Red Hood's Revenge

flying over the desert.
    She scented them the moment she crested the first hill, smelling of sweat and old leather. Lakhim’s men gathered with the Kha’iida, more than a hundred strong. Talia growled deep in her chest at the sight of the white-and-green livery of Queen Lakhim.
    As she watched, a streak of black resolved into a stallion carrying three more Kha’iida warriors. The men leaped from the horse’s back to join their fellows. Talia’s growl grew louder. The ebony stallion belonged to her family, not Lakhim’s.
    The stallion vanished. The rest of the men were turning toward the palace. They could hear the howls of the Hunt as well.
    Talia sat and dug her teeth into the skin, tugging and biting until she found the seam running down her chest. One of the Kha’iida had already spotted her. By the time she removed the skin, she was surrounded. She settled the cape around her shoulders and stood.
    One of Lakhim’s people rushed her, thrusting a sword at her chest. Talia slapped the flat of the blade and backhanded him to the ground. “Zestan knows you’re here. We attack now.”
    “Talia?” Muhazil’s lips pressed together as he took in the cape. “What?”
    “Zestan summoned the Hunt. You can hear—” She stopped to sniff the air. “Faziya?”
    “She insisted on coming,” said Muhazil. “I’ve ordered her to stay out of the fighting, but she said she could help to heal the wounded.”
    “And you allowed it?” Talia took a step, but caught herself. She wanted to grab Muhazil, to throw him to the ground and break him. “ She’s wounded.”
    “She’s Kha’iida,” he said, a rueful smile on his face.
    Talia drew Danielle’s sword in one hand, Roudette’s hammer in the other, trying not to think about that. There was no time to send Faziya away. The only way to protect her now was to make sure the Wild Hunt never reached these hills. “Prepare your men.”
    The Wild Hunt rode a path of smoke and moonlight as they thundered across the desert. Zestan’s magic cloaked each one in night and moonlight, giving them freedom to ride beneath the morning sun.
    Zestan would be watching, as would her ghosts. Talia licked her lips, which were cracked and dry from the desert air. If Snow was wrong, this would be a short-lived battle. As the warriors formed ranks behind her, she raised her sword and shouted, “I am Talia Malak-el-Dahshat.” Could the ghosts even hear her? “You came to this palace to save me.”
    The words tasted like tainted meat. To save her? They had come to claim her as a trophy, to steal her family’s power. They were little better than Zestan, thieves who meant to take Arathea from its rightful rulers.
    “Protect me now!” she yelled. “From the Wild Hunt. From Zestan. Protect me and those who fight beside me! Protect Arathea!”
    Prince Amabar was the first to cross the low wall surrounding the palace. His movements were uncertain as he strode into the sunlight. Talia could hear the warriors muttering to themselves as the ghost prince strode forward.
    Talia swore. The Wild Hunt would be upon them in moments, and she had only a single ghost who looked too lost to fight. She called again, with no better luck than before. “Snow, you said the ghosts would follow me.”
    “If we’re to attack, we should do it before the Hunt reaches the hills,” said Muhazil.
    “If we attack now, they’ll slaughter you all.” Talia scowled at the lone ghost below. “Zestan has an army of the dead waiting beyond that wall. If they join us, we might have a chance against the Hunt.”
    A middle-aged man wearing the green and gold sash of a raqeem, or field commander, approached from the other side. This would be the leader of Lakhim’s forces, then. “ Now is the time to strike, before the Wild Hunt has time to prepare.”
    “These aren’t bandits and thieves,” Talia snapped. “The Wild Hunt will slaughter you all. Now shut up and let me do this.”
    The raqeem’s hand went to his sword. “I take no orders from murderers. You are no princess here.”
    “She risked her life trying to protect Arathea.” Muhazil raised his sword. To Talia, he said, “The Hunt will not wait. Summon your ghosts if you can.” He slashed the blade through the air and ran. The rest of the Kha’iida followed, shouting as they charged the Wild Hunt.
    The raqeem ordered his own men to follow, though Talia noticed he allowed the Kha’iida to keep the lead. The Wild Hunt hit hard, trampling through