Chapter 2
A noise outside the tent drew Amasir's attention. She turned her head to the entrance to see the young healer who had been tending to her mother since the injury.
"You said this would help the infection from spreading, but it only made it worse," Amasir said.
Mikhaz quickly walked to the woman and pulled her hair.
"This is your work," he said. "You'd better find some way to heal the Khagan."
"Stop it," Amasir took a step forward, but Mikhaz didn't stop.
"I will tear you apart with my bare hands if something happens to the Khagan. Vultures will feed on your corpse afterward," he said, wrapping his hand around the woman's neck.
"Mikhaz, stop this!" she yelled, and he let go of the woman. "You will not harm her."
"For three days, she has been continuously giving us herbs that would neither heal nor prevent the wound on the Khagan's chest."
"Keep your cool, Mikhaz," Amasir said. "I am the Kadan (princess) here, and I decide what must happen."
"If something happens—"
"She is not dead," Amasir snapped. "You should go outside for the meantime. I will be with her."
Mikhaz grumbled under his breath, but he could not go against the Kadan's words. He bowed his head, turned around, and left the tent.
Amasir turned to the woman.
"Mir Kadan," she quickly bowed her head.
"You must save my mother," Amasir said.
The woman slowly walked toward her mother and knelt down.
"Her... her survival rate is slim," the woman muttered. "The infection has spread to her heart."
"No," Amasir refused to listen to her words. "You will heal her. You have what it takes to heal an infection."
"Even what I have cannot heal her. The poison is strong," she said. "The only thing we can do is give her water and milk to keep her hydrated."
If only Amasir were able to use her magic to heal her mother. She was a primordial god, but her magic could not be used to heal poisonous infection.
"You need to find a way for her."
"My knowledge is limited, Mir Kadan. The only thing I can do is ease her pain before she enters the dark."
"No," panic kicked in at the woman's words. "Save my mother, and I swear I will give you whatever you ask. Please..."
The woman snapped her head up at Amasir's last word.
"Mir Kadan, you need to understand that there is no other way for the Khagan."
Gamaal gave a loud gasp.
Amasir hurried to her mother, kneeling beside her. Placing a hand on Gamaal's forehead, she closed her eyes and let her soul wander in.
She saw dragons flying above the sky. Amasir continued to walk on the stone ground, and when she felt a familiar presence, she turned.
"Home," her mother whispered.
Amasir's body turned very warm, and she melted into her mother's arms.
"Mother," Amasir cried. Gamaal didn't look sick at all. She looked strong and healthy.
"Khazir is restless. All the dragons are restless."
Khazir was her mother's dragon, one of the strongest dragons in all of Atlanta.
"If only I were there to see you claim your first dragon," Gamaal said with a sad smile.
"I tried, you know. I tried to claim a dragon twice, but I was rejected," Amasir said.
"Khazir is old. She has seen more than a hundred winters," Gamaal said. "You should claim her when I'm gone."
"No," Amasir's heart began to beat fast. "You will survive the infection and continue fighting to claim the throne."
"Follow Mikhaz's words and run away. Return to the camp for your safety."
"I will not leave you, Mother."
"You need to leave. It is not safe there."
"Mother, please."
"I have found my peace with your father and the other gods. Let me die a peaceful death, Amas."
Amasir wiped the tears that ran down her cheeks. When Gamaal held her shoulders, she felt cold seep into her bones.
Amasir opened her eyes to the taste of burning herbs.
"No," she cried as she saw her mother. "No, Mother."
"Mir Kadan?" the woman rushed toward her.
Amasir stared at her mother. Gamaal's eyes were closed, and the infection had spread across her chest to her neck.
Amasir frowned in anger as she remembered the incident that led to her mother being shot by an arrow. It was Ravar who shot her mother in the chest with a poisonous arrow. Her mother had fallen to the ground, and Amasir had helped her pull the arrow out. Everyone thought she would heal quickly since she was a god. But when the sun went down, the wound still there, and her mother shaken with cold, they realized all was not well. Amasir had checked the arrow again and saw that it was laced with poison.
Amasir took out the cloth from the bowl of water and squeezed the water out of it. She then placed the cloth on her mother's forehead. After she was done cleaning, it was nighttime. She ate a piece of meat, and it was all she could stomach. She could not sleep. She was afraid that if she did so, she would wake with her mother gone.
She remembered the past forty years and the times they spent together. She remembered how her mother had taught her to use a sword to fight.
Tears slipped down from her eyes, and when she heard her mother gasping, Amasir rushed forward. Her eyes widened as she noticed her mother was not breathing.
Her mother was dead.