The Bodyguard
I shared my fears about Farani’s plans for Dayyan with Eskender, and he agreed to help me.
Dayyan and Farani’s group had left mere hours before.
If we made good time, we could catch them quickly.
I heard my name called. Delara raced toward me, the quick patter of her feet resounding along the marble floor. She leaned over to catch her breath.
“Gulim, are you all right?”
She nodded, inhaling and pulling upright. “Bazmara told me you were leaving.”
Eskender must have told Bazmara about our departure.
“This is for you.”
I looked down at the small square cloth in Delara’s extended hand. A trembling smile overtook my mouth as I accepted it. I traced the delicate embroidery and the small letter in the corner. The first letter of my name. My heart warmed at the thoughtful gift.
“Bring Dayyan back. I only want for you both to return safe and sound.”
“I will, gulim.” I kissed her forehead. “With the Almighty’s will, I will bring him back to you.”
She gave me a hug, and I was forced to keep it short.
Delara waved at me, following me out of the palace until I’d made it off the grounds.
I joined Eskender at the stables, retrieving my altizar as he saddled his horse.
I had chosen nondescript riding clothes to be comfortable during our journey: simple brown trousers with long light robes buckled in the front.
My dagger hung from the belt circling my waist, and my face was concealed by a thin veil connected to the chadar covering my hair.
“Dayyan will not be happy about this,” Eskender muttered as we mounted up.
Before long, we were racing through the city gates into the rising sun.
The altizar’s muscles moved beneath me as we traveled with a speed that reminded me of home.
It had been so long since I’d been out in the desert.
Sand whipped at my face, but the veil spared my skin from the harshness.
Hours had passed when we sighted a grove of palm trees.
Eskender slowed to a walk, and I halted the altizar beside his horse.
“According to the map I saw, they were planning to travel this way,” Eskender said. “I do not believe they changed the route.”
We rode through the palm trees, searching, but there was no sign of Dayyan or any of the others.
“We should split up,” I suggested.
“That may not be a good idea,” Eskender replied. But after a moment of consideration, he said, “But we will make better time.”
After his agreement, Eskender took the left side, while I moved through the trees on the right.
The altizar walked behind me, her hooves silenced in the sand.
I peeked between the palms, searching for a sign of the party.
A man was hunched down, pouring water from his camel skin into his hand.
The familiar set of shoulders and firm posture sent a shiver of relief through me.
He pulled his turban off and ran a wet hand through his hair.
I lingered back, watching as he splashed his face. Where are the others?
A shadow moved among the trees ahead. I squinted my eyes, making out a solitary figure holding a bow, the gleaming arrow aimed directly at Dayyan.
I rushed forward, tackling Dayyan to the ground as the arrow loosed.
It flew a sliver above my head. I pushed up off Dayyan’s chest and stared down into his shocked eyes.
“What are you doing here?”
“Only rescuing you,” I said.
I started to rise, but Dayyan reached up, yanking me back to the ground as he scanned the palms.
Figures broke out from behind the trees, closing in around us. Mardie wahshi. They drew sharp shamshirs, their faces concealed by the thick cloth of their turbans.
“Zeki!” I screamed, knowing we were outnumbered.
Dayyan shot me a look. “He came with you?”
I didn’t know how he managed to sound bitter when we were near certain death. One aggressor dragged a bound woman. Her eyes were wide with fear, her long curly hair matted with dust and tangles.
“Kill them both!” a wild man shouted, pointing his shamshir toward us.
I tensed, unsheathing my dagger, and heard the whisper of Dayyan’s shamshir being drawn. He glanced at me, and whatever he saw in my face must have appeased him, because his tense expression slackened.
The attackers raced forward, kicking up sand with their sandals.
I twisted under the first shamshir, slicing my dagger across the man’s armpit.
He cried out. His weapon slammed point-first into the sand.
It was a dance. Evade, duck, hands moving in a flurry.
I chanced a glance at Dayyan. His jaw was clenched, eyes focused on the brutal swings of the wild man across from him. Three men lay bleeding around him.
A harsh grip yanked me forward, and I gasped.
The dark eyes of a wild man glared down at me.
I lifted my leg, kicking him where his knee and calf connected.
He sank, features twisted in pain. I freed my hand and shoved my dagger into his chest. A shamshir sailed toward me.
I forfeited my dagger and rolled away. The new aggressor charged, shamshir faster than a harsh wind.
It flew down at me, but I rushed toward him, crossing my wrists to reinforce my grip as I caught his arm before his blade could connect.
He grunted, surprised. I ducked under his arm and twisted his wrist, bringing the blade toward his own body.
The weapon sank into exposed flesh,and he blanched, his turban falling from his head.
I retreated, my back hitting Dayyan’s. I glanced at him. His breath was fast. Sweat gleamed on his neck. We stayed pressed together, the remaining mardie wahshi closing in. The young prisoner woman huddled by a palm tree, hiding her face with her bound hands.
A pronged arrow appeared, slamming into the closest attacker.
Then came another and another until all the wild men fell into bloody heaps around us.
Farani emerged from the trees, along with her guards and guards Shah Jihangir had appointed to accompany them.
Bahir appeared as well, and Eskender came last.
“It seems we arrived just in time,” Farani said, though distaste curdled her tone.
Dayyan grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me out of earshot of the others. His dark brows lowered.
“You will go to the Southern border with Zeki now.”
“I will not.”
“I gave you your freedom. You can return home and live and love to your heart’s content. Why are you being stubborn?”
My lips parted as words built on my tongue. As I stared at him, I saw the innocent boy from his journal. The one who hadn’t wanted to take lives but had sacrificed his innocence for his loved ones.
“Why?” he demanded, flames lighting his eyes.
Because I cannot allow you to be killed. You’ve made a place in my heart, Shahzadeh Dayyan, son of Shah Jihangir. You were my mortal enemy, and yet I cannot bear it if harm touches you.
When I didn’t answer, his jaw clenched and his posture remained guarded. He shook his head. “You never should have come.”
The words prickled my skin like needles. Dayyan turned away. I looked down, catching sight of his hand and the drops of blood falling from his fingers. I gasped, grabbing his arm.
“You are wounded.”
His blue gaze seemed to turn colder as he jerked his arm out of my grip.
“I’ve had worse wounds. Unhealable wounds,” he said. “This is nothing.”
I stared after him as he strode away. The prisoner woman was thanking everyone, but in a different dialect.
The others appeared bewildered as she continued showering her gratitude.
I had learned the dialect thanks to my father’s love of languages.
My heart thumped painfully at the memory of my father’s proud smile whenever I spoke the correct words and terms. His face was growing hazy in my memory, and it wounded me to realize that one day I may forget his features altogether.
Eskender cut through the young woman’s bonds, and she lunged past him, throwing her arms around Dayyan. I stiffened, unease filtering through me. Dayyan, for his part, was frozen, his hands at his sides. The woman finally pulled away, looking up at him with large round eyes and trembling lips.
“You saved me,” she whispered.
“What is she saying?” Farani asked.
“She is grateful for our help,” Dayyan answered.
So, he understood her too.
“Come to my village,” the woman said to Dayyan. “My people would be honored to host you.”
Dayyan shook his head. “We are short on time.”
“Please.” She fluttered her lashes. “Besides, you are wounded.”
I held in my irritation at her simpering and glanced at the others. Farani wore a frown. The guards stood watch, and Bahir appeared thoroughly annoyed.
“What does she say, biyoder?”
“She invites us to her village.”
“Well, let us go,” Bahir exclaimed. “I need to eat some freshly prepared food. I’m starving with these dried goods.”
“We haven’t been gone a day, and already you cannot handle it. Why, Shahzadeh Bahir, I had thought you stronger than that.” Farani giggled behind her hand.
Bahir shifted, interest marking his face as he glanced at her.
Dayyan nodded at the village woman, and she gave him a delighted smile before she started leading the way, a bounce in her step.
Dayyan walked beside her, and she continued speaking to him, telling him tales of her village.
She had a lovely laugh and seemed like a sweet girl.
And of course she would be kind to Dayyan.
She saw him as her savior, after all. Eskender strode beside me, giving me a curious look.
His gaze shifted from Dayyan and the village girl, then returned to me.
“Do I sense jealousy?” he whispered.
I slammed an elbow into his ribs, and he groaned, stumbling as a chuckle emerged from his chest. Several eyes shot our way, including Dayyan’s, whose face twisted into an immediate scowl.
I whistled, and the altizar clomped behind me.
When we paused for a break, I jerked my head at Farani, who was watching me with arms crossed.
She moved into the trees away from the others, and I followed her.
As soon as we were out of earshot, she turned to me.
“What are you doing here?”
“Whatever you are planning, you must stop it,” I said.
“You ruined my plan, Yildiz,” she snapped.
“With your arrival, everything was wasted. Samir and I had hired the mardie wahshi to kill Dayyan. We had him cornered. Then I could have dealt with the small matter of Bahir.” She stopped talking, her eyes growing wide when she realized the name she had uttered.
“Samir,” I repeated, hurt digging its claws deep. Part of me had hoped it wouldn’t be true, that they wouldn’t have worked together, but her confession proved otherwise. “How could you?”
Farani’s face fell, and she took my arm in a gentle grip. “Yildiz, he’s not the man you think. He is the one who has been guiding me and aiding me through all of this.”
I shook my head, unable to form words. “You know what he’s done. How could you allow him to be at your side? How can you stand before me and defend him?”
“He has changed, Yildiz. And besides, he’s assisting me in winning back my land and taking revenge on the North. What more can I ask for?”
“Changed?” I spat. “Farani, he has deceived you. He hired a maid in the palace to kill me. Do you know of that?”
She flinched as though she’d been slapped. “No, that can’t be right.”
“She confessed it to me. Samir offered her tiloh in exchange for my life. He is deceiving you and wants nothing more than your throne.”
Farani covered her face as she shook her head. “He wouldn’t do this.”
“He did.”
Farani looked at me. “Would you believe a maid over me?”
“I would believe you over anyone,” I said, touching her shoulder. “But I would believe everyone over that Samir.”
Her lips trembled. “How could I have been so blind? He was so convincing. I thought I had him under control.” I watched the struggle on her face before her focus settled on me.
“I will speak to him and get this sorted. If it truly is as you say, I will deal with him. But I still need him for now. At least until I destroy the North.”
“Dayyan is—he is not the man we believed. Neither are the Northerners. The shah and his commanders may be nefarious, but the people . . . They are just like ours. We cannot do this. We cannot eradicate them for revenge.”
Farani watched me with a curious look. “What happened to my loyal cousin? Why do you want our enemies to live? They have riddled your mind with poison. You’ve been trapped with them for too long. But once you return home, you will see. You will understand.”
“No,” I said. “I cannot allow this. I will not.”
Farani hissed, spinning away from me. She collected herself and waved a finger at me. “What is the reason you stand by them? What makes you ignore my wishes? Do not tell me you’ve fallen for that shahzadeh.”
I looked away from her penetrating stare.
She snarled. “He slaughtered my father and so many of our people. An eye for an eye, as the saying goes. Do not look at me that way. You look like a lovesick fool. Oh, Almighty,” Farani whispered, horror-struck. “You are in love with him.”
You are in love with him. My heart pounded. I opened my mouth to refute her claim, but nothing emerged. I watched my cousin—the girl I had shared my deepest secrets and my darkest thoughts with, the girl I had risked my life for countless times—and reached out, pleading with her to hear me.
“We must coexist with them. A different way. I beg you not to allow this to result in more bloodshed.”
Farani met my eyes. I gripped her hands. Her features softened, and after a long moment, her chin dipped in a nod. She embraced me and kissed my cheek.
“I will do this for you. I will guide them to the South where we can discuss a potential treaty. But that is the most I am willing to do.” Her expression grew grim. “If they want to continue the war, I will give it to them.”