Returned

by Kimberley Griffiths Little

  “Tell me what you know about Kadesh. His suite is empty, and I’m about to jump out a window from nerves.”

  “I’ve returned from the temple with a few of my men. A soldier relayed your message and I went to investigate the king’s itinerary so I could allay your fears.”

  “Basim.” My voice shook, and my hands were like ice. “I was at the temple and saw the bodies hanging from the walls. I saw people celebrating and the priestesses in mourning. That alone has made me terrified. They should be cowering in fear after Kadesh’s decree.”

  “Your instincts are valid. The High Priestess finally granted me an audience. She was accompanied by an Egyptian priest.”

  “You mean my sister Leila?”

  “She wouldn’t give me any details, but handed over a letter for you. I was on my way here when I got your summons.”

  “Leila knows I can’t read. Can you?”

  “I’m a warrior, not a scholar, my lady, but I’ve ordered a palace scribe.”

  Indeed, even as he finished speaking a scribe appeared at the door. He bowed, appearing uncomfortable when Basim towered over him. The scribe held a thin stone tablet with the seal of the Goddess embedded at the top.

  I broke into a nervous sweat. “Read it, quickly!”

  “It’s short and simple, my lady,” the scribe said, his eyes scanning the lines. “It appears that King Kadesh went to the temple in search of the Goddess Aliyah to arrest her for treason and the murder of the Queen of Sheba.”

  “So Aliyah is being held in the city prison awaiting trial?”

  “No,” the scribe said solemnly. “It appears that the Goddess was not to be found.”

  My heart fell to the floor. “What did Kadesh say to this news?”

  The scribe glanced between me and Basim. “The king was not to be found either. Only this note given to me by the High Priestess Leila. It appears that Aliyah has taken him somewhere. Kidnapped him.”

  “What do you mean kidnapped?” I echoed. “That makes no sense.” Except that it did make sense. “The woman had to have witnessed the devastation of Horeb’s armies. She has to know that he’s dead and his foreign generals as well. She could probably see the burning of their camp from the temple balconies. After all, their heads hang from the temple gates!”

  Basim’s eyes were on mine. “Kadesh’s disappearance keeps the city disrupted. Without the king’s leadership, the people can’t heal from the war’s destruction.”

  My chest ached with despair, but my mind was flying with frightening thoughts. “By taking Kadesh captive she forces her will. Threatens him to do her bidding. If she took the Egyptian High Priest with her to perform their marriage—she could easily declare herself co-regent of Sariba. Dear God in heaven, I have no claim. Do you see what this means?”

  “She has wasted no time in continuing to bring about her ambitions,” Basim agreed gravely.

  “Even if Aliyah forces Kadesh to marry her they need to return to rule. Unless,” I jumped up, every nerve on fire, “she sent someone to assassinate me while Kadesh is gone.”

  The scribe shook his head. “Her instructions are explicit. Jayden must find King Kadesh, alone. No one can go with her, not the generals or Asher, Prince of the Edomites. Or Basim from Sa’ba.”

  I stared helplessly at the two men. “Why does she want me to find him—and where would she have taken him?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, comprehension swept over me. “She’s taken him to the abandoned castle in the hills. The one that belonged to Kadesh’s parents.”

  “I won’t let you go alone to walk into her trap and die.” Basim said.

  The scribe set the letter of instructions on the table. “If Jayden doesn’t show up alone, Kadesh dies. And the Goddess will set an assassin upon her.”

  “I’m leaving immediately,” I said.

  “This is extremely dangerous, my lady,” Basim said. “You’re walking into her trap. She’ll kill you both and get exactly what she wanted all along. Only this time, you took out Horeb for her.”

  “Aliyah should have been arrested after she murdered the queen.”

  “I agree, but it was deemed a lawful sacrifice on the night of the temple ceremonies.”

  “Then I’ll change the laws as soon as we get Kadesh safely back home.”

  My chin rose when Uncle Josiah appeared in the doorway. “An old man doesn’t sleep well when he feels the household stirring,” he said soberly.

  “You’ve heard then?” Basim asked.

  He tugged at his beard. “Aliyah sees her power waning. Bringing her magicians here gave her power for a period of time, but with the death of the enemy she’s losing influence with her Egyptians. The foreigners have their own scheme, and Aliyah has now come to comprehend that she fell right into their trap. Egypt wants the temple and its priestesses—priestesses they brought here and trained and influenced.”

  “My sister Leila plans to marry one of those priests,” I murmured.

  “They will turn the temple over to their powerful God Amun, the god of darkness,” Josiah said. “Once they have the temple and the people and the king, they will give the frankincense trade to their Pharaoh. Egypt is rising in stature and wealth. All they had to do was send a few of their magicians to use Aliyah against herself.”

  I dropped to a crouch, staring at Basim, pondering this sudden twist of loyalties and deceits regarding Aliyah and her precious Egyptians. “Who could have guessed that we should have arrested the Egyptian priests as well? My sister has been a pawn, and I am the bait for Aliyah to snatch Kadesh and put herself on the throne as fast as she can before her High Priest Heru takes her out.”

  “It’s more complicated than that,” Josiah said. “Aliyah believes she is the Goddess and can wield magical abilities. Little does she know that the Egyptians have played her for a fool with their ceremonies and magical tricks.”

  I crossed the room to Uncle Josiah and he wrapped my cold hands in his. His eyes seemed to see into my very soul, reminding me of my grandmother Seraiah’s intensity and inner wisdom. His gentle soul poured like warm water, giving me comfort. “Faith in yourself, Jayden, and faith in Kadesh will be enough. The blessings of the God you know is enough, daughter of Pharez,” he added. “Trust in the Goddess that gives life not death. That endows with love not hate or subjugation. She will give you what you need to bring Kadesh home.”

  I rose to prepare myself to leave, but Basim’s worried face made me pause. He went down to his knees in a display of obeisance. “Basim, when you arrived at my summons, you said that you were already on your way here. What were you going to tell me?”

  “I took a small envoy of my men out into the desert and we searched for your missing weapons.” The mountain man folded over the fabric of a package he’d been carrying. Laid out on the cloth was the dagger I’d purchased for myself in Tadmur—and the Damascus sword Kadesh had given me. The weapons Horeb had flung away from me. I picked up the sword in my fist, tears pricking at my eyelids. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever see these again, Basim. I cannot express my gratitude enough, thank you.”

  “Unfortunately, my lady, you need them again tonight.”

  Not an hour later, I was dressed with a calmness that defied my own fears. I’d secured my sword, dagger, and sling to my belt. Pulling my hair back, I clipped it up on top of my head with a jeweled band to keep it out of my face. “The jewels are frivolous,” I said, reaching out to put a hand on Tijah’s shoulder.

  She gave a helpless shrug in her nightgown, fear glistening in her eyes. “Jeweled hair finery is all we have in the dressing table at the moment. And the jewels mean you will be queen one day.”

  When I reached the stables, Basim was there preparing my camel, Shay.

  “You know me well,” I told him.

  “Your camel can find her way in the desert. She won’t abandon you in the Qara Mountains,” Basim said as he slapped the animal’s rump. He stared at me with flinty black eyes, his large frame towering over me. “Come back
to your people,” he said. “I’m not leaving for Sa’ba until you return.”

  “Is that a promise?” I called when Shay trotted out from the camel barns, but when I glanced back over my shoulder, the mercenary soldier had already disappeared behind me in the early morning mists.

  33

  I maneuvered the twists and turns of the mountain trail, leaving behind the frankincense groves and desert where Horeb’s armies had camped for the last fortnight. Remains of the opposing armies and the battles had left scars on the earth, now blackened by the burning of the camps.

  Three armies gone. Forever. A grim outcome.

  When I reached the hollowed crumbling structure, my heart was jammed into my throat. The old castle looked similar to an ancient fort at the edge of the empty sands from eons earlier. A hideout when Kadesh’s ancestors had first begun to establish the frankincense trade, when rogue tribes from the empty sands roamed in and out of the valley.

  I approached slowly, relieved that I’d brought candles and flint with me. The empty windows gave off a foreboding atmosphere, as if they were eyes watching me.

  Lifting her legs in agitation, Shay jerked in small steps about the exterior while we walked the perimeter to get our bearings. Four stories crafted with stone. A structure filled with rooms and hallways.

  The crumbling site appeared deserted, but I knew better than to trust appearances. After all, in the land of Edom, dozens of soldiers spilled out of the caves like ants rising from the underground.

  Close to the front gates, a falcon careened through the air, diving at me as if preparing to attack. I screamed and jumped off Shay to duck beneath her belly. The falcon screeched, its black eyes ringed with yellow. The bird stared at me with an alarming gaze that was disturbing.

  “Go back to where you came from,” I yelled.

  The great bird continued to circle me, swooping closer and then zooming away to provoke me.

  I allowed Shay to roam the area where a few clumps of shriveling flowers would provide her with something to eat while I explored. “Don’t leave,” I ordered sternly. She merely raised her long neck and batted her eyelashes.

  Carved doors that used to be grand and imposing now rusted on crooked brass hinges. I slipped past with a final glance back at Shay who stood placidly chewing her supper.

  Dirt and rubble littered the stone floors, large rooms empty of furniture or carpets. I stepped carefully, the foyer echoing as I walked the adjoining empty salons and smaller sitting rooms. A massive staircase with splintered railings took my breath away, curving away into upper darkness.

  I lit a candle and held it, my dagger clutched in my other hand, at the ready in case I encountered a vagabond—or worse—a lethal Aliyah.

  Despite my hunch, the castle appeared to be empty. No sign of life anywhere, but I wouldn’t leave until I searched the entire place.

  I took the first step, holding my candle high. No windows lit the stuffy stairwell, but once I reached the second floor a series of small windows were set into the thick walls.

  Masses of sticky cobwebs adorned the corners, dripping like filigree down the walls. It had been at least two years since Kadesh’s parents had stayed here.

  The second and third floors were a maze of rooms with cold, blackened fireplaces, and broken stone lying along the floors. A few minor pieces of furniture had been left, but I assumed most had been taken back to the palace upon their deaths.

  The silence was eerie, until a second falcon charged through one of the wide windows. The bird circled, diving at my head but not actually touching me. The eyes were the same as those of the earlier falcon. Too intelligent for a normal bird. Too focused on me.

  “Am I trespassing in your home?” I said, forcing my voice to remain light and nonthreatening.

  Another terrifying screech echoed, the creature’s mouth opening and closing rapidly in a repetitive movement. Holding my hands to my ears, I fell back against the wall. I ran from room to room, trying to stop the bird from following me, but it kept darting in and out of windows so fast my head spun.

  “Do you like my wild pet?” a voice whispered along the upper floors. That sensuous, lush voice was unmistakably Aliyah.

  At first, I didn’t respond, purposely slowing my walk to figure out where the sound was coming from.

  She was here. In this castle. My instincts had been correct, but how had she managed to bring Kadesh all the way here? He would never have agreed, unless he’d been forced to by Aliyah’s High Priest Heru. The Egyptian was a powerful man, with powerful concoctions for drugging someone. My skin prickled knowing the bald-headed man with his frightening eyes and falcon-headed staff was nearby.

  I sped out of one room and into another, but the hallway seemed to twist in the opposite direction. I stepped over to the staircase to gaze down into its depths and then lifted my head to stare upward.

  I ran to the next floor and the direction of the stairs changed again. An illusion or fatigue?

  I wasn’t sure of my own mind any longer.

  The sky outside the windows darkened and a wind rose, blowing dry scrub along the ravine. I leaned out over the windowsill to take a breath and then whirled when a light tap on my shoulder startled me. My heart pounded so hard I thought it would burst. “Kadesh?”

  Nobody was there. I lit two more candles and placed them on the floor of the landing. The wax cylinders stayed aflame for a few moments, wavering with small strokes of yellow. And then all at once they snuffed out.

  Craning my neck, I could see up through the spiraling staircases into the next floors above me, but if I was on the third floor now that meant there were five floors, not four as I’d first supposed.

  Sinister darkness enveloped those upper landings. I didn’t want to go up there, but I had to.

  Once again, I was carrying a candle that barely cut the darkness and my dagger as I dragged my way up the next flight. At least the falcon had disappeared into a hidden eave somewhere and I hoped it died there.

  When I reached the final landing, I stared back down at the endless stairs below. My legs shook with vertigo, so I grasped the banister—the only thing keeping me from falling straight down.

  “Jayden,” another whisper came from overhead, but from what I could see, I was utterly alone.

  Slowly, I gazed up at the timbered ceiling, almost afraid to look. A body was hanging from one of the beams by a length of rope. A man with shoulder-length dark hair and an exotic rich brown cloak.

  I screamed and my candle went flying. Hot wax spilled across the dirty floor and the candle sputtered out. Fortunately, the last of the full, golden moon was rising, streaming light into the large upper windows.

  Horror gurgled in my throat when I stared at Kadesh, rope tied around his torso to keep him away from me on one of the roughhewn crossbeams. His legs dangled lifelessly and I choked on my own fear that I had arrived too late. That Aliyah had already killed him.

  Sucking in air and forcing my fear down into my belly, I called out, “It wasn’t enough to murder your sister. But General Naham, King Chemish, Basim of Sa’ba—they all know what you’ve done, Aliyah. And you will hang for murder and treason.”

  “Not if they die first,” Aliyah said, a laugh in her voice now. “My priestesses have their orders and their poisons. By tonight, I will be Queen of Sariba and Queen of Sheba. I’ve already sent letters to King Hammurabi of Babylon conveying the events of the last many months. He’s ready to be my ally and collaborator in uniting the tribes and cities under one rule—mine.”

  “And what if he rejects your proposal?”

  “I’ve spent a long time forming friendships with the other Goddess temples and Hammurabi’s enemies. As soon as I say the word the man is gone, and Babylon is mine.”

  “All you need to do is get rid of me,” I said bitterly, never taking my eyes off Kadesh who hung so still, his head drooping.

  Before I could speak again, Kadesh’s fingers twitched and I let out a gasp. He was still alive. Perhaps Al
iyah had merely drugged him. After all, she still wanted him. To be his queen was still her dream, until the city accepted her as the stronger ruler and no longer cared if their old king had a sudden illness or accident. An assassin assigned to one of the caravan trip and Kadesh never returned again.

  I moved forward, and a row of candles lit up with a distinctive sizzle. The lights had been placed on top of the decaying wooden railing that surrounded the open pit of the staircases. Aliyah materialized behind the candles on the far side of the railing. She’d been there all along, her voice crawling along my neck, invading my mind.

  Her face was pale in the candle’s dim flames, her lips gray. Her rich red gown from the Goddess ceremony a week ago was now in shreds. Her hair a wild nest of black curls standing straight out from her face.

  Her eyes were alive with a violent darkness. Chills crept along my spine. The young woman I’d been afraid of ever since I’d arrived in Sariba wasn’t well. The Goddess’s spirit had taken hold, and had not been kind. She was consuming Aliyah with each breath.

  With a seductive laugh, Aliyah said, “You aren’t stupid after all, Jayden. Yes, you will die today. I plan to perform another Egyptian ritual. Heru is out in the desert gathering the firewood we need. While you slowly die during the ceremony, he will help me take your spirit and vitality and consume it for my own.”

  Her words should have terrified me, but I’d heard the threats before, ever since the day I’d first met her. Her malevolent Goddess didn’t have the power over me that She used to. One stroke of my sword and Aliyah would be gone. I only had to get close enough. “And how do you propose this takes place?”

  Before she could answer, the sound of boots scraped across the stone floors below. I shrank against the filthy walls. Was I about to face the monstrous Heru? It would be impossible to fight them both.

  I pulled out my sword, my eyes flying to the windows, and then to the ground far, far below. The sheer walls held no balconies or ledges for escape.

  While I was appraising an escape method, my sword was yanked from my fist. Aliyah laughed, her form gliding away with my weapon. She was like an apparition, moving about the railings. I lunged at her with my dagger next, but the weapon met only air and clattered to the filthy floor. Before I could pick it up, a sudden gust swept it through the slats of the staircase railing. I watched my knife fall past five stories of stairs to the bottom of the old fortress, hitting the floor with a distant clang.