15. Eshe
Eshe
The new chamber was twice the size of the prison chamber I had been forced to live in.
Waking up for the third morning in this bed, I was still in awe of how beautifully decorated it was.
Orange and blue fabrics draped the walls and ceiling.
The balcony was large enough for me to perform exercises there, but it was the fact that I could reach the ground or the roof of the palace that made me love it. I had more freedom, more choices now.
I only had to find more evidence that Ezra killed my family before I left to go back home.
If he hadn’t done it, I’d remain hidden so that I could focus on finding the murderer and avenging my family. It would be harder with eyes and ears if anyone knew my true identity surrounding me.
I still hadn’t decided whether I wanted my brother to know I was here, and that alone made me sick. I wanted him to know I was alive. I wanted to hold him and to cry and finally grieve properly.
For the greater part of the day, I practiced in Ezra’s private arena.
I was surprised he allowed me to use it.
I never would have expected that. He had to have known that I lied and that I would not be practicing dancing.
No, but that wasn’t right. He wouldn’t have allowed a woman to train if he could help it.
But I wasn’t sure, and that annoyed me even more. I could never get a good read on him.
The rest of the day, I bathed and readied myself for the dance I would be performing for the royal family.
I wondered if Priestels would be there and if Norrah would be joining.
As I entered the back of the main hall, it was surrounded by Priestels in preparation, and I searched everywhere for Norrah.
I finally saw her, but she seemed quieter and smaller than usual.
I tilted my head. “Has Elissa been giving you a hard time about timed sequences?”
Norrah whipped her head toward me, and her face lit up. “Mara!” She grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in. The sentiment took me by surprise. “Where have you been? I’ve been so worried about you. Sorrella didn’t know what had happened to you after our last performance! You just disappeared.”
“All is well. I’d rather not lie to you, so let’s just say I’m part of Prince Casimir’s harem.”
Norrah flushed and smiled. “My God, well, that’s still an honor even if it’s partly true.”
My heart warmed when Norrah didn’t judge or question my true reasoning. I realized I missed her even though I’d hardly known her that long. She seemed to be the type of woman who could keep a secret, but I wasn’t there yet.
“How are you?” I gently pulled her to the back, away from the frenzy of women.
Her brows creased, and she remained quiet for a moment.
“I’ve been better. My past is finally catching up to me, and I’m not sure what to do.” Her eyes glimmered in the dark, candlelit hallway. “No matter how far I go, it’s never far enough.”
My heart nearly broke in half seeing a tear fall from her face. “Norrah,” I whispered and pulled her closer to me. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
She shook her head.
“A part of me knew he’d always find me.”
I wanted to ask who and say that I would kill just about anyone for Norrah, but Sorrella’s voice bounced off the hallway. “Ladies, let us begin!”
“Will you come find me after?” Norrah held my hands.
I smiled and nodded.
The dance was spectacular, and Norrah never looked more majestic than she did tonight, swirling in and around the marbled floors.
I could barely recognize the twins’ father and how thickly wrapped he was in clothing, but his wife sat near him.
Ezra stood nearby, and Casimir sat at the bottom of the dais with his legs spread provocatively, staring at one of the blushing Priestels.
Before I was ready, the music slowed, and the Priestels left the floor one by one, and I was pushed to enter my sequence.
The flutes began to pick up, and the drums echoed on the walls of the main hall. I wore red pants and a red fitted top with gold threads and beads at the bottom, hanging from the fabric. I wore no other jewelry around my waist or arms.
My right hip rose high and dipped low, and I swung my arms above my head.
Like a snake, my arms moved around me, and my hips were like waves in the ocean, beckoning and releasing.
The drums sped, and so did my hips. With each deep-sounding beat of the drum, my hips dipped, and the applause from the crowd began, especially from a tall man sitting close to the dais near Casimir.
He had short, thick hair and a trimmed beard and looked beautiful and dangerous.
He gave me a smile, and I might have smiled back, accompanied by a quick fluttering in my stomach.
I decided to give Casimir extra time, displaying to the world I was in his harem, swaying my hips low and high.
The more I did this, the greater Casimir flushed.
The man near him was completely infatuated.
I liked his obvious admiration. Suddenly, the air seemed to change into a static and cold calm.
The handsome man was no longer smiling, and Casimir was looking away from me.
My eyes caught Ezra’s on the other side of the dais, and my lips curved even higher.
Ezra was irritated. I smiled, feeling a sense of accomplishment. It was one of my favorite pastimes these days.
My dance continued with the flute, and their mother seemed pleased by the time it was finished.
I peeked once more at Ezra, who had his hand behind the handsome man’s neck and a finger in his face.
Ezra’s face might explode if he didn’t calm himself.
The man looked as if his bowels had loosened.
I wondered if Ezra was warning him to stay away from me, knowing that I was dangerous.
But I wouldn’t hurt a pretty face.
Well, maybe.
The music changed to a man in a loose linen blouse singing for the crowd, and I snuck to the back to find Norrah waiting for me.
“Will you stay with me?” I asked.
“I would love to, but what do you think will happen when Sorrella finds out? I have a feeling it won’t be pretty. I can’t afford her throwing me out.” Norrah’s eyes dimmed.
I could tell she needed a break from the girls.
“She’ll be angry, of course, but that’s when you ask for forgiveness and swear up and down you’ll never ever do it again.”
Norrah laughed. She quickly grabbed my hand, and we sprinted across the hallway away from the Priestels. The rest of the night, we drank wine to our heart’s desire and feasted on lamb and flatbread. I kept an eye on Ezra, searching for answers.
Something wasn’t right with him. He was hiding something, but I didn’t want to start a war with no evidence.
Not when Kavid was alive.
“What do you think of that man over there?” I asked Norrah, wanting her opinion on the handsome stranger.
She didn’t answer, and when I glanced at her, she wasn’t there.
I whirled around. She wasn’t anywhere.
Where did she go?
I looked around me, and only strangers’ bodies filled my vision.
I hurried my footsteps and looked for a woman in a blue fitted outfit flashing with gold jewelry. I squeezed through the crowd and called out for Norrah. All of a sudden, I felt pulled back to that night eight years ago, searching for someone I cared about in the crowds.
No, it’s not the same. Calm down, Eshe.
She could easily be lost in a palace this massive.
From the far eastern corner of the main hall, I caught sight of her, but she was talking to a man. I walked closer, then my legs froze in place.
The wine that had settled in my stomach probed to be released.
I couldn’t close my eyes or tear them away.
Norrah was whispering in Ezra’s ear. His brows creased together as he nodded, leaning his head toward her.
A sickening pressure settled in my chest, making it hard to breathe.
When I remembered how to walk, Norrah’s hand squeezed Ezra’s and left before I reached them, completely oblivious that I had been watching them.
Nevertheless, she snuck out like a mouse caught between cracks.
Was Norrah someone I needed to watch out for?
Or was Ezra enthralling her into his web?
He was not going to have Norrah. He had no beating heart, no morals, and he was the worst man in this room.
I felt like I could kill him, despite refraining for the sake of my brother.
My forearm slammed into his scorching chest, and Ezra’s back connected with the wall behind him. His eyes turned barbarous.
“Stay away from her,” I hissed.
Ezra’s hand flew to my arm, but I pulled away before he could grab me. His jaw twitched. I paced in front of him. I wanted to hurt him for just talking to her, for being near her.
It enraged me.
“Stay away from my men.” Ezra’s voice was commanding.
I scoffed. “It was harmless.”
“It wasn’t harmless.” Something flickered in his eyes.
“I was dancing.” I shrugged a shoulder. “And I was doing what your mother asked me to do.” I pointed in the direction Norrah fled. “That girl doesn’t need this from you.”
“You don’t know what she needs.” Ezra smirked as if he knew something I didn’t know.
I hated him for it.
“You’re infuriating,” I said.
His eyes were dark and deep as he took me in. “You’re repulsive.”
My hands slammed into his chest, but his hands encircled my wrists before I could pull them back to me. I rammed a knee between his legs so quick, Ezra doubled over with a grunt. Before I could get out of his arms, he twisted me against the wall in the same motion.
His body crushed against mine, the scent of leather filling my senses. His face was between my shoulder and neck.
It warmed me, and I hated that I liked it.
“You’re insufferable, and if you do this again, I won’t hesitate to use more… unorthodox methods to sedate your demons.”
Remember who he is to you, Eshe.
“I hate you,” I muttered.
His face reappeared in front of mine. His eyes were cold and distant.
“I don’t give a damn. The fact that you think or feel anything for me amuses me.”
“Get off me.”
“You say that, but you haven’t even tried pushing me off.”
I shoved him off, and he let go. Heat flooded my cheeks as I stormed away. I barely heard Ezra’s low, all-knowing chuckle over the sound of my thundering heart.
Eventually, I found Norrah and didn’t let her out of my sight the rest of the night.
We walked in silence back to my bedroom. “What did Ezra want from you?”
Norrah slowed her steps and looked at me with wide eyes. “Mara… I… he is trying…” Her eyes fluttered to the floor. “I can’t say…”
I placed a gentle hand on her arm. “Norrah, you can trust me. It hurts that you don’t know that.”
She swallowed, and after a moment she said, “There is a man who is searching for me.”
She looked up as if she expected a reaction. A few guests from the celebration staggered between us.
My mind was racing. “Is this man named Gabriel?”
Her mouth parted, and she nodded slowly. “Yes. Gabriel Halim. I am betrothed to him. I am to be married to him. My father sold me to him like I was some prized horse, but Mara, I don’t want him.” Her eyes glistened in the candlelit hallway. “Something isn’t right about him.”
Her hands flew to her face to stop the tears that were flowing down.
My muscles tensed seeing her in this way. “Norrah, I had no idea. Is he here now?”
She shook her head furiously. “God, no. I wouldn’t be standing here if he were. I had to beg Ezra for protection when he found me in the desert, and he agreed to it as long as it was kept secret. Please, you have to promise—”
“I won’t breathe a word.”
She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Ezra just told me that Gabriel has been seen around the city walls. He’ll find me—I know he will.” Her eyes went distant for a moment. “I’d met him once, and he felt so… I… I don’t know what to do.”
Though it was strange for me to do so, I held Norrah until she stopped crying.
I wanted to find this man and hurt him for causing my friend pain.
I was more than surprised to learn that Ezra had promised to protect Norrah from this man.
What was he doing in the affairs of Brestan and women who weren’t in his harem?
I had more questions and not nearly enough answers.