The group’s voices were quiet as palm leaves in a desert breeze as they moved past me.
“You’re sure the dowry will be in the treasury? Are they really stupid enough to leave it in such an obvious place? And after they paraded it through the streets so we could get a good look…”
“I assume they think no one could get in now that they’ve upped security,” a woman replied in a low voice. “Unfortunately for them, we’ve got this…”
There was a gentle clink, then the sound of low laughter.
My stomach turned. These were no palace guards.
I peered out from behind the plinth. They neared the end of the corridor, falling back into silence as they pressed against the wall, the first of them checking around the corner for any sign of the guards.
My mouth grew dry. The thieves were here. And from the sounds of it, they were after my dowry.
I glanced back and forth along the corridor. In one direction was Namir. In the other, the thieves. I could chase after Namir or run to get the guards…but I would likely find myself even more lost before finding help. I bit down on my lip.
Perhaps this was the opportunity I’d been waiting for to prove myself? I was the future sultanah of this palace, and these thieves were trying to steal my dowry from right under my nose. A flicker of anger thrummed through me. I couldn’t just ignore that.
The thieves disappeared around the corner. I needed to move, now.
Wriggling out from behind the plinth, I followed after them.
I kept my distance, hovering at least a corridor’s length behind the thieves. I followed them by sound, not sight, which was difficult. They walked on nearly silent feet and spoke in low whispers, but I didn’t dare get close enough to see them. Not when they constantly checked over their shoulders and waited at corners to make sure the coast was clear. They were professionals. And they clearly knew where they were going.
In spite of the situation, I felt a twinge of irritation that these thieves knew their way around the palace better than I did.
I slipped around another corner…and stopped.
Before me was a thick, metal door that had been left open. Delicate calligraphy intended to ward off avaricious spirits was embossed into the frame, a heavy copper ring lay still at its middle, and the faint smell of dampness and oils drifted out from within.
I peered around the open door, braced to run. There was no one guarding the inside. It seemed the thieves had forgotten to check what was behind them. And as I took in the treasury beyond the doors, I understood why.
The golden coins caught my eye first. Glittering mountains stretched up toward the cavernous ceiling, as endless as the desert outside the palace walls.
Amongst the gold dinars glinted jewels the size of my fist – rubies, emeralds, and sapphires – some raw from the earth, others masterfully cut and polished into imitations of fruits and flowers. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I could make out gleaming silver plates and goblets, cleverly wrought weapons, exquisitely carved statues of snakes, monkeys, and tigers, and richly colored carpets stacked in heavy rolls against the wall.
I felt dizzy for a moment. I had thought my dowry significant. But there was so much wealth here, beyond what I ever could have imagined. And I would soon be married to the man who owned all of it…
The thieves darted around the room lighting torches, and each time a flame flickered to life, another glittering golden pile was revealed.
Seeing them engrossed in their duties, I slipped inside silently, still disguised by the shadows and staying close to the door. The thieves hadn’t a hope of taking all of this, but even a sackful would be more than most people in Astaran would own in a lifetime.
“The door, Lisha,” a woman’s voice called.
My heart leapt into my throat. I pressed myself farther into the shadows as one of the thieves strolled back toward me, the flickering torch lighting a glittering path before her.
I crept away from the door, keeping well back into the shadows and praying it would remain dark enough to keep me hidden after they lit the torches. My heart began to beat faster as the reality of my situation sank in.
As long as the thief guarded the door, there was no way out again.
Spirits, why had I felt the need to slip inside the treasury with them? It wasn’t like I could apprehend them. I forced myself to slow my breathing. Right now, the important thing was staying hidden.
Moving very slowly and carefully so I didn’t shift any of the coins underfoot, I moved farther away from the door. A huge wardrobe of polished wood gleamed next to the nearest mountain of gold, so I ducked down behind it, wincing when I dislodged a bracelet that clattered to the floor. I froze, hoping no one had heard.
I appeared to be surrounded by fine jewelry – veils embroidered with thousands of sparkling jewels, a diadem heavy with sapphires, and an amethyst ring that glittered like a star. There were odd amulets and talismans, too, bearing similar symbols to the ones on the door. My mother would have killed for these. Some of them even looked like hers.
There was a low groan as somebody pushed the door shut. “Should we lock it behind us, Aliyah?” a voice said.
“No,” Aliyah replied. “There’s no need, Lisha. No one knows we’re here.”
They have a key.
At least that solved the mystery of how the thieves had slipped in and out of the palace so easily. How did they get their hands on the key to the royal treasury?
I peered out from behind the wardrobe. The thieves gazed up at the towers of gold, apparently as struck by it all as I was.
“Sorcerer’s beard, Aliyah,” an excited voice cried out. “Just look at all of this!”
I grimaced as several of them hastened up to the shining towers of gold, coins spilling to the floor with a clatter as they were dislodged by grabbing hands.
What kind of future sultanah was I, hiding behind a wardrobe while thieves ransacked my betrothed’s treasury? I shook my head. There was nothing I could do…not now that I was trapped in here with them.
“Enough of this,” Aliyah snapped. “We have an hour before the change of the guard at the palace gates, and we need to be out of here by then. Start looking for the ring. Now.”
My skin turned clammy. I had assumed the thieves would fill their bags with whatever they could grab, but if they hunted for something specific, how long would it be before they discovered me hiding among the treasure?
And, of course, I’d chosen to hide among the jewelry. I couldn’t have hidden where one of the golden scimitars was within reach. I could at least have used that to defend myself.
“Come on, Aliyah,” one of the thieves whined. “They won’t miss a few coins. They won’t notice anything missing from all of this.”
“It doesn’t matter what I think. Our benefactor doesn’t want us touching anything else. If I find anything in any of your pockets when we leave, you’ll bring it back here yourself. So get searching. We need to take a ring with an amethyst shaped like a seven-pointed star, nothing else.”
I frowned and glanced back to the ring I had spotted a moment ago, counting the points of the star. Seven. I picked it up. There was an inscription on the outside of the band, but it was in a language I didn’t recognize. Compared to all the other treasures, what was this worth?
Whatever the reason, if the ring was what they were here for, I could at least prevent yet another palace theft. And I now knew the thieves used a key to get in here. If I made it out of here without being discovered, I would have plenty of useful information to report back to the royal council. Feeling pleased with myself, I slipped the ring onto my finger.
“Start with the mounds closest to us,” Aliyah instructed. “It’s unlikely anything new will be at the back of the room.”
Something new? So this ring definitely came with my dowry.
The thieves spread out, each moving to a different mound of treasure to start their search. The sound of coins spilling out onto the floor provided t
he cover I needed. Quickly, I darted inside the wardrobe, pulling the door closed behind me. I was instantly overwhelmed by the suffocating smell of lavender and mint, no doubt intended to keep moths from the beautiful fabrics hanging above me. If anyone opened the door, at least I could hide behind the heavy material.
A thin crack of light between the doors tempted me forward. I pressed my face against the cool wood and watched the thieves relentlessly search through the treasury.
Most rummaged through the coins, chattering in low murmurs or calling out in excitement if they found an item that was exceptionally beautiful. Aliyah, who seemed to be their leader, watched carefully for a few minutes, then slowly unwound the headscarf from her head and face. I held in a gasp. She was beautiful, her almond-shaped eyes dark with kohl, her skin smooth and soft as caramel.
Most strikingly, her head was close-shaven and covered with swirling tattoos.
Dropping the headscarf to the floor, she moved to another mound of golden coins and threw herself into the search with the same vigor as the others.
I kept still inside the wardrobe for what felt like forever, but it couldn’t have been that long if the thieves intended to leave within an hour. The ring dug into my finger. At least I knew they wouldn’t find what they were looking for.
To distract myself from the cramp biting into my leg, I focused on the thieves, trying to memorize as much as I could.
Of course, Aliyah was distinctive enough. I had never seen a woman shave her head before, much less have tattoos winding their way over her scalp. But the rest of the thieves would be less easy to identify in the future, all dressed in simple black cloth bound close to the skin, which hid their faces.
Still, Aliyah had called one of them Lisha. Surely a name was useful? And judging by their accents, they were all from Kisrabah. So they must be based within the sultan’s own city.
“Enough,” Aliyah said through clenched teeth. She picked up the headscarf and began winding it back around her neck and head. “We’re out of time. We’ll have to come back tomorrow night. Our benefactor already has another task lined up for us. If we fail this one… we might lose their business.”
I loosed a slow breath, my hands trembling as relief swept over me. They were leaving. And they hadn’t caught me. Or found what they were looking for.
And I had useful information about how they’d been getting into the palace.
The door groaned as the thief who’d been guarding it eased it open, and the flickering lights of the torches melded into a golden line running out of the treasury, leaving just one still glowing on the wall.
“Come on,” Aliyah hissed, gesturing for the thieves to hurry up. “We need to go, now.”
The patter of footsteps hastened, then there was another echoing groan as the door was heaved shut after them. It closed with a muffled boom.
My heart hammered in my chest. This can’t be happening.
But as if to prove otherwise, a loud click resounded through the chamber.
Chapter Nine
Please tell me that wasn’t the sound of the lock.
I slowly emerged from my hiding place, scanning the treasury in the dim, flickering light to make sure the thieves were truly gone. All was silent.
I padded over to the door and tugged at the large copper ring with both hands. It didn’t budge. I pulled again, leaning back with all my weight.
I’m locked in.
My stomach jumped up to my throat. No. I couldn’t be trapped in here. How would I explain myself when the guards – or, worse, the thieves – came back and found me?
If they found me. Who knew how often they checked the treasury? What if the door didn’t open again for days? How long could I last in here without food or water? Or light? The questions beat against my mind, each worse than the last.
My heart hammered as I spun around and leaned back against the locked door, tilting my head against the hard surface with a groan. I had to stay calm. Perhaps there was another way out of here.
The thieves had left only one torch on the wall bracket closest to the door. Judging by the low flame, it would die out completely in less than an hour and I would be trapped, alone, in the dark.
I reached up and gripped the torch with shaking hands. The treasury seemed endless, filled with vast, dark recesses. I stepped away from the door and moved farther into the chamber. The torch threw a small puddle of light around me, the treasure it touched turning molten, like scattered embers. Spidery shadows crept behind me as I made my way through the great mountains of gold.
I held the torch aloft to illuminate the tall, windowless walls. They led up to vaulted arches eaten up by the darkness beyond the light of the torch.
After several long minutes trying to search the perimeter, I almost fainted with hopelessness. Of course there was no other door. What sort of treasury would have a handy unlocked window or trapdoor to get in and out of? Deep down, I knew the only opening was the one I had come through.
A flash of anger cut through my growing despair, and I threw the torch down in the middle of the room. It illuminated the smoldering edges of four treasure piles, each as tall as trees.
I should never have come here in the first place. Never followed the thieves. Never put this stupid ring on my finger. What was so special about it anyway?
I grabbed it with my thumb and forefinger to tug it off, to no avail. I gave it another twist as irritation stoked in my belly.
“Agh!” I twisted it back and forth, trying to wriggle the ring over my knuckle.
Then I stopped as violet smoke began to curl above my hand, like kindling catching fire. The smoke poured out faster, billowing up and up to fill the center of the room like a cloud. It seemed to emanate its own sickly, grey light. I took a step back, clutching my hand to my chest and staring at the smoke in horror.
It didn’t even smell like normal smoke. It smelled like musky amber and sweet, woody frankincense.
For a second, nothing happened. The roiling cloud just hung there ominously.
Then something formed in the smoke. A huge head, vaguely human but large as an elephant, with silver-and-black markings like a tiger. The empty pit of its mouth opened and it roared.
“WHO DARES DISTURB ME?”
The floor trembled beneath me and I staggered backward. Coins hissed as they slid down the sides of the treasure piles.
It had to be a spirit. Some malevolent and powerful djinni or ifrit. My own mouth, which had been open in mute terror, suddenly started screaming. I spun on my heel and ran in the opposite direction.
The light of the torch faded behind me, my heart thudding painfully in my chest as I ran in complete darkness. My outstretched hands collided with something. Hard, smooth jewels and cold coins tinkled and whispered as I knocked unseen treasures to the floor.
“WHERE ARE YOU, HUMAN?” The voice boomed through the room once more, echoing off the walls and shaking all the treasure. In the darkness, I could just make out a distant smudge of smoke flowing through the air like a river.
I pressed my back into the mountain of treasure and, like a sand lizard, began to shuffle my way back into the gold, burying myself beneath it.
I held still. The treasure around me fell silent with a soft tinkling. My eyes were wide open, but I saw only blackness. Sharp objects dug into the soft parts of my skin, crowding every inch of me. Each ragged inhale and exhale seemed like a shout. Trying to hold my breath, I kept still and quiet as a statue.
Silence.
Then the sweet, creeping smell of frankincense.
“I SEE YOU.”
The whole mountain shook around me, the treasure sliding away from my body. Another boom, then…
Laughter? Am I just a game to this spirit?
Well, I didn’t want to play anymore. It was impossible to hide in a locked room forever anyway.
I swallowed down the terror in my chest and forced myself to stand. The huge head had materialized above me again, purple smoke curling from its edge
s. Its pale glow lit the surrounding treasure in faded hues of grey.
There was a slim chance this spirit was a protector of the treasury. And if that were the case, maybe my relationship to Kassim would save my life.
I stood on trembling legs and braced my hands on my hips so the spirit wouldn’t see them shaking.
“I am the Princess of Khiridesh,” I called up into the smoke. “Betrothed to the Sultan of Astaran, the rightful owner of this treasure.” My voice wavered, but at least my words made sense.
The eyes in the smoke seemed to narrow. In a bright flash, the head disappeared altogether. I threw up my arm to shield my eyes. I squinted, blinking one eye open. A torch with a blue-purple flame had appeared in each of the empty wall mounts, filling the room with a brilliant light.
I lowered my arm. Before me stood a strikingly beautiful man with violet eyes, his arms crossed over his bare, muscular chest.
“Well, why didn’t you say so, princess?”
I took a step backward. “Who… Who are you?”
The man smiled, flashing perfectly white teeth. His brown hair was tousled, and he wore only an ornate waistcoat and loose, billowing pants cuffed at the ankles above his bare feet.
The sight of him dampened my terror. I had to admit, he was the most perfect-looking man I had ever laid eyes on. Perhaps a little too perfect.
“What are you?” I half-gasped, taking another step back. “A spirit? Some sort of imp or ifrit?”
“To answer your first question…” He stepped forward, closing the distance between us, his voice as smooth and rich as coffee, “you can call me Tarak.” He gave a small bow, his hooped earring twinkling as it caught the light. “And to answer your second, I’m no imp.” Tarak scrunched up his face at the word. “I’ll have you know, I’m an all-powerful djinni.”
I gasped. A djinni. That was a thousand and one times worse than an imp or ifrit. And I was talking to one.
“Now it’s my turn to ask a few questions.” Tarak stepped forward again. “If you’re the future sultanah of this palace, why are you locked in what appears to be a treasury?” His mouth tugged into a half-grin. “I mean, far be it for me to question your story, princess.”
Throne of Sand (Desert Nights Book 1) Page 7
