Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

‘Soon' turned out to be a wait of about an hour, though it might have just felt that long in that dreary place with nothing to do except stare at the chiseled walls. The sound of footsteps riled me from a semi-slumber and I heard Ben leap to his feet. Our escort from before appeared, and the lead soldier didn't look pleased.

"Out," was all he ordered as the jailer opened the doors.

Ben and I, eager to get the hell out of Dodge, obeyed and soon we found ourselves back in the opulent throne room. A stranger stood several feet in front of the low platform near the elegant seat. The man turned at our coming and offered an honest but weary smile to Ben. The stranger was about Ben's age and wore layers of elegant white cloth. He was less tanned than the soldiers who flanked us and his eyes were a brilliant shade of blue that revealed the relationship between Ben and him.

"My most venerable cousin," he greeted us as he bowed his head to Ben. "My sincerest apologies for this confusion."

"There is no confusion, Prince Sharif," King Ramaal scolded him with a stormy brow. "They have a great power within them that would be a boon to the failing barrier."

Prince Sharif's face fell and he turned back to his king. "But Your Majesty, this man is my family. Surely that garners some abstention from your edict."

Ramaal shook his head. "The times are too dire to grant anyone such preference. If they desire to leave the island then they must first relinquish a portion of their gift. Surely you would agree with me, Prince Sharif, that such a sacrifice would be to the benefit of my kingdom. That is, unless you have other opinions on the matter."

Sharif's face fell and his shoulders drooped. He bowed his head. "I do not, Your Majesty."

The king's dark eyes settled on me and he pointed a ringed finger in my direction. "And who is this that she claims your ‘protection' from me, prince?"

"She is also kin, Your Highness," Ben spoke up as he looped an arm around my waist and drew me against his side. "For she is my betrothed."

My jaw hit the floor and bounced. The king didn't look surprised so much as suspicious. "I see no ring on her finger to indicate such a union."

"It was left at my villa so as not to be lost in the bustle of Pernix and the sea, Your Highness," Ben explained.

Ramaal examined me a moment longer before he fell back against his throne and waved his hand in the direction of the great doors at our back. "Then leave me, and when your guests, Sharif, have decided to return home let them go to the Kneeling Stone to make their offering. Only then will their ‘trinkets' be returned to them and they be allowed to leave."

Sharif bowed his head before he spun around and hurried to us. He beckoned to us with one finger and the look of warning in his eyes told us questions would need to be asked later. We followed his soft footsteps down the carpeted way and out through the doors. I was glad for a gentler escort, but something about the man who guided us through those jeweled halls made me uneasy. It was as if a dark cloud hung over him, and more than one guard confirmed my suspicion as they cast wary looks at the minor prince.

Sharif led the way down into the entrance hall and forward through the huge front metal doors that guarded the entrance to the grand palace. We left behind the tapestries and fine furniture and stepped out into the dry environment that seemed to encase the very air in its tight grasp.

As I suspected, the palace stood on the only high ground in the whole of a large plain. A long, wide set of stairs had been carved from the stone and led down into the city proper. I paused on the threshold of those steps and looked out on a grand, if disorganized, metropolis. Mud-baked homes stood beside stone-carved mansions, and industry snuggled up against residential in a mishmash of non-existent zoning codes. Streets wound through the buildings like snakes and often ended up crashing into one another only to continue their strange progress toward the tattered edges of the city where sand bricks met sand dunes. Not all of the plain, however, was filled with the dusty stuff. Green fields stretched for miles toward a low mountain range to the east.

What truly caught my attention, however, lay beyond the northern borders of the city. There, piercing the sky, were two huge obelisks that stood side-by-side. These, though, weren't the normal black-stoned creations. They featured white walls that glistened in the bright sun.

They also moved.

That is, even from that distance I could see the towering colossus constantly turning. I squinted into the distance and noticed that not a single speck of dust around the bases of the obelisks moved.

"Millie!" Ben called from a few steps down where Sharif and he stood waiting for me.

"Coming!" I shouted back as I scurried after the men.

My curiosity was piqued by the strange sight, but that would have to wait as we hurried through the rambling streets of the capital city.

"My sincerest apologies for not coming to the palace sooner," Sharif spoke up as he guided us into a busy street of vendors and shoppers. "I was away from home at the time and did not receive the message until my return."

Ben smiled and shook his head. "It was hardly your fault that King Ramaal decided to make us his guests."

Sharif pursed his lips and that dark cloud on his brow worsened. "Again, I feel I must apologize. The king is most worried about the Thaqiba, as we all are."

"When did the problem arise?" Ben asked him.

"Three months ago, though the king has not been ‘inviting' strangers into the land for more than a month," Sharif informed him.

I skirted a gaggle of women as I tried to keep up with our quick guide. "Why doesn't he get volunteers from his own people?"

Sharif turned sharply into a narrow, empty alley where he turned to us with his worried expression. "He has done so already, but we cannot give any more without risking our lives, so he searches abroad for others. But come. We are almost home."

He continued along and I cast my own worried look at Ben. He, too, had concern written across his face, but he merely took my hand and shook his head. We followed our guide onto a less busy side street and soon found ourselves in a more residential-like district. He led us to a high wall with a wrought-iron gate. A heavy chain and lock guarded the entrance, but he was able to unlock it with a key.

Sharif swung open the gate and we entered a small but comfortable courtyard. A stone path crisscrossed through the middle of four flower beds, or one could walk along a covered porch along the outer area. The home consisted of three floors that looked out over the courtyard through wide, airy windows. White curtains fluttered in a slight breeze and flower boxes clung to the bottoms of the windows and filled the area with their sweet perfume.

The scene would have been perfectly picturesque were it not for the unusual silence that hung over the area. It was so oppressive that I almost missed the tussle and bustle of the street.

"Your house appears lonelier than last time I visited," Ben commented.

Sharif secured the gate behind us before he turned and nodded. "I am sorry to say that I have had to release many of my servants. They were. . .uneasy about certain recent arrangements."

Before we had time to make inquiries, a woman stepped out from one of the corridors off the courtyard. She wore a silken white dress and a bright red shawl hung about her small shoulders. Her beautiful face was marred by concern, but she forced a smile onto her lips at the sight of us.

"Dearest cousin!" she greeted us as she moved in our direction and opened her arms.

Ben embraced her in a tight hug before he drew her away. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Fadila."

"And you, Ben," she returned before she looked past him and at me. "But you bring with you a lovely guest."

Ben half-turned to me and grinned. "Indeed, I do. Princess Fadila, this is my fiance, Millie Lucas."

I cocked my head and cast a side look at him. "We're going with that?"

His eyes twinkled with mischief. "Does it displease you?"

"It surprised me," I quipped.

Fadila clasped her hands in front of her and looked between us with that strained smile. "You must be tired. Allow me to serve you some refreshments in the sitting room." I could have said the same thing about her, what with the shadows under her eyes. She stepped aside and gestured to the doorway through which she'd entered. "Please follow me."