I swallowed, trying to quell the sense of panic rising in my chest. “I don’t–”
“I showed you my city. Shared my secrets with you. Introduced you to the most powerful sorcerers in the twelve kingdoms, who could have been your friends.” Iram paused, his silver-gray eyes running slowly up and down my body, taking in how I still sat perfectly upright, my head held high. “I’ll admit, I very much hoped we might work together. And when you told me about the book…” His eyes took on an excited glimmer.
“I can still help you find it,” I said desperately. “Let me help you.”
The sultan let out a low laugh. “I don’t think so, Zadie. You’ve outlived your usefulness. You’re now more dangerous to me alive than dead.”
I frowned, not understanding what he was saying. His hand suddenly shot through the bars, grasping my chin and wrenching it up so that I looked him in the eyes.
“Kassim will never know when you died,” he said quietly, “but even if he figures it out, it doesn’t matter anymore. Once I have the Book of Names, I’ll have complete control over the spirits. And you’re the only other person in the twelve kingdoms who knows where it is.”
I yanked my head back, trying to wrest my chin from his grip, but he held on tightly.
“You’ll be burned at dawn,” the sultan breathed. “My people will hear how their sultan generously extended the hand of friendship, and how you slaughtered Sister Hepzibah in return. They will understand the brutality of the kingdoms in the south, those who have kept us isolated here for so long.”
Finally releasing my jaw, the sultan stepped back from the bars of the cell, dusting his hands down the front of his robes.
“You will die tomorrow, Zadie. And you will die knowing you were single-handedly responsible for the fall of Astaran.”
Chapter Thirty-One
I sat slumped against the wall of the cell, my body stiff and exhausted. If I’d thought it cold yesterday, nothing had prepared me for the freezing temperatures it had dipped to during the night. I had shivered violently for hours, my neck and shoulders aching this morning…assuming it was morning. My blood felt as if it had turned to ice, my bones frozen and ready to crack apart.
My right hand still ached, the wound throbbing painfully and the two broken fingers singing out with pain when I tried to move them. They had turned slightly black, bruising around the knuckles. I felt my jaw tentatively, where the sultan had grasped my chin, and flinched, the skin tender to touch.
But I wasn’t about to give up now. If Iram intended me to die on a pyre in some sort of public execution, I would use my last breath to sing the praises of Astaran and decry the brutality of the Phoenitian sultan. If only one person listened, at least I would have done something useful while I was here.
I tentatively rotated one foot, trying to urge some feeling back into it, and winced as pins and needles shot painfully up my calf. I kept rotating my foot anyway, then did the same with the other, screwing up my face against the pain and forcing the blood to start flowing back through my body.
The sensation slowly returning to my legs, I forced myself to my feet. The candles had burned low, and I wondered how much light I had left. Maybe it was still the middle of the night and I would be plunged into darkness long before the guards were sent to collect me for execution.
Taking a few awkward steps around the cell, I rolled my shoulders, bent my knees. I was scared, but I wouldn’t let them see it. I would walk to my death with dignity. If Kassim ever learned how I died, could ever forgive me for what I had told Iram, I wanted him to be proud.
A slight scuff of feet over stone sounded in the distance, and I froze.
They’re here.
Instinctively, I pressed myself back against the wall, hoping that in the dark, they wouldn’t be able to tell where I was. Tears filled my eyes. Thoughts about dignity didn’t stop the thundering of my heart.
I pressed myself harder against the wall, the rough-cut rock digging painfully into my back. All thoughts of walking to my death with dignity vanished from my mind when the solitary guard appeared, his broad frame dark and soft in the last of the candlelight. He didn’t pause as he unlocked the cell door.
I steeled myself. Just one guard.
I held my breath as the guard slipped inside the cell, looking around with a confused expression when he found it empty.
I launched myself at him, jumping onto his back.
With a wild cry, I threw every ounce of strength into the assault, ignoring the protests of my battered body, the stab of pain from my broken fingers as my hand fastened on the guard’s robes, feeling for a weapon.
He gave a cry of surprise and stumbled forward under my weight. I beat my fists against him, ignoring the fact that it was probably hurting my hand more than him. But although he stumbled again, the guard didn’t try to fight back.
I didn’t let that stop me. I clamped my arms over his, reaching desperately for the sword at his belt.
“Zadie,” a familiar voice hissed. “Stop it!”
I froze, fresh tears rolling down my cheeks. This must be sorcery, Iram trying to hurt me as much as possible before the end. It couldn’t really be him.
But I breathed in, inhaling the scent of sandalwood and citrus, a feeling of warmth blossoming in my chest.
As I relaxed and slid down to the floor, Kassim turned and took me gently by the shoulders, two golden eyes gleaming out from under the hood of his cloak, his mouth set in a familiar, exasperated expression.
I lifted a trembling hand to his face, feeling the high cheekbones, the rough stubble.
Kassim’s face softened. “Zadie…”
I stood on tiptoes and crashed my lips against his, kissing him hungrily as tears streamed down my face.
For a moment, the sultan kissed me back, his rough cheeks grazing against my skin, making it tingle, then he drew back with a wry smile, his face flushed. “Please do start greeting me like that in future, but we haven’t got time for this now.”
“You came for me,” I said in bewilderment. “But Iram told you not to–”
Kassim’s eyes narrowed. “We’re going to have words later about why you ever thought for a moment that I wouldn’t come for you. I will always come for you, Zadie. But right now, we need to go.”
“How did you even get in here?”
Smirking, Kassim dangled a key from his palm. Aliyah’s enchanted key.
“Come on, Zadie.” The sultan grasped my right hand, and I yelped in pain.
“I cut my hand quite badly,” I said through gritted teeth. “And the vizier broke two fingers.”
Kassim’s expression turned thunderous as he clenched his jaw. “When I get my hands on that foul–”
“She’s dead, Kassim.”
He stared at me.
“We haven’t got time for this now, remember?” I offered him my good hand. “Let’s go.”
With a growl, Kassim led me out into the stone corridor, walking swiftly past several guards lying unconscious on the floor. The corridors were unlike the gleaming marble carved into Iram’s chambers. The stone was roughly cut, so I could well have believed we were deep within the mountain. Only the paved floor and occasional brazier on the walls told me we were still somewhere within the palace.
“Where are we going?” I whispered, my voice echoing down the corridor.
“Elian and Aliyah are waiting for us in the city.”
I shook my head in disbelief. Then a thought struck me. “Kassim, we have to hurry.” There was still no natural light, so it was difficult to tell what time it must be. “I’m… I’m to be executed at dawn. They’ll come looking for me in the morning…”
Kassim just walked faster. I hurried to keep up with him.
“How do you even know your way around?” I whispered again.
Kassim shot me an exasperated look. “You know, I’d just begun to get used to acting without being questioned on absolutely everything…”
I dug an elbow into his ribs.
He smiled, squeezing my arm as if to test I was really beside him. “We’ve been collecting intelligence on Phoenitia for a very long time, Zadie.” He took a quick right, dragging me along beside him. “This passage links up with the Order of Smoke. Some of the sorcerers’ servants are working for us. They’ll get us out of the city.”
Thinking of how Hanan had betrayed me, my chest tightened. “Can they be trusted? A Khrideshi servant of theirs is the reason I was in that cell.”
“These are Astarian spies,” Kassim said loftily. “They’re the source of our information here in Phoenitia. They’ve been working with us for many years.”
It irritated me that Kassim thought Astarians to be more trustworthy than my people, but I let it slide.
We reached a series of long, narrow steps down. There was no light at the bottom, so they seemed to plunge deep into the earth. Kassim pulled a brazier from the wall. He looked at my hand with concern. “I’ll go first and hold the light…”
I nodded, glancing over my shoulder, as if guards might appear at any moment.
“It’s still well before dawn,” Kassim added reassuringly. “They won’t come for you for several hours.”
I adjusted mentally to that idea. I was so sure it was morning already. I nodded, and Kassim began slowly descending the steps.
Taking a deep breath, I followed just behind him, placing my left hand gingerly against the wall beside me for balance.
“It’s not far,” Kassim said in that same, soothing tone. “It will take us a few hours to follow the tunnels to the Order of Smoke. Then our spies will take us straight out of the city. We’ll travel with a caravan of goods to a neighboring town, where we have horses waiting for us.” His voice took on a teasing tone. “I’m afraid I couldn’t bring Bandit with me…”
A smile spread across my face. “It will be good to ride any horse,” I said truthfully. “Perhaps we can relive our race in the desert. On equal footing this time.”
Kassim chuckled. “You call it equal footing when your hand is injured?”
I glanced down at my hand, the thrill of being rescued having momentarily made me forget the shape it was in. Spirits. That will make it more difficult to ride.
“We’ll figure something out,” Kassim said comfortingly. “Anyway, it’s less than a day’s ride east to the coast, where we’ll meet Bahar’s ship and head straight back to Astaran.”
At those words, I stopped abruptly on the stairs, my breath catching in my throat.
Kassim turned back. “What is it, Zadie? We need to keep going.”
I shook my head frantically. “We can’t, Kassim.”
He frowned. “What do you mean we can’t? This is the only safe way to get out of this palace–”
“No, not that.” I shook my head again. “I mean, we can’t go straight back to Astaran.”
In the flickering light of the candle, I saw a wary look pass over Kassim’s face.
Guilt flooded me, and I dropped my gaze, unable to stand how disappointed the sultan would be when he realized what I’d done. “Kassim, I did something stupid.” I hung my head, my voice dropping to a whisper. “I thought… I thought I was helping, but Iram tricked me.”
Kassim blew out a long breath. “Just tell me, Zadie.”
I lifted my head, gazing into his eyes. “We can’t sail back to Astaran, Kassim, because we need to travel through the mountains. We have to find the Book of Names. Before Iram finds it first.”
Ready for the fourth and final book in the Desert Nights series? Check out QUEEN OF DJINN now.
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Thanks for reading
Dear reader,
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading the third book in our Desert Nights series. We think this might be our favorite in the series yet!
We’re so excited for you to read the fourth and final book, Queen of Djinn. In this unforgettable conclusion to the series, Zadie and her friends quest across a perilous mountain range, where they face fire-breathing azhdaha and ancient curses in a race against Sultan Iram’s forces.
But it seems nothing can stop the blood feud between the two sultans erupting into war, not the enchanted book they seek, not even the vast mountain range between the kingdoms…
At the end of it all, will Zadie sacrifice everything to save the man and the kingdom she loves?
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Kingdom of Spirits
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Set immediately before Throne of Sand, the prequel tells the story of how Zadie came to take her sister’s place beside Kassim.
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Also by Elm & Helena
THE DESERT NIGHTS SERIES
Kingdom of Spirits (prequel)
Throne of Sand
Palace of Wishes
Princess of Smoke
Queen of Djinn
ALSO BY ELM VINCE
The Star Cast series
Tapestry of Night (forthcoming)
www.elmvince.com
ALSO BY HELENA ROOKWOOD
The Carnival of Fae series
The Sword and the Star (prequel)
The Prince and the Poisoner
The Thief and the Throne (forthcoming)
The Carnival and the Crown (forthcoming)
The River Witch series
The River Witch
The Iron Court
The Queen’s Court
The Wild Hunt
The Iron City
The King’s Court (forthcoming)
www.helenarookwood.com
About the authors
Elm and Helena have been friends since before they were old enough to read. They grew up loving the same books, and never quite grew out of it, so it’s not much of a surprise that they’ve both ended up writing YA fantasy – and even less of a surprise that they’re now writing a series together!
They’re both mad about dragons, fairytales, strong female leads, and hate-to-love romances. Recent fantasy books they haven’t been able to stop chatting about have included those by Sarah J. Maas, Naomi Novik, Sabaa Tahir, and Leigh Bardugo.
If you want to find out more, the best thing to do is to send one of them an email.
You can contact Elm at [email protected], or Helena at [email protected]
Princess of Smoke (2020 Reissue) Page 24
