Zara shook her head. ‘Not at present, but that doesn’t mean they can’t.’
Safiya rubbed at her temples.
‘I won’t let you go alone,’ Lilah said. ‘I’m coming with you.’
Safiya let out a laugh with no humour in it. ‘The two of you won’t last five minutes.’ Her hands fell to her sides. ‘I’ll go with her.’
Lilah gave her a grateful smile. ‘I’m sure we can spare a guard or two for the journey.’
Zara looked between her sisters. ‘All right. I’ll make the arrangements.’
Aisha looked at Safiya. ‘Are you sure you want to come with me?’
‘Of course I don’t want to.’ The frustration in her voice had turned to defeat. ‘But someone needs to ensure you make it back alive.’
‘I’ll reach out to my contacts,’ Zara said, walking over to the door, ‘and gently break the news to Baba.’
Lilah was already tearing up. ‘Promise me you’ll both return safely.’
‘I’ve no intention of dying on foreign soil,’ Safiya replied. ‘I’m going to pack.’
Lilah followed her. ‘I’ll help you.’
Aisha looked down at the cold tea, a mixture of nervousness and excitement swirling in her chest.
She was going back to Gruisea.
She was going to him.
Chapter 43
The council chamber smelled of ink and paper despite the windows being open to the morning breeze. The maps on the table blurred slightly the longer Tariq stared at them. He shifted in his seat and blinked twice, listening to the discussion taking place around him.
‘If the barracks are to hold more than four hundred men, we will need to extend them beyond the southern ridge,’ his mother was saying. ‘Unless we build up instead of out.’
‘Building up costs more,’ said Parveen, another of Tariq’s councillors, ‘and takes longer. Time is the issue here, because we have so many people eager to join.’
Jamil just listened, since this was not his area of expertise.
‘We can have the stone cleared by week’s end,’ Malik said. He was heading up the project. ‘If you sign off on it, Your Majesty.’
All eyes went to Tariq. He pushed back from the table and straightened. ‘Where are we with the water supply?’
‘We’re now diverting from the creek,’ Malik said. ‘Plenty to meet demand.’
Farrah said something, which Tariq missed, because his thoughts had drifted again. He was due to depart for Avanid the following day, and it was all he could focus on—laying eyes on his wife. He needed to see her more than he needed to breathe.
‘Your Majesty?’ Parveen prompted.
Tariq looked at him. ‘Sorry, what?’
‘I was asking if we should proceed.’
Tariq had no idea what he was agreeing to, but his mother appeared to be on board with it, so he nodded. ‘Yes, proceed.’
Parveen wrote something down.
A knock interrupted the meeting. Kaidon opened the door and stepped inside, red-faced and slightly breathless. ‘Forgive the intrusion, Your Majesty, but a ship has arrived from Ukrocia.’
