Page 52 of The Shrouded Queen
Jasim instantly fell a few steps behind, right beside the female guard, Sara. The jinni-descended prince fussed with his braids, pushing them back and then pulling them forward again. He appearedperpetually frazzled. It seemed the panic of being forced into the role of prince after his father’s untimely death had never quite dissipated. Some men were just not meant to rule.
I twisted my fingers together to stop them from twitching. “So when do we leave?”
He didn’t respond for a long moment, lips screwed to the side, the only sound the crunch of sand beneath our sandaled feet. Finally, he asked, “Do you know how we pass our time here?”
I blinked, caught off guard by the question.
“In Reeda,” he clarified. “Out here in the middle of nowhere. When we’re not mining or battling the desert heat.”
“No, Nasir, I don’t know your people’s hobbies.”
“Stories,” he said. “There’s an amphitheater not far from here where we put on plays. They’re delightful, my queen. We’ve got all the usual fairy tales with scimitar fights and vanquished beasts. But every single story shares the same theme.” Nasir paused a few feet away from the crater. Too close for my liking. Sara, too, seemed nervous, and stepped closer in case she had to yank the ungainly prince back to safety. The darkness seemed to yawn up at me like a hungry mouth. I shifted away as Nasir said, “Justice.”
“Justice,” I repeated blankly.
His gold-flecked eyes gleamed. “There is nothing a people who have suffered so muchinjustice value more.”
I studied the prince, but his shimmering eyes gave nothing away. “I’ve already promised to return you to your home. What more do you want?”
“I’m very grateful for your generosity, my queen, and I would never presume to ask—”
“Out with it, Nasir.”
“A position in court.” He tipped his chin haughtily in the air. “I am of noble blood. I deserve a place in the palace.”
He was delaying my trip to my father’s temple because of pettypolitics. I nearly throttled him. But I figured that would only prolong my delay. So I smiled and nodded. “Sure. A position in court it is.”
But he did not look appeased. Those gold-flecked eyes narrowed.
I swallowed a sigh.
Jinn-descended did not have as much magic as their full-blooded ancestors, but that didn’t mean they were entirely without. The princes each boasted specific gifts, individual to the jinni they were descended from. Ilias in Wethai had control over the elements—water, fire, earth, wind—while Anwar in Haisab held powers of empathy, capable of turning one’s emotions against them. No one knew what Sen of the Dry Lands had, but I knew that Nasir’s power was truth. He could pick out a lie as soon as it left my mouth.
And one just had.
For fuck’s sake.
“Yes, you can have a position in Khada Palace,” I said again. I had no choice but to mean it.
What fun times lay ahead.
Amunet.
I flinched at the voice but didn’t look away from Nasir. It was trying to distract me—whateveritwas. It wasn’t real, there was no one there. I trained my eyes on the prince and waited.
Nasir’s eyes darted all over my face, gold flecks sparking like fireflies as his magic flared, searching for deception. But there wasn’t any.
At least, for now.
In a month’s time, who knew what would change, or what Shaya might disagree with? If my promise fell apart then, I didn’t think Nasir would complain. Not when I’d have the power to flay him on the spot.
Amunet. A bit firmer, a bit more impatient than the last time. The glass in my mind splintered further.
I fisted my hands.Go away, I mentally thought at the voice, keeping my gaze easy and calm. No trace of potential deceit, no trace of anything amiss.
The prince studied me with a deep intensity. Then an easy smile spread over his face. “Excellent. We’ll stay for the funeral, and then we’ll go.”
I ground my teeth. “No. We’ll leave now.”
