by Claire Luana
He chuffed his cheeks out in his signature laugh. “That’s what I’m here for.”
The coronation was a blur—Kai walked down the aisleway, surrounded by smiling faces. Master Vita, clutching her mother’s arm, the Oracle standing in the front row, Emi, Stela, Leilu, Nanase and Pura. Faces that had become her friends and her family. Even Chiya was there, though sitting down and still looking pale and weak from her ordeal with Airi. Kai thought with a pang of Maaya, whom they had laid to rest in the royal crypt after the Battle at the Gate, as it had become known. She thought of her father, too. She wished he could see her that day.
Kai said the words that made her queen, and the lunar crown was placed on her head. The applause was deafening. She couldn’t help but grin, despite the weight of the responsibility that now rested on her shoulders.
The women at the front released a set of tiny gray koumidi into the air, their soft wings and bodies swooping over the heads of the crowd as they admired the show.
But then one fell, dropping from the air like a stone. Its small, delicate body landed on the step before Kai with a sickening thud. Kai stared at it, mouth open.
A voice rang out, loud and methodical.
“And in the reign of Kailani Shigetsu, daughter of Azura, there will be a great war. A war of gods and men. For Tsuki and Taiyo are displeased with the lands of Kita and Miina, and only one side will remain standing when it comes to the end.”
It was the Oracle. She had gone straight as a board, her head tilted back, her eyes glazed white. Giselli fluttered above her head in distress. Kai’s mother clutched Roweni’s arm, her face pale. There was no doubt that they were witnessing a true prophecy being told. As quickly as it had begun, the Oracle returned to normal.
She shook her head. “What happened?”
A deafening silence filled the room as the audience took in the Oracle’s words.
Quitsu and Kai glanced at each other. Disturbing. Kai shrugged.
“I think we should head to the grand dining room for the royal feast,” she announced, the audience still dumbstruck. If she was going to have to fight a great war, at least she’d do it on a full stomach.
And with that, she lifted up her skirt, stepped over the broken koumidi body before her and marched from the room, Quitsu at her side.
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Now read on for a Sneak Peek of Sunburner, the sequel to Moonburner . . .
SUNBURNER
Chapter 1
The stag was nothing but skin and bones. It moved warily through the sparse pine trees, its hooves crunching the dusty leaves and needles that coated the forest floor.
Kai notched an arrow to the string of her bow, her sweaty fingers struggling to find purchase. She squinted at her quarry, hesitating.
A horse jangled its halter some ways behind her, startling the stag. It darted away, disappearing into the brown camouflage of the trees.
She lowered her bow, relieved. At least she could help one creature today. She turned her horse to the noise and spotted Quitsu, her silver fox seishen companion, perched on a tree behind her.
“Not a word out of you,” she said.
“You always were too soft-hearted,” he said.
Kai made her way to join the other riders who had come into the clearing. The hunt had been one of her mother’s lunatic ideas. Strengthen her ties with the noble families by taking them out into the royal game preserve for a hunt. Nothing brought people together like killing.
But despite Kai’s protests, her mother had gotten her way, as she most often did. So Kai found herself in the middle of the dry forest underneath the sweltering heat of the sun looking for game to kill. At least her companions were not entirely unpleasant. Though the men and their wives came from Miina’s royal houses, they did not seem as vapid as some of the nobles she had encountered. They were flanked by two master moonburner bodyguards, wearing navy blue uniforms and vigilant expressions.
Her friend Emi sat on a leggy gray mare a stone’s throw from them, her fine-featured profile illuminated by the sun. From this angle, Kai couldn’t see the extensive burns that covered one half of Emi’s face, a permanent reminder of last year’s sunburner attack on the citadel. She could see Emi’s set jaw and hunched shoulders, her haunted dark eyes. Emi hadn’t been herself since their friend Maaya had died in what had become known as the Battle at the Gate.
Kai turned in her saddle and watched as Hiro approached, stopping his horse next to hers. She reached a hand out and he grasped it, closing her hand in his warm calloused fingers.
“She’ll come back to herself eventually,” Hiro said, following Kai’s line of sight to where it had rested on Emi. “She needs time.”
“It’s been over a year,” Kai said. “I miss Maaya too, but I . . . I’ve moved on.”
“You’ve had a kingdom to run. You’ve hardly had time to wallow in grief.”
That was true. But as she looked at Hiro, the golden sun shadowing his rugged jaw and highlighting his hair like a halo, she knew that her duties as queen were not all that had helped her cope with losing her friend.
“Maybe she needs a romance,” Kai mused.
Hiro raised an eyebrow. “Do you have someone in mind?”
“No,” she said. “Not like there are a lot of eligible men around the citadel.”
“Maybe one of those fancy nobles.” Hiro nodded towards the nobles riding ahead of them, clothed in colorful linens and silks. They were like preening peacocks in a field of brown—colorful, decorative, and useless.
Kai rolled her eyes. “I meant eligible and worthy.”
“You’re right. Emi’d eat those fellows for breakfast.”
“Maybe I should bring Leilu and Stela back from Kistana,” Kai suggested. “They might be able to lift her spirits.”
Their friends Leilu and Stela were serving as ambassadors to King Ozora in the Kitan capital city, which was an important post. But she missed them. She’d be happy to have them back as well.
“You sound as meddlesome as your mother,” Hiro remarked.
Kai laughed and held up her hands. “All right, I’ll let it go. For now.”
“Speaking of letting things go,” Hiro said, turning to her with a twinkle in his eye. “Ryu said he smelled a stag in the clearing up there.”
She blushed. “Tell him to get his nose checked.” She tapped her horse’s flanks with her heels and trotted back towards the citadel.
The sun loomed large and red over the brown farmland as the hunting party made their way out of the forest. Cooler autumn weather should have settled over Miina a month ago, but sweltering summer hung on with a vengeance. Kai had dressed for the heat in a loose white wrapped top and light brown trousers, her silver hair knotted in a bun under a wide-brimmed hat. Nothing helped. She could have been naked, and it would still have felt as if she were riding through an oven.
The farmland around them served as a testament to the stark devastation of the drought. Fields that should have been filled with green crops ready for harvest instead sat brown and dusty under the oppressive heat. While the hunt was an opportunity for her to bond with her subjects, it also served a practical purpose. The citadel would need all the resources it could get to survive the coming winter without the crops and plenty it normally relied on. Every little bit helped. Kai thought briefly of the stag she had let go, but then
banished it from her mind. The bony creature would do little to stave off the hard season they faced ahead. She was glad she had let it live.
It was as if their world itself was rebelling against them. Last winter had been bitter, cold, and long, and then the land had skipped spring entirely, roaring straight into a sweltering summer. It hadn’t rained in months. Crops hadn’t stood a chance. Her people couldn’t feed their families. Frightened whispers of a new disease, a spotted fever, was sweeping through both nations. It was supposedly highly contagious—skin-to-skin contact was enough to spread the disease. Only a few cases of the fever had been reported so far—on the outskirts of Miina—but those cases had been fatal. These new enemies she faced were not flesh and bone. How could she fight them?
Kai had heard whispers already. Her mother and advisors had tried to keep them from her, but she wasn’t blind. Her people were saying that the gods were displeased with Kai’s ascension to the throne and the peace between Kita and Miina. Word of the Oracle’s prophecy, spoken the night of her coronation, had spread.
“And in the reign of Kailani Shigetsu, daughter of Azura, there will be a great war. A war of gods and men. For Tsuki and Taiyo are displeased with the lands of Kita and Miina, and only one side will remain standing when it comes to the end.”
People were whispering that the only way to break the unnatural weather cycle was to return to war with Kita. Kai wasn’t sure what would happen to her in that scenario, but she didn’t think it would be pleasant.
Emi slowed her mare down to match Kai’s pace. “You wear your worry plainly, Your Majesty,” Emi said softly. “Best to not let them see it.” She nodded towards the nobles.
“A good reminder, Emi; thank you,” Kai said. “And speaking of reminders, how many times have I asked you to call me ‘Kai,’ not ‘Your Majesty’?”
“You think just because you’re queen, I’ll listen to you?” Emi said, a ghost of a smile passing across her face.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Kai said.
“This will pass,” Emi said, growing serious. “It has to pass. Soon we’ll stand in the rain and laugh about how worried we all were.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Emi gave Kai a sympathetic smile and nudged her horse’s flanks, rejoining the other moonburner guards, who were riding ahead with the nobles.
Kai rode alone for a while, Quitsu silently trotting at her side. It was how it was to be queen, she realized. To be surrounded by people yet always alone. She shot a furtive glance back at Hiro, who was bringing up the rear of their column, chatting with Ryu, his lion seishen. Maybe not alone. If anyone understood the demands of ruling, Hiro did, as crown prince of Kita. If anyone could love her as queen and as herself, it would be him.
They neared the farming settlements that dotted the land outside the city of Kyuden. To her left was a stout house, the wood of its walls faded and shrunken with age. The house was surrounded by a dusty farmyard, vacant but for one sorry-looking chicken. It’s much like the house I grew up in, she thought wistfully. Solid and functional.
“Get off the road,” a high-pitched male voice called from ahead.
“Please,” said a sobbing female voice, hardly coherent. “My husband.”
Kai urged her horse towards the commotion. There was a woman in the middle of the road sitting on her knees. Her dirty face was tear-streaked and wreathed in greasy black hair. A threadbare dress that once might have been pink hung from her thin frame, tied tight with an apron. The nobles’ horses danced back from the woman, no doubt picking up on their riders’ unease at being so close to a commoner.
Emi had dismounted and was trying to help the woman stand.
Kai swung off her horse and strode to join Emi, taking the woman’s other arm. “We have to get you off the road. Then we can talk about your husband.”
The woman nodded and stood shakily with their assistance. “He’s sick. He’s so sick.” She was near hysteria, her eyes darting to and fro. “I thought you could heal him. With your moonburning. You have to help him.”
Emi and Kai sat the woman down on a bit of brown grass at the side of the road, leaning her against a fence post.
“I have medical training,” Kai said. “I will look at your husband, and we will send a healer for him if we can help.” If the man was truly ill, there wasn’t much she would be able to do without supplies or herbs. But at least she could evaluate his condition and give the healer she assigned her diagnosis.
“Thank you,” the woman said, gripping Kai’s hands tightly.
Kai wriggled from the woman’s grasp, standing.
“Your Majesty.” One of her master moonburner guards approached, an older woman with thick silver eyebrows. “I have to advise against this. We don’t know what his condition is. You should not risk yourself.”
The peasant woman’s eyes widened as she realized who Kai was.
“Thank you for your suggestion, but I did not ask for your permission,” Kai said.
“I must insist,” the woman continued. “It is our job to keep you safe.”
Hiro approached from behind her, putting a broad arm around Kai’s shoulder. “You should know by now that the queen will not be dissuaded when she has decided upon a course of action. I will accompany her. She will be safe.”
The moonburner guard’s thick brow furrowed, but she nodded her acquiescence.
Kai ground her teeth in frustration. How was it that Hiro commanded more obedience from her own guards than she did? She knew he meant well, but she would have to talk to him later about undermining her authority. He was not in charge here. She was. And she didn’t need him to protect her . . .
She was getting worked up now, and there was a sick man to see. She shook off her annoyance and smiled at Hiro. “I would welcome your company. Let’s see if we can help him.”
The smell of disease struck her like a stiff wind as they walked into the farmhouse. Hiro placed an arm over his mouth, breathing through his shirtsleeve.
“Open the windows,” Kai instructed. “Let’s get some airflow in here. Fetch some clean water. And the wife. I need to know his symptoms.”
Hiro handed her the water flask that hung on his belt and saw to her other orders.
Kai sat gingerly on the edge of the bed next to the man. He rolled about in the tangled sheets, deep in his delirium. He was thin but wiry with salt-and-pepper hair and a face deeply lined from a lifetime of sun and hard work. His ragged trousers and worn shirt stuck to him, soaked through with sweat.
Kai felt his forehead and let out a gasp. He had a raging fever. Despite this, his color was pallid and his lips were almost blue, as if he were chilled to the bone.
Hiro returned with the man’s wife.
“How long has he been like this?” Kai asked.
“Two days, Your Majesty,” the woman said.
“Was he exposed to anything?”
“No, I don’t think so,” the woman said, desperation in her voice.
“Did he receive an injury? A wound or a bite? Could it be an infection?”
“No,” the woman said. “But he does have some strange marks.”
“Show me,” Kai commanded.
The woman knelt next to the bed and unbuttoned her husband’s shirt.
Kai hissed and stood up, backing away from the man into Hiro.
“What is it?” Hiro asked.
The man had red-ringed marks covering his chest and stomach.
“We’re leaving,” Kai said. “We will send a moonburner healer for your husband as soon as we return to the citadel,” she told the woman. “Keep him well hydrated and as cool as you can until she arrives.”
“Thank you,” the woman said, still on her knees. She tried to grasp Kai’s hands, but Kai jerked back involuntarily.
Kai swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded, striding from the farmhouse.
“Mount up,” Kai called to the hunting party, who had dismounted and were fanning themselves by the side of the road. “We
head back to Kyuden.”
Kai swung onto her mount and trotted off, leaving the rest to follow. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She willed it to slow.
Quitsu leaped from the ground onto the saddle in front of her. This was a common enough occurrence that it didn’t startle her horse anymore. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
Hiro approached from the other side. He had put the pieces together. “That was the spotted fever, wasn’t it,” he said, his voice low. “I didn’t know it had spread this far.”
Kai nodded, refusing to look at him. “Neither did I.” Her voice sounded hollow. “The only reported cases came from the outskirts of Miina.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Hiro said. “We’ll find a cure before it infects too many.”
“We’d better,” Kai said. “I touched him.”
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Claire Luana grew up reading everything she could get her hands on and writing every chance she could. Eventually, adulthood won out, and she turned her writing talents to more scholarly pursuits, going to work as a commercial litigation attorney at a mid-sized law firm. While continuing to practice law, Claire decided to return to her roots and try her hand once again at creative writing. She has written and published the Moonburner Cycle and is currently working on a new trilogy about magical food. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband and two dogs. In her (little) remaining spare time, she loves to hike, travel, binge-watch CW shows, and of course, fall into a good book.
Connect with Claire Luana online at:
Website & Blog: www.claireluana.com
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Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/15207082.Claire_Luana
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