“If you’ll give my scribe the details,” the general said, “all will be put in order. You’re welcome to send your words of thanks to my kyros. Only one as strong in the royal blood could be so blessed as to hear so much from the Fire.”
It had been Seren’s blessing though, not Kyros Meric’s. Well, it wasn’t our secret to tell. I didn’t much care who had done what, as long as we got out of here fast.
“Further, my generous kyros has decided to give your new amir two fine horses as a gift for his new appointment. You may return quickly to his service on these mounts.” He nodded toward the door where the opening showed a yellow horse with a black mane and a full ebony mare with a beautiful star on her nose. Beside them, Arrow stomped her front hoof to get some attention. The chairman’s horse, the one Calev had ridden here, nuzzled Arrow familiarly.
I pressed my hands into my face. I’d never been so relieved.
“Please thank Kyros Meric for his outstanding generosity,” Calev said. “Please let him know we are in awe of his blessed ideas, and though I am Old Farm, I hold the highest respect for his path in life.”
His blessed ideas? Humph. He’d taken credit for Seren’s gift from the Fire. Then again, maybe that’s how she’d wanted it. I wondered how she’d managed the trick.
As we mounted and thanked Seren’s men for loading our packs with water, blankets, dried figs, and barley cakes, Meekra walked up.
“I see our kyros decided to let you go.” There was a little spark to her eyes.
I leaned over in my saddle to speak close to her ear. “How did Pearl of the Desert do it?”
“How she always does. By waiting until he prays over the Fire and making suggestions as to what he, as the most blessed and rich in royal blood, must be hearing from the Fire.”
Her lips turned down. I could tell she wanted to say more, to say the kyros was an arrogant fool who ate up praise before he tasted it for truth, but of course, that would be treason.
“Have you seen my cousin Radi since last night?” she whispered.
My heart cinched. “No. He escaped. I think.”
Meekra looked over her shoulder. “If you see him on your way out of Akhayma…”
“I’ll send you a rock dove as soon as I can.”
“With…indirect language?”
Ah. She needed me to speak in code. He must not have been pardoned as of yet. “Can’t Pearl of the Desert do something for him?”
“If we can find him, we’ll protect him. But if the kyros’s men find him first, we may not have a lot of options.”
The gray-haired general stalked out of the tent and handed the new agreement to Calev, who bowed from his saddle.
I cupped my hand at Meekra’s ear. “I’m glad we have Pearl of the Desert to help the Empire.”
“Yes. Not all our leaders are merciful. We are indeed blessed to have Pearl of the Desert. Without her as kyros’s wife, our city would be a different place.” Meekra touched a letter tucked into her sash and smiled sadly. “She gives everything for her people.”
“Tell her we love her for it.”
“I will, Avigail Raza.” Meekra pressed my hand between hers and gave Arrow’s hind end a slap to send me off behind Calev.
“Come, Avi!” Calev’s face was hopeful as he wrapped the two new horses’ leads around one hand and tightened his legs around his father’s mount. All I wanted in the world was for that hope to be fulfilled. All I wanted was to see Kinneret and him, smiling on their wedding day. All I wanted was home.
11
Calev
The horses couldn’t go fast enough. I’d have slowed a little for Avi if she showed signs of needing it. So far, she was as driven to get to Kinneret as I was, shouting at Arrow, cheering the mare on. Prayers flowed from my mouth, a constant stream of please please please.
Hold on, love, I said in my mind, hoping somehow Kinneret would hear me. I’m coming, love.
I squeezed the reins, remembering the musky scent of the henna on my hands, the henna she’d painted on my skin. Shivers rolled over my arms and back. Her light touch. The tease in her eyes. The shift of her hips under the ivory cloth of the Intended ceremony clothing. I called memories up to make her strong in my mind. The courage in her face when she commanded the Tuz Golge. The moment she moved the very sea itself.
You’re strong, love. Stay strong, love.
What was I going to do when I arrived? I couldn’t save her. I didn’t know anything about healing.
Avi glared at me over Arrow’s head, determination blazing out of her eyes. She believed my presence would help Kinneret. I had no choice but to latch onto that faith.
The sandy plains and high, flat reaches of the hammadas gave way to the Greening’s grasses and rolling hills. Stopping only when we couldn’t stay on our horses without toppling over, we raced past the huddled villages, zipped between spice traders’ caravans, and rounded clutches of pilgrims on their way to visit the heart of the Empire and the silver basin where the Holy Fire was lit every quarter.
At Kinneret’s new home by the docks, Oron sat, head in his hands. I slid off my horse, legs aching, to help Avi down. She slapped my hands away and pushed her hair out of her sweating face.
“Go. Go!” She waved at the wooden door.
Oron looked up. A smear of dirt marred his chin. Red, puffy skin circled his big eyes.
I didn’t wait to hear news. I pushed the cedar entrance open, not knowing if I would find my life or death. Hers and my own.
Sunlight fell through the square window and onto Kinneret’s ashen face.
Her lips were slightly parted and chapped. Her hair lay across her striped pillow, thin, and without its usual curl. I kneeled by her simple bed and swept her hand into mine. Her fingers were hot. My heart jumped. Alive. She was blessedly alive.
Her eyes opened. “Having an adventure without me, hm?” she croaked. “Is this revenge for the time I went port-hunting and left you at home?” A smile bent her mouth.
I lay my head on her chest, keeping my weight back. She was on fire with fever. Her skin blazed though her clothing. I breathed in the smell of stale linens, sweat, and green herbs used for healing teas.
“How are you?” I turned my head to look into her face, my fingers unsteadily holding hers.
“I’ve been better.”
I tried to laugh. “I imagine.”
She winced like something pained her, so I sat up, easing away.
“Don’t go,” she whispered, closing her eyes. She reached a hand around the back of my neck and let it sit there. Her chest moved in a deep breath. “I want to enjoy you as long as I can.”
Tears seared my eyelids. “You’re not going to die.”
“If I do, don’t let anyone kaptan Ekrem’s full ship but Avi or Oron. Swear to me.” Her fingers tightened on my neck.
I shrugged. “I heard that new fighting sailor was pretty good. What’s his name?”
She moved like she was about to sit up. “That idiot?”
“Settle down. I’m only teasing.”
“Evil.”
“It’s your fault. I used to be a good boy.”
Her eyes were slits, watching me. “What fun is being good?”
Oron walked up, hands clasped in front of him. His chin brushed my elbow as he leaned in to lift, then kiss Kinneret’s free hand. “I claim at least some of Calev’s moral ruin. You must admit I’ve had a part to play in the drama.”
Kinneret laughed weakly as we helped her sip some tea Oron took from the side table. The steam circled her head and made her look ghostly.
Someone knocked.
Avi opened the door, biting her lip. “Your father’s here, Calev.”
The muscles around my jaw tensed. Of course he couldn’t wait to hear about my duty. He’d think it was every bit as important as Kinneret. Maybe even more so.
Like he’d read my mind, he leaned in and said, “Talking to me won’t change her condition, my son.”
Giving Kinneret a pai
ned look, I squeezed her hand, then joined my father in the blazing sun.
He unrolled the new agreement, brow furrowing. “This isn’t the original.” His eyes threw darts at me.
“No. I was robbed. In Akhayma. But this one has the kyros’s sigil. It’s legitimate.”
Reading it over, he mumbled to himself, long beard shivering as he said the words under his breath. He rolled it back up.
“It’s fine. But tell me, what did you do wrong to be attacked wearing an Old Farm sigil ring and with the funds to stay in a safely located establishment at every stop? I did speak to Serhat.”
I swallowed as Oron came out of the house.
“Is Serhat well again then?” I asked.
“Yes” Father’s gaze held me down. “Now answer my question.”
“I stayed in a terrible place because I was an idiot. Some men put gray plant in my food and robbed me.”
Father stiffened. “Calev ben Y’hoshua. What were you thinking?”
Oron barked a laugh, though the sound didn’t hold half his normal enthusiasm. “Most likely he was thinking it’d be nice to forget you and yours for a while.”
Father’s look could’ve competed with the desert heat. He glanced at my hand and his mouth dropped open. “Where is your ring?”
“They took that too,” I said.
His temper was going to get the best of him and mean the worst for me. He was going to deny my request to be the next chairman, take me completely out of the council’s vote. Then what would I be for Kinneret? If she survived.
Father’s face softened. “She is strong. She may live.”
I glanced over my shoulder, not wanting Avi to hear Father’s brutal honesty.
Oron touched my arm. “Avi’s inside still. She can’t hear us.”
I nodded. “Can you wait to be angry with me?” I asked quietly, feeling like a child but knowing I had to ask it of him. I needed mercy.
Father’s large hands covered my shoulders. “Yes. There will be consequences, but…”
“But you have a soul so you won’t annihilate his future while his Intended sits on Death’s door?” Oron snapped.
Father’s arms dropped to his sides. “Exactly so, Oron No Name.”
There was a shout from the docks. It was Serhat, tall and blonde and pointing at an approaching dhow. The boat’s triangular sail dipped in the wind as it came into the harbor.
A Kurakian woman in bright blue stepped onto the dock as Avi roared out of the house. A light filled my chest and lifted the weight from my aching legs. I ran toward the water.
“Aunt Kania!” Avi ran down the slope and crashed into her mother’s sister.
“Ah, ah. Dear one.” Kania Turay stroked her niece’s braid. “I will do what I can.”
A day passed in a whirl of bruising herbs Kania brought from the red dirt of Kurakia. The house smelled green and sticky.
“She isn’t soaking it in,” Kinneret’s aunt whispered in my ear. “You must warm her up and get her to take the healing. To accept it.”
I felt cold even though the room was stifling. “I don’t know how.”
Kania patted my hand, then ushered Oron and Avi from the room. “You will,” she said over her shoulder. “You have a certain magic of your own, a magic between you.”
She seemed so sure, yet doubt plagued my mind.
I sat on the very edge of the bed and rubbed Kinneret’s arm. She did feel stronger now. The muscles under her brown skin weren’t just wasted strings like yesterday. They’d plumped back up and there was a healthy warmth emanating from them. But it wasn’t enough. Death breathed down her face, robbing it of color. I was going to lose her.
“Kinneret.” I said her name like a prayer. “Kinneret.” The sounds whisked over my lips, soft and sure. My love for her was the only thing I was truly sure of. “Kinneret.”
Her eyes stayed closed as they had for hours. She breathed shallowly, like she’d stop at any second.
“Please wake up. Do you feel the good medicine in your blood? Your aunt put it there. You have to…let it in.” I touched her collarbone, her neck. The skin there was too cold. It made me shiver.
With no idea what I was doing, just following the powerful tug I always felt to get nearer to her, I climbed onto the bed and lay directly on top of her. It was probably stupid. I was probably hurting her, but the pull—this was what my heart was telling me to do.
“Am I hurting you? Is this helping?” I propped myself on my elbows, my hands in her hair, my thumbs on the pulse in her temples. Smoothing my palms once down the sides of her head, I breathed warm air over her mouth.
She inhaled, moving me upward.
“Kinneret? Relax. Let the herbs do their work. Let your aunt’s magic beat this. You can let her medicine fight. You don’t have to fight. Let down your guard.” I would be here always and I’d never act like such a careless idiot again, risking those I loved.
And stars how I loved her. She was so strong. She’d never once stopped fighting in life. Asking her to give in to the medicine and her aunt’s magic, asking her to stop fighting—this was an impossible thing to ask. She’d fought her way from what others called a low-caste salt witch to being one of the most respected kaptans on the Broken Coast. Nothing had ever been given to her. Fighting was as natural to her as breathing.
“Calev.” My name was nothing more than a whisper on her peeling lips. Invisible blades cut my heart at the longing in the sound.
“I’m here. I won’t leave again.”
She made a humming noise and shifted her body under me. Was it my imagination or was her skin warming, her temperature becoming more even?
Please let her live. She has so much more to do. I need her. Please, I prayed silently.
Her pale, blue eyes fluttered open. “Calev?” She blinked and her eyes widened. “You’re really here?”
“I am.”
“I thought I was dreaming.” Her chest rose in a deep breath, a good breath.
“I dreamed of you while I was in Akhayma.” My face flushed at the memory, and I hated myself for thinking like that while she was so sick.
“Tell me. About the dream.” Her eyes drooped shut.
I swallowed. “I think the night of our Intended ceremony inspired it.”
One eye opened, just a little. A smile curved her right cheek. “Tell me everything.”
“You’re too ill for…all of that.”
“All of that.”
“Yes.”
She breathed deeply again and the color of her forehead, cheeks, and neck warmed to a nice flush. She looked at me. “I think I’m feeling better.”
“It’s your aunt’s herbs. Her magic.”
“It’s yours too.”
“I don’t have any of that.”
She moved and I slid to the side so she could lift herself to her elbows. She coughed, and I leaned to get her cup of water. With a small shiver, she took the drink and finished it all. With the edge of the cup, she drew a line down my neck, then my chest.
“Oh, yes you do,” she said, her voice hoarse.
I kissed her smooth forehead, my muscles easing. “Please tell me you’re finished trying to die.” She really was feeling better. Hope rushed through me like wind through a field of ripe barley, pushing me, tugging me along its path.
“For now.” She smiled up at me. “I need a bath.”
I sat up and she did too, hanging her legs over the side of the bed as if she’d not just been at death’s door.
I couldn’t seem to stop smiling. Was this really happening? I was afraid to be happy. I ran a hand over her thin forearm. Her skin was oily and smelled like her aunt’s house in Kurakia, green and biting and spicy.
She lifted a lock of her hair and sniffed. “Definitely a bath.”
“I could help,” I choked out, trying hard to contain myself.
Avi knocked and swung the door open. Her top teeth held her lip. “Aunt says you’re feeling better.”
I looked at the
shuttered window, then at Kinneret, who shrugged. Kania just knew things.
“I am,” Kinneret said, and a laugh bellowed out of me, happiness joining hope and throwing me right into pure joy.
Kinneret opened her arms and Avi ran into them, tears silvering her cheeks.
Oron and Kania came in laughing as Oron finished telling her something about his northern tastes in women.
“You have a powerful magic, Calev ben Y’hoshua,” Kania said.
Avi moved away from Kinneret and put her hands on her hips. “I told you so.”
I felt stronger than I ever had as I took Kinneret in my arms.
Maybe they were right. Maybe love was a magic all its own.
Never, ever again would I risk the magical life I had here with Avi, Oron, and Kinneret. I would live up to Father’s expectations, and if I didn’t, these amazing souls would still love me. I knew it as sure as I knew the beat of my own heart.
Epilogue
Kinneret
Amir Ekrem’s full ship dipped over a wave and my stomach thrilled to feel the drop. The wheel moved under my hands, the wood polished and as ebony as Calev’s eyes. The sea stretched out beyond us, purple and black and bursting with possibilities.
I shouted directions to a dozen fighting sailors who scurried to do as told. Lines were tied. Sails trimmed or angled. Ropes knotted to hold crates of Old Farm lemons that scented the deck and the salty sea air. The ship creaked as we rolled over another swell and I shook out my hair, letting it fly behind me like my own pennant.
Avi peered into the compass box, her movements light and quick.
Yesterday, a trader from Akhayma had brought her a message from the boy she met there. A boy named Radi. His family had told the trader that Radi was gone from the capitol. He was safe. For now. This Radi fellow asked if she would go to the next Gathering. There, he would try to find her among the representatives from every noble clan, from every town and city, in the Empire.
Avi hadn’t stopped smiling since.
But she hadn’t heard the whole message. There were reports of Invaders attacking border towns again. Some said a drought had hit their western lands again and that war was on the horizon. I wondered if Kyros Meric could manage a war against those wild Invaders. From what Y’hoshua said, Meric wasn’t wise like his father had been. Although so far Invaders didn’t have the cannon us easterners had, they’d still give Akhayma and her people a load of nasty trouble. Deadly trouble for the new kyros and his new wife. I swallowed. Calev had told me about her. Under different circumstances, we could’ve been friends, he claimed.
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