by Elm Vince
Namir straightened, shaking his head. “She had a key. She wouldn’t need to blow the doors open like this.”
“Then who? Someone’s taken them all.” My hands shook as Kassim took them in his own.
“Zadie, it’s okay.” He stroked his thumb over my skin. “We moved the lamps. They’re safe.”
“What?”
Namir and Elian came to stand on either side of Kassim, all three glowing in the blueish light of the torches.
Elian did his best to smile reassuringly. “We knew Hepzibah had a key to the treasury, so we moved them, just in case she tried something like this.”
I pulled my hands from Kassim’s and took a step back. “And you didn’t tell me?”
Elian and Namir exchanged an uneasy glance.
“The fewer people who knew, the safer they were, Zadie.” Kassim scrubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “We didn’t even involve any guards. We carried them all ourselves.”
“To where?” I demanded, irritated.
“Zadie, the fewer people who know…” Elian’s placating tone trailed off when I threw him a withering look.
Lalana stepped to my side. The ghostly light of the torches illuminated her lilac gown with an ethereal glow so she looked half-spirit herself. “From what Zadie told me, she’s a big reason you got hold of those treasures in the first place. You’ve put your trust in the wrong people before, so I understand your reticence.” Her voice was firm as she addressed the sultan, yet somehow still coaxing. “But Zadie has earned your trust. It’s hurtful you didn’t trust her with this, too.”
My chest swelled with gratitude. I hadn’t even voiced my thoughts to her, yet Lalana knew exactly how I felt.
“We said no more secrets.” My voice was tight as I parroted Kassim’s own words back to him from our conversation on the balcony this morning, which already felt like a lifetime ago. “Or does that only apply to me?”
Kassim exhaled. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I should have told you.”
“So…” I glanced between the men.
Kassim cleared his throat. “Both of you are sworn to secrecy.”
“Of course,” I replied. “Lana and I are good at keeping secrets.”
“A fact I’m well aware of,” Kassim replied drily, looking between us. He took a step toward the empty space on the floor. “We moved the spirits to the crypt.”
The torches lining the walls flared higher, the air seeming to grow hazy before me. I tried to move my hand to fan it away, but found it pinned to my side in Lalana’s clutches.
“You shouldn’t have told me that.” A smooth voice filled the air, along with the sweet, musky smell of frankincense.
The violet mist cleared to reveal Tarak, standing in the space where the lamps had been. He looked exactly the same, except his tan chest was completely bare, his fancy waistcoat nowhere to be seen.
Without missing a beat, Elian grasped his scimitar and lunged at him, but Tarak dissolved into a cloud of smoke.
“A spirit,” Elian cursed, then spat on the floor.
Namir whirled around, trying to look in every direction at once. “Has it gone?”
“Tarak?” I called out, my voice echoing through the treasury.
Elian looked incredulous. “You know this spirit?”
“So that’s your ring djinni.” Kassim didn’t sound too happy at the realization.
“Tarak,” Lalana called out. “If you’re still here, show yourself.”
The djinni appeared at Lalana’s side, his hand outstretched, then he disappeared again, a small curl of lilac smoke brushing against her cheek as he faded away.
He reappeared at the top of one of the treasure mountains, sitting cross-legged. “I can’t stay long, princess.”
I had no idea if he was addressing me or my sister, but I answered anyway. “What happened? Are you bound to the ring again?”
He shook his head.
“If you’re still free, why come back?” Lalana’s voice was filled with hurt. “You said you wanted to return to your realm.”
The djinni opened his mouth, then snapped it closed again, uncrossing his legs and sending a rush of gold coins hissing down the side of the treasure mountain.
“For the lamps,” he said eventually.
“Why?” I clenched my fists in frustration. “Why would you want the lamps? The trapped spirits hate you. Who are you working for, Tarak? The Phoenites?”
Tarak just stared down at us, giving nothing away.
“I trusted you!” Lalana shouted. “You are not the man I thought you were when I freed you.” She wrenched the amethyst ring from her finger and tossed it toward the mountain of gold Tarak was perched on.
With hollow eyes, he watched the ring bounce and roll back down to the floor. “I’m not a man at all, princess. As you’d all do well to remember.” He turned to me and Kassim, his purple eyes somber. “Race you to the crypt.”
With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
8
All five of us tore through the palace corridors, then outside into the storm. Sheets of rain drummed against the slick marble steps leading down into the crypt, the guards stationed outside soaked through. They shared a confused glance as they parted to allow us past.
I hadn’t been down here since Namir had told me about it when I first came to the palace. The spymaster threw open the doors, his curly hair slick against his head, the lantern in his hand smoking profusely. Out of the rain, the tiny flame grew bigger and brighter. He strode for the marble sarcophagus in the center of the room, its shadow across the tiled floor leading away from us.
He peered behind it and cursed. “They’re gone.”
“There was no way we could have gotten here before the spirit.” Kassim’s fists were clenched at his side. “Not when he can materialize at will.”
“So now the djinni has the other spirits.” Elian turned his grim face to me. “How well do you know this djinni, Zadie? What do you think he’ll do with them?”
“Free them perhaps?” Namir guessed. “If it were an independent rescue mission, he might want to help them return to their realm.”
I shook my head. “No way. Tarak is the reason those spirits were trapped in the first place. And, in turn, they cursed him. He’d never release them unless he was forced to…not unless he had a death wish.”
Elian’s frown deepened. “Then he stole them for someone else.”
“I just can’t believe Tarak would do this.” Lalana’s wide eyes glistened in the lantern light. “He was our friend.”
I spun to face my sister. “He was our slave, Lana. Right up to the moment you freed him. Who knows how he really felt about us? What we do know is that since he’s no longer bound to the ring, he’ll have his full powers back.”
“He could never hurt us. He wouldn’t.” Lalana’s voice was hard.
I couldn’t let Lalana be blinded by her soft spot for the djinni. I had liked Tarak, too. But he was dangerous now. “Lana, he can and he will hurt us if we stand in his way. Tarak is no longer our friend. He’s a powerful spirit who’s working against us.”
Kassim moved closer into the small pool of light surrounding us, his wet hair glistening like oil, droplets clinging to the sharp lines of his jaw. “There’s a strong chance he’s working with Hepzibah, or the Phoenites. Or maybe just the highest bidder. Whoever it is, they now possess the power of all the trapped spirits.”
We all stilled, listening to the sound of drips hitting the tiled floor and the distant rain crashing against the crypt’s windows.
“Did he always appear in that form?” Kassim asked.
“As a shirtless man?” I gave a dark laugh. “That was his preferred form. But like all spirits, he can take any shape he desires. He’s appeared as a leopard, falcon, beetle, woman, mer-creature, roc… Why?”
Kassim shrugged. “Just so we know what to look out for.”
Elian clapped his hands together, sending droplets of water flying. “Well, now we
know to watch out for an all-powerful spirit that can literally look like anyone or anything. Perfect.”
I looked from the captain to Kassim. “What do we do now?”
“We’ve lost the lamps, and we can’t change that now.” Kassim ran a hand over his wet hair. “All we can do is limit the damage they can cause to Astaran when our enemy finally reveals themselves.”
“We just have to hope it takes them a while to figure out how to use the lamps.” Lalana leaned back against the sarcophagus and wrung out her sodden dress. “Hopefully that won’t be before the wedding tomorrow.”
“I believe the wedding is more threatened than we realized.” Kassim’s amber gaze met mine. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Hepzibah, or the Phoenites, or just some malevolent spirit out to wreak havoc. None of our enemies want the Astaran-Khiridesh alliance to happen.”
“You think whoever has the spirits will use them to stop the wedding?” Elian asked.
“I think they’ll try.” Kassim looked around the group. “But we need it now more than ever to strengthen our position politically, and to face whatever’s coming next. So I have a plan…” He paused. “We pull the wedding forward.”
“Pull it forward?” I shook my head. “It’s already scheduled for tomorrow.”
A smile spread across Kassim’s face. “I know. I suggest we make it tonight.”
A thrill ran through me. I wasn’t sure if I was scared of the threat to the kingdom or excited at the sudden change of plans. I turned to Namir. “Is it possible?”
The spymaster nodded slowly. “The guests are all here already, and it’ll limit the time our enemy has to figure out how to use the lamps.”
My heart thudded in my chest.
“Then inform the guests we marry at midnight.” Kassim nodded toward Namir. “The invitation said we were marrying on All Spirits Day. It’ll technically be tomorrow by the time the rites take place.”
“I’ll make sure everyone’s there before the twelfth bell, Kassim.”
“I’ll double the guard on the perimeter,” added Elian.
“And I’ll help Zadie’s handmaids get her ready,” Lalana chimed in, lifting a wet, straggly lock of hair from my shoulder and letting it drop against my soaking dress with a wince.
The sultan paused, suddenly noticing how quiet I was. “Zadie, is that okay with you?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. It was only a couple of hours until midnight. And then I would be Astaran’s sultanah. Kassim’s wife.
“Then it’s settled.” Kassim’s amber eyes seemed to glow even brighter. “Tomorrow, we face our enemies. But tonight… Tonight we have a wedding.”
9
A window shutter slammed open, sending the drapes billowing.
“Ugh, this storm,” Safiyya cried. Lotus raised his head from my lap to watch his mistress run to the window and force it closed with a bang. “We don’t have time for this.”
I moved my cupped palm from the flickering candle. The tiger lowered his head back down with a rumbling purr, getting yet more orange-and-white fur all over my silk dressing robe. At least I wasn’t in my wedding gown yet.
Safiyya returned to my side, already swirling her brush into a powder. She and Lalana did my hair and makeup, while Mehri and Jevera hunched on the floor and finished embroidering the overlay that would sit over my wedding dress.
I sat patiently, watching in the mirror as Lalana worked on affixing a golden veil to the back of my headdress. A huge, gold disk, etched with a delicate rendering of an Astarian sun and studded with amber, rose above my braided hair like a golden halo. I’d chosen the headdress myself.
“I can’t believe you’re wearing that dinner plate on your head,” Lisha observed from where she lounged on a plump pillow on the floor. She stabbed her dagger into the bowl of grapes on the floor next to her, sliding each off with her teeth, the scraping sound making Lalana and Safiyya wince at the same time.
“With the rites at midnight, you’re going to look like you’re walking into a sacrifice rather than a wedding ceremony,” she said through a mouthful of grape.
“I’m not going to ask how you even know what a sacrificial ceremony looks like, Lisha.” I turned my gaze away from her reflection in the mirror. “But somehow, I imagine you’ve been invited to more of those than weddings.”
“Aren’t all weddings to men a kind of sacrifice?” Jevera commented drily. She knelt on the floor next to my bed, sewing the final details to the golden overlay of my dress. It looked like a delicate net made of the purest gold thread.
Lisha guffawed at her comment, and my handmaid’s dark eyes flicked up to watch her.
“I don’t think anyone would consider a marriage to the Sultan of Astaran a sacrifice, Jevera.” Safiyya’s dark head bobbed into view as she lined my eyes with copper kohl. “And Lisha, maybe you could get over here and make yourself useful. If you hadn’t noticed, we’re rather pressed for time.”
“I already helped with the hair,” Lisha protested, popping one last grape into her mouth before she stood and strode over, glaring at the headdress to make sure Lalana wasn’t pulling out any of the perfect braids she’d woven into my hair.
She straddled the chair beside me, resting her chin on the back. “Anyway, I suppose you’re right, princess. Marrying Kassim is no sacrifice. The sultan’s not my type, but I imagine Zadie will be the envy of every hot-blooded Astarian female tonight.”
Mehri giggled from behind us, but at Safiyya’s outraged glance, she turned it into a cough, tucking her fine braids behind her ears and appearing very interested in her sewing.
“Are you excited for tonight, Zadie?” Lalana’s voice sounded close to my ear as she worked on the headdress.
“I’m excited for the wedding, yes,” I replied, purposely ignoring Lalana’s suggestive tone. “If we can get everything ready in time.”
“And what are you wearing, you know, for after?” she asked, her eyes shining with mischief.
Spirits, was there a traditional robe for that, too? I didn’t have time to prepare another outfit. “Do I have to wear something?”
Lalana laughed. “No. I think nothing is a very good choice, Zadie.”
“Stop! That’s my brother, Lana!” Safiyya furrowed her brows and looked sick. “And soon to be yours, too.”
“Will you leave the headdress on?” Lisha scraped her chair closer to tap the disc with her nail, and even Jevera sniggered behind her palm. I watched as my ears turned red in the mirror.
“I don’t need to discuss my wedding night with a group of women who either have no interest in men or no experience with them,” I replied archly, but my heart raced in my chest.
I was pretty sure my sister was the only person in this room who had any first-hand experience of being with a man, but she couldn’t say so in front of everyone else.
It also meant she couldn’t give me any sisterly advice, which wouldn’t be the worst thing to have right about now…
Safiyya stepped back, tilting my face toward the candles burning on the dresser, admiring her handiwork. My skin glowed like sun-warmed honey, my wide, dark eyes fringed with full, curled lashes. At my insistence, the princess had highlighted, rather than tried to conceal, my Khirideshi nose.
“There,” she said, dusting her hands down her skirts. “You look lovely. Now I have to see if Elian and his men have finished preparing the nearly thousand oil lamps I requested.”
I laughed, then stopped when I caught her serious expression in the mirror.
“It’s a very big room to light, Zadie,” she said, her voice earnest as she rushed to the door. “Someone has to think of these things. Just because we’ve pulled the wedding forward, it doesn’t mean it can’t look perfect.” She held the door open, waiting for Lotus to prowl to her side before leaving.
Mehri stood from the floor. “We’re finished with the overlay. Shall I fetch your dress, Princess Zadie?”
I nodded. Mehri dipped a curtsey, then dashed into the corridor.
“I like Princess Safiyya,” Lalana said, gently tugging on my headdress with a hooked finger to make sure it was stable.
“I’ve never met anyone better at organizing things. Or at making things look beautiful,” I admitted.
Lisha stood from the chair. “It seems silly to stick with all this pomp and ceremony when we might be destroyed by vengeful spirits any second.” She walked across the room to peer over Jevera’s shoulder as the handmaid set the gold overlay on the bed. “I don’t know why you and Kassim couldn’t just say the rites and sign the papers in the council rooms. Then after a quick roll in the royal chambers, your two kingdoms could already be united.”
“Evil spirits or not, this is still a royal wedding,” Jevera snipped, pushing Lisha away half-heartedly. “A common guard like you just doesn’t appreciate the beauty of tradition or fine things.”
“Oh, I know fine things when I see them,” Lisha quipped, leaning right over Jevera, pretending to study the golden material.
The door banged open, making us all jump.
“It’s ruined!” Mehri burst into the room, something bundled in her arms. The sudden draft sent two of the windows flying open again. “It’s shredded! W-who would do this?” Mehri’s eyes were glassy with fright as she held the dress out with shaking hands. Once cut from the finest silks in the kingdom, the cream gown now looked like the tattered sail of a pirate ship.
“It looks like it’s been…clawed.” Jevera lifted a shred of fabric, her voice tight and eyes sparkling with tears. “All of our hard work…”
When Lisha put an arm around her, the small handmaid didn’t push her away. “Who would do this?” The assassin’s eyes flashed.
“Could it be Tarak?” Lalana called over from where she fastened the windows once more. “Do you think he’s still in the palace? He could have done it in his leopard form.”
My heart beat quickly in my chest, but the weight of the heavy headdress kept me grounded. “It could be. It could be any of the stolen spirits. Or it could simply be a jealous guest with a knife. Whoever it is, there’s an enemy inside the palace. Lisha, I need you to warn Namir.”
