“Who are you?” Shay asks uncertainly.
“My name is Iman,” the silver pillar says.
“I'm Rasha,” says the blue one.
“I'm Rabia,” says the green.
“And I'm Noor,” says the red.
“We are the Lallat,” they say in unison. “We are the past, and you, oh, bnt, are the heart and hands of the future. It is our pleasure to assist you.”
“I …” Apprehension flashes through Shay's mind. Something about this feels too simple. Too easy to be true. But deep down, Shay knows she isn't going to be able to convince the Morchidat to rescue Khawla unless she first completes the task—the entire task—she's been given. Time is precious as gold, and every moment, as costly. “I need to know where the other hjabats are hidden.”
“One, a necklace, is locked within a chest, deep inside the underwater cave of Chefrika, off the shores of Lahat,” says Iman.
“Another, a pair of earrings, is hidden in a box under the bed of a Marabout who lives at the Holy Institute of Umm Chanala,” says Rasha.
“And the last, a bracelet, is worn around the wrist of Muktar Asim, who currently resides at the Grand Palace in Kiddah,” says Rabia.
Shay's heart grows heavy. She has never been to any of those places, and none of them are less than a moon quarter's journey. It would be almost impossible to gather them all in time, even if Shay didn't have to care for Hind. “Wakha. Thank you. While I'm here, do you have any advice as to how I might travel to these places, collect all three pieces, and return before a moon cycle has passed?”
Noor says something, but her words are running together, distorting, becoming difficult to understand. The clouds begin to part, reality teasing at Shay's thoughts, the pillars drifting farther away. Shay focuses harder, holding tight to their image.
“… keep chipping away at us, we'll soon be less rocks and more pebbles,” Noor finishes, her voice resolving.
“Do you have to be so dramatic?” Rasha asks. “The kid is doing the best she can.”
“Look, it's a new generation, sis. I hear they're pressure-motivated.”
“Shuika, pay attention.” Iman's voice again, commanding but kind. “The sleep spell on the hjabat is wearing off. Without it acting as a conduit, even your sensitivity will not be enough to breach the veil unless you come to us. To revive our spirits, you must bring all four hjabats and three other—”
The pillars rapidly blur together into a mass of colors. Iman's voice shrinks to a faint echo. Shay feels her consciousness being pulled along a steady track, like a fish hooked on an angler's line. The clear-gloss surface of reality looms ahead.
“Where do I bring them?” Shay asks, panicked, but her lashes are already flickering. The image of the pillars alternate with slices of Shadi hanging over her, his nostrils slightly flared at this angle.
“We're losing her.”
Those are the last words Shay hears before her body springs into a sitting position of its own volition, her eyes wide open, the connection severed.No, no, no.Iman was telling her something important.
“Are you well?” Shadi looks pale.
“Yes. I learned where the hjabats are. I just …” Shay closes her eyes, trying to reestablish the connection, but it's to no avail. She reviews all that the Lallat told her, in case she missed something that will make her task easier than it appears, such as how to be in multiple places at once, for starters. One detail does stand out. She swallows and locks eyes excitedly with Shadi. “I think … I think the Lallat want us to reawaken them. If we can gather all the hjabats, they'll come back and fight Al-Mukhtar with us.”
“That's incredible news.” Shadi smiles, his color returning. “Mmi will be pleased when I report back to her.”
“What?” Shay looks around the outpost, realizing they are there alone. She blinks a few times and rubs her eyes to test what she's seeing. “They left?”
“Um, yeah.” Shadi scratches the back of his neck. “She's … a busy woman. Always attending meetings and studying old scrolls, and fighting—mostlypractice, but you get the point,” he says, and Shay wonders if she imagines that hint of sadness in his voice. “But she instructed me to give her the rundown of what you learned at her earliest availability.”
Shay pulls the hjabat off her finger. “What about this?”
“She said for you to hold on to it, for now.”
Disappointment deflates her. Shay realizes she was eager to see the Morchidat's reaction. Proud to have discovered something of use. And more hopeful than she had any right to be that providing the hjabat's locations might convince the Morchidat to help her with obtaining them.
“The hjabats are scattered far and wide, Shadi.” She locks eyes with him again, this time in desperation. “Surely, she has the resources to send multiple retrieval teams at once. I'm just one girl.”
He tilts his head, a slight curl playing at the corner of his lips that she might imagine kissing if she weren't so distraught. “She wouldn't have asked you to do it if she didn't think you could. She may be callous at times, but never careless.”
