Heat rose to my cheeks. He was mocking me? My fear turned into a flicker of annoyance. “My name is not princess. It’s Zadie. And I tracked several would-be thieves in here, actually.” I crossed my arms, liking how brave that description of events made me sound. I tilted my chin. “They were after this ring, but I found it first.” I flashed my hand at him, and his kohl-lined eyes gleamed dangerously, following the movement like a predator. I clasped my hands behind my back. “When they left, they locked me in.”
Whatever darkness had flashed across the djinni’s face at the sight of the ring disappeared, replaced by a lazy smile. I wished I hadn’t shown it to him. After all, it was the ring that had made him appear – or had I imagined that?
“And let me guess. You weren’t supposed to be out roaming the halls of the palace or tracking these thieves in the first place, correct?”
I tucked my hair behind my ear with a long exhale. “No.”
“And how long until you’re the sultanah of this kingdom… Astaran, did you say?”
“Just under two months.”
“Hmm.” He rubbed his bare chin, his long fingers making deft strokes along his jawline. I watched, mesmerized. “Here’s an idea…” He stepped forward suddenly, as if to put an arm around me, and I flinched back. He grinned. “A little jumpy, princess?
I narrowed my eyes. This djinni might look like a dashing man, but he was a spirit. I would do well to remember that.
“It’s Zadie, not princess. And I’m just the right amount of cautious. What’s this idea anyway?”
“Well, Zadie,” Tarak purred. “It’s your lucky day. I’m willing to offer you a deal.”
Chapter Ten
We had a saying in Khiridesh about people who fell in with the wrong crowd to achieve their ends. We called it making a deal with a demon. And all the tales of these deals agreed on one thing – you shouldn’t do it.
“What sort of deal?” I asked, openly suspicious.
“What do you mean what sort of deal? The deal sort of deal. You know, I scratch your back and you scratch mine.” Tarak winked. “Metaphorically speaking, of course.”
I hoped he couldn’t see the flush creeping up my neck. “And what do I get? Apart from a metaphorical back scratch.”
He shrugged. “You get out of here.”
I pursed my lips, looking around the treasury and trying to buy myself some time. On one hand, all my instincts roared against making a deal with a djinni. But on the other, did I have a choice? After all, I was locked in a treasury.
“Hmm… All this silence doesn’t seem very promising.” Tarak plucked three jewels the size of my fist from the treasure pile and began to juggle them.
What if I turned down his deal? What then? He was a formidable spirit of smoke and fire. I doubted this rakish-looking man was his only form. He could tear me limb from limb.
Tarak chucked the jewels unceremoniously over his shoulder, then began to poke around the treasure. He fished out a large silver dish and held it up in two hands, admiring his reflection.
“What do you get out of it?”
“Hmm?” He lowered the platter.
“This deal? If you’re an all-powerful djinni, what could I possibly do for you that you couldn’t do for yourself?”
“You would owe me a favor.”
“An unspecified favor?” I raised a brow and shook my head. “No. No way. I’m not agreeing to anything before you tell me what it is.”
He tossed the dish back onto the pile with a crash. “You’re not really in a position to bargain, princess.” Tarak dusted something off his ornately filigreed waistcoat, and the casual gesture sent a wave of irritation rippling through me. Beneath the material, his honey-colored skin seemed to gleam in the light, like he’d rubbed his chest with oil.
When I flicked my eyes back up to his face, I found the djinni looking at me with a grin. “Like what you see?”
“Oh please,” I scoffed. “Don’t you own a shirt?”
“In this form? Never. Why would I want to cover this up?” He gestured down to his sculpted torso, but I kept my gaze locked firmly on his violet eyes.
“You have other forms?” My curiosity was piqued. “Apart from the giant head in the smoke.”
He gave a low chuckle. “I know you liked that one. I could tell from your screaming. Yes, princess. I have an infinite number of forms, but you grow to have favorites.”
“Like this one?”
“Amongst others. I thought an attractive young woman like yourself might find this form the most…agreeable.” He flashed a tiger-like smile that set my hairs standing on end. “Perhaps you doubt my power?” He raised his brows questioningly.
“Well, so far, you’ve been all smoke and no fire,” I said mildly, tossing my braid over one shoulder.
An easy smile spread across his face. He raised his arm and flicked his hand in a beckoning gesture. Nothing happened.
Then there was the familiar rumble, clatter, and hiss of dislodged treasure in the distance. Through the air, an ornate carpet came rippling toward us, followed by an array of floating objects.
I took a step back as they landed gently between us. First the carpet, then a table – a dark wood inlaid with chips of precious stones – two plush chairs, a gleaming silver carafe, two goblets, and a jeweled candlestick.
Tarak snapped his fingers and the torches lining the walls flared up, changing from flames of blue-lilac to gold-orange, and the candles on the table flickered to life. The whole room instantly felt warmer. The djinni looked at the chair, which slid back from the table.
“Take a seat.”
I took a tentative step onto the soft carpet. The goblets filled themselves with rich, red wine as I lowered myself onto the chair. Tarak sat opposite me.
“Now do you believe I’m as powerful as I say I am?” He slid the glass of wine closer to me.
“I believe you can set a table,” I replied drily.
The djinni grasped his own goblet and took a long, slow sip of wine without breaking eye contact. My heart gave a little thud.
“Look, Zadie. I want you to trust me. So I’ll be honest with you.”
When I reached forward for my own goblet, the djinni’s gaze burned into my hand. The ring. I flexed my fingers. “It’s to do with this, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Someone trapped me inside that ring. But I don’t know who and have no memory of how or why I came to be in there. Your end of the deal is to help me find out who trapped me and why.”
I stared at him. No jokes, no flirting, no smile. “But you’re free from it now.”
His gaze fell to the ring once more as he gave a slight shake of his head. “No. I’m still tethered to it.”
I drummed my fingers on the table. Did I believe his story? He had come out of the ring. I’d seen it with my own eyes. And if the thieves wanted the ring, they must have known it contained a djinni. That was what had made it more valuable to them than all the other treasures here. Later, I would worry about how they knew it was here in the first place.
But was getting out of here worth binding myself to a spirit? What he was asking seemed simple enough…
“How long have you been trapped in the ring?”
“I don’t know.” Tarak’s voice was quiet.
Even if I did believe him, djinn were known for their cunning, and I was no idiot. If I had to make a bargain with Tarak to get out of here, I would make it worth my while. The tattooed leader of the thieves – Aliyah, they’d called her – popped into my mind. With it, a plan clicked into place.
“I have a new deal for you.” I leaned forward, bracing my arms on the table.
Tarak tipped back in his chair, lifting the two front legs from the floor. He propped his feet up onto the table and crossed his ankles. “I’m listening.”
“There’s a woman currently sneaking out of the palace. Her name is Aliyah. She’s the leader of the thieves who broke in here. I don’t suppose you’re powerful enough to find her, are
you?”
“Easy.” Tarak picked at his nails. “Is that it?”
“No. I need you to find her and steal the key in her possession. The one she used to get in here. I want you to take it from her and bring it to me. Unless that’s beyond your powers, of course. Now that you’re trapped in a ring and all.”
I held my breath. If I could get that key, I could escape from the treasury and prove myself as a resourceful sultanah by stopping the thieves who had plagued the palace. Kassim would have to start taking me seriously. Maybe then he’d even let me help find the Night Diamond talisman, whether I managed to get my letter to Ambar or not.
Tarak sat in the chair properly again and braced his arms on the table, mirroring me. He leaned forward so our faces were uncomfortably close. “And if I get you this key, you’ll agree to my conditions? You’ll help me find out why I was trapped in the ring?”
I nodded. “I will.”
“Then it’s a deal.”
The table and chairs disappeared in a rush of smoke and I tumbled to the floor with a thump.
“Ouch,” I grumbled.
The smoke cleared, and Tarak stood before me, his hand outstretched. I tentatively took it with a frown. The instant our palms touched, a rush of heat ran up my arm and a thin coil of lilac smoke wound around our joined hands before dissipating into a sweet, musky mist.
I snatched my hand away. “What was that?”
“Just making it official,” Tarak replied with a knowing wag of his dark brows. “Think of it like your betrothal, only far more difficult to call off.” I opened my mouth to protest, but the djinni continued. “Now for my end of the bargain.”
He nodded once and disappeared, as if he’d dropped right through the floor, leaving nothing but twinkling smoke behind him.
My heart thudded in my chest. What have I done? What was I thinking, making a bargain with a spirit? If my mother ever found out her daughter had made a deal with the first djinni she’d stumbled across… I shook my head. She’d probably hang a goat hoof amulet around my neck and ship me off to a soothsayer to be exorcized.
I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold. What if Tarak never came back? I hadn’t specified how long he had to find the key. He might decide he liked being out of the ring and take his time finding Aliyah, but I needed to be out of here before morning.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to contemplate for long. The air in front of me began to smoke and shimmer, and within seconds, Tarak stood before me once more, twirling the key in his fingers.
“Catch.” He tossed it to me. I caught it in my hands, marveling at how light it felt. “That’s no man-made key, you know. What would a princess want with a key that can open any door? Are you sure you know how to handle magical objects like that?”
A magical object? I stared at the key in my palms. So that was how the thieves had been getting in and out of the palace… I didn’t want Tarak to know I hadn’t realized what I’d asked him to find for me.
“Of course I know how to handle it,” I retorted, striding to the door. I couldn’t wait to get out of this spirits-cursed treasury.
The key turned in the lock, smooth as date butter. I pushed open the door and stepped into the cool, marble corridor. I looked over my shoulder, but Tarak was gone. All the torches had been extinguished, and the treasury was silent and foreboding as a tomb.
“Tarak?” I whispered into the darkness.
“Why are we whispering?” His hot breath brushed against my ear. I jumped back with a yelp.
“Stop that.” I scrubbed a hand across the back of my neck, hating the way my skin tingled.
He leaned his arm against the marble wall in a disarmingly casual way as he looked around the corridor. “Pretty nice palace you’ve got here.”
“It’s not mine.”
“Not yet, master.”
“Master? What are you going on about?” As far as annoying nicknames went, I think I preferred princess.
Tarak’s purple eyes twinkled with mischief, and I followed his gaze to the window at the far end of the corridor. Through its arched frame, the stars gleamed through the gaps in the clouds.
“Oh, did I not mention? I’m a slave to the ring you’re wearing, which makes you my master.”
“What?”
“It also means you get seven wishes.”
My chest tightened as my brain raced to keep up with this new information. I held up a hand. “Hold on.” My breathing felt too fast, too shallow. “Let me get this straight. I had seven wishes this whole time? I could have just wished myself free from the treasury?”
“Ah, yes…” Tarak dragged the last word out. “But then you never would have agreed to help me.”
I took a step toward him with clenched fists. “You lying, manipulative–”
Tarak disappeared in a puff of lilac smoke.
“Now, now, princess. I just did what I had to.” His voice came from behind me. I whirled around to find him grinning, clearly taking pleasure in my anger. “Besides, you’re out of the treasury, you have the key, and you still have seven wishes.” He took a graceful step back, farther out of my reach. “Just don’t lose that ring now, master.”
I lunged for him as his laughter faded. My fingers raked through smoke where he’d stood only seconds before. It spiraled into the air, getting smaller and smaller as it descended back into the ring on my finger. Then all trace of him was gone.
Chapter Eleven
The guards pushed open the heavy doors of the council rooms.
As I stepped inside, I twisted the ring on my finger so the star-shaped amethyst sat near my palm, leaving only the inscribed gold band visible.
After several hours lying in bed, staring up at the canopy as the first weak light of morning inched through my curtains, I’d decided to go in search of the sultan. It was still early, though. I hadn’t even been sure Kassim would be up yet. But since I had no idea where his private chambers were, I’d thought the council rooms were worth a try.
Luckily, it seemed he was an early riser.
The marble room was flushed pink in the rosy light of dawn. Kassim stood at the head of one of the long tables, his palms resting on the wood as he looked down at several scrolls spread out before him.
The vizier was seated to his right, and she stood to point at something on one of the scrolls. “I promise, your majesty,” she said. “This will lead us right to it.”
To the sultan’s left, Elian let out a scoffing noise, lounging back in his chair with a bored look on his face. Beside him, Namir cast him a disapproving look, but cleared his throat. “I assure you my search was thorough, Hepzibah. I think it’s unlikely this will be as straightforward as you claim. Why would the location of the Night Diamond talisman have been recorded in a book?”
I slowed at the reference to the Night Diamond talisman, hoping I might overhear more about why they were so desperate to find it.
But the sultan stopped abruptly when he caught sight of me in the doorway, holding up a hand to silence the others. “Princess Scheherazade.” His lips drew back into a sneer. “To what do we owe the pleasure this time?”
Tilting my chin, I strode triumphantly toward the table. My heart banged against my ribcage as I dropped into a low curtsey. He’d soon stop sneering when he’d heard my news. “Sultan Kassim, please forgive such an early-morning intrusion.”
When I looked up again, Kassim had a funny look on his face, like he’d never seen me before. Heat rose to my cheeks when I realized that without Mehri’s and Jevera’s help this morning, I probably looked completely different. I ran a hand over my unbound hair, trying to smooth it down.
Whatever he thought about my bare face, Kassim refrained from making a snarky comment.
“I come bearing good news, sultan.” I fished inside the pocket of my loose dress for the key and held it out on a flattened palm. “I found out how the thieves are getting into the palace. This key… It’s magic.”
Four pairs of eyes trained on my f
ace, and I suddenly felt too hot.
“How did you find this?” Kassim spoke first, his voice and expression disbelieving.
“I couldn’t sleep last night, so I went for a walk. But… I got lost.” I avoided making eye contact with Namir. Of course, I couldn’t tell the truth. I should have spent more time crafting a better story. “I saw the thieves break into the treasury using this key, and when they went inside, I took it from the door.”
“You locked the thieves in the treasury?” The vizier stood suddenly, her face clouding over as her long, dark robes fell fluidly to the floor. Was it my imagination, or did she sound nervous?
“Um, no,” I admitted, rolling the key in my sweating palm.
The vizier’s narrow shoulders dropped a little. She gave me a small, tight smile. “So you took the key and let them escape with their stolen goods?”
“No!” I protested, feeling flustered. “I mean… Yes, they left, but they didn’t take anything.”
“How can you be sure?” she pressed.
“I heard them say they didn’t find what they were looking for.”
“And you didn’t think to raise the alarm or fetch the guards?” The vizier walked toward Kassim slowly. “What sort of thieves break into a royal treasury and leave with nothing?” She made a point of leaning closer and addressing the sultan directly, before flashing me a gentle smile. “I’m sure the princess means no harm, but this sounds like an unlikely tale to me.”
My mouth went dry. Why didn’t she believe me?
Kassim’s stern face was unreadable as he slowly turned from the vizier to me, then to the two men seated at the table. “Namir, you were on patrol last night,” he said. “Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?”
My heart skipped a beat. Had Namir seen me last night? I wasn’t sure whether that would help or hinder my story.
“No sign of the thieves,” he replied.
Kassim turned to the broader man. “Elian, did any of the guards report disturbances last night?”
Throne of Sand (Desert Nights Book 1) Page 8
