Queen Mythri (special preview)

I look up at him. “This man tried to take everything away from me. Not just my life, but my children and my loved ones. He tried to ruin you.” I stare up at him with my heart resolute. “I want to look into his eyes so that he knows his life is in my hands.” I touch his cheek and Amit nuzzles into my palm.

“I understand, my love,” Amit growls low. “But all those things are all mine as well, even more so. It was me he was after to hurt.”

“Exactly.” I murmur. “If you met with him, you would kill him then and there. It is best I go alone.”

Amit frowns, giving me a long kiss. “You’re always right.”

I beam. “I know.” I turn to Kalidas and follow him away.

We go down to the dungeons where Chiyo greets me with open arms. I squeeze her tight every time I see her, afraid that if I look away she will be gone. For so long I had assumed my entire family had been killed by the Gnolls. But by the graces of the Gods, my little sister was still in this world. I hate that it took a war to bring us together.

“I’m glad to see you are well,” I sigh. “I take it you found the man responsible for the attack?”

Chiyo nods. “I wanted to kill him,” she seethes. “But I knew you had more blood from him than me.” She turns, glancing to the cell that had two guards posted by it. 

I walk up to the small cell, glaring down at the cowering figure within. He looks at me and suddenly I feel my whole world shift and fall. Those eyes are the ones I see in my dreams. One eye is slightly blue with a crescent scar around it. 

Suddenly, my heart is racing and my entire body goes cold. I grip tight to Chiyo’s hand as I am overwhelmed. With the mere sight of Wulsi I am brought back in time to the day my family was ripped apart. I was barely four, my mother, father, and I were traveling home. I barely remember why. Anything before that night is lost in the fog. I can remember my mother’s fat belly and her discomfort. Any day she was going to give birth. I sat beside my father, playing with a little stuffed camel. Then, it all happened in a flash.

The carriage was knocked over and dragged through the sand. My mother screamed and I cried. My father climbed out, getting us detached. He then scrambled, trying to get us out. He got me out and told me to run. I stayed crouched by the carriage, trying to keep myself small. I’m grabbed by my neck and I look into the eyes of the Gnoll now before me. He’s squeezing so hard on my neck that I can’t breathe.

My father charges him, knocks him down. I’m released and roll in the sand, crying as I try to catch my breath. A moment later, my father has me and we’re running through the desert. He’s leaving a trail of blood, so he sets me down and tells me to run without him. I scream and cry but he makes me go on without him.

I am found by knights of Amit’s father, Samar. They take me to the palace where I grow up and eventually become queen.