“As long as you are safe now, that is what matters.” I untied the restof her bindings and helped her up from the chair. “Come, let us get you back to the bazaar. Your guards will be looking for you.”
We left the abandoned building and made it back to the busy streets. The air stank of smoke and burned cloth, but the fire was out and the vendors were busy salvaging their stands. A shout sounded from down the street and both Anam’s guards rushed to us.
“Anam! Where have you been? We had to tell your brother you disappeared!” Durab’s sword was drawn, as if he were about to run through half the people in the market. Shoppers threw him uneasy looks and gave us a wide berth.
Perfect. Nothing like panicking bodyguards to fall right into your trap.
“It was street thugs, Durab. They dragged me into the alley to ransom me.”
I stifled a smile.Thugswas rather a strong word considering their ages and build, but Anam likely couldn’t see much given how fast they’d blindfolded her, which was a very good thing.
“But Sanaya stopped them.” Anam’s soft gaze landed on me.
Durab and Tishk both looked at me, as if realizing for the first time I was standing there. Again, I felt that uncomfortable itching sensation, worried they would see past the disguise.
I thought about the time I had beat Durab in a bout, and he lay flat on his back with a mouth full of dirt, his sword yards from his grasp.
If he knew who I was, he wouldn’t hesitate to use the deadly scimitar in his hands to strike me through. I glanced at Tishk, who was standing beside Anam checking her for injuries. He was the one I was wary of, the one who could figure things out quickly in the training ring and use an opponent’s weaknesses against them.
He returned my gaze, sizing me up and down as if I had been the street thug dragging off Anam. Tishk had a permanent distrust of everything.
In response to his suspicious scowl, I presented him with a sunny smile.
“I did what anyone would do, really, I saw two ruffians drag Anam off and I had to help her.” I nodded at Anam. “We only met briefly, but I remembered you right away. I’m so glad I could be of assistance.”
Anam smiled and reached for my hands. She clasped them in mine, then pulled me into an embrace. It took me a second too long to react, and she held me tight as my arms hung limply by my side. It had been a long time since I’d been embraced by anyone except when I’d hugged my grandmother, and even that had felt wooden and forced. Unbidden tears pricked at my eyes and I swallowed thickly. What was wrong with me?
Kindness was seductive. As Sanaya I could pretend I was kind, that I did things out of the goodness of my heart, and not because I wanted to destroy her brother.
But revenge was much more satisfying.
Mazin certainly wasn’t kind when he had me locked up in the worst prison in the empire. And kindness wouldn’t help me now.
I leaned back from the embrace, a friendly smile on my face. “I felt a kinship with you when we first met.”
A spark of warmth entered her eyes. I knew her, knew the loneliness she felt living in the palace without anyone else, and I preyed on it.
“I couldn’t just let you get kidnapped. I had to do something.”
“But you risked yourself for me, and that is commendable.” She looked up at her guard. “Is it not, Tishk?”
He opened his mouth to respond, some of the unease about me lessening in the set of his shoulders, but the voice that answered was not his.
“It is indeed commendable.”
My eyes fluttered closed.
That low rumble always had the power to send me to my knees. But this time I had prepared for him, had counted on him being here.
I turned to face him, brushing out the beads on my kameez and raising my eyes up to meet his.
Maz was immaculate. All in black as usual, the gold on his sherwani coat gleaming in the afternoon light. His sun-kissed hair was swept back, the thick waves of it perfectly neat. I remembered running my fingers through it as he lay in my bed, talking about all the dreams we’d had. I remembered besting him in the training ring, the only time I ever really saw a strand out of place. I stretched my lips wide at his dark glance. A muscle ticked in his jaw, and he seemed to be barely holding himself in check, like a jackal surveying the valley before it pinpointed its next meal. Except there was no prey here.
Then why did I still feel hunted?
“It seems we owe you thanks, Sanaya,” said Mazin, circling. His voice was tight.
Oh, you owe me a lot more than that.
