I could kill them all right now if I wanted, but that wasn’t why we’d come back. We wanted something more than death, something darker than retribution.
Casildo had betrayed my father for his swords, using the love for his child against him. Would he do the same for what he values? Would he fight for what he loves, as my father did? Darbaran was the head of the palace guard, and when I’d known him I’d wanted to break his fingers off for his wandering hands and lecherous stares. Money and exploiting those weaker than him were his vices—and Noor and I planned to exploit that ourselves.
Emperor Vahid only ever chased after one thing—power. If we could chip away at that, burrow ourselves into the cracks of his empire, we could disintegrate the ground he stood on. Noor wanted that most of all.
And Mazin.
He betrayed me by using our relationship, by taking advantage of my love and trust and using that to make me a scapegoat.
Now I would do the same.
I would map out every step of my vengeance.
“First, we build our image,” I answered her, thinking through my list of names.
We had to be seen by the right people in order to get close enough to the emperor and noticed by Mazin.
“We have enough gold to attract some attention. So, let’s use it. Then we need an introduction. We need to be able to get close to Vahid and gain access to the palace.”
The palace was where Mazin would be.
Noor flashed her teeth. “I’ve always wanted to go shopping to my heart’s content.”
We purchased a home at the edge of the city walls, one of the more lavish houses in the entire city. Noor picked it out, looking around with a pleased huff when she spied the garden, given her affinity for herbs and plants. I walked around the halls, checking for places intruders could break in, testing the doors for security. Being ostentatious was necessary to attract the notice of Casildo, Darbaran, and Vahid. But once Mazin was aware of us, I wasn’t taking any precautions on what he would do. We had to be prepared against any threat.
After our house purchase, we went straight to the bazaar, buying enough silks, suits, and jewelry to look like queens. We chose every color of shalwar kameez, lehengas, and tunics with intricate beading, mirrors, and textile patterns. I made sure to pick a few key pieces of fabric and textiles from the north—large plump flowers embroidered in pink, geometric lines, block ink patterns on the edge of sleeves—everything I had seen my mother and grandmother wear while growing up. If I was playing the part of a northern woman, I wanted to do it justice. Every piece of adornment was chosen with a purpose, as if we were donning armor.
I pictured Baba forging his blades, carving his elaborate beasts on the hilts, adding each gem with precision, and realized that I was doing the same.
Arming myself with beauty, to distract from the true weapon thatI was. And while they were busy admiring me, I’d slice their fingers off with my blade.
“Do you have a plan for getting invited to the emperor’s court? Other than spending so much money they can’t ignore us?” Noor lay on a pile of cushions eating slices of fresh mango as I perused the latest collection of daggers one of the city swordsmiths had brought me. Nothing compared to my father’s blades, but I needed to be better armed than I was.
And if our plan with Casildo went accordingly, soon I would take back my father’s swords anyway.
“That will come later.” I had plans involving Vahid, but I needed to lay the groundwork. “For now, we need the attention of Casildo.”
Noor nodded.
I spun the tip of a dagger on my pointer finger, the only physical part of me I still recognized.
First, I wanted my father’s blades back.
“He betrayed my father, got him killed by the emperor’s soldiers, and raided his smith. It’s time we test this disguise out in the real world.”
The air was thick in the bazaar as the heat sank down from the blazing sun and sat on the skin like a heavy net. I went in my finest shalwar kameez, the top a deep indigo and threaded with a bold textile pattern from the north, with trousers a matching shade of blue silk. My thick hair—now a wild mane of curls instead of my usual pin-straight locks—was twisted into an ornate braid piled on my head and laced with golden beads. My new eyes were darkly lined with kajal, and I stared through them with all the confidence I would have felt in my own skin. We wove through the market, searching for Casildo’s merchant’s stall.
It sat on the edge of the market, stocked with blades Casildo imported from all across the empire.
I approached the stall with a nonchalance I didn’t feel. My skin flushed with rage, even though the small man selling the collection of daggers on the table was not Casildo. His muddy eyes narrowed on me, eyeing my finery and the servants at my side—one of them being Noor, posing as my personal maid.
“Good day to you, sahiba. Can I help you find something for your husband, perhaps?” Greed glinted in his eyes as he began pushing his most jeweled blades forward. My gaze swept over them—none of the knives were made by my father. I could that tell in an instant.
“I have no husband,” I said as I picked up a particularly gaudy dagger, without the deadly edge to match its finery. “I am looking for a sword. I’m somewhat of a collector.”
“Then you have come to the right place, sahiba. There are no finer swords than Casildo’s.”
I swept my gaze over the man’s stall, dismissive. I picked up a katar, the handle set in silver, and slid my knuckles through the opening so that the blade rested above my fingers. Noor had wanted me to appear dainty and uncertain around the blades, but there was no way I could do that. Let him see that I knew exactly how to handle them.
