Page 154 of A Thousand Nights Before Dawn
Namir let go of her arm once they were inside his room. “We should be quick.”
Zahra drifted to the window on the other side of the room, her eyes trained on the sky outside.
Namir closed the door, retrieving a pile of fabric from his bed. “Here is the clothing for you. I will leave the room so you can—” He paused as Zahra stood by the window. “Zahra?”
Zahra’s hand lingered on her eagle necklace. A force toiled within her, pressing in on her chest and making it difficult to breathe. She was pulled back to that first night, lying on the bed in this very room, and the words that Zosar spoke as he placed the curse of thekereson her. Even now, she could feel the pierce of the snake’s teeth in her heart.
In a moment, the snake’s teeth were gone, ripped from her chest.
Zahra crumpled against the window, crying out. Namir was by her side in seconds, catching her as she slid to the floor. Zahra grabbed at her chest, gasping as sweat coiled on her brow.
“What is wrong?” Namir asked, examining her. “I don’t understand. What?—”
“It’s gone,” Zahra rasped. “My curse—it’s gone.”
She could feel its absence on herpsyche,but if thekereswere no longer after her, then where had they gone?
Namir’s hands tightened on her as shouts came from the hallway. Zahra got to her feet, despite Namir’s protests, pushing past him toward the door. Themedjaywere gathering near a window, shouting to each other.
“Protect the King,” one shouted, running toward them.
Namir grabbed Zahra and put her behind him, but themedjayonly stopped and bowed in front of him. “My King, we must take up our weapons. It’s the prison.”
Zahra stepped out from Namir. “Show us.”
Namir reached for Zahra’s hand as she followed themedjaytoward the window. “Zahra!”
Themedjayparted for Zahra and Namir, and Zahra’s heart dropped. The building where the assassins and Zosar were being held was in flames.
Harsh whispers penetrated Zahra’s mind. She grunted, falling to her knees and holding her head.
“Zahra!” Namir grabbed her arms, squatting beside her. “Can you hear me?”
The voices of thesibylsbefore her repeated the prophecy in her mind.“Beware the day of a thousand nights. The sibyl of the blood moon will suffer chaos’s blade. A child of Re will open Tartarus’s gate, and chaos’s price will be paid. The timeless king will bear the Pharaohs’ plight, and the children of the eclipse will decide Aur’s fate.”
“I don’t understand,” Zahra cried, clutching her head as pressure built in her skull. “We stopped the prophecy from happening. The blood moon?—”
Zahra and Namir looked up at the sky. The moon was red.
A hand rested on Namir’s shoulder, and Namir moved in front of Zahra.
Ramses stood above them, a grave look on his face. “Zosar has escaped.”
36
The Sibyl of the Blood Moon
Zahra and Namir followed Ramses downstairs.Medjaywere joining their sides as they walked, talking to each other and obeying Ramses’s orders.
“I thought he was dead,” Zahra said to Namir. “You arrested him this morning.”
“My mother said the matter would be taken care of tonight. I thought it would have been done by now.” Namir moved up by Ramses, signing to him, “How has this happened?”
Ramses gritted his teeth as he replied. “I don’t know. Themedjaythat warned us quickly perished from his injuries. All he said was that there was an attack on the prison from the Hem-netjer.”
Zahra’s face paled as Namir rejoined her side. “How manymedjaywould have been guarding him?”
“I assigned fiftymedjayto him until he could be executed,” Namir said. “I don’t know what happened once my mother took over.”
