Chapter 18 #3
scholars haven’t the temerity to attempt in lifetimes?” I asked. “You will forgive me, but that is a staggering level of arrogance.”
“Confidence is not the same as arrogance. Your scholars are too passive. You’ll bow and praise God your entire lives, never
challenging His cruel abandonment. Do you think the innocents of Jerusalem would have been lost if they had had a Hercules
to fight back?”
A great violence scorched through me. Were there injustices in my world?
Yes. The young girl in Aden sold into slavery, the shadows in Tinbu’s eyes when he spoke of his past, the children who starved while others feasted.
But those sufferings were at the hands of other people, and from the gleam in his eyes, I knew it wasn’t a more just world Falco wanted.
He wanted power . He wanted a talented nakhudha to ferry him around the ocean and snatch up every glittering thing he could.
“The innocents of Jerusalem were not lost ,” I snapped, glaring at the Frank. “They were murdered by foreign barbarians who will burn in hellfire for their crimes. It has nothing to do with God’s wishes.”
“No, it has to do with petty kings and power-hungry generals,” Falco said fervently, as though he did not have that blood
on his hands. As if he did not have Socotran blood on his hands. As if it was not becoming abundantly clear I wished to have
his blood on my hands. “And yet there is a way. A way to be united again. To build a new Rome, to seize the magic of the celestial beings
with whom our ancestors once communed.” His face was alight with wonder. “We could do it together, traveling the seas and
collecting an arsenal to strike fear into any pope or caliph.”
God save me, Salima had been right to call him a madman. What sort of small talk was I meant to continue with someone like
this? I hesitated, struggling to respond.
“You do not believe me,” Falco assessed plainly. “I fear my words sound too astonishing. So I will prove it. Surely you must
wonder why such hardened men remain loyal to me?”
I glanced at his mercenaries. They were hunkered in groups of two and three, doing a poor job of pretending they weren’t watching
us. There was a mix of hunger and fear in their expressions, firelight glinting on their bone ornaments and makeshift weapons.
I wondered how often they thought of the other half of the crew, the ones eaten alive by some ghastly sea beast, the “marid”
of Raksh’s tale. Were these survivors truly loyal or had they gotten themselves trapped with this foreigner on a faraway island
and had no choice but to follow through?
“Perhaps they have no other option,” I suggested mildly.
Falco straightened up as if my words had been sharper. “Yazid, come here. Our nakhudha requires a demonstration.”
Rib-Bone Man—Yazid—approached, and Falco tossed him the iron poker he had used to retrieve the cauldron from the fire.
Yazid caught it with a single hand as though it were a reed, and I flew to my feet, anticipating an attack. But Yazid made
no move toward me. Instead, before my disbelieving eyes, he bent the poker. Not once, not twice, but multiple times, manipulating and tying the iron bar into a sailor’s knot and pulling
it tight as if it were string. When he was done, he tossed it to my feet, and it landed with a heavy thud in the dust.
My mouth fell open in shock. Raksh had said nothing about this.
“A trick.” I denied it. But when I prodded the iron knot with my foot, it was as heavy and solid as anything one might find
in a blacksmith’s shop.
Falco gestured at the tree nearest us. It was an old, gnarled specimen twice my height and with a girth that would take several
men to encircle. Its roots sprawled, sunk deep into the earth. “Another display, Yazid.”
Yazid stepped up to the tree. Grasping the trunk, he ripped the entire thing out of the ground with his bare hands. With a
grunt, he hurled the tree into the dark night. Far in the distance, I heard it crash.
“That’s not possible,” I whispered.
Falco shot me a triumphant look. “Some of them have gained strength, others the ability to see in the dark or swim without
fear of drowning. Abilities they would not have without serving me. That is why they are loyal.”
“I see,” I said, trying to hide the trembling in my voice. Apparently it was not enough to be outnumbered by vicious mercenaries.
I had to be outnumbered by supernaturally empowered vicious mercenaries.
“Good,” Falco replied. “Then we can begin our partnership with you telling me where your ship is.”
Our partnership. Right. At this point, I would let Yazid bend my own bones before letting Falco anywhere near the Marawati . “There is another matter I need resolved before I consider such a union,” I cautioned.
Impatience flickered in his eyes. “And that is?”
“Dunya al-Hilli.”
Falco sat back, his entire demeanor changing. “You did not come because I summoned you.”
No shit, asshole. But truthfully, it was more frightening that he did believe such a thing. That this man who could speak knowledgeably of religious and political deception also believed he could
summon random nawakhidha with vicious blood sacrifices.
Because he can do worse . He can murder those who betray his oaths from across the sea and grant his followers magical strength . Cold fear swirled in my belly.
“No, I’m afraid it was not you who brought me to Socotra. Though I do remain impressed by your passion and your man’s skills,”
I added quickly, hoping to delay the bending of my bones for as long as possible. “However, you must understand your offer
of partnership is complicated by your kidnapping the daughter of one of my crewmen.”
Falco pursed his lips. “The grandmother hired you, I take it? Is she the one who called it an abduction?”
“That is what she charged.”
“And you believe her?”
“Despite your earlier objection, I am a pirate. My opinions tend to be flexible.”
He rose to his feet. “The girl was as willing as they come. She’s a smart thing with a talent for languages. A talent that
might have seen her rise very far had she not betrayed me. Unfortunately, you see, your timing could be better. I am afraid
Miss al-Hilli has run off.”
So the villagers had been telling the truth. “When?” I demanded.
“Two days ago. She fled after begging to bathe in the sea, stealing our only means of transportation in the process.” His
voice was strained for the first time, rage simmering just below the surface. “She is as much of a liar as her grandmother.”
“What sort of boat did she take?” I pressed. “Was it supplied?”
“Not in the slightest. It was our longboat, already left barely seaworthy after the attack. What good fortune that a nakhudha
has arrived to help me find her.”
Falco said the words with such a poor effort at a smile that it chilled me, like a man pretending to be human. “I strongly
suspect she would not do well to fall into your hands,” I replied.
“On the contrary, I understand the rashness of youth. If she was willing to beg forgiveness and serve me again, I might prove
quite accommodating. Which brings us back to my earlier question, nakhudha... Where is your ship? ”
“Away.” I kept stalling. “Let me ask you something else: How would you have left the island to go after Dunya had I not fallen
into your lap?”
He eyed me, irritation entering his gaze. “Attacked the pirate clans sheltering in the west and taken one of their ships.”
“A foolish choice. Your man may bend metal, but those clans can take on navies. They would have annihilated you. Such a decision
reflects poorly upon you as a business partner.”
Falco exhaled. “I know your people have a penchant for rambling small talk, but the more time you waste, the farther away
Dunya could be getting. How long do you imagine she’ll survive in the open sea on a small boat with no food and water?”
“Perhaps you should let me go and recover her.”
“You’ll forgive my doubt you’d return.” Falco was not smiling anymore. “No more dallying, al-Sirafi. Tell me where to find
your ship.”
I pressed my trembling hands against my knees, trying to cling to as much courage as I could. In Falco’s eyes, I suspected,
I was about to cross the line between “prospective ally” and “intransigent problem.”
“I fear I cannot help you. When we spotted your shipwreck, I sent the Marawati away, staying behind to scout the area myself. She will not return for two weeks.”
“I do not believe you.”
“Whether or not you believe me means nothing. I cannot alter the course of time.”
“You must have a way to signal her in case you need help,” he insisted.
“Fortunately, I do not require help.”
Falco had risen to pace but halted in his tracks now. “And if I were to let my men take you? One by one, again and again until
you submit. Do you think you would ‘require help’ then?”
The swiftness with which he disregarded his polite facade to reach for such a crude threat: here was the man who had left
three elders pinned to a tree and carved up the innocents in the cave like a butcher. I attempted to let the threat slide
away, as though it had not been there, a blade at my throat since I let the funeral slab fall in the treasure chamber. I am
not ignorant of the ways violent men exercise power.
Instead I held his gaze, refusing to back down. “As long as we are speaking so bluntly, you will never step foot on my ship.
You and your men can rot here for all I care.”
Falco sighed. “It doesn’t need to be this difficult. You strike me as an eminently pragmatic woman. Ruthless even, if some
of the stories are to be believed. I have no doubt if I could make you see the potential...” He trailed off, as if caught by an idea, and spun back on me. His face was shining again, like when
he’d rambled about building a new Rome and confronting God. “Yes, perhaps that is it. For the men, I insisted their participation
be voluntary. I would not trust their loyalty elsewise. But you and your ship are too valuable to leave to chance. Yazid!”