Palace of Wishes (2020 Reissue)
Page 25
“I’m sure I could find time to learn...” He reached out for me again, more gently this time, tracing his fingers in slow, light strokes over my skin.
Tingles ran up and down my arms, a heat building in my core. I shivered, my irritation dissolving.
Kassim’s taunting smile widened. “Who knew this was all I had to do to get you to be quiet.”
Batting the sultan away with the dictionary and giving him my haughtiest look, I did my best to ignore the low rumble of laughter in his chest. “Unfortunately for you, you’ll have to cope without my excellent conversation for the rest of the day. I’ve got business in the city, remember?”
“Are you sure? We could go for a swim.” Kassim’s teasing expression turned serious. “If you’re struggling to adjust to your training schedule again, that would help, you know. The captain won’t cut you any slack just because you’ve been away for a few weeks.”
I bit my lip. It was tempting to spend the rest of the morning in the pools with Kassim, but one of the thieves had approached us when we’d left the city to visit the Order of the Scholars. Aliyah had requested I stop in to see her as soon as possible today. The thief had said it was urgent.
Since Hidu, we’d both been trying to find out everything we could about the vizier, to figure out what exactly her motives were. It could be important…
Catching the determined look on my face, Kassim shrugged. “Come find me after you’ve finished whatever business the so-called thief queen has with you today.”
In spite of my lingering outrage over the head scholar’s rejection of my work, a smile spread across my face. It wasn’t so long ago that Kassim had refused to let me out of the palace grounds or go anywhere at all without first concealing me within a palanquin. It still gave me a thrill to have my freedom back. That the sultan even trusted me enough to let me visit the shadier parts of the city, where the Queen of Thieves and her accomplices ruled in their own way.
Even if he didn’t know we were investigating his Royal Vizier.
I thrust my book at one of the guards. “Make sure the sultan keeps his promise and takes this straight to the palace library, okay?”
The guard’s cheeks turned pink, his mouth opening and closing as he battled over whether to ignore his princess or direct his sultan.
Shooting a smile at Kassim, I mounted Bandit and prepared to ride back into the city. “I’ll let you know what Aliyah wants. I’ll be back for tea with Safiyya and Diyan this afternoon.”
A slight frown crossed the sultan’s face. “Make sure you are. Safiyya’s arranged for last year’s palace storyteller to perform for us. It’s important to her.”
“I will be!” I insisted.
He rolled his eyes at me. “See you at home.”
Home. It was amazing how quickly I’d come to think of the palace in that way.
Accompanied by two guards, I hurried on through the streets, doing my best not to get too distracted by the lure of the festivities on my way to the thieves’ den.
The week-long celebration in the run up to All Spirits Day told stories of the spirits, culminating in a competition to become the palace’s new storyteller-in-residence. As I passed performers walking over hot coals, juggling flaming batons, or encouraging children to fling handfuls of colorful powder at one another, which billowed out like clouds of smoke, it was easy to believe the spirits’ world of smoke and fire had started seeping into the streets of Kisrabah.
On almost every corner I heard snatches of stories about djinn, ifrits, and ghuls that made my heart leap into my mouth. I was wildly excited for the festival. For the stories illuminating the city streets before All Spirits Day. Our wedding day.
Reluctantly, I stopped outside the thieves’ den, shooting one last lingering look back at the stalls brimming over with food and fire. Maybe there’d be time to look around after I’d finished with Aliyah.
“You can wait here,” I told my guards. Now that the thief queen was cooperating with the palace, she didn’t mind me being escorted here, but I knew she’d still balk at the thought of the Golds coming into her home.
The guards nodded and took up their position at either side of the doorway, leaving me to slip inside alone. I immediately halted at the overpowering smell of alcohol.
“Hey, scholar!” Faris shouted from one of the tables. He lifted a cup and gave a loud hiccup. “Long see, no time.” He frowned, as though he knew something about what he’d just said was wrong, then shrugged and downed the rest of his drink to a chorus of slurred cheers from the rest of the thieves gathered in the room.
“Zeeeeeee!” Gadiel whooped in a high-pitched voice from another table, his thick ponytail swinging. “Come an’ have a glash of thish.” He giggled. “I mean, we’re shupposed to be celebrating the shpirits, right?”
The rest of the thieves started giggling, too.
“Actually, I’m here to see Aliyah…” And, spirits, we’re barely even into the afternoon. I looked around for any sign of the thief queen, hoping she wasn’t as inebriated as the rest of her thieves.
Lisha materialized at my side, making me jump, and greeted me with a jerk of her chin. At least she didn’t seem to have started on the festival wine just yet. “Ali’s upstairs, on the roof terrace. C’mon.” She strode across the room, and I hurried after her, nearly falling over one of the thieves who’d already passed out on the floor.
I wrinkled my nose as my slipper snagged on a sticky patch of spilled drink. “Looks like you’re all getting into the festival spirit. What’s Aliyah got to tell me that’s so important it couldn’t wait?”
At my demanding tone, Lisha gave me a considering look. “You’ll have to wait to speak to Aliyah, princess.”
I stopped mid-step, dread splintering down my spine. Aliyah told her?
“Oh, you can wipe that worried look off your face.” Lisha gave me a smile, showing all her teeth. “The others don’t know. Anyway, Aliyah’s made it clear you’re still one of us. It’d be more than my life’s worth to turn you in.”
My shoulders sagged. “I hope you understand why I had to hide it…”
“We all have secrets, I s’pose.” She ran her tongue along her teeth, then resumed walking. “Aliyah told me about your trip to Hidu.”
Uh oh. “I had no idea Namir had ordered her capture,” I protested quickly. “I was as shocked as anyone to find her on the voyage.”
“She told me you convinced the spymaster to free her from her cell on the ship and that you fought alongside her in battle.”
Lisha stopped at the foot of some pale wooden stairs jutting out from the wall, sunlight streaming in from the door at the top. “To be honest, with the dendan, wild rocs, and the fire Guardian, it all sounds like one of the tall tales from the festival. But I believe Aliyah. And I believe in Aliyah. If she trusts you, I guess I’ll have to as well.”
“You can trust me.”
Lisha grunted. “She’s up there.”
It was hardly a hand of friendship, but I’d take Lisha’s begrudging respect over her aggressive hatred any day. Especially considering she was a skilled assassin. I squeezed past her, and slowly ascended the rickety staircase.
At the top of the stairs, I narrowed my eyes against the bright sunshine on the terrace, the heat shimmering over the hot stone. Aliyah was talking to another of the thieves, the two of them sitting on a couch at a table overlooking the city streets, their backs to me. They looked strangely at odds with each other. In contrast to Aliyah’s shaved, tattooed head, the other thief had shoulder-length, black hair that gleamed. Where Aliyah was tall and long-limbed, like me, the other was smaller and slighter, her posture somehow more feminine.
The scent of jasmine tea drifted across the rooftop, and I breathed in deeply.
“What kind of thief leaves her back exposed like that?” I called out, grinning.
Aliyah didn’t turn around, just slowly reached to the table for her cup. But the thief beside her startled at the sound of my voice and swiveled in
her chair, her dark eyes finding my face and widening in shock.
The world fell out from under me.
My hands started to shake as I stared at my sister, who stared right back.
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Thanks for reading
Dear reader,
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading the second book in our Desert Nights series. This one took a lot of work to bring together, but we loved seeing Zadie and Kassim growing closer together while putting them in increasingly perilous situations!
In the next book, Princess of Smoke, we return to Kisrabah for Zadie and Kassim’s wedding. Assuming all goes to plan, that is…
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Kingdom of Spirits
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Set immediately before Throne of Sand, the prequel tells the story of how Zadie came to take her sister’s place beside Kassim.
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Also by Elm & Helena
THE DESERT NIGHTS SERIES
Kingdom of Spirits (prequel)
Throne of Sand
Palace of Wishes
Princess of Smoke
Queen of Djinn (forthcoming)
ALSO BY ELM VINCE
The Star Cast series
Tapestry of Night (forthcoming)
www.elmvince.com
ALSO BY HELENA ROOKWOOD
The Carnival of Fae series
The Sword and the Star (prequel)
The Prince and the Poisoner
The Thief and the Throne (forthcoming)
The Carnival and the Crown (forthcoming)
The River Witch series
The River Witch
The Iron Court
The Queen’s Court
The Wild Hunt
The Iron City
The King’s Court (forthcoming)
www.helenarookwood.com
About the authors
Elm and Helena have been friends since before they were old enough to read. They grew up loving the same books, and never quite grew out of it, so it’s not much of a surprise that they’ve both ended up writing YA fantasy – and even less of a surprise that they’re now writing a series together!
They’re both mad about dragons, fairytales, strong female leads, and hate-to-love romances. Recent fantasy books they haven’t been able to stop chatting about have included those by Sarah J. Maas, Naomi Novik, Sabaa Tahir, and Leigh Bardugo.
If you want to find out more, the best thing to do is to send one of them an email.
You can contact Elm at elmvincebooks@gmail.com, or Helena at hello@helenarookwood.com