Ali nodded. “No, of course not. You’re right.” He tried to put the nightmarish thought of the Scourge of Qui-zi, freed after centuries of slavery and seeking bloody vengeance for his slain Nahids, out of mind. “Then why did you bring me here, Dhiru?”
“To set your priorities straight. To remind you of our real enemy.” Muntadhir gestured at the Nahid remains scattered around them. “You’ve never met a Nahid, Ali. You never watched Manizheh snap her fingers and break the bones of a man across the room.”
“It doesn’t matter. They’re dead anyway.”
“But the Daevas are not,” Muntadhir replied. “Those kids you were fretting about upstairs? What’s the worst that will happen to them—they’ll grow up thinking they’re purebloods?” Muntadhir shook his head. “The Nahid Council would have had them burned alive. Hell, probably half the Daevas still think that’s a good idea. Abba walks the line between them. We are neutral. It’s the only thing that’s kept peace in the city.” He lowered his voice. “You . . . you are not neutral. People who think and talk the way you do are dangerous. And Abba does not suffer threats to his city lightly.”
Ali leaned against the stone sarcophagus, and then remembering what it contained, quickly straightened back up. “What are you saying?”
His brother met his gaze. “Something’s going to happen today, Alizayd. Something you’re not going to like. And I want you to promise me you’re not going to do anything stupid in response.”
The deadly intent in Muntadhir’s voice took him aback. “What’s going to happen?”
Muntadhir shook his head. “I can’t tell you.”
“Then how can you expect me to—”
“All I’m asking is that you let Abba do what he needs to do to keep the city’s peace.” Muntadhir gave him a dark look. “I know you’re up to something with the shafit, Zaydi. I don’t know what exactly, nor do I want to. But it ends. Today.”
Ali’s mouth went dry. He fought for a response. “Dhiru, I—”
Muntadhir hushed him. “No, akhi. There is no fight to be had here. I’m your emir, your older brother, and I’m telling you: stay away from the shafit. Zaydi . . . look at me.” He took Ali by the shoulders, forcing him to meet his eyes. They were filled with worry. “Please, akhi. There’s only so much I can do to protect you otherwise.”
Ali took a shaky breath. Here alone with the older brother he’d looked up to for years, the one he’d spent his life preparing to protect and serve as Qaid, Ali felt the terror and guilt of the past few weeks, the anxiety that weighed upon him like armor, finally loosen.
And then collapse. “I’m so sorry, Dhiru.” His voice cracked, and he blinked, fighting back tears. “I never meant for any of this . . .”
Muntadhir pulled him into a hug. “It’s all right. Look . . . just prove your loyalty now and I promise you that when I’m king, I will listen to you about the mixed-bloods. I have no desire to harm the shafit—I think Abba is often too hard on them. And I know you, Ali—you and your spinning mind, your obsession with facts and figures.” He tapped Ali’s temple. “I suspect there are some good ideas hiding behind your propensity for rash, terrible decisions.”
Ali hesitated. Earn this. Anas’s last order was never far in his mind, and if he closed his eyes, Ali could still see the crumbling orphanage, could hear the little boy’s rattling cough.
But you can’t save them on your own. And wouldn’t the brother that he loved and trusted, the man who would actually have real power one day, be a better partner than the bickering remnants of the Tanzeem?
Ali nodded. And then he agreed, his voice echoing in the cavern.
“Yes, my emir.”
15
Nahri
Nahri glanced behind her, but the boat was already leaving, the captain singing as he returned to the open lake. She took a deep breath and followed Dara and the Ayaanle merchants as they made their way to the enormous doors, flanked by a pair of winged lion statues, set in the brass wall. The docks were otherwise deserted and in a state of disrepair. She picked her way carefully through the crumbling monuments, catching sight of a gray hawk watching them from high atop one of the statue’s shoulders.
“This place looks like Hierapolis,” she whispered. The decaying grandeur and deathly silence made it hard to believe there was a teeming city behind the high brass walls.
Dara cast a dismayed glance at a collapsed pier. “It was much grander in my day,” he agreed. “The Geziri never had much taste in the finer aspects of life. I doubt they care about upkeep.” He lowered his voice. “And I don’t think the docks get much use. I’ve not seen another daeva in years; I assumed most people became too afraid to travel after the Nahids were wiped out.” He gave her a small smile. “Maybe now that will change.”
She didn’t return his smile. The idea that her presence might be reason enough to renew commerce was daunting.
The heavy iron doors opened as their group approached. A few men milled about the entrance, soldiers from the look of them. All wore white waist-wraps that went to their calves, black sleeveless tunics, and dark gray turbans. They shared the same bronze-brown skin and black beards as the boat captain. She watched as one nodded to the merchants and motioned them inside.
“Are they Geziris?” she asked, not taking her eyes off the long spears held by two of the men. Their scythed points had a coppery gleam.
“Yes. The Royal Guard.” Dara took a deep breath, self-consciously touching the muddied mark on his temple. “Let’s go.”
The guards seemed preoccupied with the merchants, poking through their salt tablets and scouring their scrolls with pursed lips. One guard glanced up at them, his gunmetal gray gaze briefly flickering past her face. “Pilgrims?” he asked, sounding bored.
Dara kept his gaze low. “Yes. From Sarq—”
The guard waved him off. “Go,” he said distractedly, nearly knocking Nahri over as he turned to help his fellows with the long-suffering salt traders.
Nahri blinked, surprised by how easily that had gone.
“Come on,” Dara whispered, tugging her forward. “Before they change their minds.”
They slipped through the open doors.
As the full force of the city hit her, Nahri realized the walls must have held sound in as well as magic because they were standing in the loudest, most chaotic place she’d ever seen, surrounded by waves of jostling people.
Nahri tried to peer over their heads to look down the crowded street. “What is this place?”