Returned

by Kimberley Griffiths Little

  “What if I told you,” Kadesh went on, “that your Queen of Sheba is my cousin?”

  He sucked in a breath and stepped back. “Horeb never said anything about that.”

  “Of course not,” I snapped. “He wouldn’t because it doesn’t suit his purposes.” I paused, allowing that knowledge to sink in. “You do realize what this means? You’ve declared war on your own country’s ally.”

  His arms dropped from the bars. “I never—”

  “If you value your life, tell me Horeb’s plans,” Kadesh pressed him.

  “What is his strategy?” I added. “When does he plan on attacking? And how will he attack?”

  A deep laugh burst up from Basim’s chest. “You’re a brazen princess. No subtlety or deal-making.”

  “I believe in truth. And I will do anything to save the people of Sariba from destruction and a tyrant like Horeb as king.”

  I glanced at Kadesh and he nodded at me, a tiny smile hidden by the prison shadows so that I alone saw it.

  Basim’s hands gripped the bar. “I swore an oath to defend King Horeb. Some of my men already died for him.”

  “You must have a death wish then, because more of you will die. Perhaps all of you.”

  “You clearly haven’t seen the size or strength of Horeb’s armies.”

  “We’ve seen,” Kadesh said bluntly. “And Sariba has the upper hand. They love their country and have defenses you haven’t even dreamed of.”

  We were bluffing, but we needed extra soldiers. And I had to believe, just as Kadesh and Naomi and Chemish and Josiah did, that we could win this war. We had to win this war.

  “Horeb has completed a journey of thousands of miles with three well-trained armies to take Sariba for his own. He plans to rule the entire southern borders, the caravans, and the west. He will rival the Babylonian Empire. He also plans to kill your maimed king—and take you, Princess, for his own. Horeb is not interested in striking treaties. He’s only interested in wealth and power on the grandest scale.”

  “Do you have ambition?” I asked, lowering my voice to seduce him into listening to my offer

  His eyes were wary, curious. I had him.

  “Basim, leader of the mountain men of the kingdom of Sheba,” I went on. “I hereby enlist you and your band of men to fight for the kingdom of Sariba. King Kadesh and I will double what Horeb offered you. And if your worth is proven quickly, you will receive a rapid rise in rank and position.”

  His teeth glittered in the gloom. “But what about my honor?”

  Now I laughed. “You have none because you sell yourself to the highest bidder—but with my offer you can return with honor to Sa’ba and your queen and your family. You will live in luxury. Your wife will have jewels and gowns. You won’t rot in a prison cell—or be executed ignominiously.”

  He winked at me and I tried not to look shocked. “Surely I can’t be dying ignominiously, my lady.”

  Anger rose up my throat. “You joke, but I’m serious.”

  Basim crossed his thick arms over his chest. “Triple my pay and guarantee my honorable release and a return trip home with a frankincense caravan.”

  “Done,” Kadesh said. “And your men will be rewarded for their loyalty and shrewd fighting.”

  He glanced between the two of us, as though determining the truth of our words. “You drive a hard bargain, Lady of Sariba.”

  “And you are wise to accept it. Treason doesn’t make a pretty death.”

  “When do I get out of here?”

  “After I draw up the paperwork,” Kadesh told him. “You can retrieve your men from Horeb’s camp.”

  “Easier said than done with Horeb’s captains watching our every move.”

  “I trust you can figure that out, Basim,” Kadesh said without a shred of empathy. “You will sign your name to a covenant to fight for your country of Sa’ba as an ally of Sariba. The details of our agreement will be laid out. Warden!” he called.

  Almost immediately there came the sound of a shuffling gait. A dirty cloak appeared. I suspected the prison warden had been listening to the entire conversation from the darkness.

  “Asher, Prince of Edom, will return with the signed release,” Kadesh said with finality. “You are officially conscripted into the Sariba army and will pledge your loyalty and fealty to me.”

  While Basim bowed to us, a glint in his eyes, I turned back down the stone corridors, the sound of scurrying rats in my ears.

  Once outside, sunshine poured onto my head. Fresh air filled my nose. Kadesh and I didn’t speak until we had climbed the staircase back up to the main grounds.

  The moment we were out of sight of the prison doors, I collapsed onto a cushioned garden bench, pressing a pillow against my face. Sweat dripped down my neck.

  “We enlisted fifty more strong men to the Sariba army,” I whispered in awe.

  “Your gamble paid off,” Kadesh said with a laugh of admiration. “Your negotiating skills are impressive, my girl of the desert. You managed to back him into a corner. Threat of hanging for treason. The promise of riches. How else are mercenary soldiers hired?”

  “It worked,” I said, relieved to have helped Kadesh’s army and this country I was coming to love as my own.

  Kadesh gazed down at me thoughtfully. “That’s why you stopped us from killing him last night. You were already looking to the future and how you could use the beast. Even now, I’m watching you rise to your position as queen.”

  “I can assure you that I’m more desert girl than queen.”

  “Then Sariba needs a desert girl for their queen.”

  “Oh, Kadesh.” I sighed, leaning my head against his shoulder when he sat down next to me. Relief was making me exhausted again. “Basim’s men have more horses than the animals the Edomites took down at the wedding. The animals with their owners can be part of Asher’s cavalry.”

  “If they’re not wild and unmanageable.” Kadesh smiled at me. “I’ll bet they live under shrubs and rocks in the mountains of Sa’ba. They probably eat scorpions and sand.”

  “And their women give birth while shooting game and skinning rabbits?”

  “I’ll wager that one day you give birth while wielding a sword.”

  I laughed at the image he created, but nausea quivered in my belly. We had extra fighters in Sariba’s army now, but it had taken all my strength.

  We returned to the palace during a hot and stagnant midday. The silence on the grounds was eerie. Not even the fountains were splashing. The bed of irises and tulips seemed to wilt before my eyes, beaten down by the sun.

  I needed a cold cloth and tea. And I needed to check in with Tijah and Jasmine about procuring those noxious herbs to poison the springs in the foothills.

  Kadesh was pensive when we entered the palace. “I’m concerned we haven’t heard anything from Horeb. The deadline I gave him has passed. I must speak with General Naham and make sure my scouts are still alive. That Horeb didn’t have them tortured or beheaded.”

  I tugged at his hand, forcing him to look at me before he departed for his offices. “I want the chance for a future with you, King Kadesh.”

  His smile was rueful. “If you don’t change your mind after all this is over.”

  “Never,” I assured him. “I only hope that the Queen of Sheba is still on her throne when this is all over.”

  “I’m grateful the queen is a long ways from here,” Kadesh agreed. “She’s safer in her own land with her husband and family and army, even if she was unable to keep Horeb’s army from advancing toward us.”

  We stared at each other, knowing that Aliyah coveted her sister’s throne of Sa’ba as much as she sought the throne of Sariba.

  15

  We parted ways at the royal offices at the same moment Asher appeared in the hallway. His face was gloomy.

  “You don’t seem well. Is it Chemish?” I almost hated to ask.

  He shook his head. “He’s slowly recovering. Mentally, he wants to leap from his infirmary
bed and head out to fight, but the doctors are forcing him to stay quiet and heal, using sedatives so that he’ll sleep.”

  I loved the picture he painted of his father, a warrior king of Edom.

  “Except for the palace staff, everyone else is down at the training grounds. General Naham is overseeing final preparations, organizing the troops and patrols. Every man from sixteen years to forty-five has been enlisted, whether they’ve trained recently or not.”

  “It’s so real,” I said quietly. “Too real.” I was hot and cold thinking about that first trumpet blast, which would signal the official start of war. The armies charging forward, the clang of swords, the shouts and moans of death. My breath hitched in my throat when I imagined the terrible scenes.

  “You look exhausted, my lady.”

  “It’s been a trying day, but Kadesh and I have had some success, and I was actually on my way to find you. I need a contract drawn up immediately, and I want you to take it to the prisoner Basim for him to sign.”

  Asher’s eyes narrowed when he frowned at me. “I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

  “It’s true. Kadesh and I enlisted the mercenary soldiers to our cause. Fifty men with horses. Now go quickly and get a scribe. After Basim signs, give him a horse from the palace stables and send him back to his men.”

  “Horeb will soon realize that the marauders are deserting him.”

  “I’ll leave that to you and Basim to figure out, but please send me a message when he leaves to return to Horeb’s camp. If you go with him, disguised as one of his men, you can come back with information on Horeb’s plans. Remember, Horeb doesn’t know you at all. Take off any signs or uniform that show you are part of Sariba.”

  “Very shrewd, my lady.” His mouth set into a thin line as he shook his head.

  I studied him. “Don’t keep anything back from me. Tell me.”

  “Yesterday morning when I was searching for you at the temple I saw Horeb’s camp in the foothills. I’d always expected to meet them outside the city in the desert where they had no provisions, and we could return each night to our homes. But now they have come in the middle of the night—arriving almost a week earlier than expected—comfortable in our mountains where there are springs of good water, shelter, caves.”

  “It is as though Horeb knew exactly where to go when they arrived . . .” I said soberly. “We both know it was Aliyah who passed along the information to Horeb. Will they be able to ransack our fields of food and the orchards?”

  “Kadesh ordered extra guards, but small groups of guards are easy prey. Picked off like fleas if Horeb sends a convoy to steal from Sariba’s resources. And, well, those mountains are special, important. At least, to Kadesh. I think that’s why,” Asher paused. “That’s why he seems a bit curt at times. Horeb camping in the Qara Mountains treads on sacred ground.”

  We parted ways and I was left to speculate over what would bother Kadesh so keenly to think of Horeb trespassing there.

  While Tijah helped me bathe and dress for dinner, I determined to ask Aunt Naomi. Jasmine attended me because Tijah had gone to the temple to procure poisons with the help of her mother, Erina. I imagined Jonah going out tonight, alone, biding his time until dawn’s first light to administer the poison just before Horeb’s chefs fetched their cooking water for breakfast. I hoped he managed to taint their water barrels as well.

  Sickness or death of a portion of Horeb’s troops would more evenly match the two opposing forces. I prayed that the idea would work—and that Jonah came back alive.

  It was nightfall when Tijah burst into the suite, her cheeks flushed with the secret she was carrying in a bag hidden under her skirts.

  “You got it?” I asked softly, watching her bright eyes.

  The girl sank onto a stool and nodded. “My mother says this will work well. No smell, easy to discharge into the springs.”

  I nodded and put a finger to my lips. I didn’t want any guards to overhear. A surge of hope swelled in my heart that this would give Sariba a chance at equalizing the armies.

  A chance to stay alive a little while longer.

  Later, in Kadesh’s suite having dinner with his aunt and uncle, I studied my father across the table eating slowly, deliberately, but very little. He was thin, his cheeks hollow. The strong man I’d known my whole life was aging. He’d never been a gregarious person, but firm in his convictions, and immensely dependable. I’d always known of his undying love for me, even if we were at odds over Horeb’s ambitions and character.

  We just stopped talking about it.

  “We’ve stopped talking about many things,” I confided to Naomi as we sat tucked into a corner after dinner was over and the evening cooled. From across the room, I studied Kadesh while he spoke in urgent tones with Uncle Josiah, General Naham, and Asher who represented his father. Asher would lead the men of Edom when our troops assembled for battle. They had decided to allow the poison to work at incapacitating the enemy as much as possible before the first wave of battle. “My mother’s death is a wound that never heals. He’s lost without her.”

  Aunt Naomi’s eyes flicked across the room toward Pharez who sat by the open window while a night of stars deepened. It was easy to see that he missed the desert. The longing in his eyes was unmistakable. All he wanted was to be out with his camel herd, his family, and his tribe.

  He and I would never reclaim that life. It was lost to the desert sands forever.

  Naomi took my hand in hers. “I hope that your mother’s memories help Pharez get through the lonely nights. I can’t imagine losing Josiah. Does your father know Sahmril is at the temple? Have you told him?”

  Sorrow rose in my chest. “We don’t talk about her. Not since I gave my sister to Dinah to nurse and care for. I let my parents down. I gave away my mother’s last gifts to save Sahmril. I gave away our best camel, and still we lost my little sister.”

  “You must tell him,” Naomi pressed. “He’ll be heartbroken to learn that she’s close, especially when she’s in Aliyah’s possession. He deserves that respect.”

  Naomi knew Aliyah had Sahmril, but she had no idea that the young woman planned to make a sacrifice of her to the Goddess. I hadn’t had the heart to tell her yet, but I knew I should, and soon. I worried more about my father not knowing—or what would happen when he did learn of the fate Aliyah had in store for his little daughter.

  “You’re right,” I finally said. “He deserves the truth. Tomorrow night is the solstice ceremonies. I’ll tell him before I leave for the temple. Perhaps my intentions are misguided, but I don’t want him running off and getting himself killed by Aliyah’s guards if he storms the temple to retrieve her. I rescued him from prison once already, and it nearly killed him.”

  Aunt Naomi kissed my cheek. “And he won’t recover, Jayden,” she said softly, staring into my eyes. “He’s endured too much, and he’s getting older, which makes it all the harder.”

  Grief tugged at my chest. “I hate watching him deteriorate right before my eyes. If only he could see Sahmril before he passes from this life.”

  “Don’t lose hope,” Naomi added quickly. “He could be with us for many years to come. Now go to Kadesh and say goodnight.”

  My lips parted. “Will you answer a question first? Kadesh—Asher—they both allude to the mountains being special. Sacred. Why? What happened there?”

  Naomi’s eyes jerked toward mine. Clearly, I had startled her.

  I lowered my voice. “I suspect it has something to do with the secret grief Kadesh kept hidden from me for so long.”

  Naomi bit at her lips. “Kadesh’s parents are buried in the mountains. Asher and his parents were here when Kadesh’s parents—” she broke off. “They had recently returned with a caravan to Egypt and stayed for the frankincense harvest. It’s the only time I’ve ever met Asher’s mother, Isra.”

  “She’s lovely,” I said pensively. “After my trek through the desert to find Kadesh, she took care of me.”

  Naomi
glanced across the room at the men still in conversation.

  We were purposely avoiding the circumstances of Kadesh’s parents’ tragic suicides. “I didn’t realize that Asher’s family was here at the time. It makes sense now. The reason Asher is so tied to Kadesh, and why he was adamant that Kadesh tell me everything a few weeks ago.”

  “They’re buried in a beautiful sepulcher in one of those caves.”

  “Were Kadesh’s parents sent off in the same splendid style as King Ephrem? I’ve never seen that tradition before.”

  Naomi’s brow wrinkled. “The magnificent funeral pyres are reserved for kings and queens. It is a great honor and their deaths were . . . terrible. Kadesh’s father was a hunter and spent quite a bit of time in the mountains. His wife often accompanied him. Despite her wealthy sheltered upbringing in Dedan, she loved the beauty of this world. Often, they would leave together for days at a time. Their own private retreats to the castle in the hills.”

  “I see it as a sign of their great love,” I murmured, thinking how blessed Kadesh and I had been to be raised by such loving people. “I suppose it’s fitting that they were buried in the Qara Mountains then. In the place that meant so much to them, close to the abandoned castle.”

  “Kadesh told you about that, then?” Naomi asked. “They were together in life and in death. When Kadesh’s father discovered her body slumped over the statue of the Goddess, he went over the edge. He couldn’t bear thinking of the pain she’d been suffering and it tore him to pieces thinking of her alone in a void of darkness. So he went to be with her. You can see why Horeb’s army in those mountains especially pains Kadesh.”

  I nodded tightly, the lump in my throat growing. “I hope Horeb doesn’t find their private retreat and raze it. Or use it for his headquarters.”

  Naomi shook her head. “Most likely not. It’s too far from the open desert where the battles will take place.”

  “Small blessings then,” I said softly. “But all the more reason to poison those springs.”

  Naomi lifted her eyebrows and I filled her in on the midnight scouting expedition and the plan to poison the water.