“I have my own driver waiting for me. I just wanted to make sure Anam was all right.”
He nodded, then rubbed a hand across his chin. “Until tomorrow, then.”
“Until tomorrow,” I repeated.
I waited until they were out of sight, until the tanga wasn’t even a speck on the cobblestone road, before flopping down on the bench next to the banyan tree and cradling my head in my hands.
Everything was perfect. They’d invited me to the palace, I’d ingratiated myself to Anam. It was all unfolding exactly how we’d planned.
Then why did I feel like I was still sitting in that prison, counting the days until my freedom?
Twenty-two
Before
His sword met mine with a sharp echo across the training field.
“You’re getting better,” I gritted out as I pushed him and rolled away in the dirt.
Maz leapt to his feet at the same time as I and thrust his sword forward, meeting my parry.
“Admit it, I’m as good as you now.”
Our blades clashed again as we danced around each other, the steel slamming together with the ferocity of our pride.
Neither one of us was willing to back down.
This was the way it always was when we fought. Fevered intensity, the rush of elation when I landed a hit, and the overwhelming exhaustion when a bout was completed. I couldn’t afford to let him know how much better he had become.
“You only wish you were as good as me.”
“Your lies are so easy to spot, Dani.”
“Don’t call me that.”
He smirked, knowing he’d gotten under my skin. I felt a flush of heat rise in my chest at his smile. I pivoted my sword, lifting it from his and then sliding the blade down my hand until the hilt rose up and smacked him in the head.
He stumbled back, the smile wiped from his face with the butt of my sword.
“That was uncalled for.”
“Use the name Dani again and I’ll smack you with the edge of my blade instead of the hilt.”
“Touchy.”
He raised his sword again to attack, the light catching the steel. I lifted a hand to block the sun and his rushing feet pounded across the ground toward me.
I laughed. “You can’t pull that trick if you are so heavy-footed I can hear you a mile away.”
My sword rose to meet his, only the impact never came. I lifted my hands from my eyes to find him still, a frown across his face, looking in the distance at something behind me.
“What—”
A scream sounded, cutting me off, echoing through the village. Then more screams, shouts, and cries. A lead weight dropped in my stomach. I twisted to face the village, the houses dotted through the mountainside.
Then the unmistakable rumble of hooves and horsemen.
Maz moved beside me.
