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Synopsis ♥
In Khya’s world, every breath is a battle.
On the isolated desert island of Shiara, dying young is inevitable.
The clan comes before self, and protecting her home means Khya is
a warrior above all else.
But when following the clan and obeying their leaders could cost her
brother his life, Khya’s home becomes a deadly trap. The only person who
can help is Tessen, her lifelong rival and the boy who challenges her
at every turn. The council she hoped to join has betrayed her, and their
secrets, hundreds of years deep, reach around a world she’s never seen.
To save her brother’s life and her island home, her only choice is to
trust Tessen, turn against her clan, and go on the run—a betrayal and a
death sentence.
Excerpt ♥
I breathe the briny air and try to consider the options objectively. As objectively as I ever can when my brother is involved.
Yorri was the first person to tell me that one day I’d be kaigo, just
like our blood-parents, serving the Miriseh and earning high honors in
Ryogo. I’d flicked him on the shoulder and said “Of course I will be,”
but his faith had been what convinced me I was right.
Yorri gets so excited he stumbles over his own words when he’s
explaining how he solved some new, impossible puzzle. He devotes himself
with frightening fervor to anything that ensnares his arrow-quick mind,
but sometimes needs reminding that the rest of the world exists.
Forget objectivity. It’s worth the risk.
I am
going to keep him safe, just like I always have.
“You’re going to be late for the vigil if you stand here staring into nothing for much longer, Khya.”
I tense, keeping my eyes on the angry, dark, blue white-capped waves.
I’d heard the footsteps approaching, but several people had come and
gone already and left me alone.
Tessen, however, never was able to keep his thoughts inside his head.
“I won’t be late.” I answer without looking at him until he moves into my peripheral vision.
He leans against the wall to the left of me, his forearms crossed on
the ledge and his head tilted up. With his arms folded on the ledge and
his body held slightly away from the wall, I can make out the lines of
muscle under layers of cloth, all of it hard-earned—though I probably
won’t ever admit that to him. I don’t look directly at him, but I turn
my head enough to get a better look at his face.
He’s taller than me, so looking down on him like this is strange.
Seeing him without the hood and atakafu we always wear on duty is
stranger. I don’t think I’ve seen his whole face since he became nyshin
over a year ago.
His thick eyebrows sit low over his deep-set eyes and the line of his
nose is straight, because somehow he was always quick enough in
training to avoid all but the most glancing blows to his face. The
setting sun highlights the red in his terra-cotta skin and makes his
oddly pale eyes flash. Usually they’re limestone gray, but now they’re
paler than ever and gleaming almost as bright as the sunlight off the
ocean.
“Shouldn’t you be off training? Or guarding something?” I ask before he speaks.
“I am.” He smirks at me. “I’m guarding the mad nyshin girl who’s decided to perch on the walls and imitate a mykyn bird.”
“I’m not planning on attempting flight.” I wave my hand at him, trying to brush him off. “You can go, Nyshin-ten.”
His lips purse; I hide a smile. It was delightful discovering exactly
how annoyed he got when I called him by his class and rank instead of
his name. The flash of aggravation disappears quickly, replaced by his
more usual sardonic smile. “Should I guess what has you lost in your own
head the night of a vigil?”
“No. I don’t have that much time.”
“Then I won’t guess. Only your brother puts that look on your face.”
I look at him, expecting to see mockery in his eyes. There isn’t any. He looks almost…serious?
“You’re worried about his herynshi. Unless he’s in trouble again? It’s been a while. He’s overdue.”
“It’s been a while because he doesn’t have to deal with people who point out his every mistake anymore. Like
you.”
Gritting my teeth, I bend to brace my hand on the ledge and jump down
to where Tessen stands. At six feet, he’s only an inch or two taller
than me. Our eyes are nearly level when I square off against him.
“You’re one of the reasons he ever got in trouble in the first place.”
“And you spent years trying to make him invisible.” Tessen’s lips
thin, and the muscles in his jaw clench for a moment. “Even before you
found your wards, you shielded him from everything. What he can do now
that you’re not there to monitor his every move should be all the proof
you need.”
“He would have
died if I hadn’t protected him.” Nothing will
ever convince me it was wrong to keep him alive. “You can’t seriously
be suggesting I should have let that happen?”
“No, that isn’t— You don’t even know what he’s capable of! How long
has it been since you’ve seen him fight? It’s been—” He steps back, his
lips pressed tight and his hands held away from his weapons. “Bellows,
Khya. I didn’t come here to fight with you. This isn’t how this was
supposed to go.”
I blink. “What?” Tessen backing away from an argument? This has to be a trick. “How what was supposed to go?”
He shakes his head, a small smile quirking up the corners of his
mouth. “I only came to ask if you’d dance with me tonight at the
celebration.”
He can’t be serious…but there’s not a single sign that he isn’t being sincere.
I drop my gaze to hide the confusion that has to show on my face. My
focus catches on the pendant gleaming against the undyed cloth of his
tunic—a two-inch iron disc etched with crossed zeeka swords. Blood and
rot, I hate seeing that around his neck. The zeeka is the symbol of the
kaigo; the pendant is a symbol of their students.
Tessen is wearing the kaigo-sei pendant that should have been
mine.
Out of the whole clan, the Miriseh and the kaigo only choose one
nyshin-ten per year. His blood-mother, Neeva, is on the kaigo council.
Being named a kaigo-sei isn’t a guarantee of advancement, but it is a
sign that the leaders of the clan are keeping an eye on you. The
kaigo-sei are given extra training and have to face additional tests of
magic, skill, and leadership. Not every nyshin named a kaigo-sei student
becomes a council member, but no one who
isn’t a kaigo-sei will ever become one. I can still earn one—and I
will, sooner rather than later—but it seems like they’re already grooming Tessen to take Kaigo Neeva’s place one day.
Rot take him, it was supposed to be me.
Swallowing the fruitless envy building in my chest, I raise my eyes
to meet Tessen’s again. “I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep.”
“But that’s not a no, so I’ll ask again tonight.” He smiles, inclines
his head, and then walks away whistling. I hate that sound, and I’m
almost positive he knows that.
Itagamin Glossary of Terms
Ahdo – Second class of the island
Ahkiyu – A longbow
Ahuri – A fruit of the desert cactus that is eaten and used to make wine
Anto – The style of dagger used on Shiara
Atakafu – headscarf word in Itagami as protection from the desert winds
Bikyo-ko – the armory and the barracks for the two councils within Itagami
Byka – A caffeinated bean given to those on long missions to help them stay awake
Denhitra – Clan that lives in the southern mountain range on Shiara
Desosa – The ambient elemental energy of the world
Doseiku – An Itagamin clan member under sixteen who hasn't faced the herynshi yet
Ebet – The sex designation for those neither male nor female
Gasuren – A sugar-like sweetener extracted from the desert plant of the same name
Gensu – A woman's monthly menstruation
Herynshi – The trial undergone by all Itagamin citizens the moon of their sixteenth birthday
Imaku – The black island off the northern coast of Shiara
Isagysu – A formal greeting of respect and deference
Kaigo – The council that serves directly under the Miriseh
Kaigo-sei – The candidates chosen from the nyshin as potential future kaigo councilmembers
Kamidi – A large lizard with venomous spit
Khai – A relationship chosen specifically to produce children
Kujuko – The empty realm between our world and the afterlife
Kyiwa – The run of mountains and cliffs that border the eastern coast of Shiara
Miriseh – The immortals who lead Itagami
Mykyn – A large bird with sharp teeth and vicious claws
Niora – A mountain lion
Nyska – One of the tallest shrubs on the island, which bears
pods that can be dried and used to make grain; the plant itself is also
used to make cloth, bowstrings, paper, and other useful items
Nyshin – The highest class of citizens within Itagami
Patsu – A lacrosse-like game played on teams with an iron pole that is bladed on one end
Pira – Vicious, sharp-toothed fish
Ryogo – The mainland where Varan and the others came from
Sagen sy Itagami – The easternmost city that is built into the
largest mesa on the island; the name literally translates to “desert
plateau of the northern gods”
Saishigi – The last rites for citizens of Sagen sy Itagami
Shiara – What those from Itagami call the island itself
Suesutu – The pass southwest of Itagami between the larger of the Kyiwa Mountains
Sukhai – A bondmate/lover
Sumai – A deep bond/partnership/love; can be anywhere between entirely platonic or very sexual
Suraki – A weapon with a blade on one end, a weighted, sometimes spiked ball on the other, and a four-foot chain connecting the two
Surnat – A date-like fruit that grows on low bushes on the island
Teegra – A large, scaled cat
Tokiansu – The fighter's dance
Tsimo – Westernmost clan on Shiara
Tudo – A long, curved, narrow sword
Ushimo – Someone who is asexual or falls on the asexual spectrum
Yonin – Lowest class of Itagami
Yajitu – A flat iron recurved bow with slicing blades affixed to the exterior surface
Yugadai – The system of khai bonds the Rohko have used to enhance the strength of their clan
Zeeka – A slightly curved short sword with a narrow blade
Zekiyu – A short bow
Zon – A district or zone within Itagami
Ranks of Sagen sy Itagami
Highest rank listed first
Miriseh
Kaigo
Nyshin-lu
Nyshin-ri
Nyshin-co
Nyshin-ma
Nyshin-pa
Nyshin-ten
Ahdo-na
Ahdo-mas
Ahdo-sa
Ahdo-po
Ahdo-li
Ahdo-va
Yonin-na
Yonin-mas
Yonin-sa
Yonin-po
Yonin-li
Yonin-va
Magic of Sagen sy Itagami
Soyiji Mages – Elemental Manipulation
Ishiji – Stone Mage – Ability to reform, lighten, move, and meld stone
Ryiji – Earth Mage – Affinity for plants and soil that helps these plants grow in the desert
Kyshiji – Water Mage – Ability to find, clean, and sometimes manipulate water
Myiji – Weather Mage – Extremely rare ability that can manipulate wind and detect or, sometimes, call up storms
Desosa Mages – Energy Manipulation
Assistive:
Dyuniji – Kinetic Mage – Ability to use their own kinetic
energy, or sometimes someone else’s (for example, blows landed during
battle) to augment their own strength
Zoikyo – Augmenter – Ability to boost other people's powers by funneling desosa to them
Hishingu – Healer – Ability to use the desosa to heal themselves and others
Ward Mages:
Sykina – Ability to use their own energy and the universal desosa to shield themselves from other magic
Fykina – Ability to shield themselves and others from both magic and the physical world
Offensive:
Kasaiji – Fire Mage – Ability to use the desosa to create sparks and/or fire
Ratoiji – Lightning Mage – Ability to use the desosa to create lightning
Okajin Mages – Enhanced Humanity
Physical Abilities:
Kyneeda – Enhanced strength, stamina, and endurance
Ryacho – Enhanced speed and ability
Kynacho – Enhanced speed, ability, strength, stamina, and endurance
Sensor Mages
Uniku – Enhancement of a single sense, usually either vision or hearing
Oraku – Enhancement of three senses: sight, smell, and hearing
Basaku – Enhancement of all senses, plus the ability to sense magic, and, rarely, the impact emotions have on the desosa
Shinte-kina Mages – Psychic Abilities
Rikinhisu – Telekinesis – Ability to move objects or people without touching them
Rusosa – Mental Manipulation – An uncommon ability to create, among other things, illusions in other people’s minds
Akuringu – Scrying – Ability to use a reflective surface to
see across great distances or, rarely, a short period of time into the
past or future
