or we both burn.”
He turned back towards Nawal and fear danced in her eyes, ruining the calmness of the rest of her face. She released him, but his grip on her was as unbreakable as script strengthened steel. The great fire she put in him scalded his entire body. Blood bubbled within his flesh, but perspiration beaded her brow as well. There was no turning back now.
“Nawal,” Zaki said through gritted teeth. “I will earn this power, and you will give it to me, or we both burn.”
She didn’t speak. Strain bugled her brow, veins throbbed, and tears welled in her widening eyes. Her Tamed growled still, but not even Dawn’s overflowing unease through their bond distracted him. His entire body was ablaze, screeching for an end already.
Zaki’s hands melted from within. He glanced at them often to ensure they still gripped Cha’Ath’s wrists. Nawal’s eyes never left him. The worried moisture from her brow smudged her kohl.
“Will it!”
“You’ve said that before!”
She trembled and closed her eyes. A solitary tear streamed down her right cheek. He smelled the beginnings of burning hair amongst her sweet aroma of roses.
“Think of the fire as a Feline,” the pain on her face to give in seemed worse than the fire he forced her to suffer with him. “Speak as if to your Tamed.”
Nawal shuddered as she wept. Prince Zaki’s pain soared, making it difficult to test her scent for deceit. He closed his eyes, searching for control on the brink. His grip on the Cha’Ath loosened, but the woman didn’t pull free. Instead, she renewed her own grip on him.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The fire within him roared, singeing the forest of his anatomy. He sought flickering orbs of reddish orange amongst the endless yellow. Eyes, eyes, eyes, found them!
The back of his mismatched eyes sparkled with little flickering flames.
“Calm and be still.”
The writhing fire within him obeyed, remaining where it was, which was his entire body. At least now it softened, somewhat. He spoke through his bond, not to Dawn, but she heard him. Zaki still melted against the heat.
“Prince, let me ease,” Nawal said, sniffing as she recovered her calm façade.
This time he snatched his hands away from her. She reached for him half-heartedly, duty demanded it of her. Zaki rushed to his feet, his vision becoming fire. He shut his eyes again and searched for the prickling fiery eyes.
“Power me!”
The searing torture dancing on his bones, scorching his muscles and flesh ended. A wave of coolness passed through his entire body. Then the blazing fire focused into pin sized tendrils, drilling their way into his muscles and flesh. An avalanche of needles forcing their way through. Zaki roared at the insurmountable sharpness, keeping him rooted in place.
He forgot where he stood; forgot where he was. His loincloth became ashes around his bare feet, Zaki didn’t care. The excruciating sharpness turned into rippling power, coursing throughout his body. He flexed his new power, the flaming needles weaved threads around his flesh and muscles. Down at the tips of his toes, to his coiling curls atop his head.
“Main Zaki Atum Ra, vinasala’i sud’dha gardaichu. Pheri a’eko chu!”
His vision became burning gold. He craned his neck upwards as his voice spewed from his lips like fire. He tasted fire on his tongue, caressing the back of his teeth and his lips as it escaped from his volcanic throat. Endless fire power thrummed his ears, drowning out everything but the strength flowing through him. Dawn’s presence hummed; her awe filled him.
The stony floor vanished beneath his toes. His arms spread wide, but he dared not move them. He feared unleashing a wave, turning the entire lion section of the palace into ash. Zaki shut his eyes, but they blazed beneath his eyelids, sparking like golden lightning.
“Enough, calm.”
Zaki couldn’t tell if it obeyed. It embedded fire into his flesh like stitching in cloth. His concern was his own, for Dawn’s awe remained. Muffled noises breached the endless thrumming in his ears. Incoherent words. Warm palms clasped him, billowing hot air upon his chest and softening the noise. His strength flickered like a torch against a powerful gust.
The muffled noises turned into yelling. His golden vision seeped away, but he couldn’t see anything yet. His toes kissed the hot sandy ground, and it shifted against his weight. It eased away, barrelling through the hands on his bare chest, fading off of his body, dissipating into the air. Then it all vanished, and cool darkness embraced him.
Prince Zaki fell back, cracking the back of his head on the hard floor. His consciousness snatched, but not before a plump body fell atop him.
Zaki groaned at his throbbing head. From his temples to behind his eyes, all sourced from the tightness at the back of his head. He blinked the dark specks form his vision as an overwhelming sterile scent suffocated him. There were hints of lavender, and sharp alcohol mingled with sweet clay. The bed was a little hard and narrow. He rose with his elbows, then nausea attacked him.
“Stay down baby, it will pass soon,” Ma said, pouting over him when his vision cleared.
He feared to speak. Bile tickled his tongue. Dawn’s presence through their bond tingled. She lounged nearby, as if nothing happened. Another face revealed itself over him, one that took him a few blinks to recognise.
“Da?” He asked, before shutting his teeth when the bitterness surged up his throat.
There was colour on the man’s face for once. His dark eyes glowed with concern; fear spoiled his perfume. He nodded down at him.
It all rushed back to him when he closed his eyes, forcing his bile down. Snatching Nawal’s wrists, the overwhelming pleasure of fire flowing through him, and words. It was confusing, but it dulled the throbbing at least. Pleasure, so much pleasure and strength. Power to tear stone apart with a wave of his hand, melting everything in his path. Wield fire like a blade. But the words, what words did he hear?
“Zaki, you made quite a mess,” Ma said.
No, I was speaking… I think.
“Nothing permanent,” Da rushed in afterwards.
“Where’s Nawal?” Zaki asked, ignoring his head begging him to stay down. The nausea had passed.
“Cha’Ath Nawal is recovering, but wounded. She saved you.” Ma’s scent gave away her concern. “Do you remember what happened?”
Zaki was about to answer, until he noticed Da’s side eyed glance at her. Ma didn’t react.
“I overextended, forced her to give me more than I could handle.” Zaki studied Ma, searching for more. She nodded calmly. It wasn’t everything, but knowing her, she most likely knew. “Did I harm anyone else?”
“A palace guard was burned, but she’s fine now.”
Prince Zaki sat up. The crystals lighting the cramped room dimmed, they were insignificant and cold. Nothing like the fire he wielded.
“You burned half of your room, melted your bath, bed and some tables. Nothing we cannot replace. You even scorched the floor and ceiling somehow.” Da said. Zaki smirked, though his mind returned to Nawal.
“You’re going to have to sleep in Mazin’s room while they repair the damage.”
“Do you wish to see the Cha’Ath?” Ma asked.
“Yes, I must apologise.”
“Wait here. I will check on her.”
Ma left him alone with Da. Zaki narrowed his eyes at the door until discomfort clouded the room.
They avoided each other’s eyes. Zaki focused on his blood flowing back into his limbs, while Da threatened to pace, but stopped himself. He looked better, lingering in the war room had drained him. It still shocked him to see the greyness gone from Da.
“I… I’m sorry for missing your induction, there were pressing,”
“It’s fine,” Zaki interrupted. He despised the man’s excuses. “Tamer business, you wouldn’t have heard much of it anyway.”
“Yes… of course, I understand.”
Zaki wished for the hard mattress to swallow him. For Ma to return, for any sort of end to this. He wanted to say more, but the words wouldn’t come. He tapped his thigh as Da took interest in a glowing crystal behind, turning his back on him.
A few passing slippers and sandals gave him hope, with their sterile scents, sharp smelling poultices, but they didn’t enter. Plated boots were his salvation, but it seemed an age afterwards.
“The pharaoh is ready for you,” a palace guard in golden scale bowed before entering.
Zaki stumbled in his eagerness to escape the awkwardness. The throbbing exploded anew in his head, and the nausea returned. Da rushed to his side and forced Zaki’s arm over his shoulder. He mumbled his appreciation.
It wasn’t a long walk, but he needed Da to make it. The leading palace guard opened the doors. An unbearable amount of sharp sterility overwhelmed Zaki. He gagged, then waved Da’s concern away, ignoring Dawn’s laughter.
Ma stood beside Cha’Ath Nawal, who was more bandage than person, in the dim room. Da’s eyes were narrowed, and Zaki led him this time. The woman was wigless, her hands wrapped, from fingertips to her elbows, and smelled strong.
She bowed her head, then rose. Nawal’s umber face was littered with pink marks. Raw flesh sagged, like sun rays above her burned off brows, and just below her eyes, along her cheeks and jaw. As if they were drawn on.
“Prince Zaki.”
“Cha’Ath Nawal,” Ma glared at him the entire time beside the woman. “Thank you for saving me.”
“Duty demanded it. There is no need for your thanks,” her words were strained, and judging by Ma’s swift side eye, unexpected as well.
Zaki glanced at the Cha’Ath’s Tamed lounging in a dark corner. Its golden eyes glowed, silent, but the anger was there.
“I’m glad you can stand. I hope your wounds heal swiftly.”
The words sounded soulless even as they spilled from his lips, but he didn’t care. He was eager to be done.
“By the grace of the Great Beast.”
“Well,” Ma tensed. “We won’t keep you from your recovery. If you need anything, please ask for it.”
“Thank you for your kindness.”
Ma rushed towards him and turned him around, rage flashing in her eyes. Zaki stole a glance at Cha’Ath, but the woman kept her head bowed, her wrapped hands before her, and she curtsied.
Zaki watched from the entrance of his room, to the side and out of the way of the ghosts clearing away the debris. He removed the bandage from his head and scratched the lump. His heart yearned for that strength again. He knew not to try, not that he was capable of it on his own. Despite his swift recovery, his energy didn’t return. Dawn took Da’s place as his support, bearing his weight.
Charred and indented stones, blackened stumps, were all that remained of his bed. He glanced up at the ceiling and failed to fight his smile. There was blackness above, but it was the wide, gaping hole almost barrelling all the way through that amused him. Zaki enjoyed the flashing memories, the roaring fire spewing from his lips. His pride swelled.
“Your mother is waiting. Take what you came for,” Dawn said.
She walked beside him as he snatched his khopesh from the weapon stand. It possessed a surprising weight, but Melina’s shield was unbearable. He tugged at it, with his khopesh already weighing him down, and gave up.
“Your strength please.”
The back of his mind tingled, then lightning spread through him. It was enough to lift the shield. He clung to Dawn and stumbled against her. She was in a mood, rejecting his attempt to mount her. Her pace was cruel to his jellied legs, but he refused to complain. She didn’t deserve the satisfaction.
They stood before the doors of Mazin’s room. Zaki nodded at the palace guard in black scale armour. Her hazel eyes glittered within the Sinha helm at him.
Mazin’s room was dark and stale. Even his own eyes needed to adjust. All of his shutters were closed. The winter sun struggled to seep through the narrow gaps. It had been some days since he left, but Zaki still tasted a hint of ash about.
“You could have opened a window,” Zaki chuckled at Ma after closing the door.
She leant against the dining table, watching him. Her arms crossed, face stern. His laughter died when her glare worsened.
“She was difficult…”
“I will speak first!”
Pride’s golden gaze emerged from a darkened corner after she shouted.
“That shit plan you concocted is unbecoming of a pharaoh.”
“Ma!”
She growled at him, growled! Eyes set alight. Ma didn’t move, but Zaki did. Her fury buffeted into him, filling Mazin’s room with humidity. It only cooled when he lowered his head.
“You do not deserve decency for what you did. I cannot believe you allowed such stupidity into your mind, let alone acting on it. Burning a member of the Tamer’s Council and her Tamed, what would have stopped you from levelling this entire palace? Don’t you dare claim you controlled it, or by the Beast I will…” she clenched her fist and spared him the rest.
“May I speak?” Zaki asked.
Ma nodded.
“You sent Nawal to,”
“Cha’Ath Nawal!”
“Cha’Ath Nawal was sent to train me, but she didn’t do any training.”
“Power is earned, Zaki. Surely by now you understand that phrase!”
“I earned it! My way, because she refused to guide me. The chaos that followed is her fault also. I wasn’t going to suffer like I did under Khadim’s eye.”
Discipline, discipline in all things.
Zaki dug his nails into his palms to keep himself from saying more. His anger threatened sharper venom. Ma’s pain trickled into his nose.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I assumed that rat scurried to tell you,” his anger won. “It doesn’t matter now. I discovered something else from my failure.”
“Am I worthy of knowing it?”
“I don’t know it myself, but it was why I wanted to discover what happened to that dead woman.”
Ma frowned at him. Pride’s golden gaze stole his attention during the silence. The Sinha said nothing, did nothing, showed nothing, but it melted Zaki’s anger.
He sighed, there was no reason to leave it like this.
“What did Cha’Ath say?”
“Nothing… nothing I didn’t know already.”
“I must make amends then, I suppose.”
“Best not,” she rushed. “I think the wounds are still raw for her, but who am I to stop you?”
Zaki grunted.
“If I have failed you my boy, please tell me, and I will be a better guide, a better mother to you.”
“You haven’t failed. Those were angry words, but maybe you can put a hold on sending me trainers. Lih… the kumkani is enough for now.”
“Okay, I understand.”
Zaki watched her shoulders slump. She lifted herself from the dining table with a mask of fatigue. Slivers of light cast ageing shadows on her face. Ma approached him, her eyes glimmering, awaiting permission. He nodded and she buried her face in his chest.
“Could you wait a few years before filling me with the fear of losing you again?” Ma caressed the back of his neck with a sniff. She pulled away after a while. “Bed for three days. I do not want to hear anything about you leaving this room.”
“I need the rest.”
“Thank you,” Ma rose to her toes and kissed his cheek. “I will bring you food and your bath.”
Zaki watched her leave with Pride as her tail. His judgemental eyes gone, the weight of the world crept up on him, and his head itched. Dawn’s bitterness couldn’t be ignored anymore.
“Spit it out,” he said.
“If that is how you speak to your mother, I think I will keep it.”
Zaki was too tired to care. He dumped the shield and khopesh on the floor and dragged himself into Mazin’s icy bed.