Empire of Sand

Isaiah escorted us to the pits himself. His fingers bit into my arm, and his heat penetrated the tender flesh there. He smiled as I cried out, and William turned and swung at him, wincing as the fire breather burned him, too. The last two contenders waited. Tessie looked on with horror. Isaiah surpassed the waiting guard and the two contenders, dragging William and me along with him toward the doors.

“Sir, I believe these two were the ones going—”

The guard groaned and crumpled to the ground as the heat of Isaiah’s fierce grip seared his flesh. The guard whimpered in pain as he cringed at Isaiah’s feet, and the final two contenders cowered against the beams. Tessie’s eyes pleaded with me as I looked back at her. My former friend was a murderer, but no more than I was. After a lifetime of slavery, she’d sought her escape, her freedom, only to become enslaved by her fear.

The fire breather turned on his heel and forced us along before pausing inches from the doors. The crowd beyond it called for the next pair of contenders, and the announcer did his best to placate them with the story of the history of the Trials. Isaiah sent two more waves of fire behind him, eradicating the last two contenders for the Emperor’s Trials. I cried for Tessie as the fire breather thrust us out the doors and into the sunlight, and the waiting crowd cheered with anticipated delight.

William and I stared up at the spectators’ smiling faces. Coin was passed as new bidders shouted their bets, and guards along the sideline slipped currency to one another. I looked up at the masked man on the dais, and the fire breather, who returned to his side.

“You’re the Emperor,” I said finally.

The words themselves seemed fraudulent.

“I am.”

Neither one of us faced the other as we scanned the crowds, ignoring the urging of the announcer to commence the battle. If we didn’t fight now, Relic would have his guards remove us. If we did fight, the victor would most assuredly be killed, anyway. But at least if one of us survived, there was a greater chance of escape. And if William survived, there was greater chance for him to reclaim his throne.

I realized with sudden clarity that William had confessed his love for me, and that I loved him, too. I hadn’t fallen in love with an Emperor; I’d fallen in love with the man on the road to Tristan, the one who had saved me twice.

“We have to fight,” I told him.

“I’m not going to fight you, Ash,” he said sadly.

I turned to him now and grasped his face in my cold hands, relishing the warmth of his skin. I’d come to Tristan expecting to die, but somehow, I’d failed to savor every beautiful moment since I’d left my family’s home. Perhaps it had been denial that kept me from embracing Birdie once more, or sharing a kiss with the man in front of me. Maybe it was the same stubbornness that killed my father that would kill me, too. How perfectly ironic.

“Yes, you are, William. You’re going to fight me, and you’re going to win. And then you’re going to save your kingdom from that coward on the dais.”

“I can’t destroy you,” he breathed.

Tears slid down his face, and the crowd quieted as I wiped them gently away with my fingers, pressing them to my lips. The gesture was a sign of lifelong love and devotion in the outer regions, from which many of the onlookers had come. Though he’d been raised in Tristan, ensconced within the palace, I knew William understood me.

“Sometimes we must surrender ourselves for those we love,” I reminded him.

I could feel him breaking and I was powerless to stop it. William knew the truth; he needed to save the kingdom from the ruin that would befall them if Relic remained Emperor. I wondered if William’s cousin suspected his own son plotted his demise, and which of them would act first. Mama was right; there was no loyalty among thieves.

The earth cracked and buckled as I pulled the sand upward around me, creating a sinking pit beneath my feet. I couldn’t afford to risk William’s victory by acceding; it had to appear genuine or the imposter above would declare the match forfeit and kill us both. When the guards arrived to escort him away, William could seize the opportunity and escape.

“Do it, William,” I urged.

“I can’t!”

The ground shook and buckled beneath my feet as I struggled to remain upright. William backed away, refusing to attack, and I knew this would only happen if I forced his hand. I sent my fists into the earth, and a large crack split the dirt, fissuring outward toward William. He leapt back, and I charged him, a battle cry on my lips.

I hoped Mayven would be proud of me one day, when he realized what I’d done. I’d killed enough people, but I desperately hoped this one sacrificial act would redeem me in the afterlife. More than that, I hoped it would save the man I loved.

He grunted as I tackled him to the ground, causing the ground the shake and split. The onlookers cried out as their seats buckled and dirt showered down from the canopy erected above them. I gripped William’s shirt collar and tore at it, urging him to fight back.

“You bloody stubborn woman!” he cried.

“Your Highness is an idiot!” I cried, and shoved his head into the dirt.

He pushed me off him reflexively, and his face changed as I flew backward and hit the ground with a thud. I crawled back, trying to regain the air that had been knocked from my lungs. He stood over me, reaching out to help me up. This was the moment, and it had to look real or all was lost. I hit the ground again, and the sand beneath us both collapsed, swallowing us up. Then, as I sank beneath the warm granules, I used the last of my strength to propel him upwards toward the surface, spitting him back out into the daylight. I could hear his cries while he scraped at the dirt in search of me. I could make out the muted sounds of the crowd cheering for their victor, and the Emperor’s new guard.

I knew that if I stayed here long enough, my oxygen would eventually run out, and I would suffocate. I decided to do myself a favor and expedite the process; if I was going to die, I resolved to do it as comfortably as possible. Drawing a final breath, I coaxed the sand over me like a weight, crushing me deeper into the depths of the earth, and embracing me like a mother’s arms.

“I owed you a rescue,” I whispered, and then my world went black.