Page 27 of A Thousand Nights Before Dawn
Katerina nodded as if she had read Zahra’s thoughts. “The longer the night of the blood moon goes on, the weaker the moon’s light will be, and the stronger thekereswill become.”
Zahra shook her head. “I can’t be cursed.”
Katerina motioned to Zahra with her head. “If you look closely, you will see it. It has been there for some time.”
Zahra placed her hand on her chest, gasping as something constricted around her. A long, black snake came into being. Its fangs dug deep into her heart, and its body wrapped around her chest. Its scales dripped with shadow, and its eyes were a familiar red—the same red she had seen in the commander’s eyes when he had cut her down the night before.
Zahra took in quick breaths, her hand hovering over the snake. “No. No.”
Katerina stepped forward. “Breathe, little one.”
“I don’t understand.” Emotion choked her voice. “Why was I cursed? Is the curse why I remember each night?”
“Someone in Aur wanted you dead, so they cast the spell. As for your memory, you already know why you remember.”
“I don’t,” Zahra cried, getting to her feet. “Please, you must help me. How do I break this curse?”
“Thekeres’curse can be survived if you live until tomorrow’s dawn, but it cannot be broken—not on your own. The moon can protect you from thekeres,but it cannot protect you during the eclipse.”
Zahra shook her head again. “I can’t do that. I am trapped in this single day until the Thoth’s spell is broken! There must be another way! Surely there have been others cursed as I am. Surelysomeonehas found a way!”
“Only one other has been cursed with thekeres,”Katerina began. “Her name was Asenath, but she succumbed to the curse.”
Asenath. The name was familiar to Zahra, though she did not know why. She hugged her arms. “If Selene sent you, then it was for a reason.” Her mouth fell open. “Surely not him.”
“You need each other’s help,” Katerina stated. “That is why I led you to him.”
“But he has the power to end my life long before thekeresdo,” Zahra cried. “Why would Selene want this? Please, tell me!”
Katerina shook her head. “I cannot give you more than I have. There are rules among thetheos.”
Zahra’s heart hammered inside her chest, and her voice trembled as she spoke. “So you will tell me nothing? How am I meant to save myself from this curse and help the King find his bride?”
“I can only give you so much when little has been given in turn,” Katerina reasoned. “That is how it works.”
Zahra swung her arm. “I did not ask to be here!”
“Exactly.” Katerina’s voice was gentle, but her tone was strict. “And for that, your questions cannot be answered.”
“I don’t wish to understand all things. I only wish tolive!”
Katerina stepped forward. “O chara?—”
Zahra turned and walked away, anger burning in her heart. “How do I leave this place?”
“Do not wander,” the eagle warned. “Thekereslive on this plane. They will seek your life. A death in the Duat is far worse than a death in your world.”
“I don’t care.” Her death every night had been no accident or the result of the Aurans’ hatred for her. Every person that had killed her had done so because she was cursed. The King himself would likely kill her tonight if she went with him to the Feast. Her death was inevitable. This was her fate.
But it was not a fate she would accept.
“I will not give up.” She turned to Katerina. “Even if Selene has abandoned me, I will survive. I will find a way to break this curse.”
The eagle’s wings flapped, blowing a strong breeze on Zahra. “Selene has not abandoned you.”
“It seems she has!” Zahra turned and stomped away in the sand.
“Rhodopis.”
