Red Hood's Revenge (25 page)

Talia inclined her head ever so slightly in return. “I am, and I will.”

He bowed again, this time dropping to one knee. “Princess Talia, I will see you from this place myself.”

For the first time since entering the raikh’s mansion, Talia found herself at a loss. If Naheer’s offer was genuine, and the rage on Rajil’s face suggested it was, he had to know he had just accepted death. He would be executed before the sun set, yet he appeared far calmer than Talia felt.

Talia glanced at Danielle, but of course Danielle couldn’t understand a word being spoken. Snow merely shrugged. “Thank you,” Talia whispered. “We still need to secure Rajil and the others.”

Another of the guards joined Naheer. “I will see that no one leaves this garden or cries for help until you’re safely away from the mansion, Princess.”

“As will I,” said a third. The rest held back, though none of Rajil’s guards appeared eager to take up arms and defend her.

“You can’t,” Talia said. “Rajil will—”

“Forgive me, Princess,” said Naheer. “But our lives are yours now. Rajil has witnessed our choice. You can’t scrape the memories from her mind.”

“
I
can’t, no.” Without another word, Talia grabbed the back of Rajil’s robe and hauled her to her feet. Talia’s arm snaked around Rajil’s throat. Her other hand gripped her wrist, and she pulled tight. Rajil struggled briefly, but Talia’s hold cut off the blood to Rajil’s head, and she soon slumped. Talia dropped Rajil to the ground and turned to Snow.

“And once again you turn to the sorceress for help.” Snow grinned as she pressed a hand to Rajil’s forehead. “I can probably block the memory for a few days. I’ll try to make her sleep a while as well. What about the other guards?”

“We’ve fought together before,” said Naheer. “Every man here took an oath to protect his fellows.”

And not one had moved to stop Talia from knocking Rajil unconscious. Talia blinked hard. A lump in her throat kept her from speaking. Instead, she simply clasped Naheer’s arm in her hand and squeezed.

He hesitated before returning the greeting, an old street gesture between brawlers. “Come, Your Highness,” he said. “The sooner you leave this place, the safer you’ll be.”

The one called Naheer led them down the steps. Danielle didn’t understand what had happened, but something in the garden had changed for Talia. Confidence and uncertainty warred on her face with no clear winner, but she appeared even more determined than before to lead them to safety.

Danielle spoke softly to Faziya, encouraging her with every step to keep her from fleeing back to the garden. Faziya was visibly trembling. Talia had tried twice to comfort her, but both times Faziya had shied away, hiding behind Danielle.

Between Naheer’s calm presence and Roudette snarling at anyone who stared, they reached the back of the mansion unchallenged. The stables were built into the rear wings, with the back courtyard walled off to provide a small yard for the horses.

The inside of the stable smelled of dust, barley, and manure. Naheer shouted something to the boy mucking out one of the empty stalls. The boy set his pitchfork against the wall and hurried away.

Danielle approached the closest stall. She wasn’t as comfortable on horseback as her friends, but she had learned enough to recognize a beautiful animal when she saw it. This was a gray mare, smaller than the horses back home, long- necked and muscular. Even in the confines of her stall, she held head and tail high, giving her a proud appearance.

Naheer was saddling a roan mare. The saddles were shorter and wider than Danielle was used to, with large saddlebags. The boy returned a short time later, carrying blankets and waterskins.

“What did Naheer say to him?” Danielle asked.

Snow grinned. “The boy is Naheer’s nephew. He said to prepare the horses and that he’d box his ears if he loitered about to flirt with the girls inside.”

“What will happen to him, once Rajil remembers?” Danielle asked.

Snow translated the question, as well as Naheer’s response. “He is family. I will take him from this place tonight, and I will keep him safe.” The obvious worry when he looked at his nephew gave the lie to his threat to beat the boy for any delay.

“Where do we go from here?” Danielle didn’t know everything that had been said in the garden, but Snow had summarized Talia’s exchange with Rajil. “We still don’t know where to find Zestan.”

“Faziya might.” Talia threw a saddle onto a third horse. “We leave the city and do what we can to restore her, and we hope she learned more than we did.”

Talia even sounded different. Her words were . . . not calmer, but more certain.

“What can I do?” asked Danielle.

“Keep Faziya calm.” Talia yanked the second saddle tight and moved on to the gray mare.

“Uh-oh.” Snow touched the empty spot on her choker where the mirror had been. “Our fairy friend is back.”

Talia barked an order in Arathean. The boy paled and argued briefly with Naheer before fleeing. Naheer took a deep breath and grunted something to Talia.

“Ka hiran,” Talia said softly. Then she kicked him in the face.

“Talia!” Danielle started forward, but Snow moved between them.

The blow knocked Naheer into one of the stone support pillars. He staggered forward, moving right into Talia’s follow-up kick. Talia moved close, fist cocked back to strike, but Naheer raised his hands. He wiped blood from his mouth and muttered something in Arathean, then slumped to the floor. His eyes closed.

Talia grabbed the spear and club he carried, tucking the latter through her sash before mounting her horse.

“What did he say?” Danielle asked.

Snow grinned. “His exact words were, ‘Nice kick, Princess.’ He should be safe. His nephew will say we broke free and overpowered him.” Snow climbed onto the roan. “We’re out of time, Talia.”

Already Danielle could hear shouts from within the mansion. She climbed onto the gray horse, then called for Faziya. After much urging and reassurance, Faziya allowed Talia to lift her up and pass her to Danielle. Danielle held Faziya with both hands, keeping her steady on the saddle and guiding the horse with her words. The horse shied away from Roudette, nickering in alarm.

“What about the gates?” Danielle asked.

“Stay behind me.” Talia kicked her horse forward. “Snow, give me Father Uf’uyan and his friend.”

Snow yanked the pouch from her belt and tossed it to Talia, who snatched it from the air.

“Can you reverse the spell on them?” Talia shouted as she urged her horse across the courtyard. An arrow thudded into the dirt. Three men rushed forward from the gates.

“Sure,” said Snow.

“Do it!” Talia hurled the pouch through the air at the closest of the guards.

Danielle winced with sympathy as Uf’uyan and Yasar ripped through the pouch. They hadn’t completely changed back to their natural forms when they crashed into the guards, but they had grown enough. Guards, priest, and naga lay groaning on the ground. Talia’s horse leaped over them all. Talia jumped down, running to the gatehouse. Moments later the gate swung open.

“Now aren’t you glad we spared them?” Danielle asked.

“Keep going,” Talia yelled. Roudette had already bolted through the gate the instant it was wide enough. Snow followed, but Danielle lingered in the gate. In the yard, Talia stood facing the mansion, spear in one hand. She stepped to the side as another arrow buried itself in the ground. She raised her hands, as if challenging them to try again.

A shadow rose atop the wall at the edge of the garden. Jhukha.

Danielle narrowed her eyes. An instant later, an owl flew through the fairy’s head. A falcon followed. Neither bird did any true harm, but the fairy stumbled, drawing his form back together where the animals had dispersed it.

Talia shouted and waved her spear. She dodged another arrow, then turned to run, leaping onto her horse and following Danielle onto the road.

“You want them to see you,” Danielle said. “This was part of your plan.”

“ ‘Plan’ might be an overstatement.” Talia bent low as she urged her horse into the streets. The wind swallowed half her words as she passed Danielle and Snow. “The Wild Hunt wants me. If I simply disappear, they’ll raze Jahrasima to find me. The best way to protect Jahrasima and the temple is to make sure Rajil knows I’ve left the city. What Rajil knows, Zestan knows.”

“Dangerous,” Danielle said, but she was smiling.

“That depends on how well Roudette’s cape works.”

Faziya was shaking in Danielle’s lap. The jackal squirmed and peered back at the mansion.

“Stay with me,” Danielle said. “A little longer and I promise you’ll be safe.”

Danielle bent over her horse, allowing Faziya to bury her head in the folds of her cape. Danielle did her best to keep up as the others raced through the streets. People and streets blurred past. The peal of bells made her jump. She urged the horses to greater speed, trusting Talia to know where she was going.

“Almost there,” Talia shouted.

Up ahead, Danielle spotted a bridge similar to the one they had crossed when entering the city. Had it really been only a single day? Armed men moved to block their path.

“Keep going!” Talia brought one foot onto the saddle, then the other, until she crouched on the horse’s back. Raising her spear in one hand, she leaped from the horse and crashed into the guard on the right. Danielle called to Talia’s horse, who stepped to the side, shouldering the other guard off of the bridge. Glowing jaan swarmed toward the splashing guard.

Roudette took care of a third. The mere sight of the charging wolf was enough to make him leap into the water.

That left only the guards on the far side. The horses galloped as fast as they could, but it wasn’t going to be enough. Already the guards were raising lengths of chain to block off the end of the bridge. The chains were bolted to a large post on one side. Two men worked to secure them to a similar post on the opposite side, which would create a makeshift fence too high for the strongest horse to clear. Roudette pulled ahead, but she wouldn’t be fast enough to stop them.

Danielle leaned forward, rubbing the mare’s neck. “How do you feel about swimming, girl?” The water would make them easy targets, but it was the only way she could think of to get through.

A shortspear flew over her head, flying the full length of the bridge and splintering against the paving stones less than an arm’s length from the guards. The guards dropped the chains and dove for cover.

That delay was enough. Roudette was on them before they could recover, and then Danielle and Snow were galloping past, leaving the stone bridge behind and tearing down the road.

Danielle turned, watching as Talia rode after. She had little trouble with the guards, catching up a short time later. She was twirling the club she had taken from Naheer.

“War club,” she said. “A notch in the butt of the shortspear fits onto that hook on the club’s handle, letting it double as a spearthrower.” She smiled. “You’d be amazed at the range you can get.”

For the first time since learning who had hired Roudette, Talia seemed like herself again. Danielle smiled to see it.

“Where to next?” asked Snow. “You know Zestan is going to be coming after us.”

“Into the deep desert,” said Talia, urging her horse forward. “There’s an old Kha’iida saying. No prey is so dangerous as that which hunts you in return.”

T
HEY PUSHED THE HORSES HARD AT FIRST, putting Jahrasima as far behind them as possible. The landscape changed quickly as they left the lake. Hills the color of overbaked rolls stretched out ahead, dotted in gray-green scrub. Worn rock formations protruded from the dirt like sun-bleached islands in a sea of sand.

The air was noticeably drier away from the lake. Talia reached up to tighten her sheffeyah, her hands moving automatically to pull the scarf over her mouth and nose, then another wrap to protect her head and neck.