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“This is an evil way to keep a woman from talking while the man is free to do so,” I teased.
He chuckled. “Quite a reversal. I’ll have to enjoy it while it lasts.”
I put my hands on my hips and scowled at him. “Why, you little-”
“Compliments for another time,” he scolded me as he took my hand and led me up the alley. “We have some pools to visit.”
“Shouldn’t you be quiet, too?” I whispered to him.
“Only you can hear me right now.”
As I stumbled along behind him, my eyes wandered to his back. I couldn’t help but ask the question that popped into my head. “Why don’t we just fly there?”
“It would be harder to approach the ghasl by air than by land, where the trees along the river will provide us some cover,” he pointed out. “And the island doesn’t have any large birds, so our presence in the skies would be very much noticed by the residents.”
We flitted through the dark, silent streets. Hardly a soul was to be found save for those who frequented the taverns and pubs that dotted the blocks. We found ourselves half a block away from one such rowdy establishment when we heard a pair of slurred voices approach us, cutting off our path across the street and forcing us to stop at the mouth of an alley.
The pair had their arms draped across the shoulders of their companion as they stumbled down the street. Their voices filled the air with a bawdy tune that echoed up and down the street.
“We fill our pockets with gold! We fill our mugs with beer! We fill our lives with joy! We fill our hearts with cheer!”
I couldn’t help but smile at the hearty tune sung with blustering voices. Their good cheer, however, was interrupted by the arrival of a contingent of half a dozen soldiers. They carried their spears high in the air as they marched up the road toward the men. The sight of them sobered the men up real fast, but their stumbling feet betrayed them as they turned and tried to scurry away. At a signal from the head of their company, most of the soldiers rushed forward and grabbed the men about the back of their shirts.
The men quaked beneath the merciless gaze of the lead soldier. “P-please, sir, we have done nothing wrong!” one of them protested.
“You attempted to run from us,” the soldier countered as he caught the eye of one of the men who had held back. The man stepped forward and presented a box to his leader. “Why did you do that?”
“W-we were frightened by your spears, sir,” the other replied.
“And yet you still quake,” the soldier countered as he opened the lid of the box and removed an aqara from the container. He turned back to the men and held out the ball toward them. A very faint glow emanated from the sands. He glided the ball over both of them and the orb grew brighter. “Is it because you know you are holding back a gift from His Majesty?”
“We did not know, sir! We swear it!” one of the men bawled.
“You will face proper punishment on the Kneeling Stone,” the soldier informed them as he set the ball back into its box.
My heart skipped a beat as I thought back to those two men who had been sacrificed on the Kneeling Stone. Their agonized faces were etched into my mind. I couldn’t let that happen again.
I rushed forward, but Ben caught my arm. He yanked me back and to the side so I was behind him. I glared up at him and stabbed a finger at the men.
He caught my eye in his cool, calming gaze as he spoke inside my head. “I understand how you feel, but rushing in will only doom you, as well. The king will have your magic drained and banish us from the island, and then we won’t be able to help anyone.”
My ire was still high, more especially because I knew he was right. “But we can’t just stand here!” I hissed.
“I don’t intend to,” he countered as he turned his head and leaned out just far enough to peak around the corner.
Ben tilted his head back and inspected the two-floor house against which we leaned. He scooted me back a few paces and stepped back to open his dark wings. To say they were cramped in that tiny space would be an understatement. The tips not only brushed the walls but curved inward to wrap around me.
“Stay here and stay hidden,” he commanded me as he turned to the wall and dug his clawed hands into the dried mud.
In that way, he made his own handholds and eased up the wall. My heart pounded in my chest as I watched him make the perilous ascent while the lead soldier directed his men back the way they came. The sobered men, however, dragged their feet and pleaded for their lives.
“Please, sir! Spare us the Kneeling Stone!”
“We have so little! We would die before we fed the Thaqiba!”
The leader glared at them. “You have enough to satisfy the aqara, so you have enough to give to the Thaqiba. Or would you rather our country fall to the wrath of the seas again?”
“But we have families!” one of the men protested. “They will starve if the stone takes our lives!”
