The vizier suddenly appeared by my side, still gripping her own blade tightly. But what good were swords against fire?
I instinctively reached for the ring, then paused when I saw the vizier’s black eyes fixed on me. If I used it now, she would know I had the djinni.
Before the line of fire struck again, Elian rushed forward, drawing a second blade from his belt, and hurled it into the middle of the burning sand.
The fire-spirit let out a terrible shriek, the flames contorting in on themselves, and the screeches echoed farther and farther away from us.
Then, suddenly, the sandstorm stopped.
Sand settled back to the ground with a low whisper, the air brightening as visibility slowly returned. I looked down in order to shield my eyes from the dust. The sand beneath me was stained dark. From my blood, I realized.
At that thought, the wound on my back sang out again and the world around me swam.
“Zadie!” The sultan galloped toward me, speeding across the sand. He still gripped his scimitar. Skidding to a stop, he looked down at the blood on the ground around me.
“Sultan,” Elian said, returning to my side. His dark cheeks had turned even darker. “I must take responsibility for this. I should never have left the princess’ side.”
“No,” Kassim said, shaking his head. “You left her with me. The fault is mine.” His eyes flicked back to me. “Turn.”
I wearily obeyed, flicking Bandit’s reins so that he trotted around and Kassim could see my back. The sultan sucked in a breath through his teeth.
“That bad?” I tried to joke, but it came out as a mumble.
Elian joined Kassim, still visibly shaken. “It’s not as deep as it could have been,” he said, half to himself. “There’s a lot of blood, but it looks shallow. You were lucky, Zadie.”
“It’s nothing the healer can’t fix,” Kassim said firmly.
The vizier cleared her throat. “Don’t you think that now would be a good time to send the princess home, Kassim?”
Even with my back burning and the sand sticking to my hair, irritating my eyes, and lining my pockets, I still managed to glare at the vizier.
She sheathed her blade. “Just as I told you, having her here with us isn’t a good idea. Instead of being able to help the others, the captain and I were stuck here, making sure the princess wasn’t harmed.”
I spat sand from my mouth. And what exactly did she think she’d done to make sure I was safe? I hadn’t seen her helping Elian fight off the spirits. All she’d done was prevent me from being able to summon Tarak. I wheeled Bandit back around to face her, preparing to launch into a defense.
But Kassim got there first. “Don’t be ridiculous, Hepzibah,” he said shortly. “I can hardly send Zadie home without the rest of us to accompany her. And we can’t all go back now. We still need to get to Tigrylon. Besides…” His gaze slid back to me, “I have men down, but the princess is still standing.”
My heart swelled at the implied compliment, but I was not going to be won over by the sultan’s pretty words. He’d only brought me on this journey because he had no other choice. And he only insisted I stay now because they would all have to turn back otherwise.
Still… He had acknowledged that I had done something good. It was progress.
The vizier’s mouth tightened into a thin line. “I still think–”
“Hepzibah, go and find the healer,” Kassim ordered.
There was a pause. Then she gave Kassim a stiff nod and cantered back toward the rest of our group.
My heart sank as I watched her go. Just as Kassim had said, there were men down, white-clad figures slumped against the golden sand. Dust still glittered in the air, and vultures had already started to gather overhead.
Kassim saw where I was looking. “Elian, count how many men were lost.”
The captain nodded and followed after the vizier.
Left alone, Kassim finally turned back to me. “I owe you an apology,” he said crisply. “I should never have left you without someone to guard you.”
I shook my head. “It’s not your fault. It was just bad timing that the spirits attacked when you and Elian had gone. And Elian came back for me.” I neglected to mention how lucky I was that he had.
“Even so, it’s my duty to protect you,” he said softly. His eyes slid to my wounded back. “And I failed you today.”
Something fluttered in my stomach.
“It barely even hurts,” I lied. I paused, trying to calm the sudden racing of my heart. I needed to distract myself. “Was it because of the talisman that the spirits attacked us? Because we’re searching for it?”
Kassim’s eyes returned to mine. “Why would you ask that?”
I shrugged, wincing as the movement sent pain searing through my back again. “We’re trying to find an enchanted talisman in an abandoned city. We’re attacked by desert spirits on our journey. None bothered us on our route from Satra to Kisrabah. Perhaps the spirits don’t want us to find the talisman.”
Kassim gave me a hard look. “Perhaps.” He frowned. “I don’t know, Zadie.”
“Will you tell me more about it? What it does, why we’re looking for it?”
Kassim surveyed me critically, his usual cold expression back in place.
To my surprise, he nodded. “Okay. But first, we need to get to Tigrylon. Now.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tigrylon swept out before us, a huge, sand-dusted ruin that stretched far into the distance.
The city was a dark smudge against the unyielding golden dunes surrounding it, the half-buried walls and roofs casting odd shadows. On the east side of the city, a sweep of sand rose up like a mountain. To the west, a steep cliff of crumbling sandstone walls fell back to the desert floor. It was eerily quiet.
What would cause an entire city to be swallowed by the desert?
“It’s cursed, you know.” Elian gave me a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
I shifted uncomfortably in my saddle. “Sure it is.” I waved a hand dismissively.
“They say no one could rebuild the city. That the people here were too greedy, and the soul of the desert punished not only the city’s people, but the land it was built on. In a storm that lasted for days, the city was slowly pulled apart. Anyone who tried to leave was cut down by the spirits.”
I couldn’t bring myself to reply. Elian’s words were too close to the attack we’d just suffered.
Of course the sultan would choose a captain with a dark sense of humor.
As if he’d known I was thinking about him, Kassim appeared beside us, and Elian abruptly stopped talking.
“I think we should try to enter through the western walls,” the sultan said. “Could you go take a look, Captain?”
Looking a little bit guilty, Elian nodded and flicked his reins, his horse trotting toward the western side of the city.
Kassim drew his horse closer to mine and dismounted. “Ignore him,” he said shortly. “They’re just ghost stories.”
“He didn’t upset me.” I slid off Bandit and winced as the impact on the soft sand set my back on fire again.
It was still painful, but the healer had cleaned the sand and grit from the wound with a potent liquid, assuring me that no infection would set in. I would just have to suffer through it until we returned to Kisrabah. I didn’t dare let anyone know how much it hurt in case they refused to allow me into the city with them.
“How’s your back?”
I hesitated. “The healer did a good job,” I answered noncommittally, before hastily moving the conversation onto safer ground. “Is the city really cursed?”
Kassim sighed. “I told you. They’re just stories, nothing more.”
“And this curse has nothing to do with the talisman?”
Kassim glared at me.
I glared right back. “You brought me here to help, didn’t you? How can I do that if you don’t tell me exactly what we’re looking for?”
Abruptly, the
sultan held out an arm. “Walk with me.”
I blinked. He wants me to walk with him now? I hesitated, uncertain why the sultan would suddenly be open to my taking his arm.
“You’re going to refuse me?” he snapped.
I lurched forward to grab hold of him and felt his muscles grow tense beneath my palm. Should I move my hand?
He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
He just scowled and began walking, practically dragging me along beside him. I kept as still as possible, so we could both pretend my hand wasn’t resting on his arm.
As if by magic, two guards seemed to materialize a respectful distance behind us, leading our horses, the others falling into formation behind them as we made our way toward the ruined city.
Kassim had long legs, and I hurried to match his pace. “We think the talisman is a map,” he said at last.
A thrill ran through me. Finally, he’s treating me like a sultanah worthy of ruling alongside a sultan.
He looked at me while I considered this new information, a small smirk forming on his lips. “If I knew that was all it took to render you speechless, perhaps I would have let you in on the details of our mission sooner.”
Well, almost like a sultanah.
I ignored the snarky comment. What he’d said didn’t entirely make sense to me. “You mean you think a map is hidden inside it?”
“Possibly. But our research suggests the talisman, itself, is the map.”
“How could a talisman be a map?”
Kassim shot me an irritated glance. “Well, I hope that will become obvious once we find it.”
I walked in silence for a moment, frowning at the city ahead. I tried to imagine all the ways a talisman could work as a map. Did Kassim mean a sort of compass?
Then I realized I’d asked the wrong question.
I stopped abruptly, my boots digging into the hot sand. “A map to where, exactly?”
“Well, if we knew that, we wouldn’t need the map, would we?”
I dug my fingers sharply into Kassim’s arm, and his eyes widened in surprise. “You know what I mean. What does it lead to that’s worth all this trouble, for which you lost good men?”
Kassim urged me into a walk again, a somber look spreading slowly across his face. “I hadn’t thought I would lose anyone. I only hope, in the end, it was worth it.”
My arm grew uncomfortably warm where it pressed against the sultan. We were almost at the city walls, the sandstone pockmarked with cracks and holes that could have been made by either weapons or magic. If Kassim was going to give me the explanation I wanted, it was likely to be now, before we reached the city.
He let out an irritated sigh, then finally relented. “There’s a legend about a huge store of items of great power that were lost to us generations ago. Hepzibah thinks we might use those items to strengthen my rule over the kingdom. And we think the talisman will tell us where they’re hidden.”
I inhaled sharply. Sorcerer’s beard… If such a treasure really existed, it would make a kingdom wealthy beyond measure.
I frowned. It also seemed like the kind of treasure kingdoms would go to war over. Was it really wise to encourage that? To open up such an imbalance of power? I had read The Rise and Fall of Kingdoms countless times. Any time more than one kingdom coveted something, it seemed to end in war. It seemed foolish to go looking for such treasures.
Unless other kingdoms already knew of their existence, of course…
My steps faltered as everything went dark. We had reached the shadow of the city, the sudden absence of dazzling sunlight making everything seem much darker than it was. I stopped walking for a moment, allowing my eyes time to adjust. The old walls slowly came into view, a crumbling patchwork of golden stone.
“In any case, I guess we’ll soon see whether the talisman is even here. If we find it, Astaran will owe its new princess.” Kassim smiled grimly. “If not, I shall have to explain why good men lost their lives.”
I didn’t really take in what he was saying, still turning over this new information about the talisman in my mind. Why had so many great treasures been lost in the first place? And why had they all been hidden in the same place?
The fact that the surviving map was hidden in a cursed city didn’t exactly fill me with confidence this was the kind of treasure mortal men were meant to find…
I needed to know more. But before I could ask any of the questions hovering on my lips, we were interrupted.
“Kassim!” The vizier galloped up behind us, forcing the guards to leap aside as she raced to catch us before we entered the city. A strange look passed over her face when she saw my hand on the sultan’s arm. “I must ask you once more. Do you really think it’s wise to bring the princess inside the city?”
I scowled. Was she going to ruin every opportunity I had to be involved?
To my surprise, a cross look flashed over Kassim’s face. “We need the princess to translate, Hepzibah. Besides, you can’t believe she’ll be any safer in the desert. We’ve seen what spirits lurk here.”
Utterly blindsided by the sultan’s sudden change in tune, I didn’t say a word as Kassim dragged me over to where Elian stood by a gap in the wall.
“Ready to collect what we came for?” The captain gestured to where rubble poured from a wound in the city’s side, where we might enter.
Kassim nodded.
Elian went first, then the rest of us followed him into the ruined city of Tigrylon.
My surprise at the sultan’s change of heart was quickly replaced by a kind of frustrated dread.
The city was cast entirely in shadow, a maze of narrow streets lined with tall, crumbling buildings. Kassim and Elian flanked me, extra cautious after the attack in the desert. The vizier trailed behind us, and I could have sworn I felt her gaze digging deeper into my wounded back with every step.
We turned corner after corner, doing our best to hunt through the streets methodically but making little progress, at least as far as I could see.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that the city didn’t want us here. Patterns carved into every wall reminded me of the symbols I’d seen carved into the door of the treasury. And on the djinni’s ring. I glanced down to the gold band on my finger. Yes, it was definitely the same script, made up of a swirling calligraphy.
I looked back at the walls. Despite the fact I couldn’t read the script, it looked ancient, and threatening, and I was certain it was designed to keep people out.
Among the shattered stone, we passed shards of pottery, scraps of faded material, and the occasional glint of heavy metal pans still bright beneath the thick layer of dust coating everything. Fleeting glimpses of the lives lost to the desert.
I nudged a broken tile with my foot and jumped back as a small black scorpion scuttled out.
With impressive speed, Elian impaled the scorpion with the point of his scimitar. “Careful, princess.”
I watched the creature continue to wriggle under the blade and tried not to feel too sorry for it. This type of scorpion was deadly, after all. “Do we even know what we’re looking for?” My voice echoed eerily between the walls.
“Tired already, princess?” the vizier quipped from behind us. “Perhaps one of the guards might be left with you while you rest.”
“Perhaps it’s not a bad idea to split up,” Elian said before I could retort. He lifted the point of the scimitar from the ground. The scorpion had stopped moving altogether. “Zadie’s right. We don’t know exactly what we’re looking for.”
I flashed him a grateful smile, which he didn’t return, his expression serious.
“We could cover more ground if we split into smaller groups. If any of us finds something promising, we’ll meet there.”
Kassim considered. “It didn’t end well for us last time we were split up.”
I blushed as I realized he was talking about my injuries.
“I promise, sultan,�
� Elian said firmly. “I won’t leave the princess’ side.”
I tried not to feel too irritated that they thought I needed looking after.
Once we returned to the palace, I would ask to learn how to fight. If I couldn’t convince Kassim, maybe Elian could teach me.
“You and the princess take Hadi and Sadoc and search the southern quarter of the city,” the vizier said, determined not to lose control of the situation completely. “Kassim and I will take Veda and Mu’adh to search the northern quarter. The rest of you remain here and search the rest of the western quarter. If none of us has any luck, we’ll come back tomorrow to search the eastern side of the city.”
Kassim gave a stiff nod. “Sound the horn at the first sign of any trouble. One blast if you need us there right away. Two if you think you’ve found something.” He moved to Hepzibah’s side, then suddenly turned back again. “Elian, don’t leave Zadie alone for a moment.”
I felt a warm glow rise to my cheeks, a fluttering in my chest. Wait… Was I irritated or pleased he wanted Elian to trail me like a shadow?
“Of course, Sultan,” Elian said.
“I mean it. If she’s feeling too hot and needs to rest in the shade, if she realizes she’s forgotten something, even if she has to relieve herself, you will go with her. Understood?”
The warm feeling disappeared. How did Kassim manage to be infuriating all the time?
Elian’s lips twitched up slightly, but he quickly contorted his face back into an expression of sincerity. “Understood, Kassim.”
We took the next turn to the south, Elian close enough to my side that I could feel the heat radiating from his body.
“Just so you’re aware, you are not coming with me if I need to relieve myself,” I hissed. I pushed a sand-coated strand of hair back from my face, tucking it behind my ear.
Elian’s eyes glittered. “You heard the sultan.”
I glared at him. “And what if you need to?”
He smiled. “Then you’ll be in for a treat.”
Throne of Sand (Desert Nights Book 1) Page 18