Chapter 8
The following morning, Tariq went to visit his parents, who were eating their breakfast outdoors.
‘Have some fruit,’ his mother insisted, tapping the edge of the platter with her fingernail.
He ate to keep her happy. She watched him while his father sipped his drink in measured silence.
‘Our guests were surprisingly accepting of the princess last night,’ Farrah said. ‘I would even go as far as to say some liked her.’
Here we go.
‘Then perhaps we can make the betrothal official,’ Tariq suggested.
His father looked over his cup at him. ‘Let us not be hasty.’
‘Hasty?’ Tariq leaned back in his chair. ‘The two of you were betrothed without ever meeting. And Amani shared a pot of tea with Prince Farid before news of their match was shouted from every rooftop.’
‘Well, more caution is needed at present.’ Farrah eyed Tariq for a long moment. ‘Aisha was rather nervous around His Holiness last night.’
‘And why do you think that is?’ he questioned.
‘I am interested in why you think that is.’
‘Because her mother was murdered by a sectarian.’
‘Her mother was sentenced to death because she was a covenweaver,’ Farrah corrected, ‘and was foolish enough to use her so-called gifts during a visit to Assur Qasr.’
Tariq drew a breath for patience. ‘Did you bring Jamil to Aisha last night as some sort of test?’
Farrah tutted. ‘How little you think of me. Your sister would never suggest such a thing.’
‘King Lugman has nothing but praise for her,’ Hamza chimed in.
No one mentioned the fact that Amani spent her first year in Kuzebet begging to return home.
‘A few polished conversations are not proof of a suitable queen,’ Farrah said. ‘Perhaps I will spend some time with the princess today and get to know her better.’
That had Tariq on alert. ‘Alone?’
Farrah looked him straight in the eyes. ‘Yes, alone.’
His gut was telling him it was a bad idea, but he also knew he couldn’t keep them apart forever. Their futures were entwined. ‘Fine, but please be kind.’
She feigned offence. ‘The fact that you feel the need to say that is insulting.’
He rose from the table. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I have some business in the city.’
Hamza merely nodded.
‘We shall see you later,’ Farrah said, turning her attention back to her breakfast.
Tariq offered a small bow before making his way across the garden, rejoining Kaidon at the gate. The guard cast a quick glance at the king and queen before asking, ‘So? Is there to be a wedding?’
‘Yes.’ Tariq gave him a sideways look. ‘They just haven’t agreed to it yet.’
‘Ah. Well, at least you know now that you brought the right bride back with you.’
Even before Aisha’s apparent vision, Tariq had known it was her. He began walking. ‘My mother’s planning on spending some time with the princess today.’
‘I suppose that’s inevitable if she’s to join the family.’ Kaidon paused. ‘Do you ever worry that you’re putting too much faith in one attendant’s vision?’
‘Every day,’ Tariq said plainly.
Maryam had been tending the queen a few months earlier when she’d had the vision.
She had risked her life in telling him. He could have—should have—turned her over to Jamil, who would have sentenced her accordingly.
Instead, he kept her secret, because she was part of a movement that wanted a different future for Gruisea.
A movement he was also a part of.
They went to the stables to collect their horses, then headed into the city.
Chaldea unfolded before them in layers that no longer fit together.
The marble facades and tiled roofs of the merchants’ quarter gleamed, while just beyond, cracked plaster and sagging timber told another story.
Everywhere else, fountains were dry and the cobblestones beneath his horse’s hooves were uneven from neglect.
The gulf between the wealthy and the miners was widening.
Nobles drifted about in embroidered robes, their perfumes taking over the air, while ragged children lingered in alleyways, watching them. Tariq felt the quiet resentment beneath the hollow greetings he received.
They slowed their horses to a walk when the road turned to dirt, marking the outskirts of the city. When they reached a building with multiple horses tethered out front, they dismounted. Inside, a group of men were waiting for them, their faces showing signs of frustration.
Malik marched straight up to Tariq when he spotted him. ‘Did you hear?’
Kaidon intercepted him gently. ‘Easy now.’
‘They took Kanin on his birthday,’ Malik shouted around the guard. ‘On his birthday.’
Tariq knew whatever he said wouldn’t be enough. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘You’re sorry? He’s ten years old and destined to spend the rest of his life in a black hole.’
Kaidon forced the man to take a step back. ‘No, he won’t. Remember, the prince is here because he wants to change that.’
Malik waved Kaidon’s words away before walking off to calm down.
Rauf, one of the older men who attended, folded his arms across his chest and looked at Tariq with scepticism. ‘Some of the children are struggling to lift the tools, yet they’re forced to labour for up to nine hours.’
They had every right to be angry, but he was careful to keep his expression neutral.
He wanted to rage with them, cry with them, but he was the Crown Prince of Gruisea.
He was supposed to be enforcing his father’s laws, not secretly scheming to change them.
‘You’ve likely heard that Princess Aisha is here in Gruisea.
Avanid will be our first direct trade route. I only ask for your patience.’
‘We’ve been very patient,’ Malik said bitterly.
‘I was patient when I took off my uniform and laid down my weapons because King Hamza asked it of me. I was patient when he sent me to work in a mine. I was patient when the hours increased and the days grew longer.’ He sniffed, hard.
‘Now you come for my children, and I find myself running out of patience.’
‘We have men ready to rise,’ Rauf said.
The other men in attendance, the ones listening carefully, all shouted their support.
‘When will trade with Avanid commence?’ asked one of the men. ‘The others will quickly follow suit once they see it can be done.’
‘We need a wedding followed swiftly by a new trade deal,’ Malik said.
Tariq was about to say he needed more time, then thought better of it.
‘Our children’s hands bleed. Their lungs fill with dust,’ Malik said, his voice quieter this time.
Tariq felt powerless. ‘I’ll speak to the king about the hours.’
Malik’s eyes blazed in his direction before he looked away. ‘If the king won’t listen, then maybe he shouldn’t be king.’
‘Careful,’ Kaidon said. ‘Be very careful.’
Rauf slowly shook his head. ‘The king would rather watch us suffocate underground than stand up to the Emperor.’
Tariq looked around the room before his gaze settled on Malik. ‘I’m on your side. But remember, that’s my family. Don’t threaten them again.’
Silence.
‘I’ll update you as soon as I can,’ Tariq said. ‘If any issues arise in the meantime, reach out to Kaidon.’
The men mumbled a few barely coherent words in response. Then Tariq and Kaidon left and returned to the horses.
The pair rode in silence back through the city. Tariq barely noticed the people he passed this time. His mind kept replaying the conversation he’d just had. The situation felt heavier with each passing mile.
‘You can only do so much,’ Kaidon said, seemingly reading his mind. Or perhaps his mood.
Tariq adjusted his grip on the reins. ‘It won’t be enough.’
The castle rose before them, and they both stared at it.
‘Will the king reduce the hours in the mine if you ask him? Given we’re barely meeting Slevaborg’s demands as it is?’
‘Unless he’s prepared for strikes or civil war, he’ll have to.’
They entered the gates of Azura Castle and made their way to the courtyard. Tariq dismounted and handed the reins to the stable hand.
‘Don’t worry, Your Highness,’ the boy said. ‘I put the princess on Basma. Quietest horse we have. Scared of nothing.’
Tariq stared at the boy. ‘Princess Aisha took a horse?’
‘Not by herself, Your Highness. She went with the queen and her guards.’
Tariq exchanged a concerned glance with Kaidon before asking, ‘Where did they go?’
‘I… I don’t know.’
Seeing the panic on the boy’s face, the prince gave him a reassuring clap on the shoulder before walking away.
Kaidon caught up to him. ‘When you said the queen was going to spend time with her, I thought they’d take a walk or have a game of cards.’
‘I should have known.’
‘She won’t send the princess off a cliff, will she?’
‘You joke,’ Tariq replied, ‘but I wouldn’t put it past her.’
‘Who’s joking?’ Kaidon looked over his shoulder. ‘Want me to search for them?’
That had been Tariq’s first instinct also, but whatever point his mother was trying to make, she would find a way to make it. ‘No.’
He stopped walking when a realisation hit him.
‘What is it?’ Kaidon asked, turning to him.
Tariq shook his head. ‘I know where they are.’ He looked Kaidon in the eye. ‘She’s taken Aisha to the mine.’