Neff had overheard Rae telling him that Meryamun had ordered a hundred Sakeshi citizens slaughtered for each day she was missing. It was horrific, but not surprising. If they’d asked her, Neff could have told them their kidnapping scheme wouldn’t work. Meryamun didn’t negotiate. He destroyed.
Neff shook her head, the gag preventing her from saying more.
Omari scoffed. “Of course. You’d say anything to save yourself. You maylookyoung, but I’ve heard of your power. Youcannot trick me.” He bent, seizing her arm in his thick, calloused hand. “I know what you’re trying to do with Rae. Do you think I’m stupid? You’ve put a spell on her to make her think you’re her friend.” He paused. “She and I were great friends once. I hardly know her anymore.” A look of anguish crossed his face. “She was keeping secrets from me! All this time!”
His grip hurt her. Tears sprung to Neff’s eyes, but she made no sound.
“I thought she wanted… I thought we would…” He didn’t finish. He took her chin in his hand, forcing her to look up at him. “Your king wants to send a message to Sakesh, does he? Fine. Then Sakesh will send her own message.”
When he stormed through the flap, Neff curled into a ball, trying to calm herself. Did Rae know what darkness lay in her friend’s heart?
And what might happen before she found out?
24Karim
For two days and two nights, Karim led the Hudjefa through the eastern desert. Some people stumbled along the way and had to be carried. A few fell and did not rise again. When finally, on the third day, they saw the Iteru glittering on the horizon, nearly all of them sank to their knees and cried.
“I want to see!” Aya clambered onto Karim’s shoulders to get a better view. There was a scattering of palm trees and scrubby bushes ahead, and their vivid greenness was welcome to the Hudjefa’s weary eyes.
“It’s so pretty!” Aya exclaimed.
She’s never seen the river before, Karim realized.None of them have.
The sight of it must have felt like a miracle.
Kicking off their sandals on the riverbank, the people ran into the water, cupping it in their hands and pouring it over their faces and into their mouths. They smiled and laughed—a sound Karim hadn’t heard since before the attack on Perset.Aya joined them, shrieking with delight as she splashed the other children.
Behkai was excited too, galloping into the water then out again, stopping to shake himself all over and spray Karim with a combination of dog-water and slobber. Karim retaliated with a string of curses, though he had to admit the dog’s showerwasquite refreshing.
Elyas watched it all, his expression equal parts exhaustion and relief. He was doing remarkably well given his injury, a testament to the old man’s stubborn nature. He gave Karim a grateful pat on the back. “What now, sen?”
“Once all our waterskins are filled and the animals are watered, we can hail a trading ship to help us cross. Some of your embroidered linens and a sheep or two should be enough payment. Once we’re on the west side, we’ll set out for the Anen’s camp. They move the flock north this time of year, so I’m hoping we won’t have too much trouble finding them.”
Elyas nodded. “And you think your tribe will embrace us?”
Karim licked his lips. “I plan to make the decision clear to them, sen—if you take my meaning.”
Elyas shifted uneasily and crossed his arms. “I will not force myself upon another tribe, no matter how desperate our situation. I trust you, Karim-sen, but I have seen enough bloodshed. I will not be the cause of more.”
“I understand.” It was Karim’s turn to be uneasy. Babu would be on the other side of that river. The big man wouldn’t have forgotten his promise to slit his throat from ear to ear if Karim ever showed his face again. He still believed that Karim had murdered Djet in the tomb so he could take all the treasure for himself. It would not be a happy reunion, and more than his own life was on the line.
“I’ll shed as little blood as possible,” he told Elyas.
In fact, if I strangle Babu, he won’t bleed at all.
***
It was only after they’d been wandering the Red Lands for several hours that Karim had his first doubts about finding the Anen. His keen sense of direction had never led him astray before, and being back in his native land only sharpened his senses. Yet, he could have sworn he’d seen that very same tree an hour earlier…or had he?
“You aren’t leading us in circles, are you, dear?” Miri asked. Her tone was sweet, but it had an edge to it. “If God is truly leading you, perhaps you could ask him to do it with a bit more haste? My knees aren’t what they used to be.”
“They should be here,” Karim muttered. “I swear, they should be right over this—”
Then he heard the unmistakable sound of a bleating lamb.
Excited, Karim turned to Miri and Elyas. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
He hurried to the top of a tall hill, a grin spreading over his face at the sight of a herd of sheep grazing in the scrub. A hooded man walked among them, a shepherd’s crook in his hand.
