Chapter Twelve

"Master Masood," Heydar said. "What are you doing here?"

"She's been taken!" Masood said. "I was over at her house this evening, and some men burst inside, killed some of the servants, nearly killed me, and took her. You have to help!"

"This is Kubra's beloved," Merza said, though Aradishir had already surmised that. There was only one 'she' he knew that people would want to kidnap. Hopefully they hadn't killed her yet.

Thank the divine the royal guards had sense enough to bring the man here, instead of detaining him and delaying rescue. "Guards, with me, call for additional. Heydar, collect information from the city guards. Merza, help me dress. Javed, summon healers to attend Master Masood and then go have horses readied."

"You're not going yourself," Heydar said.

"I am. Don't waste time arguing."

Heydar and Javed sighed, but immediately set to work without further protest.

"You should stay here," Merza said. "I know it's a futile effort, but I'm making it anyway. Your parents are going to kill you."

"What else is new? I want it driven home that I take this seriously, up to and including risking my own life, and that if they continue to trifle with me, it will be their lives that are forfeit."

His personal guards and several additional entered, including Captain Queria of the royal guards. "Your Highness, I was summoned on an urgent matter?"

"Yes, thank you for coming so quickly. Let's walk." As they headed through the palace and out to the main courtyard, Aradishir explained everything. "I am going to Lady Kubra's home to oversee matters myself. Do as you see fit, but I want her found." He swung into the saddle of his horse and pulled up his wrap to cover his head and part of his face.

"Yes, Your Highness." Queria ordered various guards to accompany him, then spun away with several others falling in behind him, vanishing back into the palace.

Heydar sighed. "He's going to get my father."

"Even I will not deny that your father is good at his job, and as he is the connecting point between the palace and city guards, that's a good call. Let's move."

The city was quiet as they rode through it as quickly as they safely dared. At this hour, the night market would still be thriving, but almost everywhere else people were asleep or doing things quietly. In the northeast corner of the city was the Peregrine district, an upper-class neighborhood mostly populated by those who were wealthy but not noble, or nobles not quite as rich as their peers.

At Kubra's house, guards were scattered about everywhere: talking to people, making notes, standing watch. Everyone stopped, though, as they realized who had arrived. "Don't, that's not necessary," Aradishir said when they started to kneel. "You, lieutenant, tell me what, if any, new information we have. Tell me exactly what happened."

The lieutenant bowed. "Your Highness, we were summoned by a Master Masood at just past midnight. He told us that Lady Kubra had been kidnapped by hooded figures who first killed the servants and two personal guards also in the room. They tried to kill him as well, but he was thrown over the west balcony in the scuffle, granting a chance to escape and call for help. He ran off shortly after that, I assume now to summon you. We have secured the bodies of the dead. They were all stabbed, two in the throat, one in the gut, another right in the heart. Each was stabbed only once, speaking to expertise, likely thugs hired from the docks. We've already sent people to start investigating. Captain Desmaradi is on his way; he was across town overseeing a triple murder investigation, but kidnappings of course take precedence."

Especially when a royal prince showed up with no warning, undoubtedly. "Thank you. Show me to where she was kidnapped."

Though she didn't look happy about that request, the lieutenant nodded, tucked away her notebook, and escorted him personally.

Inside was the usual courtyard, a fountain in the very center that would help to keep the whole building cool during the hottest parts of the day. Spatters of blood on the tiles indicated where either Masood had stood briefly when talking to guards or, more likely, where the killers had passed on their way back out of the home.

When he figured out who exactly had been behind all this, necks would be breaking at the end of a rope.

Upstairs, the lieutenant led him into what proved to be a bed chamber. So Masood had been 'visiting' likely, something everyone was being kind enough not to mention, as that would be a serious scandal, even though literally everyone flouted societal rules all the time. He could name more people who were having illicit affairs than weren't. Even his own parents had only married to avoid one such scandal, for crying out loud.

From the look of things, they'd been enjoying wine at the table close to the balcony. The intruders had come in through the door, no doubt that was how Masood had been driven back enough he'd gone over the balcony. It was a miracle he wasn't more severely injured—or dead, for that matter. "Do we know how many attacked?"

"Four," the lieutenant replied. "That's how they were able to kill the guards and servants so quickly—and carry her away. They could be anywhere in the city, though there are a few bolt holes commonly used for this sort of thing that we'll check first."

What a depressing statement.

Before Aradishir could ask further questions, voices came from the hallway, and in the next moment Captain Desmaradi, Captain Queria, and Commander Yahra strode into the room. "Your Highness!" Yahra said. "You should not be here. It isn't safe."

"I'd like to see the person brazen enough to try and kill me while I'm surrounded by tens of guards, and all three of their leaders," Aradishir said. "I'm here, I'm not leaving, stop wasting time reprimanding me. I promise you my mother will do it enough for ten later. I want Lady Kubra found, and you can go round up all the merchants I've been dealing with lately as well and haul them to the palace. Search their homes for evidence of this and the attempt on my life and that of Princess Relanya a few weeks ago. The more terrified they are, the better."

"Understood," Captain Desmaradi said, bowing and then spinning neatly around, striding from the room calling people to him.

On the other side of the room, Kubra's desk had been utterly wrecked, papers scattered, ripped, crushed, drawer pulled out and dumped. Part of the job or just looking for quick valuables to pawn? "Javed, would you gather up all these papers, anything else you feel might be pertinent? I want Kubra to be able to look it all over and see if anything is missing, or if there is some sense to what was destroyed."

"Of course."

The guards scattered around the room looked hastily away as Aradishir swept his gaze. In their defense, the royal concubines were always a topic of conversation, and they probably had not expected to see one in their life, let alone his entire harem in the dead of the night in the aftermath of a brutal kidnapping.

"How is Master Masood?" Aradishir asked.

"I was told he was doing well as I was leaving," Queria replied. "I also sent someone to inform His Majesty of this."

Damn it. The decision was sound, but he'd really been hoping to save informing him until morning and delay the inevitable lecture that much longer. "Do we have any idea who actually did the deed yet?"

"Not yet, Your Highness," Yahra said. "We have our suspicions, as there aren't actually that many people in the city capable of this kind of work, not with this level of skill. They knew how to get inside, bypass the guards downstairs, quickly execute several people, and take Kubra away without alerting any of the surrounding houses.

"Chalk," Javed said from where he was still at the desk. "Some of these papers have traces of chalk dust on them, like it was on someone's hands or clothes."

Queria and Yahra's gazes sharpened at that, and they shared a look. Chalk wasn't native to Tavamara, except for very small deposits at the north end of the Great Desert. But even further north, their triad of neighbors had plenty, especially Lavarre, who exported it to them in exchange for glass-quality sand. That trade, along with so many other arrangements, had been suspended for a few years when hostilities arose, but had in the past year resumed. Various industries were still recovering from the shortfall, in fact, but trade matters were Bakhti's purview, with guidance from their father. "What would chalk have to do with this?"

"Someone involved in this worked with chalk, likely responsible for moving it into or out of the warehouse. That will make it much easier to find who we're looking for," Queria replied. "I'll go find Desmaradi and get guards pointed in the right direction."

He swept from the room, leaving only Yahra, as even the other guards who'd been investigating the room had departed. "Highness, you really should not be out here. No one will attack you here in Lady Kubra's home, but anyone could assault you between here and the palace."

"They would have to get past my guards, who are better trained than the unfortunate souls who died tonight protecting Lady Kubra. Also, your son is with me, and he's the best protector I have by far. That being said, there is nothing further I can do here, if there was ever anything at all. We'll be taking the papers Javed gathered. Please bring Lady Kubra to the palace the moment you find her."

"Of course."

"Thank you." Aradishir left, his harem around him and guards flanking them, to where his horses waited in the courtyard. Out on the street, more than a few people—staff, likely, sent out by the lords and ladies of the various houses—were milling about like it was normal to stand around in the middle of the night.

Heydar held his horse, and then rested a hand on his leg once he was up, squeezing lightly in comfort and reassurance. Unfortunately, there was no guarantee whatsoever that they would find Kubra alive. He had a million questions, but everything would have to wait until they were home again. "Let's go." Heeling his horse into motion, he followed the guards back to the palace.

They'd barely reached the courtyard when Witcher himself stepped from the shadows. His father must be truly incensed to send his secret favorite to watch for him. "Your Highness."

Aradishir sighed. "Where are they?"

"The hummingbird room, Your Highness. I'm to escort you personally," Witcher said, mouth twitching with the barest hint of a smile. "For what it's worth, they aren't mad at you, only worried, and extremely angry at the situation. They want to speak with you to fully understand and sort out what steps to take next. I think you can agree this problem has spiraled beyond your scope."

"I could have handled it," Aradishir said with a sigh, but didn't argue further. Because yes, kidnapping people to force him to cooperate, or whatever they were doing, was out of control. The merchants, and whoever they were tied up with in all of this, were panicking. Acting desperately. If they were not stopped, more lives were going to be lost.

In the hummingbird room, a small parlor with an obvious theme, his parents waited. His mother had two concubines with her, Harata and Onri, and his father had Witcher and Nandakumar, who had more political acumen than the whole rest of the court combined. "Father, Mother. I did not mean for anyone to wake you. I was going to tell you everything in the morning." His parents, more than anyone, rarely got a full night of sleep, and he hated to be yet another person taking that from them.

"I'd rather be informed straight away. If they are willing to kidnap a powerful merchant, and kill to do it, they're willing to go to even greater extremes," Shah replied. "Tell us everything, every last detail of this war you have been waging. I keep apprised, but not as well as I should have, clearly."

Servants arrived then with food and strong tea, and after Heydar had poured for him, Aradishir told them everything, from the very day he had taken up the fight at his mother's command. It was a fight of a few years now, and even more acrimonious than when it had started. "I don't know why I didn't think they would do this, when they have already tried to assassinate me on two different occasions."

"Four, actually," Shah said quietly. "We simply prevented two of them before they got close enough for you to be aware of the problem."

Aradishir drew a sharp breath. "What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You have enough to worry about, and they were dealt with, so there was no reason to further burden you. Why did you insist on going to Lady Kubra's house?"

"Because I don't fully trust all the guards, even if Commander Yahra has been working hard to weed out traitors. I was worried that something important might be destroyed. As there were already plenty of guards when I arrived, it's still possible, but we did salvage what we could of the papers. Seemed strange to me that, in the midst of a kidnapping, under heavy risk of being caught, they made a point of stopping to destroy everything on that desk. I'll start going through it all after I've gotten some rest, as right now it would probably all just look like gibberish."

"At least we have a lead with the chalk, thanks to you, Lord Javed," Fahima said. "Thank you."

"I'm always happy to help however I can, Your Majesty."

"You don't have to suck up to my mother, she already likes you," Aradishir said.

"Shir," Fahima said in light reproval.

"I'm just saying, if you wanted to kill me, nothing would dissuade you."

She rolled her eyes. "There will be no killing. Mostly because I am asking nicely that you do not leave the palace again until this matter is resolved once and for all. Please do not force me to make it an order."

"I won't— I mean, I'll stay, I won't make you order me." Aradishir yawned. "So what are we going to do?"

"Get some rest. There isn't much we can do until everyone else is awake, though once Commander Yahra returns, we'll start making whatever plans we can. Mostly, we must unfortunately wait until Lady Kubra is found. Go get some rest, Shir. I'll send someone to wake you if something changes before you wake on your own," Shah said. "Thank you for doing so much. I am sorry this problem has gotten so much uglier than we ever anticipated. I knew they would be angry; I did not know they would resort to all of this."

Aradishir nodded, losing the battle to another yawn as he stood. Hopefully his parents would get a few more hours of sleep as well. "You'd better. I'm sorry we had to wake you."

"It's nothing to apologize for, my dear," Shah replied. "Get to bed."

Bowing to them, Aradishir then left, concubines and guards around him like always. In his room, they all bathed thoroughly before simply relaxing in the hot water, letting the last of the tension fade away before finally drying off and going to bed.