Page 61 of A Thousand Nights Before Dawn
Namir stepped forward. “She knows nothing of you or your father. I have ensured it.”
Zahra blinked. “Then why do yourmedjaystill hunt us? Why do they seek to imprison us?”
“Perhaps because you act like thieves. You have stolen a boat and disobeyed themedjay’sorders.” He paused, letting his words sink in. “Let me protect you. The Pharaoh Queen will not interfere. You will be comfortable and safe. When this day is over, I will ensure neither of you is punished and that you are returned safely to your homes. You will not be punished by the Pharaoh Queen’s sword. Please, let me help you.”
His offer surprised her, but she shook her head. His promises couldn’t be trusted. “I let you help. I will never make that mistake again.”
Namir’s face fell, and he turned to the floor.
Zahra turned away from him, walking down the hall.
“I will let you leave. I will not follow you.”
Zahra paused and looked back at him.
He met her eyes. “But I have a condition.” He pulled a rolled-up papyrus out from a satchel hidden under his cloak and held it out for her to take. “Take this and read it. That is all I ask.”
Zahra raised a doubtful eyebrow. “That’s all?”
“Yes.”
She studied him. Slowly, she made her way toward him. She took the papyrus, watching him cautiously.
Namir stepped to the side. Zahra walked past him, facing him until she stepped outside. Ramses was standing against an outer wall. He scrutinized her, but he made no move to stop her.
As soon as Zahra was sure Namir was serious, she ran.
Zahra sat with her chin in her hands, watching some Auran children play while she and her father sat by a well. The sun had crossed the sky, and soon the land would be cast in darkness and the battle that Zahra faced each night would once again begin.
Omar studied Zahra. “Perhaps the boat is still an option. You said that it worked before.”
“The King knows that’s where I will go,” Zahra explained. “We can’t go that way anymore.”
It was true, but that was not the only reason she was reluctant to try again. For months, she had tried everything she could to escape Aur alive. She and her father had left Aur through the border to the west, only for wild animals or small bands of Naqada to kill her. She had stolendebenfrom Bahiti, horses from the temple or local stables, and weapons from a small armory guarded bymedjay. Her every attempt to escape Aur had failed. The boat was her last idea, and though Namir had interfered, he had a point. Even if themedjaywere not there, the boat was unlikely to make it far in the Sea, and she did not know if they would survive if they docked it on a shore outside of Aur.
Zahra thought that leaving Aur would save her father’s life and free her from thekeres’wrath, but she was wrong, and she was out of ideas. And if Namir was looking for her, she was out of time. Why else would he have searched for her if not to try, one last time, to make her see reason? He had found his bride,and he was going to end the spell. She was foolish for refusing his help, but she couldn’t trust his words after what he had done.
“What about the King?”
Zahra looked up at her father. “What about him?”
“You said that he would try to stop us,” Omar started, “but why would he have let you go if he wanted to capture us?”
Zahra bit her cheek. “He let me go because he knew there was no point in capturing me while the day was still repeating.”
Omar considered her words. “And the letter?”
Zahra glanced at the papyrus in her bag. She turned her attention back to the children. “It will be getting dark soon.”
Even if she stayed in the moonlight, she had learned that the moonlight could only protect her for so long. Thekereswould come, and she would die again.
Zahra thought of Selene’s eagle. She had seen Katerina from afar, but she had not spoken to her as she had in the Duat. Despite that, she had thought about the eagle’s words.Asenath.It was an Auran name, but Zahra had no way of finding out more about her. She did not even know where to start.
An idea sprang to Zahra’s mind, and she dropped her hands from her face.The hidden library.Perhaps leaving Aur was the answer, but she couldn’t do so without first breaking her curse. If there was a way to break it, she would find it in the hidden library. Even if Namir ended the spell tonight, as long as she broke her curse, she and her father could escape Aur tomorrow.
Zahra hopped to her feet. “We need to go back to Inebu-hedj.”
Omar raised his eyebrows in surprise, and he slowly stood. “Are we going to see the King?”
