Of Sand and Storm by Amber Argyle

Author:Amber Argyle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: coming of age, sword and sorcery, dark fantasy, epic fantasy, myths and legends, scary stories, paranormal fantasy romance, paranormal urban fantasy, folklore and fairy tales
Publisher: Amber Argyle

Cinder didn’t mean to fall asleep again, but suddenly someone was shaking her shoulder. A shadowed, cloaked face hovered above her. She gasped and started to scramble back, but a hand gripped her.

“Come with me, quickly.”

It was her grandmother. Behind Storm stood another figure—Cinder’s mother. Ash pushed Cinder’s cloak, headscarf, and veil into her hands. As she followed her matriarchs out the pivot door, Cinder asked, “What’s going on?”

“We’re going home,” Ash answered in a half-whisper.

“To the clanlands? We can’t—we’ll be caught. We’ll be killed.”

“There are worse things than dying,” Storm said in a voice heavy with emotion. “Will you too watch your daughter be forced to play the harlot?”

“We’re not going to die,” Ash added quickly. “Now come on.”

Cinder planted her feet. “What about Naiba? If I leave, she will be forced to take my place.” The thought filled Cinder with horror.

Her mother shook her head. “I’ve paid for three of us, not four.”

Cinder spun on her heel and ran for the servants’ house before her mother or grandmother could stop her. She counted her steps up to the attic, slipped down the row of beds, and shook Naiba’s arm. When the girl sat up, Cinder held a finger to her lips. Naiba followed her to the kitchen, where Storm waited.

In shock, Naiba looked around. “You’re escaping.”

“You cannot stay behind,” Storm said, her shoulders set in the moonlight. “They’ll kill you for not informing them.”

Naiba’s eyes were enormous in her head. “A girl my age ran—they cut off her ear.”

Storm pulled a knife from her cloak. “I don’t want to kill you, child. But I will if I have to.”

Cinder took a step toward her grandmother, her mouth open to protest.

Naiba spoke before she could. “So I die either way. I might as well die with the hope of escape.”

The four of them crossed the deserted courtyard, heading for the back gate. Ash pushed the gate open and they hurried out. Gathering herself to go after them, Cinder looked back and saw the guard’s boots sticking out from beneath the rose bushes. She couldn’t find it in herself to feel sorry for him.

Loaded with large clay pots, a wagon waited in the shadows of a building. A hooded figure sat in the driver’s seat, while Darsam flipped open a trapdoor near the back of the wagon. Beneath the wagon bed and running the length of it was a secret compartment. Cinder swallowed hard as she stared at the confined space.

“Why are there four of you?” Darsam asked as he motioned for the women to get inside the compartment.

“Cinder insisted,” growled Storm.

“We won’t have enough horses for her once we’re outside the city,” Darsam explained.

Cinder let out a little huff. “Well, I’m not leaving her behind.”

“We can leave her at the Sand Snake,” suggested the driver. “Try to get her out later.”

“Naiba?” Cinder said questioningly.

“Can we trust them?” the girl asked.

Cinder hesitated. “Yes,” she said finally, feeling Darsam’s gaze on her.

He gave a quick nod, then helped Ash and Storm into the secret compartment.

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