The guard bent to retrieve his khopesh from the floor. Then he turned back to Femi, who’d managed to prop himself on an elbow and was pressing his other hand to his side, trying to stanch the blood flowing from his reopened wound. The guard nonchalantly flipped the weapon so that the blade was pointed down and stood over the fallen man.
With the guard’s back to her, Rae had the perfect opening to sneak past the men toward the maidservants’ chambers. Creeping out from the shadows of the stairwell, she pressed her back against the wall and began to shuffle by them, working hard not to make a sound.
The guard didn’t notice her.
Femi did.
His eyes widened, and they sized each other up in an instant.
Rae froze, fearing he would expose her, use her as a distraction to escape the same way she was using him. Instead, he tipped his chin toward the corridor ahead, as if to say,Run. Now. While you still can.
Then the guard kicked Femi in the stomach.
He gasped but didn’t cry out.
“To think you were one of us!” the guard said, shaking his head. “Now look at you! Pitiful. But what more can you expect from the princess’s little whore?”
Rae stopped mid-step, her hands clenching into fists.
She knew she should run and leave the High Khetaran to his fate. His troubles were none of her business. She had her own battles to fight. Why should she risk it all for a stranger?
“Damn it all,” she whispered, then turned and took a running leap onto the guard’s back.
The big man barely had time to register the new attacker before Rae laced her arm around his throat. He made a startled choking sound as her arm tightened. He stumbled around like a drunkard, scrabbling at her arm with his fingernails. Then he fell backward, crushing Rae against the wall. She felt her ribs buckle, but she didn’t let go.
The guard gurgled and then slumped to the ground.
Rae fell with him, trapped between his huge limp body and the wall. Gasping, she released her grip and tried to shove the guard off her, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, Femi staggered to his feet and stared at her in amazement.
“A little help?” she wheezed.
He darted to Rae’s aid, dragging the guard aside and freeing her. Then they worked together to prop him up next to the stairwell, making it look as if he’d simply fallen asleep on the job.
That done, they stood panting and giving each other appraising looks.
“Who are you?” they asked in unison.
“You first,” Rae said.
“You heard my name,” Femi replied. He was pale and stillbleeding, but his expression didn’t betray any pain. “I’m a—well, Iwasa palace guard.”
“Why were they torturing you?”
Femi licked his lips. “I was protecting someone.”
The princess’s little whore, Rae recalled. So, this Femi was in league with Princess Sitamun. Tam had shared the rumors about the princess’s disappearance, how people were saying that she ran away because the king intended to marry her, and that she was hiding from her brother somewhere in the kingdom. Meryamun was apparently quite keen to conceal the truth, but the palace was far from a watertight vessel. Secrets always found a way to leak out.
If Femi was the princess’s ally, perhaps he could also be hers.
“Your turn,” Femi prodded. “What’s your name?”
“Raetawy,” she said, distracted by her whirling thoughts.
She cursed herself.Fool! You’re supposed to give him your alias!
“Well, Raetawy,” Femi said, his words slurring slightly. “I have no idea what you were doing underground, but I appreciate your help.” For all his show of courage, Femi’s blood loss was clearly affecting him.
