Page 141 of The Shrouded Queen
“What was it like?” I asked softly.
A muscle worked in his jaw. “Nice, at first. Like you saw. And then…” Keir squeezed his eyes shut on one very hard blink. “Ittaunts you with your dreams. The good ones and the bad ones. Makes it impossible to know what dangers are in your head and what are real. Turns you against yourself until you submit.”
I was overcome by the horror of it. I took his hand.
His eyes opened again and landed on my touch. Slowly, his fingers curled around mine.
“And that band you’re wearing,” I dared. “It keeps you from going back, doesn’t it?”
Keir’s throat bobbed. He eased his hand away from mine. “It’ll be slow, but I’ll be able to walk tomorrow.” His turn to change the subject. “We’ll leave at first light.”
I only nodded and pulled the blackened centipede off the hairpin. I didn’t even taste it when I popped it into my mouth.
FIFTY-SIXSAMIRA
The next two days were more of the same. Trudging through sand. Sizzling under the sun. Resting. Then up to do it all over again. As we readied to make camp once more, I felt it. The compulsion—which had been little more than a nudge—strengthened, solidified into a cord in my chest.
My head snapped up.
Keir paused in unwrapping the fabric around his side. He’d torn off the bottom of his tunic and was using it as a makeshift bandage. “What is it?”
My brows furrowed as I gazed across the sea of sand. The sun was just about to dip behind the horizon, and the last of its golden light bounced off that roof in the distance. “I feel…”
Keir followed my gaze, instantly on alert. “What?”
“A pull.” Something about that beaming structure… It wasn’t just a beacon anymore. It was alluring. A siren’s song, calling for me. Different from the Shroud. Stronger. More urgent.
“A pull. Care to elaborate?”
“We can’t stop to rest tonight,” I murmured, and took a stumbling step forward. “We have to keep going.”
“Majesty, what are— Amunet, stop.” He grabbed my arm.
I hardly even felt it. A shudder of fear passed through me, but itwasn’t mine. They were in trouble; they were scared. They needed me, whoever was waiting for us there.
I tried to pull out of Keir’s grip, but he held fast. “They need help.”
“For the love of—” Keir growled as he placed himself firmly in front of me. “Who needs help?”
“I don’t know. Someone…”
“Amunet, look at me.Lookat me.” He held my face and shook me until my eyes found his, the sunny irises bright with alarm. He waited until he was sure I was seeing him, until my frantic movements slowed, before he said, “We’re still a full day away. You can’t just take off.”
I nodded, but it was like a rope was wrapped around my sternum, desperately trying to drag me away. I couldn’t help but think of the shadow creature from Zarqa’s vision. It had appeared out of the sand. Maybe it was the one calling to me. I shuddered. “They want me there,” I whispered. “Why do they want me there?”
Keir didn’t have to voice his concern. It was plain in his eyes as he scanned every inch of my face. “Am I going to have to tie you down, Majesty?”
The sun finally succumbed to the horizon, taking its rays with it. The distant gleam faded as if it had been nothing more than a mirage. And yet the pull remained. Even though my legs trembled with the effort to stay in place and not take off across the desert, if I concentrated, I could resist it. For a little while longer at least. Because Keir was right—it was madness to press on now. We had to rest. “I’ll be okay.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
Keir’s hands lingered on my cheeks before finally dropping down to his wound, but I didn’t miss the way his eyes kept darting worriedly back to me.
His side was viciously red. Though he made a strong effort not to react, the skin around his eyes was tight with pain.
“Let me see it,” I said, stepping toward him.
