Page 34 of A Thousand Nights Before Dawn
Namir’s fist slipped into her vision. It was closed around something small. She opened her hand, and he dropped her mother’s necklace into her palm. The chain was broken, but the pendant itself was intact.
“I am sorry he broke it,” Namir whispered. “Zosar is a man who is passionate about his faith. Yes, he sometimes sees enemies where there are none, but such is the life of the Hem-netjer. I am sure he did not intend to break it.”
Zahra doubted that, but she was grateful for Namir’s sincerity. She closed her hand around the necklace. “Thank you.”
They stood there a moment longer before Namir spoke again. “Who hit you?”
Zahra flinched at his question. She glimpsed her reflection in the stream. Her eye was swollen, and the skin around it and her cheek was turning a nasty shade of purple and green. “I don’t know.”
In truth, it did not matter. Namir would do nothing about it.
“Why did you bring me with you?”
Namir sighed and found a seat upon one of the rocks near the stream. He dipped his feet in the water, letting it wash over his ankles. “I wanted him to see you.”
“You wanted him to tell you if I was a sorceress or not.” She hugged her arms. “Well? What else did he say about me?”
“He said that you are not to be trusted.”
Zahra fell silent for a moment. “Do you believe him?”
“Yes.”
There was no hesitation in his voice. Zahra swallowed the lump in her throat. It had hardly been a day, and she had already ruined any chance she had of saving herself and her father. Her lip trembled. There was nothing she could say.
Namir’s voice came clearly. “I still need your help.”
Zahra turned to him with tears in her eyes. “I don’t understand.”
He dipped his hand in the stream, watching the water pass over his palm. “You will continue to help me, and I will hold up my end of the deal.”
“Why?” Zahra asked. “You do not trust me. Your Hem-netjer called me a sorceress. Why would you?—”
“I have no other choice.” His gaze lingered on her black eye, and he turned away. “I am certain I have danced with every maiden at the Feast, but Zosar is right. I must be sure that she is not there before I begin asking those who did not come. To do that, I need another pair of eyes. She could have left early, or she is in a place I am not expecting.”
Zahra studied the side of his face. There was desperation in his voice and fatigue in his eyes. She couldn’t imagine how long he had lived the day of the Feast, only to be trapped with no way out. Why had he sought to do this alone until now? Why askherfor help when he had an entire army at his disposal?
She thought of the shame that filled his face when Zosar spoke to him. He was embarrassed of himself. If others knew of his mistake, what would they think of him? Even if they would forget, she felt the King wouldn’t stoop so low as to ask help from his uncle, or even from the Pharaoh Queen herself. But even though he did not trust Zahra, he trusted her with his secret, for she was a servant, and no one would believe her words if she told another.
She did not trust him either, but he was right. They needed each other, even if their deal was only a means to an end. Perhaps this is what Selene meant.
Zahra turned to the city in the distance. “Where should I start looking?”
“Anywhere.” Namir rubbed his eyes. “She could be anywhere.”
8
The Mysterious Papyri
Zahra studied the chariots coming up the hill as she awaited the King’s return. Namir had told her to wait on a small hill near thepr-aa, and she had done so, expecting him to return soon after. The obelisk rang two Atum, marking two hours since he had left.
She did not mind the King taking his time. It gave her more time to plan. She had missed her father at the temple, but she knew where he would be. All she had to do was convince him of her plan, and they would be free.
Zahra thought of Katerina’s words, and she shook the memory from her mind. If she stayed in the moonlight, thekerescouldn’t reach her. She would have to find somewhere to hide before the eclipse began.
“Have you seen anything?”
Zahra turned around, shocked out of her thoughts. Namir stood behind her. He had abandoned his plain clothes and had opted to wear a whiteschentiand gold jewelry. Zahra’s eyeslingered on his muscular bare chest, drifting up to theusekhcollar necklace that covered the Thoth’s mark. It must have been burdensome to wear the same ornate clothing night after night, but he did not seem to mind it.
