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"I doubt I'll ever know, and we have bigger things to be concerned about than the god's petty games," Fen said, rolling over and curling into his embrace. "How much longer until we reach the city?"
"About two days." Khan rested his forehead against hers. "Are you sure you want to do this? There is so much that could go wrong."
"Getting you safely on the throne is worth the risk." Fen smiled at him. "Besides, I can't wait to see Hasina's face when we kick her off it."
"No matter what happens, I am so glad to have met you," Khan said, his dark eyes soft as he stroked her cheek.
I love you. Fen felt the words on her tongue and still couldn't get them out. She kissed him soft and deep, hoping he knew it anyway.
Fen pulled him closer so they were chest to chest, her heart thumping against his. "I'll keep you safe, Khan. I promise. Your sister will never hurt you or anyone else again."
"My fierce wolf," Khan whispered against her lips, and she melted into his embrace once more.
Thirty-Nine
Khan could feel the heaviness hanging over the city before their barges reached the docks of Ankhara. He had been away for only six weeks, yet the changes were already stark.
"What the hell has she done to the place?" Kemes muttered from the rail beside him. She had carried around the mechanical bird in her pocket for weeks and no one had dared mention it.
Fen took Khan's hand, not saying anything. She didn't need to. There was nothing any of them could do at that moment.
They were dressed as magi, wearing charms to obscure their features. Fen's hair, eyes, and skin had all been darkened to look like the other Ankharians. She didn't look like his Fen, and it had disturbed him enough that he had adjusted the charm so that he was the only one who could see her true face.
A party of Sekhmet warriors soon arrived with a message that the delegation would be housed not at the palace, but at one of the pharaoh's mansions in the Sekhmet district.
"They are putting us under guard 'for our protection' until the coronation tomorrow," Sargon told them after the council members had met with the warriors. "This arrangement might work in our favor because you won't have to deal with palace guards whenever you wish to go somewhere."
"It's disrespectful all the same," Kashmet said, his hand resting on top of the sword at his side.
"I'm not the least surprised. We need to go and find Asten and see how far the Thothi have gotten in their weapon-making," Kemes said.
They all pulled their hoods up, and when the warriors and council members kept the Sekhmet guards busy with their unloading, they slipped into the crowds and headed for the Thothi district.
Khan held Fen's hand tightly and tried to keep the horror from his face at the burned-out houses, the destroyed parts of the marketplaces, the mandates pasted on the walls about curfews, and what would happen if there were any more riots.
It was hard not to feel responsible, and it didn't matter that logically he knew if he had stayed in the city, he would be dead too.
"Looks like the Thothi has fared a little better. At least there's nothing burned out or smashed. I wonder if they have anything to do with it," Fen murmured and pointed to the guards dressed in green and bronze. They were patrolling the gates into the market squares.
"I have never seen the mages militarised," Khan replied. "The district has always been welcoming, but at least they are protecting their own."
Kashmet looked around the busy square. "I don't see any Sekhmet warriors about. Maybe they are wise enough to fuck with the Thothi mages."
Khan nodded. "Come on, Asten's house is this way. We should check it before we risk trying to get into the temple."
They drew closer together while walking through the tighter streets and into the more residential areas. Kashmet and Kemes fell back into the bodyguard formations that had been relaxed in Atrahasis.
Asten lived in a two-story apartment on top of an astrolabe business. Khan couldn't feel the magic pulsing from the wards Asten usually had up, and his stomach clenched in fear.
"Fuck," he murmured. "Kash, pick the lock on the door."
Kashmet pulled out a thin-bladed dagger and got to work. As soon as the door opened, Khan went to step inside, but Kemes pushed him aside.
"Guards go first," she said and was halfway up the stairs before Khan could object.
"He better not be dead for all our sakes," Kashmet muttered, staring after his sister.
Khan hurried up the narrow staircase after her and stepped into a war zone. The apartment that had always been neat to deal with Asten's organizational obsession was utterly trashed. Bookshelves had been turned over, couches slashed, and the cupboards in the kitchen turned out.
