One Thousand Nights (Tales of the Latter Kingdoms Book 6)

by Pope, Christine

  These were sensible enough words, I supposed, and yet I chafed at her advice, that I should go quietly to bed and let the matter rest for now. But what else could I do? Bolt from my rooms, go running to Besh’s chambers, assuming I could even locate them? I should not get two steps from my door, for I knew guards stood there day and night. My accommodations were far more luxurious, but I was just as much a prisoner here as the poor man held captive in a dungeon somewhere far below where I stood.

  “Very well,” I said to Therissa, knowing how utterly defeated I sounded. “I will go to bed, as there is nothing else I can do.”

  * * *

  So I went to my large, empty bed, and lay there with my eyes wide open as I tracked the passage of the moonlight across the floor, an intricate traveling shadow following it, cast by the latticework that covered the windows. Odd that I should be so weary, and yet unable to sleep. I knew some people were plagued by wakefulness, could not enjoy the oblivion that comes with slumber, but before now I had never been one of them. Must I be tormented in that way as well, so that I might not even escape my cares for a few hours each night?

  At last I crept out of bed and went to the window, carefully opening the latticed shutters. They squeaked faintly, and I paused, wondering if the sound had been enough to wake any of my maids where they slept in the next room. But I heard nothing, save the long, mournful cry of an owl from somewhere far overhead, and my breathing stilled somewhat.

  The moon had tracked its way to the west, and was now about to disappear behind the spires and towers of the city. I leaned on the windowsill of carved stone, breathing in air that finally was cool, sweet with the scent of a night-blooming flower Besh had told me was called jasmine. And as I looked down, I realized that a narrow ledge was set beneath my window, a ledge that seemed to run the length of this wing of the palace, until it met an open balcony that was the terminus of a long corridor.

  That ledge was just wide enough to stand on.

  No. Even entertaining that thought for a few seconds was madness. I couldn’t possibly be thinking of making my escape that way. And even if I did…for what?

  To see Besh, I thought then. To speak with him alone. Surely in these deep hours of the night, with no one around us, he might be more open to having a true conversation, instead of one couched in interminable politenesses.

  When I thought of it that way….

  The ledge was perhaps a foot wide, if even that. Not that I would have to rely on it completely, as there were windows spaced at even intervals along the face of the building, windows with sills that I could hold on to as I inched my way over to the balcony. Once I was there, I would be safe enough. I could simply climb over the balustrade and make my way down the corridor, until I came to the hallway it intersected, and go on from there, moving ever closer to Besh’s apartments.

  No, that was absurd. Even if I somehow managed to evade all the guards stationed between here and there, he always had six more standing watch at the entrance to his wing of the palace. I would have to turn myself invisible to accomplish that.

  Turn myself invisible….

  Of course. Why hadn’t I thought of it sooner? Surely if Therissa could enchant herself to look like someone else, or enchant my sister-in-law so it appeared she was wearing the richest of garments and jewels, when in reality she had on barely more than rags, then she must be able to do something that would make me, if not invisible, then unnoticeable. Turn me into one of the guards, or my maids. No, perhaps that would not do so well, for if one of them went wandering around the palace in the dead of night, she would be stopped and immediately returned to her quarters here.

  After drawing on my dressing gown and sliding my feet into a pair of sandals, I slipped out into the hallway and inched my way down to the chamber — cubbyhole, really, barely half the size of my bath chamber — where Therissa slept. No doubt Miram had been content enough with that cubby, for at least it was her own, a sign of her status that she did not have to sleep in the same chamber as the lesser maids.

  I bent down and touched the enchantress on the shoulder, whispering, “Therissa.”

  She awoke at once, eyes flashing in the darkness. The fading moonlight was just bright enough that I could see she wore her own face, but as she blinked up at me, instantly her features shifted into those of Miram. Well, that answered one question. It was a calculated risk, for I thought she probably guessed the maids would knock before entering the place where she slept. Failure to follow the protocols would be grounds for dismissal, after all.

  “What is the matter?” she whispered in return. “Is something wrong?”

  “No — well, yes, I suppose it is, but I just realized that I have been foolish in not asking you this before. Is there any way for you to, I don’t know, cast a spell so no one will see me? For I very much wish to speak to my husband now, in secret.”

  Her eyes widened. “Begging your pardon, my lady, but have you gone mad? Surely whatever you have to say to him can wait until morning. The risks — ”

  “I was not asking about the risks,” I cut in. “I was asking whether you could do it.”

  For a long moment, she hesitated. Then she said, words coming slowly, as if she were thinking it through as she spoke, “It would not be the same thing I did for Ashara, or even what I have done here to disguise myself. Those spells are quite intricate, and require me to make an alteration that is accurate down to the way my eyes crinkle when I smile — not that Miram smiled very much — or, in Ashara’s case, to imagine the way a gown falls and rustles and feels, and not merely how it looks.” Again she paused, watching me with worried eyes, as if she wished she could think of some way to dissuade me but knew she could not. After all, she was Ashara’s aunt, but I was the Hiereine of Keshiaar, and before that the Crown Princess of Sirlende. It was not her position to refuse me my request.

  “So what is it, then?” I prompted, when it seemed she was loath to continue.

  “It is more an illusion of darkness, of shadow. This will work well enough now, for although of course the corridors of the palace are not left in complete darkness, neither are they blazing with light.” She sat up in her narrow bed, fingers tightening around the thin linen coverlet. “But as you do not wish to be a shadow being when you go to see your husband, I must know how long you think it will take you to reach His Most High Majesty’s apartments, so I may cast the spell in such a way that it will have run its course by the time you get there.”

  Relieved that she did not seem inclined to offer any more arguments, I said, “No more than ten minutes. At least, that is how long it seems to take when we walk at a somewhat leisurely pace from there to here.”

  “All right, then. That should be easy enough.” She drew in a breath and then let it out, staring at me for a long moment. “Are you sure, my lady? Absolutely sure? For of course you will not be able to offer any good explanation as to how you managed to walk all the way to your husband’s apartments with no one noticing. His Most High Majesty is no fool. He is sure to ask questions.”

  “He may ask,” I said blithely. “But I will only tell him that perhaps his guards are not quite so perceptive as he thinks.”

  “I do not like that,” she replied at once. “For one thing, while you cannot be punished in any way for escaping your apartments, the guards do not have the sort of immunity. Do you wish to see them beaten or dismissed for something that is not their fault?”

  I hadn’t thought of that. Bother. For while I chafed to be away from here, to speak with Besh alone, I most certainly did not want to cause trouble for any of the guards. I did not know them, even the ones who watched outside my chambers, for they were too well-trained to do anything save murmur “Most High Majesty” as they let me in and out of these apartments. But that was no excuse for carelessly allowing them to receive whatever punishment might be meted out when it was discovered that I had slipped past them.

  But perhaps if I combined Therissa’s spell with my earlier plan of going o
ut the window….

  I explained as much to her, and her eyes widened even more, if that were possible. With a shake of her head, she protested, “My lady, that is a far greater madness than trying to somehow evade your guards. What if you should fall?”

  “What if I did?” I asked with a lift of my shoulders. “My family will mourn, and I suppose Besh would get himself another wife at some point. You cannot say that he would weep too heavily over my death.”

  “I will say it,” she replied immediately. “You are not thinking clearly. Forgive me for telling you so bluntly, but it is only the truth. He does care, no matter what you might think.”

  No, I was not thinking clearly. In that she was correct, but I was determined on my current course of action. As long as I could manage it without any undue punishment falling on the guards’ heads, I did not think she had the right to try to stop me.

  Something in my aspect must have told her my mind was made up, for she let out a long sigh, then said, “So what is your plan?”

  “You will cast your spell, and then I will go out by my window and move along the ledge to the balcony at the end of the main corridor. It is only some hundred paces or so. Then I’ll make my way to Besh’s apartments. I will distract the guards somehow, and then get in past them. But if he asks, I will say I came in through a window, just as I escaped from here.”

  She listened to all this with an increasingly troubled expression. “There are so many things that could go wrong — ”

  “And I am willing to take that risk.”

  Apparently she had given up on making any further arguments. “Very well, Lyarris. But please — be as careful as you can. It is not that you have any experience climbing ledges.”

  “No,” I replied, “but as a child I used to walk along the stairway railings at the palace. Torric and I would egg each other on, until we were caught and punished by being confined to our rooms for three days in a row. True, it was his idea, but I did once have quite a good sense of balance.”

  This didn’t seem to comfort her much, but at length she gave a reluctant nod, saying, “I will cast the spell now — but I will make it last for twenty minutes, not ten, for I think that it will take you a good deal more time to inch along a ledge than it would to walk sedately down a corridor.”

  “That is probably wise,” I agreed. “And if it has not worn off by the time I get to Besh’s apartments, I will simply wait until it does.”

  Since she apparently thought there was nothing else to say, Therissa drew in a breath, then murmured a few words I could not quite make out, save that they sounded like no language I had ever heard. I had asked Ashara once if she felt the spell taking shape around her, had somehow sensed the magic, and she had replied that she had not. Only when she looked down and saw the alteration in her appearance did she realize that a spell had been cast.

  It was not quite like that for me. I could not say exactly what it was — perhaps like the faintest touch of an unseen breeze, or the odd prickling one can feel on one’s skin when a lightning bolt strikes nearby. But I could tell magic was being worked, and even though I had invited it, still my blood seemed to run a little colder in my veins at that realization.

  I looked down and saw…nothing. No, that was not right. Yes, there was no sign of the crimson silk of my dressing gown, or the light linen of the sleeping chemise I wore under it, but I noted a blurry darkness something in the shape of a woman’s body. In the shadows of the darkened palace, it would probably never be noticed.

  “Gods,” I breathed, and Therissa’s lips compressed.

  “There is your spell. I must beseech you to think sensibly and retire to your chambers so that it may wear off with no one the wiser, but I fear that is not what is going to happen next.”

  I began to shake my head, then realized she probably could not see the gesture. “No, dear Therissa. I will go to my chambers, but only so I might escape through the window. I will be quite safe — you’ll see.”

  She did not reply, only glanced away from me, her expression troubled. Not wanting to waste time on any more words, I left her tiny sleeping quarters and padded down the corridor to my own bedchamber, where I went at once to the window. After opening the shutters as wide as I could, I hoisted myself up to the sill, then dropped lightly down onto the ledge.

  Chapter 13

  The night breeze seemed to come to greet me, sweet and cool. I clung to the windowsill for a moment, getting my bearings, trying to re-familiarize myself with the sensation of balancing on a narrow strip not quite a foot wide. I had been very good at this sort of thing, once upon a time, but that had been almost fifteen years ago.

  I inched out with one foot, then another, realizing this was going to be more difficult than I thought, simply because I couldn’t really see my own feet, just an odd, wavery dark blur. Hesitating, I wondered if I should abandon my mad plan and do as Therissa had said: return to my bed and wait for the spell to wear off. But that would be admitting defeat before I even got started. Besides, I realized that beyond the windowsill there was still a raised line of decorative tile, something I could use to cling to. No, it wasn’t nearly as wide as the ledge upon which I stood, but it was something.

  So I began to inch my way along, fingers clinging to the tile, the rough edge of the raised surface biting into my flesh. Not that I minded terribly, as at least it reassured me that I still had a good grip on it. Since I faced the building, I could see nothing of what was beneath my feet. Just as well, I supposed. If I could really see what I was doing, I might truly lose my nerve.

  How long that took, I wasn’t sure, although the entire time I was conscious that the spell would not last forever. I could not rush, though, for that would only increase my chances of falling. Five minutes — or an eternity — later, my outstretched hand fell upon the smooth balustrade that enclosed the balcony which was my destination, and I let out a little sigh of relief. I had survived the first part of my journey.

  With arms that shook slightly, I pulled myself up and over the balustrade, then dropped onto the reassuringly solid floor of the balcony. Then it was time to concentrate as I moved as lightly as I could down into the adjoining corridor, always keeping an eye out for any guards on patrol, while at the same time reminding myself of the route to the wing Besh occupied. Left around a corner here, then straight on until I reached the staircase, then down the steps and left again until I came to the long hall with the palms in their stone urns spaced at equal intervals. Follow that to the end, then emerge into the colonnade that faced the gardens, then left once more….

  It was a nerve-wracking process, one made all the more so because every so often I would come across a pair of guards making their nightly rounds. To be sure, they looked rather bored — or it seemed that way in the uncertain light of the few oil lamps that illuminated the hallways — but even so I found myself flattening against the wall as they passed, hardly daring to breathe, then waiting until they were out of earshot so I could resume my ghostly journey. At last, though, I came around a corner and saw the large carved doors that served as the entrance to my husband’s apartments.

  As I’d feared, six guards stood there, all grasping long-handled poles topped with curved blades. These guards did not look bored at all. Their dark eyes were bright even at this hour of the night, glittering in the shadow of the helmets they wore.

  In the back of my mind, I had hoped they would not be so alert, and that I might somehow be able to sneak past them and gain entry without having to come up with a suitable distraction. This, however, was clearly not going to happen, and so I hesitated, looking about to see what I might possibly be able to do that would draw them away from the entrance to the suite and allow me to open the door and slip in.

  Around the corner were more of the heavy potted plants, and although I disliked being the cause of any destruction, I could not see anything else that might allow me to make the sort of noise that would cause the guards to come running. Gritting my teeth, I graspe
d the edges of the stone planter — it was nearly as high as my waist — and pushed. It rocked slightly, but it was clear that I needed to make even more of an effort. So I drew in a breath, then shoved with all my might.

  The planter toppled over with a resounding crash, and I jumped, startled, before I realized I had no time to lose. Already I heard the sound of heavy boots running in my direction. Flattening along the wall, I moved like the shadow I was, back toward the double doors of Besh’s apartments. As I did so, five of the guards bolted past me, headed toward the planter I had just overturned.

  A whispered curse escaped my lips. I had hoped that all of them would go, but I supposed it was too much to ask that they wouldn’t leave at least one man to maintain his guard over the Hierarch’s suite. At least he had stepped away from the door, was peering this way and that, as if looking to see whether the intruder who had made such a noise had come in this direction.

  Well, she had, but I feared he would not see her. In fact, I practically slipped past under his nose. He stiffened, as if sensing something, but since I was more or less invisible in the semi-gloom of the corridor, he could not detect precisely where I was. And as his head was craned in the direction where his compatriots had disappeared, I lifted the handle to the door, opened it just enough to allow myself to slide through, then shut it behind me.

  Not a minute too soon, for even as I slumped against the wall, trying to calm my agitated breathing, I saw my body slowly becoming more solid, as if resolving itself from a dark mist. Within the minute I was fully myself. The spell had done its work.

  And now I must do mine.

  From my past visits here, I had seen that Besh shared my dislike for having servants underfoot at all times. Yes, he must have the guards, and once or twice I had seen a quiet, unobtrusive manservant going about and lighting the lamps and such, but otherwise, these rooms seemed to be my husband’s sanctum, a place where he wished to be left undisturbed. Which was good, because my bag of tricks was quite empty. I had no more means of hiding myself, and so must hope to find my way to where he slept without being seen by anyone.