Page 46 of A Thousand Nights Before Dawn
Pesha, too, it seemed, remembered. Was Zahra wrong to lie? These were her people, after all. If she broke her promise to Namir and told them about the Thoth and the power it contained, would they allow her father and her to join them in the desert? Perhaps they had a way to break her curse.
Zahra swallowed. She couldn’t tell Pesha of the Thoth. She did not know the state of Pesha’s heart. From what Pesha had told her, Zahra did not think Pesha would help them.
Another Naqada Ionian appeared through a door beside Pesha. His loose, brown curls were pulled into a tight bun, and his green eyes studied her. He spoke in Ionic. “What will we do with her?”
Pesha glanced back at Zahra, replying in Ionic. “She is blind with love, but she does not pose a threat.” She turned away. “It will not matter what she knows after tonight.”
Tonight?Zahra tugged on her bounds. “What are you planning to do?”
Pesha left the room without another word. The man studied her with sorrow. He grabbed Zahra’s head firmly, but with a gentleness Pesha lacked, and shoved the fabric back in her mouth. “I am sorry,” he said in choppy Auran, as if she couldn’t understand her own tongue. “You will find you never truly loved him.”
Zahra screamed. The fabric did its job well, stopping her from making much sound. Pesha returned, along with five more people. They retrieved a variety of weapons with leather sheaths out of hiding: a bow and arrows, daggers, axiphos, akopis, and a spear with a shield.
Zahra yanked at the ropes around her wrists, ignoring the pain that tunneled up her muscles as the Naqada Ionians went out the door. It was not until the obelisk chimed four Khepri and golden sunlight spilled through the open door that she realized their intent.
They were going to assassinate the King.
10
Saving the King
Zahra’s arms hung above her head as cool air drifted in from the window. The fabric that had been nailed there had come loose, showing Zahra the dark blue of the night sky. She had given up on calling for help hours ago, though she had managed to spit out the fabric in her mouth. She was in an Ionian village, one of the many scattered throughout Aur, but she was not sure which one. The closest one to Illahun was more than an hour’s walk away, and she guessed the inhabitants of this village were off in celebration elsewhere, as there were no sounds beyond the chirping of crickets and scampering of rats.
Zahra threw her head against the wall, letting the pain hum down her back and shoulders. Tears soaked her face, but she did not care. Her father was walking right into a trap, and the night would end with Namir’s death. And here she was, bound and gagged by her own people, unable to help.
Her fate was sealed. Her father would die. The King would die. And thekereswould come for her eventually.
Why had Katerina led her to Namir if this was the outcome? Why would she have led Zahra to Namir at all?
Namir had trapped her in this loop and called her a servant. He treated her as everyone did. Even if she could save him, why would she?
Zahra took a strangled breath, resting her head against the wall. Despite his rudeness, he had promised to help her. He humored her questions and showed sympathy when she was hurt. In her moments of agony after the commander had wounded her, he had held her. Made her feel she wasn’t alone.
The Ionians’ struggles, though big, were not his fault. He was a new King, and he had much to learn. Zahra knew he was more than capable of making change—he had helped her, after all. If Zahra helped him now, if she betrayed her people, would he reward her as he had promised? Would he save her and her father’s lives? Would he better the lives of her people?
The silver light of the moon glittered on the floor. The reality of the rope on her wrists and the bitterness of the cloth in her mouth returned. With the reality came a decision.
Selene had asked that Zahra trust her, and she would. If Zahra’s fate was to die tonight, she would die on her terms.
Zahra lifted her body as much as she could and glanced around the room. The assassins had stripped it bare of anything she could use to cut the ropes. She would have to try to undo the knot.
The light from the moon extended onto the floor as Zahra pulled at her bounds, trying to get the knot loose. A brilliant silver caught Zahra’s eye. The moon was resting on a blanket, and poking out from beneath it lay the head of a broken arrow.
Zahra gasped in surprise, reaching her foot out as far as she could to grab the arrowhead, but she was not long enough. She slipped one of her sandals off and used her toes to push it towardthe arrowhead. Even with the extra length, Zahra could still not reach the arrowhead.
Zahra’s head fell back, and she let out a heavy sigh. “Selene, please. If I am to warn him, I need to escape.”
An eagle’s cry came from outside, and Zahra’s gaze shot to the window. Katerina pushed past the loose fabric.
Zahra let out an excited gasp. “Katerina.”
Katerina chirped and landed near Zahra’s feet. She picked up the arrowhead with her foot, flapping her wings and dropping it in one of Zahra’s hands.
“Thank you,” Zahra said, setting to work.
After some time, her bounds came loose, and Zahra stood, slipping her sandal back on her foot and stumbling toward the exit. The sudden movement caused her to sway, and she collided with the doorway. Zahra hissed, holding her head as she steadied herself. Her capture had left her dizzy and weak, but she could do nothing about that now.
Katerina cawed from behind her, flying past Zahra. Gripping her necklace, Zahra said a prayer to Selene and stumbled out into the night.
