Chapter Fifteen
Zain nodded to indicate that he already knew. He took me by the hand and led me into a shadowed alleyway, which would hide us from anyone’s view. We stayed silent as we both surveyed the buildings and the streets. No one stood on top of a roof or watched us from a window.
No inexplicable shadows that could be hiding someone.
We appeared to be completely alone.
The feeling didn’t pass, though, and I knew it was important to listen to my instincts. They were rarely ever wrong. I pulled out my long knife and Zain held a matching pair of daggers at the ready.
“We should go,” he whispered, his breath hot against the shell of my ear. “Follow me.”
I shivered and nodded.
He did not take us directly back to the barracks but went through different alleys and streets until that feeling went away.
“Who would be following us?” I asked. “The Epirian? The Lemnians?”
“Or someone completely different.”
That was true. “There’s so many people that it could be that I wouldn’t know who to assign blame to. And I most likely made a whole batch of new enemies when I won the race today.” It had been my experience that most men did not like losing to a woman in a physical competition.
“You know, they could be after me and not you,” he said.
That was something I hadn’t taken into consideration. They might be after him. I assumed one did not become the king of thieves without making a lot of enemies.
We were both lost in thought as we returned to the barracks. He once again let me go first to change. The modesty seemed a little silly now, given that he had seen every bare inch of me already, but I was glad he did it. I needed the separation to keep my impulses in check.
I changed and opened the door for him. He once again walked in and began disrobing, and much as I longed to watch, I climbed into my cot, lay down, and turned away from him.
The room grew darker with each torch that he snuffed. I closed my eyes and he got into his bed.
“Thank you for today,” I said. It had been kind of him to treat me to dinner.
“No, thank you for today,” he responded. “It’s not a sight I’ll soon forget.”
I sighed and he added, “I can hear you rolling your eyes.”
“My eyes are closed.”
“You can still roll your eyes even if they’re closed.”
“Go to sleep, Zain.”
He chuckled and I listened as his breathing became slower and deeper.
Dagger nestled against my legs again. Moonlight poured in through the open window.
I turned over to look at the dog. He was snoring and was sprawled on his back with his legs straight up.
His legs looked broken but I knew that was just how they bent.
I rubbed Dagger’s wiry belly and he made a happy sound in his sleep.
I glanced over at Zain and my hand stilled.
He hadn’t bothered with a sleeping tunic tonight. His blanket was on his waist and the moonlight danced across his chest, giving me a perfect view. It was like he’d been hewn from the smoothest and strongest stone. He shifted and turned on his side, facing me.
It had caused his blanket to shift slightly.
My eyes followed the deep vee of his hips, and to my dismay, the blanket covered everything farther down. I wouldn’t have minded giving him a belly rub on his chiseled stomach and then moving down to his impressive—
“Good night, illora.” His voice was laced with laughter.
Embarrassed at getting caught, I quickly turned away from him, dislodging Dagger in the process. The dog made muttering noises before settling again. My heart felt like a wild bird trapped in a cage, hammering against the bars in an attempt to get out.
My feelings confused me. I wished there were someone I could talk to about it. Having someone else as a sounding board had always helped me to make decisions.
Before I drifted off to sleep, my last thought was that I hoped he wouldn’t tease me about this in the morning.
I had the same dream as the night before—the same place with the same players. Invara again told me to win. I tried to speak to her but it was as if my lips had been sewn shut and I couldn’t talk.
My dream shifted and changed and I was back in Ilion at the picnic.
Only this time, Zain was there. He was making Xander and Thrax laugh while Minha and Kyra played with the rings on his fingers.
He belonged; he was part of the family.
What was that supposed to mean?
“Who is that?”
I turned to see Lia watching the scene in front of me. “That’s Zain. What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I felt this draw, like the goddess was telling me to seek you out. So here I am.”
“Are you responsible for this? Is Zain really here? Did you bridge our dreams?”
It was one of her aspects.
“No. It’s just you and me here. He’s a figment of your imagination. And if it’s an accurate one, he’s very handsome.”
“It’s worse in person,” I admitted to her. I was glad she was here. I had wished for someone to talk to and here she was.
“I understand that feeling all too well,” she said. “I saw your dream before this one. Was that your goddess?”
“Yes, it’s Invara. At least, I assume it’s her.”
Lia had her “I knew it” expression but did me the courtesy of not saying it out loud. “What does she say to you?”
“Just one word. ‘Win.’”
“Win what?”
It was then that I remembered no one knew where I was or what I was doing.
“Wait,” Lia said, walking closer to the group. “I know him.”
Oh no.
She turned toward me, her eyes wide. “That’s the man who stole Xander!”
“Kept him safe,” I said, accidentally repeating what Zain always said about it.
“Basileia! What is going on?”
I tried to respond but everything swirled around me and we were no longer at the palace. We were in my room. I saw myself, Zain, and Dagger all sleeping. It was surreal.
“Are you doing this?” I asked her.
“Yes. Why are you sharing a room with a criminal? Are you sleeping with him?”
“You can see that I am.”
“No, Basileia, are you having sex with him?”
“I’m not, and even if I was, that wouldn’t be any of your business.” There had to be some boundaries. Lia didn’t need to know everything, despite what she thought.
“Is he making you say that?” she demanded.
“Lia, no.”
“Why are you sharing a room with the king of thieves?”
“I promise that I’ll explain everything later,” I said.
She shook her head. “Tell me where you are and I’ll send Rokh to you and then we’ll come and rescue you ourselves.”
There was not a doubt in my mind she would do it. They would all come and “rescue” me and then I wouldn’t win the tournament.
“I’m not in any danger,” I said. “I’m fine.”
“Basileia, I’m being serious.”
“So am I. I will explain it to you later, but for now, I have to go.”
I managed to force myself awake, cutting the connection. I was going to have to be careful. I couldn’t have Lia popping into my dreams every night because eventually she would figure out where I was. She would show up and arrest everybody and it would cause an international incident.
Lia had said her goddess urged her to find me. I had to hope Dea and Invara would stay out of this. Once I had the diviner stone, they were free to send as many dreams as they wanted. But until then . . .
The sun had just started to rise over the horizon. This was one of my favorite times to draw, so I grabbed the papyrus and lead that Zain had given me and headed out into an empty courtyard.
I realized that I hadn’t thanked him for the gift, so I came up with a way to do so. I drew a picture of Dagger for him. I had forgotten how soothing I found drawing—I instantly felt calmer and more at peace.
The gymnasium and stadium would be available today for the competitors to train, but I didn’t actually need to do so. I would spend the day doing things I enjoyed, letting myself rest before the next event tomorrow.
A shadow fell across my page, and I said, “Pardon me, but you’re in my light.”
The shadow didn’t move. I looked up and saw an older man with silver strands in his dark hair.
“Was yesterday a mistake?” he asked.
Who was he to question me? “I don’t even know who you are.”
“Was it a fluke that you won the race?”
“No.”
This didn’t seem to please him. He had the sun at his back so I stood to see him more clearly. Something was off and I wanted to make sure that I could recognize him again if I needed to. His face was weathered, lined, and he had dark eyes. Small suns decorated the neckline of his tunic.
He was much shorter than me, something that made him scowl once I’d stood.
“What is it you want?” I asked.
“I have bet a great deal of money against you.”
“That was foolish.”
He scowled again. “Name your price.”
“My price? For what?”
“To throw the tournament. Name your price to lose every event from here on out.”
“A diviner stone,” I said. That would be the only thing that could make me walk away.
“I cannot get that for you.”
“It’s the only thing that I want.”
Desperation crept into his expression. “I will send you home with a mountain of gold. More than you could ever spend in a lifetime.”
“I’m not interested.”
The man spoke to me in a foreign tongue, and from the sound of it, he was cursing at me. He switched back to common long enough to say, “Remember this moment. You are going to be very sorry.”
He stormed off and I sat back down in my spot. I wasn’t too concerned—I wasn’t easy to kill. I finished up the picture of Dagger and moved on to drawing some of the flowers in the courtyard.
After that was done, my fingers seemed to move of their own volition on the parchment. I was sketching an image of Zain lying in his bed, the way that I had seen him last night. The piece of lead flew across the papyrus as I softened lines and defined the light and shadows.
It wasn’t a real likeness—it was meant to convey the way that I’d felt when I saw him.
I glanced up and realized that I had been out here for a while and hadn’t eaten yet today. Keeping up my strength was important for the tournament.
When I got to my room, only Dagger waited inside. He made a whining noise and I scratched his head, which seemed to mollify him. I was about to leave the picture I’d drawn of him on Zain’s bed when the door opened.
Zain strode into the room, sweaty from his training session, at the same exact moment that I was walking to his bed.
We collided.
He apologized and bent down to help me pick up my drawings. I froze for a moment, something that was so unlike me. He gathered them all, and thankfully the Dagger one was on top.
“That’s for you. As a thank-you for the parchment and lead.”
“You are very talented. I feel like I’m the one who should be thanking you.” He pulled the picture I’d sketched of him sleeping from the bottom of the pile.
He’d seen it. Of course he’d seen it.
I put my hands over my cheeks in horror.
“I didn’t know last night was so memorable for you that you had to commit it to papyrus,” he said in a teasing tone. “I’m willing to model for you, whenever you’d like.”
How did he always manage to find a way to make everything worse? Now all I’d be able to think about was him posing for me so that I could draw every one of those lines, ridges, and planes that covered his body.
“Your skin is red. Were you outside for a long time?”
My skin was not red because of the sun. “I was outside for a long time. Where I met a man who threatened me.”
His expression turned serious. “Who?”
“I don’t know his name.”
“Tell me everything that happened.”
So I relayed the story to him. I didn’t think any of it was very significant, and I certainly wasn’t worried about this man harming me.
“Would you know him if you saw him again?” he asked.
“Yes.” I’d made sure of that.
“Come with me.” Every step he took exuded anger.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“If that man tells the tournament officials that he successfully bribed you, they will kick you out for cheating.”
“But I didn’t take his money!”
“It would be his word against yours, and for all I know, he’s a respected citizen here.”
Which would mean the officials wouldn’t believe me—a noncitizen and a woman. “Where are we going?”
“The gymnasium. A man who would make threats like that is one that is deeply invested in the tournament. He’s probably sponsoring an athlete and has spent a fortune wagering on him. I’m certain he’ll be there watching over his investment.”
It didn’t take us long to reach the gymnasium.
“Which one?” Zain asked.
I scanned the faces of the men on the sidelines and found the one who had threatened me. “There. He has suns around the collar of his tunic.”
“A Jacharian,” he said through clenched teeth. “I should have known. Stay here.”
I was torn—part of me wanted to go with him, but the other part recognized that he’d asked me to stay back for a reason and that I should respect it.
Whatever Zain said to him, the Jacharian looked terrified and like he was shrinking into the ground.
Zain returned to where I was and together we left the gymnasium.
“Why did you want me to wait?” I asked.
“Because I didn’t want you to hear the foul things that came out of my mouth. I’d hate to change your good opinion of me.” I knew he’d meant it as a joke but he just sounded furious.
“What did you say to that man?”
“I told him he would be wise to move on with his life and leave you and the tournament alone. I said whatever happened to you, I would give him double. And I may or may not have described in graphic detail exactly what I would do to him if you lost so much as a single hair from your head.”
“Zain, I shed hair all the time.”
“That’s not good for the Jacharian.”
I grabbed his upper arm and got him to stop. When he looked at me, the anger died down in his eyes and turned into something warm and soothing.
“You know that I can fight my own battles, don’t you?” I asked.
“I know. But now you don’t have to.”