Chapter 13 The King’s Letter
The King’s Letter
The city of Inebu-hedj was alive with merchants selling wards against evil spirits, along with delicious food and beautiful art, in anticipation of the eclipse.
Zahra pulled her hood further over her head and left the merchants’ stalls behind.
She walked a familiar path to the temple, slowing down as two children with a ball ran across her path.
One of the children kicked the ball, and it flew toward her head.
Zahra caught it and tossed it back to the children in one smooth movement, keeping her attention focused on the path.
She had made this trek to the temple in Inebu-hedj many times, bribing a man with all of her savings to drive her there, and covering her debt tag with a scarf so as not to be identified as an indentured servant.
Rescuing her father from the temple was the first step in getting them both out of Aur and away from the Pharaoh Queen and the King.
Like yesterday and the days before, she joined a group walking to the temple.
The temple was bright and busy with worshipers. Zahra kept her head down, ensuring the scarf still covered her debt tag. There was something off about the temple medjay’s movements, something that was different than the other times she had been there.
Zahra clenched her jaw when she saw the familiar clothing of the King’s personal guard. Ramses stood with the other medjay, searching the faces of the incoming worshipers. If Ramses was here, Namir was not far behind. She had to get her father out without either of them seeing.
Zahra knelt with the others by the statue, clasping her hands and bowing her head as they did. Omar stood mere feet from her, holding a bowl of grains with a creased forehead.
For a moment, she thought of her father back in the Pharaoh Queen’s throne room, gasping as blood pooled around him. She shoved the image away, focusing on him now. He was alive, and she would do all she could to keep it that way.
Finally, the other worshipers stood, blocking the view of the medjay and Ramses across the way. As Omar stepped forward, Zahra grabbed his hands and the bowl and leaned in close. His jaw dropped. “Poulaki mou, how are you—”
“Listen to me,” she whispered. “The King has a device that makes this day happen again. We have lived today many times, and the Pharaoh Queen will kill us both if we don’t leave Aur together.”
Omar opened his mouth, trying to pull away. “What are you—”
“There is a way out of Aur, but we must take it together.” She held his hands tight, knowing that any hesitancy in her next words would make him doubt their truth. “I will die if I go alone, Patér. Do you understand?”
Omar stared in confusion, but he nodded.
Zahra took the bowl from his hands. “Meet me down by the stream as soon as you can.” She placed it beside the other offerings and followed the group away from the temple.
Ramses was still standing by the other medjay, but he was no longer searching the crowd. His gaze was trained on one of the pillars near the temple entrance. There was a cloaked man standing there, signing to Ramses.
Namir. He would surely recognize her if she walked past.
Zahra stepped away from the crowd, cutting across the temple’s courtyard. There was an entrance on the other side that she could escape through. Zahra walked around the edge of the temple. A few priests saw her pass, but none moved to stop her.
The other entrance came into Zahra’s sight, and she picked up her pace, walking past an opening into the temple. A hand grabbed her arm, tugging her back toward the building.
Zahra looked up in fear, expecting a medjay to be standing there. Her gaze darkened when she saw who it was. “Let go.”
Namir’s brow creased, and he held her still, even as she pushed against his chest. “Zahra, please.”
“I told you not to come for me.”
Namir pulled her into an empty hall that led into the temple, pushing her into a corner. He loosened his grip on her arm, but he did not release her. “I only wish to speak with you.”
Zahra turned her head away from him. “I have nothing to say to you.”
Namir’s teeth gritted. “This is why I wrote to you. Did you not receive any of my letters?”
Letters? Zahra scoffed. “And if I did, why would I have read them?”
Namir clenched his jaw and turned away. “Have you not been curious about my progress?”
“No.” She clasped the edge of her dress with one hand, anger in her tone. “Our deal is off. Why would I concern myself with your affairs?”
“Because your life depends on it,” Namir reasoned, turning to her. “You need my help.”
“I do not want your help,” Zahra spat. “I thought I made that clear.”
Namir clenched his jaw. “You have not given me the chance to explain.”
“You had your chance, and all you gave me were excuses. If it was not clear to you that night, it should have been clear when you came to my master’s house.”
She remembered the morning clearly. She was washing clothes in the river when Namir and a small army of medjay appeared at her master’s doorstep.
She ran into the city and hid, and she had run every day since.
At some point, Namir had stopped looking for her.
It had been months since she had seen him.
Now here he was, meddling with her plans.
“I do not need the help of a King who does not have my best interests at heart,” Zahra seethed. “Now, release me so I may go to my father.”
Namir stared at her, grinding his teeth. He dropped his hand, stepping back toward the opening to the outside.
Zahra stepped forward, but it was clear he wouldn’t let her pass. She would have to go through the temple itself. Zahra turned around and began walking. She hoped she wouldn’t run into Zosar.
“I know what happened last night.” Namir’s voice echoed around her.
Zahra’s feet came to a stop.
Namir continued. “I saw your boat on the shore, broken and bloody. I saw your father. I saw you. The medjay that pulled you from the water said you were heading toward the Sea, trying to bypass the dock at Rhakotis.”
Zahra glanced back as Namir shook his head, his gaze focused on the ground, as if reliving the memory. “How much longer will this go on? How many more nights must you suffer? How many more nights must you die before you see sense?”
Hot tears welled in Zahra’s eyes, and she spun toward him, pointing a finger at him. “You know nothing of what I have suffered!”
“Then tell me,” Namir begged. “I do not ask for your forgiveness. I do not ask that we make amends.”
“What then?” Zahra demanded. “What do you want from me?”
“I wish for you to accept my help. That is all.”
“Lies!” Zahra stepped back. “If that were true, you would have told your guards to let my father and I pass. I know you have been following me. I saw you the night before last, chasing after our boat as we cast off. You knew where I would be last night. You ordered your medjay to kill us!”
“I ordered them not to harm either of you,” Namir defended, “but I also asked them to stop you. I don’t think they intended to hit your father. They did not intend to make you drown.”
His words brought back her memories of last night.
An arrow had struck her father’s back. He clung desperately to the boat’s mast, struggling for breath as he had in the throne room.
The arrow that struck her came fast, and the force plunged her into the water before she could react.
Even from a distance, Zahra could identify the influence of the keres in the medjay that shot them.
Zahra stepped back, shaking the memories from her mind. “If you wish to help, then tell them to leave the dock altogether. Let us pass in peace.”
“And then what?” Namir asked. “Your boat will not survive in the Sea, and if you dock it anywhere outside of Aur, you will surely be attacked by the Naqada.”
“I would rather chance my fate with them than here in Aur with you,” Zahra snapped. “It’s because of you that my father and I are hunted by the Pharaoh Queen.”
Namir stepped forward. “She knows nothing of you or your father. I have ensured it.”
Zahra blinked. “Then why do your medjay still hunt us? Why do they seek to imprison us?”
“Perhaps because you act like thieves. You have stolen a boat and disobeyed the medjay’s orders.
” He paused, letting his words sink in. “Let me protect you. The Pharaoh Queen will not interfere. You will be comfortable and safe. When this day is over, I will ensure neither of you is punished and that you are returned safely to your homes. You will not be punished by the Pharaoh Queen’s sword. Please, let me help you.”
His offer surprised her, but she shook her head. His promises couldn’t be trusted. “I let you help. I will never make that mistake again.”
Namir’s face fell, and he turned to the floor.
Zahra turned away from him, walking down the hall.
“I will let you leave. I will not follow you.”
Zahra paused and looked back at him.
He met her eyes. “But I have a condition.” He pulled a rolled-up papyrus out from a satchel hidden under his cloak and held it out for her to take. “Take this and read it. That is all I ask.”
Zahra raised a doubtful eyebrow. “That’s all?”
“Yes.”
She studied him. Slowly, she made her way toward him. She took the papyrus, watching him cautiously.
Namir stepped to the side. Zahra walked past him, facing him until she stepped outside. Ramses was standing against an outer wall. He scrutinized her, but he made no move to stop her.
As soon as Zahra was sure Namir was serious, she ran.
Zahra sat with her chin in her hands, watching some Auran children play while she and her father sat by a well. The sun had crossed the sky, and soon the land would be cast in darkness and the battle that Zahra faced each night would once again begin.
Omar studied Zahra. “Perhaps the boat is still an option. You said that it worked before.”
“The King knows that’s where I will go,” Zahra explained. “We can’t go that way anymore.”