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Ben nodded. “That is about his age. He’s been with Sharif’s family that entire time and their documents do contain a date of his purchase.”
“And a grand purchase it was!” Qita chimed in as his hips swayed a little. “I was sold for five barons, which in those days went much farther than they do now. It was a princely sum for a princely family, and I’ve kept them in good luck these many years.”
“Until three months ago,” I reminded him.
The end of his tail twitched like that of a rattler. “And that is precisely why we will remedy the situation forthwith!”
I cast a doubtful look at Ben, but he stared straight ahead with a thoughtful expression on his face. “Something wrong?”
He pursed his lips. “I was just thinking about the ill timing of the curse on Sharif and the Thaqiba trouble.”
“And?”
“I’m of the same mind as Salah. There’s something too coincidental about the troubles starting at the same time.”
“You think somebody is trying to get him on the wrong side of the king?” I wondered.
“That’s possible, or perhaps Salah’s family is a hindrance to their plans.”
I cocked my head to one side. “How so?”
“I told you one of my very great aunts on my mother’s side married into Salah’s family, didn’t I?”
“Well, you didn’t mention the side, but you did mention the aunt.”
“She was particularly strong in magic. So strong, in fact, that the Sharif family sought her out for her gift in order to undo a curse.”
I jerked my head toward Qita. “Another curse our venerable guide couldn’t handle?”
“I was away visiting family!” Qita countered.
“That was where the young son met my aunt, and they became betrothed,” Ben finished as he furrowed his brow. “That same blood flows through both Salah and Lila, but it has often been stronger through the female line.”
My eyes widened. “So you’re saying someone would want Lila out of the way in case she had that gift, too?”
“That gift may be one of the reasons why she didn’t die before Salah hired the dhaka,” he mused.
Qita stopped and spun around to face us. His back was arched and he spat in our direction. “You’re forgetting about my part in saving her!”
Ben smiled and held up his hands. “I merely said that the gift may beoneof the reasons for both the attack and her survival. There’s also no proof she has the gift at all. It’s merely conjecture.”
The frazzled feline glared at him a moment longer before he turned his ‘cute’ end toward us. “Let’s move faster, shall we? I grow weary of your presence.” And with that, he trotted forward.
Ben and I shrugged at each other before we followed after him.
CHAPTEREIGHT
The slinky felineguided us out of the streets full of houses and into those more focused on commercial prospects. Shop banners and awnings jutted out of random buildings, though some of those that had upper floors showed signs of home life with flower boxes and hanging laundry. The crowds swarmed in from the outer edges of the city and crowded together in a mass of business and buzz. Women congregated in small groups and chatted away on the latest gossip as others looked over the shop merchandise. Drudgery men meandered their way through the masses with heavy packages on their backs. No wonder men were used, as the streets narrowed so much that I could have almost reached out and touched wall to wall with my hands. Even a few small fae folk flitted over the heads of the crowd, their many different wings glistening in the sun.
I was pushed and stepped on, and one especially enthusiastic shove from an old woman tossed me into Ben’s arms. I tilted my head back and looked up into his smiling face. “Great city planning.”
He chuckled as he set me back on my feet. “The citizens of Thania have little use for such devising. Their focus is, and always has been, trade. The island’s position in the middle of the Ceorulus Sea helped create that mindset.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Thania?”
“The name of this capital city,” he explained as he looped an arm around my waist. He stood a head taller than most of the native inhabitants and they moved out of the way rather than jostle him for land supremacy. “It roughly translates to ‘second’ in the Kalean tongue, it being the second capital city in their history.”
“What happened to the first?” I wondered as we pushed our way through a tight spot. “The people stampede it to rubble?”
