Desert Rising by Kelley Grant Read Free Book Online

much effort for him. He stood and bowed to her.
    â€œThe One’s meddling can be circumvented. Voras will know what to do, and I will confer with him,” he said.
    â€œIvanha is interested in this girl, Templar,” the Crone warned. “You tell Voras she wants no interference unless she asks.”
    He smiled smugly. “I’ll let him know,” he said, and walked out, leaving the door open behind him.
    The Crone snarled a curse on all blockheaded military men who acted before they thought. She would have the Templar watched very closely. If he moved against this girl, she would ensure he met the same fate as his predecessor had, and Voras would once again be looking for a new mouthpiece.

 
    Chapter 4
    K ADAR WA S W A S H I N G the dust off his face and arms in a large basin filled with water in his new room above the kitchen when he heard a loud rumble of shouting downstairs. He didn’t bother to grab his tunic as he sprinted out of his room, certain this must be about Sulis.
    â€œHow could you let a daughter of the desert do such a stupid thing?” Kadar heard a young man shout as he ran down the stairs. The speaker had his back to Kadar, facing his two uncles and his aunt, Raella, who had a shawl wrapped around her long night robe. Uncle Tarik’s face was expressionless, but Uncle Aaron’s face was pinched, as though he’d just learned of a death in the family. Uncle Aaron’s pain made Kadar speak up.
    â€œWhat makes you think we could stop her?” he asked quietly.
    The young man turned to face Kadar. He noticed the man’s Frubian good looks though they were folded into a deep scowl right now. He smiled, wondering how his sister had managed to leave the poor man smitten in such a short time.
    The other man hesitated a moment, then smiled in return. “You are Kadar,” he announced. “You look like her. I am Ashraf. You are right. Even I could not talk her out of it.”
    Kadar managed not to roll his eyes at that. This Ashraf was more than a match for Sulis in arrogance, thinking he could convince Sulis when her family could not.
    Uncle Tarik cleared his throat. “Ashraf has told us he saw Sulis go into the Temple of the One and come out with a feli at her side.”
    â€œIs this true?” Kadar asked Ashraf, who nodded. “How did she look? Was she happy?”
    Ashraf paused a moment, frowning. “She looked defiant,” he admitted. “I was harsh with her, calling her a fool. It might have been the wrong thing to say.”
    Uncle Aaron snorted. “There was no right thing to say, boy,” he told Ashraf. “She is as stubborn as the feli she paired with. The Temple has stolen another of my kin.”
    Kadar was moved by his uncle’s pain. He brushed past Ashraf and gripped Uncle Aaron’s arm at the elbow.
    â€œShe’ll come out all right, Uncle,” he assured him. “You know Sulis: give her a bucket of sand, and she’ll create a castle. The Temple is no match for her when she is determined.”
    Uncle Aaron returned the grip but shook his head.
    â€œI knew your mother,” he said. “I would have thought her a match for anything. If this is anything like what her mother went through, Sulis is going against deities. Only the One is a match for them.”
    â€œI have friends among the Forsaken. There is a rumor,” Ashraf said into the silence, “that when Sulis was paired, all the feli of the acolytes of the One came rushing to their partners. It is said that she is marked as a favorite of his.” Though the One was neither male nor female, Ashraf used the tradition of describing the One in his own gender.
    â€œWhich will make her a target for those who oppose him,” Uncle Aaron said bitterly. He turned away from Kadar and stared broodingly out the window at the darkened sky.
    A brown-­cloaked figure appeared in the kitchen doorway.
    â€œWould your visitor like