Nine years ago, Cassian witnessed the assassination of his father, which left him to lead the desert clan. Growing up, he had relied on help from those around him; now an adult, Cassian wants to prove his own worth. His first task -- securing the love of his bodyguard, Yashiv. Though the two have been inseparable since Cassian’s childhood, he fears Yashiv won’t let down his walls of propriety. Then Cassian finds a child, the only survivor of the king’s caravan procession. Wen claims to be the bride for Prince Manoel, the ruler of the nearby city, but underlying currents of her story raise Cassian’s suspicions. Cassian and Yashiv must find where Wen belongs, before rival clans, the city’s guards, or Cassian’s own people decide the child’s fate. Can Cassian and Yashiv find out where Wen belongs before her fate is decided by rival clans or Cassian’s own people? And can Cassian show Yashiv he’s now a man, as well as Master of his clan?

Shifting Sand

Cassian continued down the path, taking a left at the intersection after the straw huts. The library was on the outskirts of the brick houses. Paper was a precious commodity among the sand dunes. The books made of papyrus were fragile; those imported from other regions were sturdier, but much more expensive. Each book within the library was worth its weight in gold. The building was small, but held almost every book the clan owned. Cassian had a few on his bookshelf in his study, but those were mostly religious texts about the gods and goddesses. Here, there were tomes on desert flora and fauna, historical records of the clan and others in the area, political essays that talked of the rulers in Sufarra and how the city had come about by a group of clans grouping together under one leader, books about the nations far to the north and south. There were even fictional books, stories of masked thieves, fairy princesses, or talking animals.


Chapter 18