Chapter 28 #3
“Yes, my free will not to be dropped to my death,” I said bitterly. “Some choice.”
Khayzur stepped in. “What are your conditions, Amina?”
I glared at the court, eyeing not only the dove peri but the others watching and flying around. “First, I will not belong
to your people. I will search for these talismans, Transgressions, whatever you call them, but I will do so at my pace and
in my fashion. When I am not working, my life is my own.”
“As long as you’re not using magical gifts to wreak chaos, we hardly care what mortal affairs you get up to,” the dove peri said snobbishly. “But how are we to judge whether you are dedicating an appropriate amount of time to the hunt?”
I took a deep breath, choosing my next words carefully. “Because I will have an incentive. I don’t know how long your people
live, but I am not young,” I warned. “And I won’t spend my final years hunting magic on the other side of the world from my
family. I will retrieve three items for you. Then you let me retire in peace.”
There was a vanished hint of displeasure in Raksh’s carefully composed face, there and gone in the blink of an eye. Khayzur
nodded as though what I said was reasonable—as if any of this was reasonable—giving my arm a reassuring pat as the other peris huddled together again.
The dove one glanced up from their discussion. “Three hundred.”
“Not in the realm of possibility. Three.”
“One hundred.”
Negotiating numbers was apparently not a common experience. “Four.”
She glowered. “ Five . No less.”
Five . The number settled in my soul, snares winding around my ankles. “Five items,” I agreed. “Of which the Moon of Saba is the
first. Then you leave me in peace, no matter how changed I may be.”
The dove peri nodded. “You will be permitted to leave this island and dwell in the mortal world on the condition you live
as discreetly as possible with your gifts and retrieve five Transgressions of our choosing. You will not keep or attempt to
use them in any way. Once you have them, they are to be given to us for disposal immediately.”
There had to be at least a dozen loopholes in those words, a hundred ways this could all go terribly wrong. And yet what choice
did I have?
My family, my crew . I swallowed hard, praying I wasn’t making a terrible decision. “Understood.”
The dove peri was still looking at me, her feathers bristling as the wasp peri leaned close to whisper in her ear.
She cooed low in her throat in what sounded more like a growl than birdsong.
“Then in light of our conversation, should you desire to accompany Khayzur when he leaves, we will not stop you. He will be your... liaison moving forth.”
“Excellent.” Khayzur took my arm more firmly and stepped back. “Then we shall not delay your court any—”
“ We are not finished .” The dove peri’s beady gaze narrowed on my savior. “Khayzur, you have a predilection to share your misunderstandings about
our people’s role in ways that endanger social harmony and lead soft-minded peris astray. You have been warned by more than
one court, seemingly to little avail.”
His fingers trembled ever so slightly on my arm, but Khayzur stared calmly at the assembly, replying, “As I believe our Maker
wishes for justice over order, I also believe our people are better for having different opinions discussed freely.”
“We disagree,” the other peri said loftily. “And have decided to formally charge you with interfering.”
He instantly stiffened. “Is that truly necessary?”
“It seems to be.” Her voice grew harsh, her gaze merciless. “Take care, Khayzur. It would be a great pity if your affection
for mortals got you killed one day.”
She didn’t sound like it would be a great pity, but Khayzur bowed his head. Before I could open my mouth and interject with
something rude, he looped his other arm through Raksh’s and dragged us out.
“We go,” he whispered under his breath. “Before they change their minds.”
“Wait... what just happened?” I demanded. “What did they do to you?”
“It matters not.”
“It certainly seemed to!”
Khayzur turned to face me. “It is not always easy to do the right thing, Amina al-Sirafi. More often than not, it is a lonely, thankless ordeal. That does not mean it is not worth doing.”
Raksh scoffed. “You, of all people, would find a peri political radical, Amina.”
“A peri political radical who just helped save your worthless life,” I shot back as Khayzur hustled us out of the enormous
tree. “You and I, husband , are going to have a long talk about what happened back there after all this is over.”
He rolled his eyes. “The slim chance of surviving Falco is worth some haranguing from you.”
Ah, yes; we were at that part now, weren’t we? Forget Raksh attempting to sell me out to the peri court, the “not-deal” I’d
struck was moot if we didn’t stop Falco in the first place.
But despite what I’d told Khayzur, I had very little idea of how to accomplish that. My crew was being held prisoner and I
had no allies on Socotra. I didn’t even know anyone on Socotra save the few remaining villagers Falco had tortured. And they were already gone, on their way to shelter
with the fearsome pirate clans they claimed owed them protection.
Khayzur led us out to a flat stretch of branch as I mulled over my options—which weren’t many. No matter what strengths this
island had blessed me with, I could not take on Falco, his supernaturally empowered men, and the marid alone. Raksh was a terrible fighter and could barely be trusted. Where did that leave me? Did I have any hope of
secretly freeing my most capable fighters and happening upon a convenient weapons cache we could use to defeat our enemies?
The memory of Dalila in shackles played across my mind.
No, I didn’t think so. Falco no doubt kept them bound and well guarded.
If I had a single advantage, it was that he also likely believed me dead.
Falco wouldn’t be expecting me, much less a magically blessed version of me.
I tapped my fingers against the leopard’s head on my khanjar’s hilt in contemplation. So how else could I surprise him?
But the unconscious movement offered its own rude reminder of how thoroughly I’d already been beaten: thrown off my ship with
this very dagger plunged into my shoulder, Falco’s humiliating words ringing in my ears.
They used to call your grandfather “the Sea Leopard,” yes? A fearsome pirate, he must have been. A true adventurer. Whereas
you, well... you’re nothing.
I stopped tapping my fingers .
A fearsome pirate .
Khayzur leapt in the air, hovering over us with great gusty flaps of his wings. “So it is to be Socotra, then?” he asked.
“I know of the island; the magical world has its own history there. But this cave you mentioned—”
“We’re not going to the cave,” I decided.
Raksh spun on me. “What? Says who ? In mere days, Falco is going to be able to take possession of the Moon of Saba and enslave me! We don’t have time to go
traipsing about—”
“No traipsing either.” I flipped the khanjar in my hand and caught it neatly. “Falco wanted to meet a real pirate, did he
not?
“Let’s bring him some.”