Alas, she did not know whom she could trust. Until Shahrzad knew who this Sheikh Omar al-Sadiq was and why a Fida’i assassin lurked in his camp, she must remain careful. For it was clear she did not have an ally in Reza bin-Latief as she once had had. And Shahrzad refused to put her burdens on Tariq. It was not his place to keep her or her family safe. No. That duty remained with her, and her alone.
Her eyes flashed around before fixing on the pool of water in the copper basin.
Exist beneath the water.
Move slowly. Tell stories.
Lie.
Without a thought for sentimentality, Shahrzad yanked the ring from her finger.
Breathe.
She closed her eyes and listened to the silent cry of her heart.
“Here.” Irsa dropped the tent flap and moved to Shahrzad’s side. She needed no direction. Nor did she offer any kind of reproach. In a trice, she’d unraveled the length of twine binding Shahrzad’s braid. The sisters locked eyes as Irsa took the ring from Shahrzad’s hand and fashioned a necklace from the twine.
Wordlessly, Irsa secured the necklace behind Shahrzad’s throat and tucked the ring beneath her qamis. “No more secrets.”
“Some secrets are safer behind lock and key.”
Shahrzad nodded to her sister, Khalid’s words a low whisper in her ear. Not in warning. But in reminder.
She would do whatever needed to be done to keep her family safe.
Even lie to her own sister.
“What do you want to know?”
ALWAYS
HE WAS ALONE.
And he should take advantage of the time, before the demands of the day stole these moments of solitude from him.
Khalid stepped through the sands of the training courtyard.
As soon as he reached for his shamshir, he knew his hands would bleed.
No matter. It was of little consequence.
Moments spent in idleness were moments left to thought.
Moments left to memory.
The sword separated from its sheath with the soft hiss of metal on metal. His palms burned; his fingers ached. Still, he gripped the hilt tighter.
When he turned toward the sun, the light struck his eyes, searing his vision. Khalid cursed under his breath.
His growing sensitivity to light was a recurring problem of late. An unfortunate effect of continued sleeplessness. Soon, those around him would become all too aware of this issue. He was too comfortable in the dark—a hollow-eyed creature that slithered and slunk through the broken hallways of a once-majestic palace.
As the faqir had cautioned him, this behavior would be construed as madness.
The mad boy-king of Khorasan. The monster. The murderer.
Khalid squeezed his burning eyes shut. Against his better judgment, he let his mind drift to memory.
He recalled being a boy of seven, standing in the shadows, watching his brother, Hassan, learn the art of swordplay. When his father had finally permitted Khalid to learn alongside Hassan, Khalid had been surprised; his father had often disregarded such requests in the past.
“You might as well learn something of value. I suppose even a bastard should know how to fight.” His father’s scorn for Khalid seemed endless.
Strangely, the one and only time his father had ever shown pride in him had been the day, several years later, when Khalid had bested Hassan with a sword.
But the following afternoon, his father had forbidden Khalid from studying alongside Hassan any further.
He’d sent Hassan to study with the best. And left Khalid to fend for himself.
That night, an angry eleven-year-old prince of Khorasan had pledged to become the best swordsman in the kingdom. Once he had, then perhaps his father would realize the past did not give him the right to deny his son a future.
No. That would take a great deal more.
And the day he held a sword to his father’s throat, his father would know it.
Khalid smiled to himself as the memory brought back with it the bittersweet taste of childish fury.
Yet another promise he’d failed to keep.
Yet another failed revenge.
He did not know why he was remembering these things on this particular morning. Perhaps it was because of that boy and his sister from yesterday.
Kamyar and Shiva.
Whatever it was that drew Khalid to their door had also bade him to stay and help. It was not the first occasion on which he had done such a thing. Since the storm, there had been several times Khalid had ventured into sections of his city, cloaked in the anonymity of silence and shadow.
The first day, he had wandered into a beleaguered quarter of Rey, not far from the souk. While there, he had given food to the wounded. Two days past, he’d helped repair a well. His hands—unaccustomed to the harshness of physical labor—had bled and blistered from the strain.
Yesterday was the first time he had spent in the company of children.
At first, Kamyar had reminded Khalid of Shahrzad. So much so that, even now, it brought the beginnings of another smile to Khalid’s face. The tiny boy was bold and insolent. Unafraid. The best and the worst of Shahrzad.
Then, as the hours had passed, it was the girl who’d brought to mind Shazi’s spirit the most.
Because she hadn’t trusted him. Not in the slightest.