Had they fled? Or had something else happened to them?

She allowed herself to drift on the edge of the gathering. Unfortunately, Temur must have caught her scent.

“And what have you done to the woman?”

Kuluun puffed up his chest. “What do you care what I do to my woman?”

The crowd had parted when Temur’s eyes landed on her. Saraal tried to run, but the man from Temur’s tent, Roshan, was there. He must have been able to fly, because he appeared out of nowhere to block her escape.

“You’ve driven her mad, you idiot. Jun’s child. You told Jun you wanted a woman. He gave you one. He made an immortal for you, and you have driven her to madness with your cruelty. Humans are one thing, Kuluun, but she is a Sida. Not a human for you to play with.”

Kuluun’s eyes narrowed on her. “What has she said to you? Saraal lies. Constantly.”

“She says nothing. She talks to herself. She laughs at nothing and bites like an animal.”

“She is my woman. It’s none of your concern.”

Rashon herded her to the edge of the fire. Kuluun’s eyes found hers, and Saraal curled her lip.

Temur laughed. “Yes, she’s obviously your woman! Well done, Kuluun.”

“What are you going to do to me?”

Rashon released her arm, but stood behind her, clearly prepared to grab her again. Now that she was closer, she could see that Kuluun and Temur where not talking. Kuluun was bound and two of Temur’s guards stood behind him. His sons were pale and frightened, their eyes darting between their sire and the new Sida with the powerful energy and the longer sword. Temur was as tall as Kuluun, but leaner. His figure was striking and Saraal saw the human women who remained eyeing him appreciatively, so she guessed they considered him handsome. To Saraal, he exuded a threatening power.

“I’m not going to do anything to you, Kuluun.” Temur stepped around the fire, eyes fixed on his brother, and a smile curled the corner of his mouth. “I promised Jun that I’d do nothing to you without consulting him. And he is away in the east somewhere. I have no idea when I will see him again. So, Kuluun, I may have killed your children. I may have burned your camp. But I will do nothing to you.”

Then Temur’s gaze left Kuluun and swung over to Saraal. He nodded once and she felt a weapon pressed to her side. She turned, and Roshan met her eyes. He said nothing, but pulled out her hand and slapped the handle of a bronze blade into her palm. Then he closed her fingers around the hilt and stepped back.

Saraal looked at Temur. His eyes told her nothing. Luckily, at that moment, Aday came to her side.

“They give you a weapon to kill him, my girl.” Aday’s voice was gleeful. “You may kill him so they don’t break their word to their master.”

Kuluun started, but Temur’s men held his arms. “What are you doing?”

“I told you, brother,” Temur said. “I will do nothing to you.”

“You gave her a weapon, you ass!” Kuluun screamed. “You can’t give her a weapon!”

“She is a child of Jun. A female, yes. But a warrior by his blood. Are you saying you never trained her with weapons as all his children must be trained?”

“She’s crazy!”

Temur bared his fangs at his brother and hissed, “She wasn’t when he made her, was she?”

“She killed Odval! We never even found his ashes.”

Temur looked at her with new respect. “Well, then giving her a weapon hardly seems necessary. I suppose at this point, I’m merely curious what she can do with it.”

Saraal approached Kuluun as if he was a banquet laid before her. A harvest feast, like those she remembered as a girl. Temur’s men stepped away. Kuluun’s sons deserted him, clearly understanding where the power had shifted.

She stood before him, and he vibrated with anger. “You stupid bitch. You won’t do anything. You’re a mindless sheep. Too stupid to even—”

In a blur of movement, Saraal bent down and cut behind Kuluun’s knees, slicing the tendon as if she was preparing a goat for the spit. He cried out and fell to the ground, but Saraal immediately grabbed the tongue out of his mouth and pulled, cutting it off as he retreated into enraged gurgles. He spit up blood, and Saraal did not waste it, licking up his chin to capture it before she bit his neck.

She heard the crowd behind her, but she ignored them. Aday was at her side, coaxing her on.

“Yes, yes, yes,” she crooned. “Powerful blood. You will be strong, my girl. Drain him. Kill him like Odval.”

She drank and drank, latching her fangs into his neck and sucking as he tried to jerk away. She plunged the short sword into his kidney and held him still. She could hear laughter around her, but she didn’t stop.

Eventually, his veins ran dry. Saraal pulled away and looked down. The front of her new clothes were dripping with blood. She could feel it falling from her chin, smeared over her face. Her hands dripped with it; she had stabbed Kuluun over and over any time he tried to move. When she pulled away, his body fell to the ground and Saraal turned to Temur, licking the blood from the fingers of her free hand.

Her voice was rough and wet when she spoke.

“Fire destroys us?”

“Yes,” Temur said, glancing toward the burning pit.

“Good to know.”

She turned, hefted Kuluun’s body over her shoulder, then tossed it into the fire. It jerked and sputtered, but soon went up in flames. Saraal watched it for a few minutes, then turned and walked away, still gripping the bronze blade.