It wasn’t meant for this weather. It wasn’t meant for the desert. And yet, the desert had let it pass through all those years ago when my father had captured it.

And I wondered if this is how my father had stumbled upon the tigers, weak and depleted. No wonder he’d been able to capture them so easily. But the longer I watched the creature lying there, the more I realized that the tigers had never bowed before him. They’d cowered from the desert like everything else.

He’d thought he was their master. He’d thought he could tame them, but my father had mistreated them, forcing them to fight in the arena to survive, just as he’d made me do. He’d tried to bend the desert to his will instead of realizing we’re all at the mercy of these sands.

I wouldn’t make the same mistakes because I didn’t need tigers to rule these people. My own strength was enough—the strength of the desert inside me was enough. So even though it only would’ve taken one swipe of my sword to kill the tiger lying at my feet, I let my sword fall to my side. The desert had taken enough from me, and I had killed one of its tigers in turn. The bloodshed had to end somewhere. It had to end now.

The tiger and I were both done fighting in this arena. Because I’d beaten every opponent. I’d won. For the first time, my future was finally my own. And I was going to make the decisions that should’ve been made years ago, the ones that didn’t shackle the people to me out of fear. It was time to cut the last of the chains linking the desert to my father and his terrible rule. It was time to set the tiger free.

I let it lie there undisturbed as I turned to face the crowd, and this time when I raised my sword to signal the fight was over, I wasn’t raising it to my father—I was raising it to the desert itself. I let out a roar and pumped my hand in the air until it began to ache because after all this time, it was truly over.

A cheer went up all around from the people still scattered inside.

Cion leapt into the arena and jogged toward me. And then his arms were around me. I exhaled for what felt like the first time.

He pulled back. “Are you okay?” His eyes flickered back and forth between me and the tiger, but the beast made no move to get up. It rolled into the sand, seemingly content to lie there.

Breathlessly, I nodded. “Are you?”

“Yes.” His eyes were bright. His smile was so big it made me want to laugh. “You did it.” He lifted my face toward his. “You really did it.” His hand lingered on my cheek. And then he was pulling me closer to him. His lips pressed against mine. Heat shot through me. He tasted like the cool desert night.