Tiger Queen

by Annie Sullivan

  Latia was right. I didn’t know what I was getting them into.

  And what about Cion? Whatever he was going to face was because of me. Because I sought him out. Because I couldn’t face my problems on my own. No wonder the scorpions had stung me. I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t Tamlin. The desert hadn’t chosen me.

  The door to my room squealed open to reveal Rodric carrying another pair of shackles.

  He secured them around my feet and produced a key. “Now,” he said, wagging the key in front of my face, “you can either be released from your hand shackles and come with me, or I give the order to have Cion killed right now without giving you the chance to save him.”

  I studied his face. I didn’t really see I had a choice in the matter, and if my hands were free, I’d have a better shot at finding a way to attack.

  “I’ll behave,” I said.

  “Good.” He slid the key into the shackles and freed me. “Then let’s go.”

  Several guards waited in the doorway. Rodric motioned for me to take my place between them. The chain around my ankles scraped against the floor as I walked, but it wasn’t visible under my long dress.

  Guards fell in around me. One of them was Sievers. He gave me the slightest of nods, so slight I wasn’t sure I’d seen it at all. Maybe he’d help me escape. Maybe that nod was his signal to me to keep strong until he found the right moment to help.

  But he was so rigid standing there I started to wonder if I’d imagined him nod. Was I still delirious from my scorpion stings? All of this could be a dream.

  No, a nightmare.

  I kept wanting to glance at Sievers, but he was stationed behind me. And Rodric had taken up his position at the very rear. No doubt because it would offer the best view of me going for any of the guards’ spears or swords.

  Instead of moving up through the palace, we moved down. All the way to the tigers’ cage.

  I had one moment of panic that Rodric was going to throw me into the cage, but we breezed past it into the tunnel leading to the stadium. My heart dropped when I spotted that one of the tigers was missing.

  “I’d much rather you be publicly seen in my company so soon after my gallant rescue of you from your captors,” Rodric said, “but I couldn’t trust those desert rats not to make one last rescue attempt. So the tunnel will have to do.”

  It wasn’t as dark as I remembered. Someone had lit torches at even intervals. They played against the long claw marks running down the walls. Fire-legged flies buzzed over spots of dried blood caked to the walls.

  We moved down the rest of the tunnel in silence and emerged near the room I used to prep for my arena fights.

  I caught the vague scent of coconut. Ahead, guards pulled a small figure into that room. A figure with a long braid.

  “Latia?” I called. It had to be her.

  Her head rose ever so slightly, but as soon as she saw Rodric, her eyes immediately shot down.

  But not before I saw her face. Freshly cut lacerations ran down her visible skin. Dozens clouded her face. I didn’t recognize her. Only the eyes betrayed it was the same girl.

  “No.” I shook my head.

  “Don’t worry,” Rodric said, coming up behind me and whispering in my ear. “Yours won’t be so visible. At least at first.”

  I jerked away from him. “What’s she doing here?”

  “All part of the show.” He motioned for the guards to take me up a side staircase and into the arena seating area.

  The crowd erupted the moment we appeared.

  I looked out into the empty arena. I swallowed down the lump that rose in my throat when I thought about the insults I used to toss at the Desert Boys brought here.

  Rodric waved to the crowd as if he was a kind, benevolent ruler. What I always thought had been cheers morphed into jeers. Though it was more akin to general screaming because no one wanted to be singled out for disparaging Rodric.

  Except for one man.

  He jolted forward from the crowd. To my astonishment, it was the Lorian man I’d saved at the well. As he tottered forward I saw his face was flushed, his steps unsteady. If I wasn’t mistaken, he was drunk. He matched Rodric for size, but most of his weight was centered around his middle and not regulated to his muscles. Lister, I think Dimic had said his name was.

  “There he is,” Lister shouted. “The desert’s greatest coward.”

  “Are you looking to be next in the arena?” Rodric asked. “All that weight would go a long way in feeding the tigers.”

  Lister moved so quickly I barely registered it. He crashed right into Rodric, driving him against the railing. The force loosened a section of the railing, sending the metal bars dangling into the arena.

  Rodric managed to keep his balance by grabbing onto the part of the railing still anchored and used it to shove Lister off.

  All but two of my guards rushed to help as the man attempted to charge Rodric again.

  Sievers was one of the remaining guards. Was this his plan? Should I make a run for it?

  But then I’d never find out where Rodric was keeping Cion. Nor could I get Latia away.

  Then, I felt it.

  At first I thought it was just the crowd pressing around us, but it was more than that.

  Someone tugged at my shackles. I looked down to find a small figure huddled over my feet. As soon as I’d felt his hand, it was gone. So were my shackles.

  “Is that a Desert Boy?” Sievers voice rang out.

  My heart dropped. I thought he was going to help me, not betray my rescuers. When my head swung around, Sievers was pointing in the complete other direction from where I stood, distracting the other guard.

  Whoever had freed my shackles popped up in front of me.

  Dimic.

  My heart leapt.

  He winked at me before disappearing into the crowd.

  I had to be hallucinating, but here he was. Alive. I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out in joy.

  The soldier behind me said, “That’s not a boy at all. That’s a girl.”

  “My mistake,” Sievers said.

  The other guards formed rank around me. Two of them had Lister in custody. They pulled him back through the stadium. The crowd roared.

  He gave me a wink as he went by.

  I cast my head down so Rodric wouldn’t suspect anything.

  The absence of my clanking shackles wasn’t missed over the noise of the crowd, but I tried to keep my walk awkward, like I was still tethered.

  Rodric eyed the crowd as my guards escorted me toward my father. But instead of seating me in my normal spot at my father’s side, Rodric took that seat. I was shoved down next to him, farther from my father.

  My father didn’t acknowledge me. He instead crushed a fire-legged fly where it landed on his arm and then flicked the lifeless body away, never taking his gaze from the arena. To him, I was no more than a failed experiment, no more than the fly he’d just crushed, a woman as weak as his wife. My only use now was as an easy path for Rodric to the throne.

  But I was going to show him that my mother was right, that true strength didn’t come from wielding a sword. It came from having your people be willing to follow you.

  I scanned the arena. If Dimic was here, that meant other Desert Boys may be as well. I could only hope that when the time came, they’d help me get a weapon. Because I could only imagine that Cion was going to be pulled into the arena. And that tigers were waiting behind both doors.

  I’d only seen one tiger missing from the cage, but they’d had plenty of time to go back for the other.

  Suddenly, the arena doors opened. Guards pulled a figure forward, confirming my fear.

  Cion’s hands were shackled as they led him to the post. His skin was ashen, and he looked thin. But he was alive.

  I leapt to my feet.

  Rodric yanked me down.

  My hands were shaking. They went to grasp my sword hilt, which wasn’t there.

  “See how kind I was,” Rodric sai
d over the cries of the crowd. “I kept him alive for this moment.”

  “Why?” I had to admit he looked stronger than I expected. He walked unaided. He managed to hold his head up.

  “Because the people need to see that even Cion falls before me. They need to be reminded who the desert has chosen.”

  The guards shackled Cion to the short post in the middle of the arena with several lengths of loose chain between him and the post, just enough so the accused could think he could dodge the tiger, just enough to give my father a show.

  Cion turned, and his eyes sought mine. He seemed to relax a little.

  I knew the feeling. I leaned forward as far as I could before Rodric pulled me back by my braid.

  My father stood. The crowd quieted.

  “My people,” my father started, “we have before us an accused Desert Boy. But not just any Desert Boy. Their leader, Cion, who Rodric dragged from the desert.”

  It took several minutes to quiet the crowd. The whole time, Cion’s eyes never left my face.

  I tried to glean anything I could from his gaze. Was he in pain? Had Rodric tortured him? Did he know Rodric’s plan? My heart broke to see him standing where I couldn’t reach him. He straightened his shoulders under my gaze. I hadn’t given up, and neither had he. He shifted his gaze toward my father.

  “He is accused of stealing water, leading illegal caravans into the city, and kidnapping Princess Kateri.”

  “That’s a lie.” My words were cut off by Rodric grabbing my throat.

  He yanked my face toward his. “Say that again, and I release the tiger right away.”

  He dropped his hand.

  I sputtered for air. By the time I recovered, the crowd had quieted.

  I forced my eyes back to Cion. His face had taken on a darker look. His hands were clenched in fists as he stared at Rodric.

  Rodric smiled and turned to me. “Behind the door on the left,” he whispered, “is the tiger. And behind the door on the right is Latia.”

  I eyed him. “Is it supposed to be worse now that I know?” Because my stomach already felt like sand was rubbing against it, dissolving it layer by layer.

  He sighed like I was a child who didn’t understand. “If the door reveals Latia, I promise to let them go free together. They’ll be on the first caravan out of here.”

  “You’d never let him go.”

  He leaned back in his chair. “I would if it’s the only thing that would make you more miserable.”

  “Nothing could be more miserable than being near you.”

  “Not even watching Cion with another woman? Knowing they’re going to go off and have a wonderful life while you’re stuck here with me for as long as I choose to keep you alive.” He smirked down at me. “I saw you with your arms around each other when I followed Latia into the desert. But go ahead, deny you have feelings for him. Tell me you don’t care if he marries Latia.”

  I crossed my arms and refused to answer. I never again wanted to experience the gnawing inside me when I saw Cion giving Latia an engagement bracelet. But he’d chosen her.

  “Oh, and there’s one more thing . . .” His face beamed. “I’ll let your father tell you.”

  My insides turned to ice.

  My father said, “While it’s customary for the accused to select the door, today, Princess Kateri will pick the door instead.”

  Rodric shoved me to my feet.

  I caught myself on the railing. It jiggled loose in its moorings, the metal burning my palms.

  Only my breathing sounded through my ears. Every eye in the arena was on me.

  Including Cion’s.

  For the first time, something like hope sparked in his eyes. And I so desperately wanted him to hold on to it.

  My eyes swung back and forth between the doors. I wanted to point to the door with Latia, but I couldn’t figure out if Rodric was tricking me. Thoughts flew through my mind at an alarming rate.

  If I picked the door with the tiger, I knew what was going to happen. But I doubted if I chose the door Latia was behind he’d let them go. He’d probably have soldiers escort them to the desert and kill them there. Was it better to let them die quickly here?

  And for all I knew, Rodric had already lied. Maybe Latia wasn’t even behind one of the doors. Or maybe she was, and he’d purposefully told me wrong. But if Latia was behind the door I picked and Rodric didn’t keep his promise, maybe it would be enough to incite the people to fight back.

  “Decision time, Kateri,” Rodric said. “Is it the lady or the tiger?”

  Cion’s gaze stayed steady on me. He appeared calm and collected, which was the exact opposite of the sandstorm brewing in my stomach.

  My heart clenched.

  I hadn’t thought love could truly exist in this desert. I thought it was the biggest mirage of all. Something meant to trick those who sought it out, to distract them from their miserable lives, the ones without futures.

  But it wasn’t. It was about hope. It was about having a future worth living.

  I’d known from the moment Cion had given that bracelet to Latia that he would never be mine. I just hadn’t admitted how much I’d wanted him for my own. But watching him stand there, knowing no matter which door I picked it would be the last time I’d see him, broke something within me.

  The wind caught wisps of his hair and pulled them across his forehead. Even in the arena he still managed to look wild and untamed. He managed to look defiant. Free.

  And I wanted him to stay that way. With Latia.

  I took one long last look at him, at the gaze that I would never be able to claim as my own. I let it burn into my memory.

  Then I steeled my face and pointed to the door on the right.

  CHAPTER

  30

  Rodric waited a moment before signaling for the door to open. “I should’ve told you that I made sure Cion knew that you knew what was behind each door, that he knew you held his fate.”

  He signaled for the door to open.

  It creaked inward.

  A tiger charged right toward Cion.

  “You liar!” I screamed at Rodric.

  “Of course they both had tigers. Did you honestly think I’d let him go?” Rodric laughed.

  My thoughts raced. So did my heart.

  I did the only thing I could think of.

  Before Rodric’s laugh had even died out, I’d switched my grip on the railing. I kicked my feet off the bench and flipped over so my back would’ve hit the other side of the railing if I hadn’t let go.

  I landed and was running before the sand settled around me. Gasps escaped from the crowd, followed by cheers.

  I didn’t even turn to see Rodric’s puzzled look over where my shackles had gone. My sights were aimed at the tiger. It loped across the arena, leaving a trail of dust behind it.

  My dress wrapped around my legs. I kicked through it, running faster than I ever had before.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw another body jump through the broken section of railing not far from me and angle toward me.

  Dimic.

  He had two swords in his hands.

  “Kateri,” he called. He heaved a sword toward me. I caught it as I kept running.

  “Free Cion!” I threw over my shoulder.

  The tiger locked eyes with me and charged forward as though it knew it was in a race for its prey.

  Cion had pulled his chain taut as far from the tiger as he could get. I could only watch as the tiger’s paws pounded into the sand and it leapt over the post, straight at Cion.

  He rolled forward out of the tiger’s path and ducked around the post, back toward the doors.

  The tiger recovered quickly, turning back and snapping, narrowly missing Cion’s arm. Cion whipped the small amount of chain back and forth, trying to keep the tiger at bay.

  The beast didn’t care. It moved forward, forcing Cion to dive around the post again. His body shuddered as the length of chain ran out, and he was jerked around. He landed a
t an awkward angle, momentarily tangled.

  I was nearly there, nearly to him, but I wasn’t going to make it in time. The tiger tensed, ready to jump on its stunned victim.

  I forced my legs to move faster.

  Just as the tiger’s front paws left the ground, I leapt.

  A roar ripped from my chest as I jumped over Cion, landing one foot on the post he was chained to. I bounded off it and met the tiger midair.

  I rammed my sword through its chest as we collided.

  The tiger’s weight drove me backward as we crumpled to the ground together. The beast’s paws were around me and trying to detract enough to claw me. I didn’t have room to pull my sword free, so I rammed it in farther and twisted. The tiger let out a heavy breath and stopped fighting. I rolled the tiger away and disentangled myself from its limbs.

  The tiger moved a leg before it fell still. A small breeze ruffled its fur.

  The crowd cheered.

  But one voice stood out above the rest.

  “Open the other door!” Rodric screamed.

  The door I hadn’t chosen slid open. Another tiger roared out.

  I pulled my blade from the tiger’s chest and turned to face the new threat.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dimic already at work picking the lock. I just needed to buy him more time.

  The second tiger snarled as it ran forward.

  It leapt as it reached me, throwing its paws around. Its teeth snapped inches from my face. Hot breath washed over me.

  Its paws ripped into my dress, tearing through the bottom half.

  It took all the skills I’d learned while being hit from all directions in the shifting hills to keep the tiger’s claws from biting into my flesh.

  I threw my sword in an upward arch to block both front paws at once. The tiger put more weight behind its attack. I could barely hold my sword up against the force as it brought its weight down.

  It threw itself forward, and I fell backward. I rolled out of the way just as a paw dug into where my head had been.

  The tiger would’ve snapped at my neck if a pair of shackles hadn’t smashed into its skull.

  It whipped around, hissing.

  “Over here, you flea-bitten mongrel,” Dimic taunted. And then he took off running.