Damn it.
The group had trailed them off the road and into the desert. They had to be warriors.
‘Are we being followed?’ Aisha yelled into the wind.
‘Don’t worry about what’s behind you. Focus on what’s ahead.’
She looked at him then. ‘But this isn’t the way to the port.’
It certainly wasn’t the most direct way. ‘We’ll get there. Eyes ahead.’
Kaidon dropped back to ride behind Tariq and Aisha. As the prince’s bodyguard, he would ensure any arrows aimed at the prince went through him first.
Sand lashed Tariq’s face as he pushed his horse faster. ‘Nasir must have alerted them,’ he shouted over his shoulder at Kaidon.
That had Aisha looking at him again. ‘He wouldn’t do that.’
He would have rolled his eyes if it weren’t for the sand pelting him. He gestured for her to face forwards.
They continued at that speed for a number of minutes, slowing only when they reached the stony ground that separated desert and coast. Their horses heaved with exhaustion, their necks covered in foamy sweat.
‘I think we’ve lost them,’ Kaidon announced.
Tariq looked back. ‘Thank the gods. The sooner we board, the better.’
They continued at a slow trot, pushing the horses through their fatigue. The smell of seaweed and brine signalled they were close.
‘I can smell the sea,’ Aisha said, sitting taller in the saddle.
Tariq noted her eager expression. ‘When was the last time you visited the coast?’
Her eyes met his. ‘Never.’
His eavesdropping guards exchanged glances.
‘Not even when you were younger?’ Tariq asked, unable to comprehend the idea of never laying eyes on the sea.
Aisha thought for a moment. ‘I travelled inland a handful of times. To Montia and Cesea.’ She swallowed. ‘And Slevaborg.’
And since then, she had spent her entire life inside the palace walls, a small utopia designed to block out the harsh reality of the world on the other side. Tariq might have felt guilty about removing her from that world if it weren’t for the growing occupation of their land. Zara seemed happy to hand any one of her sisters over in order to secure the alliance. He suspected that the king would have preferred to keep his daughters safely inside the walls. There was no fight left in that man.
‘I heard you can see the ocean from Azura’s walls,’ Aisha said. ‘Is that true?’
‘Yes’ was all he said.
When they reached the top of the next hill, they slowed to a walk. He heard Aisha suck in a soft breath. Stretching out before them was the Silver Sea.
‘Wow,’ she said. ‘The world feels much bigger suddenly.’
It was the kind of view Tariq took for granted, having grown up in Gruisea with its endless coastline. But he tried to see it through her eyes. The silhouettes of ships in the harbour. The endless, glittering surface.
‘There will be plenty of water to stare at from the ship,’ Kaidon said, nudging his horse into a trot.
They began their descent towards the dock below, leaving a cloud of dust behind them.
A scatter of whitewashed buildings huddled along the curve of the bay, their flat roofs faded by the salt and sun. Narrow lanes wound between them, nets hanging from doorways like tattered curtains.
When they reached flat ground, Tariq spotted holy warriors patrolling the area on foot, their faces stony as they watched their surroundings. Their ship was on the other side of them.
