Page 58 of A Thousand Nights Before Dawn
“No!” Zahra fell forward, kneeling in the pool of blood that surrounded him. The wound was across his chest and neck, deep and cutting into his airway. He looked at her with sorrow and panic. His mouth moved as if to speak, but he couldn’t pull in any air. His eyes rolled back in his head as his face turned blue.
A body collided with hers, forcing her away from her father. “Patér!Patér, no!”
Zahra writhed as she was dragged across the floor. She was hoisted off her feet and tossed over someone’s shoulder, and she screamed. Her screams turned to sobs as she was carried through the halls, themedjayon guard rearing back in surprise.
Bloody footprints were left in their wake, but slowly the red disappeared with each step. They turned down a hall away from any guards and tossed Zahra into a room. Through her tears, she saw Namir securing the door. He pushed furniture against it to further secure it, his eyes wide with panic.
Zahra whimpered, the image of her dying father stuck in her mind. All she wanted to do was help him, but every time she tried to help, she remembered her hands were bound and that her father was in the throne room.
The faint sounds ofmedjayyelling from outside quieted Zahra’s sobs, and she watched the door, trembling and numb, as themedjayran past.
Once it was silent out in the hall, Namir turned his attention on her. He pulled out a dagger. Zahra gasped and stumbled backward.
He raised his hands. “It is for the ropes.” He grabbed her arms and cut the ropes around her wrists.
“She… She killed him,” Zahra stuttered through her cries.
“I know. I know. I am sorry.” He threw the ropes aside. “We can escape through the window. There are only a few hours until the spell renews. We can try again then.”
Zahra shivered on the floor as Namir moved by the window, looking outside. Zahra held up her blood-coated hands, and her wrists were raw and bleeding. Her white dress was drenched in her father’s blood, and only the part under her shawl remained untouched.
“The perimeter guard will be passing by soon,” Namir said. “Then we can slip out and?—”
Zahra shoved him hard. “You did this!”
Namir stumbled back into the wall, his eyes wide as he whispered harshly, “Are you ill? They will hear you!”
Tears slipped down Zahra’s cheeks as she tried to push him again, but he stepped out of the way. “You simply stood there! You said you would help me, and you didnothingbut stand there!”
“I promised I would speak to her.” He took several paces away from her and the window. “But the Pharaoh Queen makes the final decision in these matters. What else was I to do?”
“You are King!” Zahra gritted her teeth. “You had more voice in that room than anyone.”
“By law, she overrules me,” Namir explained. “I cannot change that! Now, please. They will hear?—”
Zahra stepped toward him. “Lies! It was because of your own cowardice!”
Namir stumbled into a chair, causing it to splinter beneath him. The dagger slid away on the floor. He looked up with terror as she approached.
“A leader must speak for those they lead, regardless of who has power over them. A King who can’t protect the very people he swore to protect is shameful, ignorant, and weak.”
Namir’s eyes narrowed in anger, and he stood. “How dare you speak to me like that! I listened to your story. I vouched for you and your people in front of the Pharaoh Queen and the members of the court! Do you know what that does to my image as King?”
“Oh, yes, because helpingmypeople is an act of treason,” Zahra spat.
He gritted his teeth. “That is not what I meant.”
“I understand what you intended.”
“Your father will be alive come morning,” Namir argued. “We can try again. We canalwaystry again.”
“It does not matter to you, does it? The day will repeat, and no one will remember but you and me. The pain I endure, the pain my father endured, does not matter to you!”
“Of course it matters,” he cried, “but I have lived this day longer than you. I knew if they killed you, we could try again tomorrow.”
Zahra froze.
Namir’s mouth fell open. “I… I did not mean?—”
