Chapter 23 #2
Khayzur had been right: this island was a prison. But no matter how beautifully the woman at its heart had decorated it, building a lovely city, crafting her ideal society, part of her clearly itched to escape. And for the first time in centuries, a queen of Khatti Ugal had glimpsed an opportunity.
I replied, my voice reluctant but firm. “I came to your kingdom on purpose.”
She drew up, her gaze sparking with challenge.
Lab was eager to believe the worst of me, so I manufactured a story that would sate her: “I lied to my crew, my companions. I did hear the stories of your courtier, and I was fascinated. I’ve been reluctant to embrace my husband’s desire to make me a legend, fearful of what it might mean for my soul, for my faith .
. . but even the barest brushes have left me with astonishing abilities.
” I shivered. “Were I to uncover an unknown kingdom of riches, to be the first to sail to and fro, the glory that would attach to my name would be boundless.”
Her gaze was stony. “So, you are the craven bandit.”
“I am the nakhudha Amina al-Sirafi, the Sea Leopard, the pirate who makes traders and captains in every deep of the Indian Ocean quake with fear and pray to their god. I was among the most skilled sailors before I bargained with the master of fortune, and now I am the best. There is no one like me, and if you ever desire to leave this island and sail for the rest of the world, you will let me live.”
She sneered. “And I’m to believe you would not find another way to betray me? You, who have lied to even your closest companions?”
“Yes. For bringing word of an unknown kingdom might bring me glory. But sailing with its queen, a magician and a woman who wears power like a cloak? I will be remembered as the greatest captain of all time.”
“And you believe you can do it?”
I offered a helpless shrug. “The sea brought me Raksh. It’s hard to believe I wasn’t meant to do it.”
For the first time, she looked contemplative. Scorn still marred her lovely face, but she was considering my offer. “Stand up,” she commanded.
Staggering to my feet made the dizziness worse, but I did as she ordered, trying not to sway. Fury churned in Lab’s eyes, but it was of a more calculated variety now. Power—magic—seemed to simmer in the air like the haze of a mirage, and I wondered how I could have ever believed her human.
“Tales of your glory mean nothing to me.” Her voice was cold and clear.
“I have dealt with those who believe themselves the heroes in a song. Charming princes, clever merchants.” Her gaze sharpened.
“And each time, I have met their supposed cunning with ruin. If you keep your head this evening, it is on my mercy, and you would be warned it is most strained.”
I bowed. “I understand, Resplendency.”
“Furthermore, if we depart—when we depart—you do so under my command. You will report to me, you shall teach my men to sail and consider yourself one of my subjects: a warning you will pass on to your spouse, as well.”
“But of course,” I agreed, quietly cursing. Raksh was the definition of capricious, and I had no idea how he would behave once freed from Queen Lab’s spell. “This could be a good thing,” I promised. “The fates delivered both Raksh and me to you. Perhaps this is all meant to be.”
The queen’s gaze turned as merciless as I had seen it. “You know nothing about fate.” She snapped her fingers.
The throne room churned back to life with motion and sound. The servant mopped up the puddle of wine and the musician retrieved his lyre with an apologetic flush. I blinked, disoriented.
Lab beckoned for her steward. “Mitanni, see if you cannot rouse the captain’s husband and send him to her chamber.”
The steward bowed low. “And the other men in the dungeon?”
“The violent louts who laid such crude charges against the doctor and the captain?” She tutted.
“We do not abide by such dissent in Khatti Ugal. Bring them here.” Lab stood up and I flinched, but she headed away from me, toward the gentle waters behind her throne.
Her feet were bare, trailing in the wet sand.
She bent to pick up a pale pink shell, as though a child out beachcombing.
An ill premonition stole over me. And though al-Uqab and his fellows had no love for me or mine, I could not help but speak. “You need not harm anyone on our account.”
Lab laughed. “Nothing I do is on your account, Captain. I act only in the interest of my kingdom. But while the sea brings us harvests of new material, new minds, new bodies, we do lack certain resources. Wool, for example. Livestock have never taken well to our climate and rarely breed.”
My heart crashed to the ground.
No. No, please, God, no. Let that ghastly detail of Jamal’s tale be yet a lie. However, having only just saved my neck, I could say nothing as the three bandits from the dungeon were escorted into the throne room. Al-Uqab was cursing and writhing in his bonds, the other men frozen with fear.
The queen dipped her shell into the golden water and then stood, passing a palm over the contents. Holding the shell close to her chest, she spoke to her steward.
“You may cut their ropes, Mitanni. That is not how we welcome new arrivals.” Lab smiled sweetly at the men.
“I pray you can forgive your earlier treatment. With your competing claims, we had to be certain we were selecting the best group to integrate into our society.” She took a sip from her shell and then held it out. “A drink to shared futures.”
I prayed they might refuse. But the bandits appeared spellbound, their eyes glassed over as each took the shell in quaking hands and drank as commanded. In my deepest heart of hearts, I knew what was to happen.
It didn’t make it any easier.
At first, they were confused. One man clutched his stomach, another his head.
But as the transformation ripped through them, as agonizing and steady as a landslide, the screaming began.
Horns burst from their skulls with explosions of blood and scalp.
Their bones broke loudly, snapping in new directions as their knees reversed direction and their spines twisted.
The men wailed for God, for death, staring at their hands as fingers gave way to bony hooves.
They could beg with human tongues for so much longer than expected.
The queen and her advisors watched without mercy, without surprise as the three men were reduced to sheep. They screeched and bleated, frothing at the mouth as they dashed about in a blind panic, their eyes wide with terror.
I fell to my knees, dry heaving.
“They were not worthy of the blessings of Khatti Ugal,” Mitanni intoned. A second man repeated his words, then an old woman. Only the servant who’d been cleaning the spilled wine looked sickened, his eyes haunted with a sorrow that his placid expression couldn’t completely disguise.
Lab had come to my side, standing over me as though I were a petitioner at her feet. “The fate that awaits you and your men, al-Sirafi, if you displease me again.” Then she stepped away. “Take the captain back to her room. I doubt she can walk.”
She was right. I could barely breathe.