Page 18 of A Thousand Nights Before Dawn
Zahra averted her gaze as he paused before her. She swallowed, leaning away from him. “Wait.”
Annoyance filled his features. “What is it now?”
“If I have the mark, will the spell end right away?” She had to ensure her father did not steal the Thoth again, and she couldn’t do that if the days continued on as they should.
Namir shook his head. “No. It will not end until we will it to.”
“Good.” Zahra stepped closer to him once more, lifting her shawl and exposing the area by her collarbone. She offered her other hand to him. Her curls fell over her shoulder as she turned her head away. “I am ready.”
Confusion filled his eyes, and he lifted his hand. Gently, Namir picked up her loose curls and brushed them over her shoulder. His fingers hovered over her hand. She held her breath. He took two of her fingers in his, then he pulled his hand away and stepped back. “Nothing is there.”
Zahra stepped away, dropping her shawl and hugging her arms. “I hope you find your bride.”
Namir nodded, pulling his hood over his head. “I hope so, too.”
Namir turned to walk away, but he paused. “What sort of crime were you accused of?”
Zahra stared at him a moment, debating how to respond. She couldn’t tell him her father had stolen the Thoth and she was accused of being his accomplice. No, she had to provide another explanation. “My father works in the city, but each night during our celebrations we are falsely accused of the slaughter of sheep, and yourmedjaychase us down with the intent of killing us.”
A look of doubt crossed Namir’s face, but he erased it swiftly and turned toward her fully. “Usually such a crime would not demand an immediate execution.”
“Yourmedjaydon’t think so. I have tried to help your soldiers see reason, but each night I perish at their hands.”
Namir tilted his head, crossing his arms and bringing a hand to his chin. “And they do not listen to your pleas of innocence?”
Zahra gritted her teeth. “They make sure not to. They don’t question the word of a shepherd, but they doubt the word of one of the temple’s cleaners.”
Namir dropped his hand. “Your father works at the temple of Inebu-hedj? What’s his name?”
Zahra hesitated, cursing herself in her mind. Did Namir know what was stolen every night? Was it hidden at the temple?
“He is called Omar. He is a wab priest,” she said, “but he works all day, and we don’t have long to talk before themedjayarrive.”
Namir leaned back on his heels, his forehead wrinkled in thought. After several moments, he met her gaze. “I have a proposition for you. If you help me find my bride, I will personally vouch for you and your father and ensure you live until dawn.”
Zahra was surprised. “Surely there are others more capable.”
“There is no one else who remembers,” Namir counters. “I do not know why you do, but the fact stands that this day won’t end until I find her. I have checked every maiden at the Feast, and she is not there. I need another pair of eyes—someone who will remember the day as I do and can tell me if I have missed someone.”
Zahra considered the King’s words. He was asking for her help, and what he offered was an answer to her troubles. If she could convince her father to abandon his quest and agree to follow the story she had told the King, she could save them both. But if Namir found out what crime her father was truly responsible for, he might go back on his word and execute them himself.
Namir stretched his hand out toward her. “Are we in agreement?”
Zahra studied his hand, the consequences of this deal flying through her mind. If she did this, she was bound to help the King until the day was over or he discovered the truth. It was a gamble, to be certain, but she knew she couldn’t do this alone.
Zahra took Namir’s hand and shook it. “Yes.”
Namir smiled, pulling his hand away from hers. “Good. Your mistress will not hunt you down, will she?”
Zahra’s forehead wrinkled. “I thought you wouldn’t need my help until this evening.”
“I want to get an early start. If I am to search all of Aur, there may be something of use to me at the library.”
The Pharaohs’ Library in Inebu-hedj was not far from the temple. Perhaps she could escape Namir’s side for a little while to speak with her father.
Zahra nodded. “Then let us go before my mistress notices I am missing.”
The corner of Namir’s mouth went up. He gestured toward where they had come from. “I trust you know the way back to your mistress’s estate. My horse is waiting near there.”
