Page 85 of A Thousand Nights Before Dawn
Zahra stood and grabbed her sandal. “I shall be fast.” She took a few steps before stopping and looking back at Namir. He was watching the stream with a worried expression. “Namir?”
His eyes darted to hers.
Zahra smiled. “Thank you for believing me.”
Namir smiled and nodded. “Of course.”
Zahra turned around and headed toward Bahiti’s estate, mulling over what excuse she would use this time.
19
Sun, Moon, and Stars
Zahra walked confidently around the library, distributing scrolls delivered from the records offices in Inebu-hedj. The tables were filled with scholars and scribes, all of whom read and cross-referenced every record. Nubia stood in the center of it all, managing the large group of workers and noting any persons of interest.
Nubia spoke with a scribe, studying two scrolls he had with him. She dismissed one and rolled up the other, looking around until she spotted Zahra. She smiled and waved. “Zahra, we have another one.”
“I am coming.”
Zahra finished dropping off the scrolls at tables and made her way to Nubia. She took the scroll from Nubia’s hand. “Thank you, Vizier.”
“I should thank you,” Nubia said. “You have been working hard all morning.”
Zahra bowed her head. “I am only doing my job, Vizier.” She had changed into the clothing of a library servant so she could help Nubia while keeping an eye on the process to update Namir.
Zahra walked over to a table covered in scrolls. She had been tying them together with a cord, noting which people Namir had already investigated and which ones he had not. They had been doing a city at a time to simplify the process, but there were many cities and villages in Aur, and there were many nobility that endorsed visits from foreign merchants and others in anticipation of the Feast and eclipse.
Zahra returned to her work, helping the scribes move things and delivering scrolls around the space. It was repetitive, doing the same thing every day, but Zahra enjoyed the monotony of her new tasks. It distracted her from what awaited her that night. She was always dropped off where her father was staying around four Atum, but she did not linger there. She knew that themedjaywould turn on her and her father if she remained, so she wandered the streets, seeking shelter from those that thekerescould influence. The protection was never enough.
Nubia called out for Zahra once more, and Zahra pulled herself from her thoughts, walking up to Nubia with a weary smile. “Yes, Vizier?”
Nubia held a scroll in her hand, but she did not hand it to Zahra. “I thought you might enjoy taking the rest of the day off. I will have another servant take over your position. You can take some time to eat and rest.”
Zahra furrowed her brow. Nubia had never offered her a break before. What had changed?
Zahra recognized the tiredness that lingered in her body. Her legs were sore from practicing horse riding with Ramses that morning. Namir had insisted she learn to protect herself in case they ever had another run-in with the assassins, and she had asked Ramses to teach her to ride a horse in between her otherlessons. The fatigue from her training must have shown on her face.
“That’s very kind of you, Vizier, but I don’t need?—”
“Please,” Nubia insisted. “You deserve it.”
Zahra relented and bowed. “Thank you, Vizier.”
She walked away toward the kitchen, wringing her hands in front of her. She half expected Nubia to call her back or to laugh and say it was a joke, but when Zahra glanced back, Nubia had already returned to her work.
Zahra took a deep breath. Nubia was not Bahiti. She was kind, as Fukayna was. For a moment, Zahra fantasized about working in thepr-aaunder Nubia’s care. Surely, Namir would put in a good word for her. Nubia would be a kind master, and Zahra could leave with the other servants in thepr-aa.
Zahra’s curse dashed her dreams to pieces, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth, even as she fetched food from the kitchen and ate alone at a table. She had accepted the chance that her curse couldn’t be broken, but she couldn’t give up. Asenath was the key. If she could understand more about how Asenath and she were cursed, she could determine if there was a way to break the curse altogether.
Zahra walked past the commotion downstairs to retrieve the records about Asenath that her father had shown her. She went to retrieve the key to the hidden library, but the scroll was not there. Fear bit into her heart. Who would have taken it?
Zahra made her way into the basement, hesitating at the hidden door before she knocked on it. A few moments of silence passed before the wall cracked and groaned.
Zahra breathed out a sigh of relief upon seeing Ramses’s face. She greeted him with a sign he had taught her before she spoke. “I was worried someone else had found this place.”
Ramses smiled, welcoming her into the room. “It is only us.”
Namir sat at the table with a few oil lamps to illuminate the space. He stood as Zahra entered the room, surprised. “Zahra. I thought it was Nubia at the door.”
