Page 101 of Sands of Atonement

My tight smile hadn’t changed.

Then another woman emerged, sprinting toward us. It took me a moment to realize it was Norrah. I forgot about Ezra’s attitude and my betrothal to Casimir and ran toward my friend with the largest smile on my face.

“Norrah!” I squeaked.

“Oh, Mara.” She sighed, pulling me into her arms. “It’s so good to see you here. I’ve been waiting for a few days with Casimir.”

My jaw dropped slightly, and I shook my head from side to side. I had so many questions. She and I locked arms and began walking up the steps.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, my mind boggling.

“Ezra sent Casimir to take me here where he said you would be,” she spoke softly as the brothers conversed behind us.

“But why?”

She leaned forward with a slight shake in her voice, “Ezra wanted me to be near because of Gabriel. Apparently, he’s turning Urnaz upside down looking for me and decided it was best I was no longer there.” I took note to catch her up, because Gabriel was definitely not in Urnaz anymore—he was among the sands with us. Gabriel also knew that the Atrove took her, whereas Norrah knew it as Ezra, Qahl of Tehara. I knew Norrah didn’t know Ezra was Atrovian, thinking the royal family was merely helping her, but I felt in that moment oddly protective of Ezra’s identity. “He thought I would be safest here…”

Norrah bit her lower lip, and I gave her shoulders a squeeze. Despite her circumstances, my heart felt right with her near me.

“I’ll show you to your room,” the woman behind us whispered. She called out to a man inside the building to come take care of Ezra’s horse.

We all followed the woman up the short but wide marble stairs through the tall pillars and into the building. There was a low seating area to the right of the room, and to the left were a few servants waiting for orders. In front of us, wide ceiling-to-floor windows carried the view of the oasis. It took my breath away. We continued through the large open room to the right hallway, where I was reminded of the Atrovian cave. It was dark and built of limestone. Burnt red tapestries in gold threads marked these walls, though.

“Here is your room.” She pointed to the door on the right. “It’s the only one left.”

“What are you talking about?” Ezra said in a clipped tone.

Behind me, I heard Casimir explaining to Ezra in a low voice, “Norrah’s here.”

Ezra mumbled, “Right.”

Casimir cleared his throat. “Listen, hey, don’t get upset with me. You won’t be put into the sands. You can share with Eshe.”

That was it. I twirled around and held my stance.

“No,” Ezra and I both said in unison.

We glared at each other.

“Eshe?” Norrah questioned my name a moment later.

Everyone went quiet.

But in my head, I was screaming FUCK.

She eyed everyone around us. If I really wanted to, I’d be able to hear the winds out on the dunes. It was so quiet and awkward. “Does everyone know except me? What’s really going on?”

No one moved an inch. Her eyes blinked up at me, but I didn’t see betrayal or pain there, only curiosity. I nearly tilted my head at her, reading her as she was reading me. She then stared at Ezra and Casimir, and back at me.

“Princess Eshe?” I held my breath. I was about to deny, deny, deny. She let out a small laugh and shook her head. “I had figured you were someone important staying in the palace.”

I blinked.

Ezra cut in and faced Casimir. “Eshe’ll go out in the sands. She can handle it.”

I felt the blood drain from my face along with my jaw, all thoughts of Norrah knowing my identity pushed to the back of my mind. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Ezra took one step forward. “Try me.”