Irsa could not reply with words, so instead she merely nodded.
Once they had left, Irsa sat beside the raised bed pallet. Strangely, she did not feel any pain. Again, it was as though she had moved beyond herself. Rahim still looked as though he might be sleeping. Someone had tried to clean him, but they’d missed a line of blood at his neck. But for that, Irsa could almost believe she might jostle him awake with nothing but her touch.
Instead she studied the line of blood in silence for a time.
Then Irsa reached into the folds of her cloak and pulled out the white shell with the flower etched on its surface. “I wanted to give you this.”
She waited. As though she expected a response.
“Oh.” It was a quiet sob. Something tore behind her heart. Though Irsa wanted to fight back the sudden burn, she let it wash through her. She would not be weak. This was not a time to be weak. And fighting herself—fighting how she felt in this moment—would be weak.
Would be denying who she truly was.
“I—” Irsa took a careful breath to steady her words. “I have felt alone for most of my life. Until you.” She placed the shell on his chest. “But I promise I won’t feel alone anymore. I will never forget.” She stood on shaky feet. “I will always remember.”
“I love you, Rahim al-Din Walad. Thank you for loving me in return.”
With that, Irsa turned and walked through the entrance of the tent, her head high, though her body had begun to tremble.
Khalid and the young magus from the Fire Temple were waiting outside, just beyond a pair of torches. The magus eyed her, his face softening. She started to walk by them. Then stopped.
The magus took a deep breath. He sent a sad smile her way while placing a reassuring hand on Khalid’s shoulder. Then, without a word, he left.
“Did he . . .” Irsa bit her lip, tears building upon the burn, threatening to converge at any second. “Did Rahim suffer?”
“Not long.”
“I’m glad.”
“As am I.” Khalid studied her face. Studied the twist of emotions passing across her features. “Irsa—”
“How could you let this happen?” she asked, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Why didn’t you protect him? Why didn’t you—”
The Caliph of Khorasan pulled her in to his chest.
And Irsa cried until every last trace of the sun’s warmth sank beneath the horizon.
BARTERING, LIES, AND BETRAYAL
VIKRAM LED SHAHRZAD THROUGH THE UNDERBELLY of the sandstone palace, a single torch held high in his right hand. Though Shahrzad could not make out any sort of path before them, the mammoth bodyguard shifted and spun with a skill that suggested a prior knowledge of the space.
At the very least, he knew these labyrinthine hallways a bit too well for comfort.
Suspicion tugged at Shahrzad’s core. “Exactly where were you this entire time?”
“In a prison cell,” he grunted back. As curt as ever.
They passed into a winding set of stairs before branching off into another small corridor. With every turn, the halls seemed to constrict on all sides.
Shahrzad refused to be ignored. “Do you know where my sister is?”
“No.”
“Then how is it you know your way around this palace?” she pressed.
“I told you: now is not the time for such questions.”
At that, Shahrzad halted in her tracks. She had been betrayed one too many times of late. She would not be betrayed again now. “I disagree. Now is precisely the time for such questions. Especially if you intend for me to follow you a single step more.”
Vikram pivoted in place. The flame in his hand flared bright as he cast her a look that would send a lesser man scurrying home to his mother.
Shahrzad tapped a slippered foot with impatience.
He frowned. Then huffed a sigh. “I was given a map.”
“By whom?”
His frown deepened, though a brief flash of amusement wrinkled across his brow. “Who do you think?”
“By a palace rat,” Shahrzad ground out. “How should I know?”
“Despina.”
“Despina!” she sputtered. “You were fool enough to trust that turncoat?”
Vikram glared down at her, his torch almost close enough to singe what was left of her hair. “Bite your tongue. Despina is the only reason you have a palace rat’s chance of escaping.”
“A likely story. Since I suspect she’s the reason I’m here at all.”
He shook his bald head, grumbling unintelligibly. “There was no way to prevent that from happening, for she did not know of the sultan’s plan. She only knew what would likely come to pass. She did everything possible to help you.”
“Ha!” Shahrzad cut her eyes in disbelief. “You expect me to believe that the girl who smiled as she watched the palace guards drag me away intended to help me? There were a thousand things she could have done!”
“Such as?”