I flushed. It was typical of a soldier to have such a coarse sense of humor.
“What would the sultan say if he knew his captain said such crude things to a princess?”
“I think Kassim would be pleased to know his bride-to-be was doing her research before her wedding night.”
My blush deepened and I quickened my pace, doing my best to ignore Elian’s low laughter behind me. Son of a roc. Did he really enjoy making me feel uncomfortable? As if I didn’t have enough to worry about, with my back still smarting and the hot sand sticking to me everywhere, and the vizier who seemed to have turned against me.
My sense of self-righteousness building, I lengthened my stride, doing my best to escape Elian’s gaze, even though I knew the sultan had instructed him to stay beside me.
Spirits knew what the other guards must think.
I swung round the next corner – and froze.
A gaunt, sun-weathered face stared back at me, a maze of stars tattooed around his cheeks and forehead, the ink so thick around his eyes that it looked like he wore a mask.
Rows of amulets and talismans that rivaled even the number my mother wore jostled around his neck, rings clicked on every finger, and from the startled expression on his face, he hadn’t expected to find anyone else here.
It had to be the soothsayer.
Chapter Twenty-Four
One short, sharp blast on the horn sounded behind me, making me jump. I turned to see Elian and the other guards drawing their weapons.
Then I yelped as long, cold fingers wrapped around my arm, dozens of rings pressing painfully into my skin. When I spun back around, the soothsayer’s face was inches from mine. A wave of hot, rancid breath washed over me, making me gag.
“I don’t think so,” Elian growled, wrestling me from the soothsayer’s grip.
The soothsayer didn’t protest, just took a slow step toward me before stopping again. He didn’t tear his gaze from mine. His eyes were vacant and so black that I couldn’t make out the pupils.
It was barely minutes before Kassim and the others exploded around the corner in a cloud of dust and panic, skidding to a stop.
Kassim took one look at the strange tension running between me and the soothsayer, the way he didn’t tear his eyes from me, and his face set. He slowly turned his gaze to Elian, narrowing his eyes.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Elian said quickly, but he faltered under Kassim’s furious stare.
“I told you to stay with her.”
“He did.” I finally found my voice. “I was only a step ahead, so the soothsayer saw me first…”
I turned back to look at the soothsayer. He hadn’t shown the slightest bit of interest in the others, but had raised a thin, grimy hand to his chin, stroking it slowly. His fingers were black with the same ink that stained his face, coating his nails and fingers and running down his arms in places.
Kassim made an irritated clicking sound with his tongue. “I know we brought you with us because your language skills could help us charm the soothsayer, Zadie, but whatever did you say to him to make him stare at you like that?”
I exchanged a look with Elian.
The captain cleared his throat. “She hasn’t said anything to him yet, Kassim.”
There was a long pause.
Kassim’s voice was cold when he finally spoke. “Then why is he staring at her like she’s a piece of meat?”
Was… Was he jealous?
He turned back to the soothsayer and gave a stiff bow. “Greetings, wise one. I am Kassim, Sultan of Astaran, and I come in search of a great treasure you keep here.”
The soothsayer ignored him. He cocked his head thoughtfully, not taking his eyes off me.
The sultan cleared his throat. “Would you be willing to discuss what we seek?”
The soothsayer just reached an inky hand toward me.
Elian quickly slapped it away. “Seeing as we brought the princess to translate, perhaps she’ll have better luck asking?”
Kassim frowned.
I glanced at him. “It’s why I’m here, isn’t it?” I turned back to the soothsayer and cleared my throat, all the Old Khirideshi I had ever learned suddenly vanishing from my mind. Still, I had to try. “Please,” I said in faltering Old Khirideshi. “We’re looking for a great treasure hidden here. Can you help us?”
A cold smile crept over the soothsayer’s face, before he let out a strange keening sound that made me shudder, the noise creeping into my very bones. He held out a hand – stopping short of me this time at a cross look from Elian – and beckoned us to follow, taking a few, crooked steps back down the ruined street behind him.
I looked uncertainly at Kassim. “I guess we follow him?”
“I guess so,” the sultan said grimly, moving closer to my side.
We followed the soothsayer through the dust and the ruin, tripping over broken paving stones and sand-covered boulders along the dark, shadowed streets. Perhaps these streets never saw sunlight. How could anyone have ever wanted to live in this dark city in the middle of the desert?
The soothsayer refused to speak as we walked, but occasionally looked back at me with narrowed, wicked eyes that sent a bone-deep shudder running through me. I dropped my gaze each time he looked back, but whenever I didn’t look away quickly enough, I could see the crocodile smile spreading across his face, the glint of shining teeth.
He finally stopped in front of a doorway covered with rags. Parting them revealed nothing but a dark, unlit interior. Waving his hand impatiently, he gestured for me to go in.
I hesitated, moving closer to Kassim.
“I’ll go first.” Elian didn’t wait for us to respond as he strode straight in.
The soothsayer let out an indignant squawk, pointing after Elian and stamping his feet.
“It’s safe.” Elian’s voice drifted back out. “There’s nothing in here. Just some steps at the back of the room.”
“Zadie, Hepzibah, the two of you will come inside with me.” Kassim looked at the guards. “Make sure we can get out of here again.” He turned back to me. “Zadie, you go in next. I’ll follow after you. Then you, Hepzibah. Make sure you keep an eye on the soothsayer.” His eyes slid sideways to where the soothsayer hopped from foot to foot, his mouth set in an unhappy line. Catching me looking, the soothsayer pointed at me, then back at the doorway.
I took a deep breath and went inside.
It was utterly dark. I blinked rapidly, waiting for my eyes to adjust, but they didn’t. Little sunlight filtered in past the rags at the door, and there was no other light source to brighten our way.
I let out a shriek as long, cool fingers wrapped around my arm.
“Zadie!” Kassim was at my side in an instant, but without any light, he couldn’t see what was happening.
The soothsayer sighed heavily and removed his hand. A snap of fingers rang through the air, and a series of dancing, blueish lights suddenly glittered around the edge of the room and down the stone staircase.
I felt my knees grow weak. Such a casual display of sorcery…
The soothsayer pointed emphatically at the steps and began hobbling down them, humming a strange, haunting tune. I took a step forward, only to have Elian place his strong arm in front of me.
“I think I’ll go first.” Gently, he moved me away from the stairs and followed after the soothsayer.
For once, I didn’t fight back.
“Nervous, princess?” the vizier muttered beside me. But she couldn’t hide the beads of sweat gathering on her lip, the frown creasing her brow.
She was worried. No wonder she’d been quiet so far.
Giving her a cool look, I followed after Elian.
The farther we went underground, the colder it got. I shouldn’t have had any trouble walking down the stairs, but my nerves started getting the better of me and my limbs trembled. The ring grew hot on my finger, which I was fast learning was a bad sign. Somehow, it didn’t feel as though I could trust my legs to suppor
t me. I felt myself grow dizzy.
“Are you all right, Zadie?” Kassim asked shortly.
“Of course,” I replied, my voice falsely bright.
He quickened his steps and moved to walk beside me, placing his hand on my arm. He lowered his voice. “If you change your mind about this, you are not expected to stay. Understood?”
I didn’t look at him. Of course I had to stay. He was so close to finding what he’d come looking for – and for whatever reason, the soothsayer had taken some sort of interest in me. Plus, I was the only one who could translate.
We finally emerged in a huge, cold, damp cellar. The dancing lights flooded the room in shades of blue, and when I saw what was illuminated, I gasped.
Treasures lined every wall. Ancient treasures, judging by the look of them. Scrolls of parchment and thick, leather-bound books inked with letters I didn’t recognize were piled high on rickety, stone shelves. Glass bottles containing liquids that glowed, bubbled, and hummed lined the floor. Strange and intricate jewelry hung from brass hooks along the walls.
In one corner, colorful rugs had been laid out in a pile topped with heavy stones, and I could have sworn one of them lifted a corner as if to wave. The soothsayer settled, cross-legged, on top of the carpets, looking at me like a cat about to pounce.
I took a step back, trying to keep in the panicked shout I longed to let out. I looked over at Kassim. The others hadn’t shown any sign they were surprised by such treasures, but they must sense it, too.
If the talisman was anywhere, it was here.
“Tell us, soothsayer.” The vizier stepped forward, her voice thin. “Do you know what it is we seek?”
I knew as well as she did that the soothsayer wouldn’t understand her. She must really be rattled by all of this to even have bothered asking.
The soothsayer let out a horrible, wheezing cackle and rocked back on the rugs, showing no sign he’d heard the vizier speak at all.
Her lips thinned and she twisted around to glare at Kassim.
“Zadie, please translate for us,” Kassim said hurriedly, glancing from me to the soothsayer. “We have traveled far and fought bravely to reach you. We are looking for a talisman, which may be used as a map to find great treasures. The Night Diamond talisman. Will we find it here?”
I haltingly translated. “Please,” I said, fumbling for the right words to address a soothsayer who, as far as I could tell, was quite mad, in a language I barely knew. “We seek a talisman which is also a map. The Night Diamond talisman. Is it here?”
The soothsayer went very still. I held my breath. Then he gave a slow nod, the smile gone from his face.
Kassim, Elian, and the vizier all exhaled at once.
“Ask him where it is,” the vizier said quickly. “Hurry, princess.”
I took a deep breath. “Will you show it to us?”
The soothsayer let out a high-pitched chattering sound, then abruptly stopped. He slowly rose and moved to the shelves, sweeping aside a number of items so they fell to the floor with a clatter.
I held my breath. No one dared speak.
Finally, he let out a bark of approval and returned to his pile of carpets, clutching something between his hands. When he had settled back into his cross-legged position, the soothsayer extended an arm, the talisman nestled in his palm.
At least, I assumed it was the talisman. It looked like an ordinary leather pouch to me. But the others inhaled sharply.
“Make him the offer,” Kassim said slowly.
“A thousand and one gold coins,” the vizier added.
I thought for a moment. “We will trade you one thousand and one gold coins for it,” I translated. “Or more, if it pleases you.”
But the soothsayer just cackled, shook his head, and tucked the leather pouch somewhere within his tattered robes.
“What?” Kassim turned to me. “What did you say to him?”
“I offered him the gold. I don’t think he wants to give it to us.”
“Didn’t he understand?” the vizier snapped. “We can give him more gold than he could ever ask for.”
The soothsayer let out another loud keening sound and returned to rocking on the carpet.
The vizier let out a snarl. “This is ridiculous. We cannot be expected to communicate only through the princess.”
“As long as he answers Zadie, what’s the problem?” Elian replied evenly.
“We don’t even know what she’s saying to him,” the vizier snapped. “We should send the princess back outside and handle this differently, Kassim. We know where the talisman is now. We don’t need a translator anymore.”
I bit my lip. I wasn’t exactly enjoying the unnerving exchange with the soothsayer. But it irritated me that the vizier suggested I might not be translating what they asked me to.
“Let me ask him again,” I said.
“You shouldn’t have to,” the vizier snapped. “Kassim is the sultan. This soothsayer still bows to him, however remote a life he chooses to live.”
I glared at her. “Actually, seeing as we’re in Khiridesh, this man is my father’s subject, not Kassim’s.”
“Did you ever hear the story about the princess and the djinni?” The soothsayer’s crackling voice suddenly sounded in the thick air before the vizier could reply.
My blood turned to ice in my veins, my heart racing.
He spoke the common tongue.
He stared at me with a wicked smile, demons dancing in his eyes. He raised one hand and waggled his fingers, almost waving at me.
Suddenly sure, I swallowed.
He knows I have the ring.
“Zadie?” Elian sounded worried. “Kassim, she’s gone very pale.”
“I… I think this might be too much for me after all,” I gasped. “I feel faint…”
The vizier’s eyes snapped to me, dark with suspicion. “How…sudden.”
I glanced back at the soothsayer, now running a swollen tongue over his lips and moving his fingers so his rings made a strange clacking noise.
The vizier looked slowly between me and the soothsayer. “I’d like to hear this story of the princess and the djinni…”
My heart beat faster.
“Elian,” I said quickly, “perhaps you could take me back outside? I just… I need some fresh air. I’m sure I’m going to faint any moment…” I fanned myself rapidly and hoped I looked suitably like a damsel in distress.
Elian glanced back at Kassim.
The sultan nodded. “Take her outside. If the soothsayer speaks the common tongue, he can understand us well enough without Zadie’s help. But don’t move from her side this time, Elian.”
Relief cracked in my chest as Elian escorted me back out of the soothsayer’s lair.
I quickly walked back through the city streets, Elian a step behind me. My head pounded.
How could the soothsayer know about the ring? I closed my fist around it, tapping my thumb against the amethyst stone. I felt it turn hot. I guessed Tarak was watching everything. Had he known the soothsayer would be able to tell I had the ring? Was that why it had heated as I walked down the steps into his underground lair? Was it a warning?
I took a deep breath. Even if the soothsayer did know I had the ring, it was unlikely any of the others would suspect the same based on the words of a madman.
“You’re feeling better then?” Elian said from behind me.
I shot him a dirty look over my shoulder. “I want to get out of this spiritsforsaken city.”
“And are doing so with remarkable speed for someone who was sure she was about to faint just a moment ago.”
“I guess I feel better now I’m out of that stinking lair.”
There was a pause, then Elian said tentatively, “I’m not sure Kassim meant for us to go out of the city when he said to take you outside…”
“Well, I’m leaving, so you can come with me or not,” I snapped, stepping smartly around the next corner.
Whatever Kassim had intended, I want
ed to get to my pack I’d left with the horses. Maybe there would be something in Spirits of Smoke and Fire that would confirm how the soothsayer knew about my ring.
“Okay, Zadie,” Elian said hurriedly. “Okay. I’m sorry if the soothsayer frightened you–”
“Well, he did,” I said shortly. It wasn’t exactly a lie.
We continued in silence until we reached the edge of the city. I sucked in a breath as I looked out at the dunes. They were blindingly bright after the shadowed city streets, and the wind had picked up again, whipping the sand up into the air. The guards had brought the horses close to the wall, seeking shelter from the storm.
“You,” I snapped at the closest guard. “Fetch my horse.”
He looked startled, then gave me a swift bow and raced along the wall.
I waited impatiently, tapping my foot against the ground. I could feel Elian’s accusing gaze fixed on me. No doubt he thought I was behaving erratically. Maybe I was, but he hadn’t had a soothsayer almost reveal his secret djinni…
The guard led Bandit up to us and I grasped my pack, fumbling over the clasps in my hurry to get to my book. I reached inside and sighed with relief as my fingers closed around the worn leather. Books always held the answers I looked for.
Pulling it from the pack, I suddenly whipped it up to shield my eyes as another wave of sand hit my face. I gritted my teeth. I was not in the mood to sit out another sandstorm.
Reluctantly, I looked back at the city. I didn’t want to go back inside where the soothsayer might find me again, but I needed shelter to read.
Squaring my shoulders, I marched back inside, Elian trailing behind me. I slumped down on some crumbling tiled steps and set the book on my lap, easing it open.
Elian’s shadow fell across the page. “You’re seriously going to take a reading break right now?”
I glared up at him. “It’s a book about spirits. Maybe it will tell us something useful about the soothsayer.” And how he knew I had the ring.
I began rifling through the pages, doing my best to handle them carefully, in spite of the urgency I felt about what the soothsayer might be telling Kassim right now. He probably just mentioned the djinni to spook me, as he’d shown no interest in speaking with any of the others. But if he knew about Tarak, maybe he had answers about why he was trapped in the ring?
Throne of Sand (Desert Nights Book 1) Page 19
