Queen of Shifting Sands, page 38
The dark rage painting his face told her that he might drown her too. Maybe they all ought to drown.
“Where is this dagger?” Gaudab demanded.
Lystra shook her head.
The soldiers returned with the star chart. Gaudab unrolled it, muttering foul words about the Instans’ neat, flowing script.
“There.” Razhar pointed. Then, his face turned purple.
The Jarkin threw the chart aside and spun toward Razhar. Standing two heads higher than the Kushite, he looked as if he could snap him in half across his knee. “You speak of impossibilities, which can only mean that these are lies.”
Razhar took a step back. “They’re not.”
“I’m not risking my men by dragging them across the accursed Sancen during high summer. Folly and doom.”
The Sancen? Lystra’s heart lodged in her throat. She scrambled to assemble the skies, to form a map from her memory.
She’d seen the wrathgiver. Framed by silk curtains. Beyond the window of Elerek’s bedroom on a night when their souls were bare to one another. When tragic grief gave way to soft voices and beautiful eyes as the king told stories into the night, moments where they chose to hope with each breath. The stars had hung low on the horizon, above the mountains.
Across the Sancen. The season was wrong. All wrong.
They were water and the Sancen was sand and scorching sunlight. Death and fury and heat. Mortals fell beneath its power. They clung to the Gungole like a lifeline, choosing to survive.
Life depended on it.
Gaudab hissed a long string of foul words in his own tongue. He marched toward her and, before Lystra could react, took her by the neck and threw her down.
She hit the stonework below the dais in a tangle of silk and blood.
“Kill the girl. Slowly. I want her blood covering this room.”
Lystra blinked, the tile’s patterns spinning before her gaze. Blood, like red sunbursts, splattered across the marble, dripping from the mark on her shoulder.
The Jarkin screamed for blood but received water instead. Streams snaked over the tile, washing it clean. Lystra felt its touch on her feet, her knees, soaking into her skirt. She could hardly move, trembling and bleeding, but she found the strength to lift her head. The soldiers, as cursed as they were, backed away.
The cursed water settled like the surface of a mirror beneath them, reflecting the great golden dome.
Elerek glared up at Gaudab, his eyes burning. In that moment, Lystra had no doubt that the curse had changed him in a monstrous and terrible way. The same man who had fought for their lives could use the curse to inflict terrible destruction with a dark and vile power.
Maybe there was never any hope of saving him. Only a foolish thought of a broken heart. A tear fell down her cheek.
“If you want to live . . .” Each word from the king’s lips was a thunderbolt thrown from the skies. “If you want to survive this curse, you will obey me. If you want to chase the stars, I can. If you want to cross the Sancen, I can cross it.”
Lystra blinked. A chill crept across her skin at the fury in his voice.
“I can still drown each and every one of you.” His eyes swept the room, lingering on Razhar. “Consider it mercy, for now.”
Mercy from the cursed king of Instanolde who could kill with a touch and drown with a torrent. Lystra shuddered.
“But you will spare the queen. No one will harm her. Every drop of her blood that you’ve shed this day will be demanded of you tenfold. She. Will. Live.”
Live. The word echoed down the length of the throne room. The dream of a king doomed to die. Lystra shifted, sending ripples across the water. She was cursed now. The only way for her to live was for him to die.
And she had never wanted that. Not for a moment.
Gaudab glared down at Elerek, two kings in a silent standoff. Razhar looked stunned, almost as if he might faint. Regret swirled in his eyes, but Lystra didn’t believe it.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the war ended. “So be it,” Gaudab declared, his voice the jagged edge of a knife.
Soldiers stepped across the cursed water, shattering the mirror image of the marbled pillars and the great gold dome. Agony ripped through her shoulder as they hauled her to her feet. She hadn’t the strength to fight them.
“El . . .” Her voice was faint, weak with the weight of all that was broken.
Another pair of soldiers took Elerek’s shoulders, dragging him toward the shadows between the pillars. He craned his neck, watching her.
The rage of the cursed man had fled, taking with it the courage of Instanolde’s heir, the true king.
Only bitter sorrow remained.
End of Book 1
Acknowledgments
Deserts are often referred to as a place of discovery, renewal, and also of trial and sorrow. In the little over four years from inception to publication, Queen of Shifting Sands has seen it all, a companion with me as I endured my own deserts. And in those dry places, I found community, support, and the love of so many people. Without them, this book would not exist, and I’m a better person for having known all of you.
Michael, my soulmate, the love of my life, my husband: through every stage of this book’s crazy adventure, you were there. Every terrible draft/scene, you read it all and were there to remind me that the story was improving, that my skill had improved, and that it was a story worth telling. Thank you for the hours devoted to boring things like dishes and laundry when I needed to finish edits on time, and creating space where I could write. And thank you for loving Lystra, Elerek, and Razhar just as much as I do.
My family, mom, dad, Andrew and Blanca, Aimee and Josh (and baby Alice!), Hannah and Jake, Stephen, and Justin, for being you and being awesome. Thank you especially to my mom for making sure that I loved to read and supplying a host of fantastic books. I love you guys.
Brittany Eden, my dear friend, critique partner, and unofficial agent and marketing conspirator: so much of what this book became are things I learned from you, from your advice, sharpening, and encouraging me to dig deeper and make this book something beautiful. You have been such a steadfast supporter and I’m so thankful that Realm Makers brought us together. Every time I write a kissing scene, I think of you (and kdramas, of course).
Speaking of Realm Makers, I am beyond thankful for the support that this conference and community has given to me and so many other authors. Thank you for this space where so many wonderful relationships have blossomed. Without it, I wouldn’t have met Katie Phillips and Lauren Hildebrand, the first editors who helped me get QSS into shape. Janeen Ippolito and Amy Williams and their team, who saw this story as something special worth polishing. Angela Watts who encouraged me and helped me wrangle my crazy sentences. And all the classes, workshops, mentors, and authors who have granted their wisdom and guidance.
And the people. So many people. Michelle Bruhn, Liz Koetsier, Mary Dipple, Andi Gregory, my “inner circle”. You ladies mean the world to me and I’m so thankful that each of you has been placed in my life. Your encouragement and love, even when I’m at my worst, has been such a huge blessing. Your prayers and hugs and late night (and early morning, silly time zones) messages fill me with such sweetness. Also, the steady supply of memes including, but not limited to, cats and all things cosmere related. I wish we all lived closer and could drink coffee and eat ice cream together.
A few other special shoutouts, the rest of the ladies in the Iron Quill Binder critique group, Kayla and Kara. Esther Wallace, for your prayers and support. For the amazing artists that have brought the world of Instanolde to life: Hannah Rogers for your impeccable portraits of my trio that have gone with me on so many adventures, Kristen Hildebrand for painting the perfect cardant, Salome Totladze for cover art that absolutely blew me away, and Kateryna Vitkovska for bringing to life one of my favorite scenes in the book. I must also thank the National Park Service, stewards of some of my favorite places. I’m thankful to serve a God who is an artist, a creator, and the One who formed Death Valley, Zion, the Grand Canyon, and the wild places that inspired this book.
And, from the bottom of my heart, thank you to Whimsical Publishing and the incomparable Micheline. Thank you for loving this story and its characters and bringing this beautiful vision together. I didn’t know what the Lord had in store for QSS when I sent off that submission, but He definitely did above and beyond what I could imagine. I’m so thankful for all the hours of hard work that have gone into this project from you, Christina, and the rest of the team. I am so blessed and eternally grateful.
All glory to God, to Jesus my Lord and Savior, the maker of the stars, the One who gave me this story to tell. I’ve always believed that authors are stewards of the stories we are given, and I’m thankful that this one is mine. There has never been a moment that I have walked alone, even through the deserts, and through it all, He was faithful.
-Kaitlyn Carter Brown
About the Author
Kaitlyn Carter Brown, an avid adventurer both on and off page, crafts fierce fantasy filled with high stakes, sweeping worlds, and courageous characters stories while taking inspiration from her treks across the US’ National Parks. Off the page, you'll find her decorating cakes, drinking plenty of coffee, and surviving the Arizona heat much like her army of houseplants. Her work has been featured in Bingeworthy and Sensational anthologies, Fantasea anthology, and Crowns anthology.
Kailtlyn’s second book, the sequel to Queen of Shifting Sands will be releasing through Whimsical Publishing in 2025.
Kaitlyn Carter Brown, Queen of Shifting Sands
