A Kingdom of Nomads

A KINGDOM OF NOMADS Book 2 of the Outcast SeriesS. B. NOVA Copyright © 2023 by S. B. NOVA.Published by Night Owl, 2023.The right of S.B.NOVA to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.All rights reserved.This book is sold subject to the condition it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be circulated in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise without the publisher’s prior consent.This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. CONTENTSMapPrologue: To Defy a Queen1. Separated2. A Pack of Outlaws3. The Dead and the Dying4. The End and the Beginning5. To Fly, One Must First Grow Wings6. On The Subject Of Magic7. The Knights Rise Again8. A Fork in the Road9. A Hitch in the Plan10. Alarm Bells11. Two People in One Heart12. The Beast Awakens13. Part Two: Reflections14. Through the Spyglass15. The Flesh Market16. Strangers Amidst Smoke17. Trapped18. Out of Reach19. A Twist of Fate20. A Meeting With A Storyweaver21. A Slave’s Revenge22. Three Sisters23. The Shield and the Sword24. A Painful Revelation25. The Truth and Lie of the Firstborn26. Dinner with a God27. Goodbye28. Part Three: A Watery Grave29. Alätia30. Familiar Faces31. A Discovery Made In Darkness32. Both Sides Now33. The Other Gate34. The Sound of Thunder35. The Silence of the Dead36. Cloak and Dagger37. The Round Table38. The Clashing of Warriors39. Screams in the Night40. Temptation41. Bite me42. Longing43. When Glass Shatters44. The Breath Before the Storm45. Blood and Lightning46. Fire and Chaos47. A Mind of Flames and Water48. The Wandering StarsAbout the AuthorAcknowledgments For Beren,Thank you for believing in me. You brought light into a very dark place.And to the readers who’ve stayed with me over the years—this one’s for you. PROLOGUE: TO DEFY A QUEEN~WILDER~Over the tortured screams haunting Alexandria’s dungeon, I detected a set of rapidly approaching footsteps.Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack.With adrenaline firing into my cold and tired body, I pushed off the hard slats that served as my bed and faced the sole source of illumination that was the torch light spilling in through the crack under the door.I felt sure click-clack had come for me. Hours ago, soldiers had arrived with a standing bath and fresh clothes. Their sudden concern for my poor hygiene suggested my situation had changed.A clunky key turned in the lock. My jailor set the door wide but stood off to the side. “The Queen demands your presence.”And there it was.I quickly left the cramped cell, ducking out into the corridor. My vision turned yellow, assaulted by the flickering torch-flames. I threw up my arm to shield my eyes—eyes that were accustomed to the darkness of a prison.“Hello, Wilder.”The fire-colored spots that swam in front of me faded, revealing a male with black hair, gray wings, and dark eyes. A familiar face.A growl escaped me. “Hunter.”His lips pressed together, forming a thin line of misery.I raked my eyes over him. Last we met, he had served in the Wild Hunt. Now, he wore the uniform of Morgan’s personal guard, the spiders. A unit infamous for their brutal tactics and bloodstained hands. “You didn’t escape, then.”He frowned, confused. A reminder was needed.“Serena said you’d planned on fleeing to the continent with her.” My wings flared aggressively when I added, “You told her that she should forget about me and let me be captured by Morgan.”“An apology would be meaningless at this point, but I’ll say it anyway. I’m sorry. For that, and for bringing you to Alexandria,” he said in a dead-sounding voice.“You helped Goldwyn and Dimitri capture me?”His throat bobbed. “Yes.”I stressed at the holes in my memory. Goldwyn had shown up at the arena where our recruits were fighting. She spat lies to lure me away from Serena. Like a faeling fool, I followed her. The next thing I remembered, I woke up underground and recognized the palace dungeons from their scent. They had always reeked of shit, stale sweat, and fresh blood.“You drugged me,” I said, guessing aloud.Hunter bobbed his head, unable to meet my eye. “Just during the flight, so you wouldn’t wake up and try to escape.”“If you really are sorry for what you’ve done, then tell me about Serena,” I said, struggling to keep my desperation from showing in my voice. “Have you seen her? Is she in Alexandria?”In my seclusion, I’d tried to use our bond to see if she was in pain or facing danger. I’d felt nothing. So either she was fine, or more likely our guardian bond hadn’t developed enough for me to sense her yet.“The last I saw of her, she and her friends were facing off with Dimitri, Tysion, and Goldwyn in an attempt to rescue you,” Hunter said.Panic clutched my heart.Hunter went on in an undertone, as if worried the walls had ears. “But the rumor going around court is that Goldwyn and Tysion returned to the palace in disgrace. I haven’t heard anything about Dimitri.”I saw no lie in his eye. The relief I felt almost brought me to my knees. For too long I’d dwelled in the dark, my sanity hanging by a precarious thread, terrified they had taken Serena, too—that she suffered at Morgan’s hands.“We have to go, Wilder. We can’t keep the Queen waiting.”There was that dead, resigned tone again. I studied the way his arms were relaxed at his sides. He hadn’t reached for the daggers at his hips to threaten or coax me. He carried a listless, muted air about him. I’d seen the same hopeless look on other soldiers’ faces before. It was the look of somebody ready to die.“What would you do if I tried to disarm you?” I asked, testing him.Hunter didn’t even flinch. “Try if you want, but my death won’t change anything. You can’t escape