Chapter 23
Aisha sat opposite Maryam on the rug, Mira curled at her feet with her paws tucked under her chin. The cub’s slow breath warmed the hem of her gown. Aisha had been meeting with Maryam at the same time every day for the past week, while Tariq trained and before her sisters were up for the day.
‘Again,’ Maryam said gently.
Aisha drew a breath, slow and even, the way she had been taught. ‘Breathe until the tightness in my chest loosens. Let my thoughts stop and sit. If I can get quiet enough here’—she touched two fingers to the notch above her sternum—‘the Sight will listen back.’
‘Good.’ Maryam tilted her head. ‘Or?’
‘Or I can use conflict. Summon tension to make two futures hold together in my mind until they scrape.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘My least favourite.’
Maryam appeared amused. ‘It is just another tool you can utilise, like moving in or out of your body, which you must practise.’
Aisha nodded. ‘Feel the ground when I want silence, and let my thoughts unhook.’
‘The Sight sits at the edge between stillness and drift. You will learn where that edge is.’
Mira’s ear flicked at a fly that had found its way inside the room.
‘And now for the last piece,’ Maryam said.
Aisha groaned. ‘My mind is bursting already.’
‘It will hold,’ Maryam assured her. ‘This knowledge is very important.’
Aisha tried to focus. ‘Go on.’
‘You already know the Sight exacts a cost. Do not think of it as a punishment but as the price of crossing thresholds your body does not normally cross. We always try to be respectful of that, but today I want to show you how to spend it on purpose if required.’
Aisha thought she had misheard. ‘Do you mean force a vision?’
‘Sort of.’ Maryam paused. ‘You cannot make fate speak, but you can let it know you are ready to hear it.’
A frown settled on Aisha’s face.
‘You will feel the drain more quickly and for longer,’ Maryam said. ‘Everyone’s body reacts differently.’ She sat up. ‘You will begin as you do with openness, breath, unclench the jaw, soften the tongue. Then you choose a thread and hold its edges.’
Aisha had no idea what that meant in a practical sense.
‘And as you do that, let your body loosen.’ She tapped Aisha’s wrist lightly. ‘Listen to your pulse, then imagine it drifting. You are not leaving your body but merely loosening your grip on it.’ She continued to tap on Aisha’s wrist. ‘It will feel like you are falling.’
Aisha closed her eyes, breathing deep into her belly the way Maryam had shown her. When she exhaled, the air slid past the back of her throat like water. Eventually, the tightness in her chest eased.
‘Visualise the conflict,’ Maryam murmured.
The door burst open, and Safiya rushed in. ‘They’re—’ She stopped dead when she saw the two of them sitting on the floor, Maryam with her hand on Aisha’s wrist. ‘What are you doing?’
Maryam withdrew her hand and got to her feet.
Lilah came through the door, eyes landing on Aisha. ‘Why are you just sitting there? Let’s go!’
‘Go where?’ Aisha asked.
Lilah’s smile was luminous. ‘They’re here.’
It took Aisha a moment to realise which ‘they’ she was talking about. ‘They are?’
‘Yes!’ Lilah ran forwards and pulled her to her feet.
Aisha gave Maryam an apologetic look as she was dragged from the room. Then the three sisters headed down the corridor, their footsteps in sync.
It had been months since Aisha had seen the rest of her family, and she didn’t know if she would laugh with joy when she laid eyes on them or bawl her eyes out.
‘What were you doing with Maryam?’ Safiya asked when they were a good distance from her chamber.
Aisha had known the question was coming. ‘Talking.’
Safiya stared at her. ‘While holding hands?’
‘We weren’t holding hands.’ Aisha didn’t mean to sound quite so defensive. ‘She was showing me some breathing techniques.’
Lilah looked between them. ‘What did I miss?’
‘Yet another early-morning meet-up between Aisha and Maryam,’ Safiya said. ‘That makes seven days straight, am I right?’
Nothing got past Safiya.
When Aisha didn’t respond, Safiya said, ‘Did you think we wouldn’t notice?’
‘That my attendant visits my chamber? Why on earth would you care?’
Safiya grabbed Aisha by the arm, forcing her to stop. ‘What are you hiding from us?’
Heat rushed to Aisha’s face.
‘Wait. You have a secret?’ Lilah asked, sounding genuinely crushed. ‘From us?’
Guilt tore through Aisha. She had always shared everything with her sisters.
While she couldn’t tell them about Maryam, she also couldn’t bring herself to lie to their faces.
‘Please don’t ask me anything else, because there is a secret, but it’s not mine to share. ’ She looked between them. ‘Please.’
Safiya crossed her arms. ‘That’s not the only secret you’re keeping from us, is it? Maryam visits your chamber in the mornings, and Tariq visits at night.’
More colour flooded Aisha’s cheeks. Satisfied, Safiya resumed walking, leaving Lilah and Aisha standing there.
‘It’s probably best that Zara doesn’t know about the prince’s nightly visits.’ Lilah said.
Aisha opened her mouth to deny it, but the lie got stuck.
‘I won’t say anything,’ Lilah said before following Safiya.
They reached the receiving room, a chamber used for prestigious guests. A guard opened the double doors as they approached. Inside, the windows were open to the courtyard gardens and sunlight poured in. Aisha’s gaze landed on the dark-haired boy in the centre of the room.
‘Omar.’
A smile split his face at the sound of Aisha’s voice, and he took off at a run towards her. She opened her arms as he flung himself at her, nearly knocking her over.
‘You’re too big for that now,’ Aisha laughed. She kissed the top of his head over and over as his arms wrapped tighter around her.
‘I thought you would be waiting at the port,’ Omar said.
‘I’m sorry. If I had known you were arriving early, I’d have been there.’
Omar pulled back from her. ‘The captain of the ship said the wind was in our favour. Where’s Tariq?’
‘Likely still in the training yard.’
‘And it’s Prince Tariq,’ Yasmin said, all but pushing him out of her way. ‘Now let the rest of us greet her.’
Aisha looked her youngest sister over before pulling her into an embrace. She smelled like sunshine and saffron.
‘Have they been nice to you?’ Yasmin whispered.
‘Yes.’ It was the only answer she would ever give her.
Aisha spotted Zara standing on the far side of the room, watching them.
Zara gave her a weak smile, and she could see the toll the past few months had taken on her.
When Yasmin released her, Aisha went to Zara, throwing her arms around her.
To her surprise, her older sister hugged her back with equal enthusiasm.
‘I told Omar not to run inside the castle,’ Zara said into her ear.
Aisha drew back with a laugh. ‘I’m sure you did—multiple times.’ She kept hold of Zara’s hands as she looked her over. ‘You made it.’
Zara released a breath. ‘We made it.’
The familiarity of family was blissfully overwhelming.
‘Come,’ Lilah said, gesturing to Yasmin and Omar. ‘We’ll go see Baba, and then we’ll take you to meet Mira.’
‘Can’t we meet Mira first?’ Omar asked as they headed for the door.
‘No,’ Lilah and Safiya replied in unison.
Aisha and Zara were left alone in the chamber.
‘So,’ Zara said, letting go of Aisha’s hands and strolling towards the window. ‘This is your new home.’
Aisha looked around the room. ‘This is it.’
‘And it’s really going well?’
‘It really is.’
Zara stopped and turned to her. ‘I received your letter the day before we departed. It must have been quite the shock when Zahvik showed up—at your Binding Feast, no less.’
‘It was, but we managed. Thankfully, his quarters are as far from ours as they can be. And he’s been so busy with King Hamza, none of us have seen him since.’
Zara dropped her gaze. ‘I haven’t told Baba.’ She sounded almost ashamed. ‘I should have, but I was worried he wouldn’t get on the ship if I did.’
Aisha nodded slowly. ‘Where is he?’
‘Where do you think?’ Zara swallowed. ‘He greeted King Hamza and Queen Farrah on arrival, then wanted to go to the guest quarters to rest. He told me he couldn’t handle the noise.’ She brushed a finger down her nose. ‘But there was barely any noise at all.’
Aisha was silent a moment. ‘When he learns that Zahvik’s here—’
‘It will break him,’ Zara said matter-of-factly. ‘We’ll need time to piece him back together, so the sooner we tell him, the better.’
Aisha thought for a moment. ‘You did the hard work of getting him here. Let me tell him.’
Zara looked like she was about to object, but then she appeared to change her mind. ‘If he sees that you’re unaffected, he’ll draw strength from you. He wants to do his part.’
She didn’t doubt it. ‘How was he? Outside the walls?’
‘He was…’ Zara lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. ‘Adored. People were crying in the streets. And you know what he’s like. He just cried right along with them.’
The burning in Aisha’s throat was relentless. She had to look away and collect herself.
‘This marriage has given people hope,’ Zara said. ‘We must ignore Zahvik’s presence and stay focused on why we’re all here.’
That made Aisha smile. ‘All right. Take me to see Baba.’
Aisha waited for her father’s guard to announce her.
When he returned to the door and gestured for her to enter, she stepped into the dark room.
The heavy curtain had been drawn across the tall window.
She peered through the dark and found her father seated in a high-backed chair on the other side of the room with a blanket draped across his knees.
He looked smaller than she remembered, like a man trying to disappear into himself.
‘Aisha?’ His voice was fragile, uncertain.
She went to him, dropping to her knees at his feet and taking his hands in hers. ‘I’m here, Baba.’
He studied her face in the poor light, eyes flicking across her features. ‘Our beautiful Aisha.’
The ‘our’ made her chest constrict. ‘I’m so glad you’re here.’