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We make our way across the flow of traffic then turn a corner. The moment we do he comes up short so fast I bump into his back. His grip tightens on my hand, painfully convulsing. I slip up beside him and see what is causing his reaction.
My stomach drops to the ground and my knees turn weak. Two Maulavi are at the door of a house. I recognize that home. It’s Mazabuta’s place.
“Gada,” Bhoja curses.
22
BHOJA
The world closes in on me. The two Maulavi look angry. I cannot hear the conversation they are having but it’s clear that it is heated. Mazabuta throws his hands in the air and shakes his head.
One of the Maulavi turns, his eyes scanning the area. I step back, pushing Niyah back around the corner. I press myself against the wall with one hand held protectively over her and wait to hear a cry of outrage. If they know and they saw me there is no doubt that is what will happen next.
Nothing. Only the usual sounds of people moving about their day. I watch the crowd looking for something, anything, that will give me some hope of escape. Of handling this mess. We cannot stay here. The one thing that is most clear to me is that we’re drawing attention. No one stands around on the streets. Not anymore. No one wants to put themselves under the scrutiny of the many eyes and spies of the Maulavi.
Fumbling for her hand I finally get a grip and pull her away. We’re on the wrong side of the street causing us to be going against the flow. People push, growl, and complain so I change my path and cut a path across the street.
There is an alley on the far side. We finally make it across and I head right into it. Being in the crowd is making me too nervous. There are too many things that could go wrong. If they are already at Mazabuta’s?—
“That’s bad, right?” she asks, interrupting my thoughts.
“Yes,” I say. “Very.”
I don’t stop until there is another intersecting of two alleys and we are no longer in direct line of sight with the street. Once we’re more or less out of sight I stop. I need a plan. Another plan. The one thing I had pinned my hopes on is gone.
“Do they know?” she asks, her voice quavering.
“Most likely, yes.”
I rub the back of my head and pace, trying to figure out a path forward. If they know then our only option is to leave. We must leave the city.
“The other girls… what will they do to them?”
I stop dead in my tracks, looking up at the dark ceiling overhead. The other girls. Mazabuta’s female. If they know, there wouldn’t be questions being asked and it wouldn’t only be two of them. They would come in force, reinforced by the Queens Guard.
I am only a City Guard, Mazabuta though served the Queen directly. That gives him more sway and power than I command but even he would not be immune to the Shaman’s wrath if they think the humans had something to do with killing a Maulavi. At the very least they would arrest his female.
And they didn’t. They were arguing, yes, but there was no force there. It could be, must be, unrelated. I look it over again and again. Turning the idea around and around trying to poke holes in it but no, it makes too much sense. That must be it.
“You’re right,” I say.
“I am? About what?”
“The other girls. If they know that I killed one of theirs then they wouldn’t be arguing with Mazabuta. They would have come in force to arrest all of you humans. Including his.”
“Oh.” She speaks softly but there is no mistaking the tremor in her voice. “All of them?”
“I am mostly certain, yes,” I say. “The only one who might remain free is Annalise, but I do not think so.”
Her face is pale and her lips are tight but she nods understanding. I can see the sharp intelligence in her eyes as she thinks over what I’ve said.
“Where does that leave us?”
I sigh and shake my head.
“We need an ally,” I mutter, thinking over every person I know but coming up empty. “Except the only one I even begin to trust is being questioned by the Maulavi.”
I look around the alley and come to a decision. There really is, in the end, only one option. Taking her hand in mine I lead the way back to my home.
