Chapter Five

Erfan's mouth flattened, but after a moment he gave a bare nod and relented. "We noticed we had people following us earlier, but I thought I attended the matter when I sent soldiers to disperse or, if necessary, arrest them. There were six in all that we took care of, but I must have missed something, for which you have my deepest apologies, Your Highness. I believe your pursuers learned you would be touring the city and decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Whether they intend to kidnap or kill you, I do not know, but whichever the case, they will not leave survivors to tell the tale. The sandstorm should have slowed them down, but instead, I think they're going to try and use it to their advantage."

By killing everyone and using the lull that would come after the storm ended to sneak away, with no one the wiser about what had happened for possibly hours. Aradishir was sickened by the thought. All this because he dared to save people from being enslaved, abused, and worse. He would never understand why people did such things.

"I really am deeply sorry for my failures, Your Highness. We will not let you or Her Highness or anyone else come to harm."

"No apologies are necessary. It sounds like you and your people have done everything you possibly can. Thank you. We'll remain here until you think it's safe for us to return to the palace. Hopefully the storm will keep them away after all, or they will not be able to reach us here in the basement."

Erfan nodded, and they rejoined the others. Someone had found some old blankets and arranged them on a couple of crates for Relanya to sit. Merza sat next to her, offering up sips of a pale gold wine, as Javed and Heydar told stories about people in the palace.

If she was anxious about the abrupt turn in events, she gave no outward sign of it, a quality his parents would deeply admire. No doubt it was part of what had persuaded his mother during the initial negotiations.

Aradishir joined them, smiling when Heydar slid an arm across his shoulders and drew him in closer. Aradishir tilted his head up, and Heydar returned the smile before leaning down for the silent request for a kiss. He'd been enchanted with Heydar from the beginning, the sad soldier who clearly wanted a different life, but had no way of getting it. Matters between Heydar and his father were still tense, but they were talking, which according to Heydar was more than they'd ever done before.

He looked back toward the group as he and Heydar parted, and flushed for no good reason to see Relanya watching them. "Your men love you deeply." She looked about to say something else, something that provoked a bittersweet smile, but before she could voice the words, there was a series of loud bangs, like someone pounding ferociously at a door, and then the sound of heavy wood cracking. Shortly after that came pounding feet, muffled shouting that quickly turned angry as the assailants realized their targets weren't where they should be.

"Get back," Erfan said grimly, and motioned sharply to some of the guards. Four of them pulled Relanya and Aradishir to the farthest corner of the room. Merza and Heydar were also armed now with long daggers, though the idea of them being in a fight churned his stomach, no matter how good they both were. His thief and his soldier. Javed stood with Relanya's handmaidens, ready to get them out the very moment there was a chance.

Hopefully this matter wouldn't come to—

His hopes were dashed as someone tried to open the basement door, muffled swearing spilling through the room when they realized they couldn't. The voice faded off, but just moments later multiple voices could be heard.

Aradishir's heart jumped into his throat as the hammering from before started up again, closer and louder, driving against the last door standing between them and their assailants. He looked at Relanya. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. This is my fault. They're after me because of what I've done to their contemptible slave trade. If I had known they would do something this desperate, I never would have brought you into danger."

"You should never apologize for doing the right thing," Relanya said with a soft smile. "No one is to blame for their actions but them. Nor will they find us easy opponents. I've been attacked before, and by an arctic bear. Fellow humans are nothing." She winked at him, but before he could reply, or even figure out what to say, the door began cracking.

"Damn it," Aradishir said softly, dread sinking into his bones at the thought of all the lives at stake, how much more difficult the fighting would be in such an enclosed space.

The door was hammered again, more cracks forming, splinters of wood falling to scatter across the floor. Aradishir turned to Relanya and her handmaidens—and somehow wasn't remotely surprised to see they too had knives out now. He huffed a small laugh. "You will have to tell me the story of this arctic bear when we are back in the palace."

"Of course, Your Highness," Relanya replied. "It would be my pleasure. I'd never made my parents so angry in my life as I did that afternoon. We—"

She broke off as the door shattered entirely, the straggling remnants of it kicked out of the way by heavy boots before figures in dark brown and green clothes stepped into the room one by one, each with sword drawn.

Their eyes swept the room, and one of them landed briefly on Aradishir before the guards surged forward and the fighting began.

Aradishir had expected only a few assailants, but instead more and more poured into the room, swiftly outnumbering the guards, but thankfully hampered by the lack of space. Cries of anger and pain filled the air, along with the smell of blood, and heady, potent wine as barrels were cracked and broken. It splashed across the floor, the fumes so strong they left him dizzy.

Erfan killed one man, but two more got him from behind, sending him to land in the mess of blood and wine.

"No!" Aradishir bellowed, and snarled in frustrated anguish as Heydar yanked him back and pushed him up against the wall where he was shielded by Heydar's body. "You can't let him die!"

"Our concern is you," Heydar snarled.

After that, Aradishir couldn't follow the fight, only grip Heydar's sides and rest his head between his shoulder blades, listening to the sounds all around him, trying not to breathe too deeply.

Eventually, the sounds slowed, then stopped, replaced by panting and the soldiers calling to each other. Aradishir shoved at Heydar until he moved. "Where is Erfan?"

"Here," said a weak, raspy voice. "Are you all right, Your Highness?" Erfan was pale, ashen, and even as he was helped to his feet, other guards were rushing up to tend his wounds. There was a nasty gash on his right side, and a cut on his forehead that thankfully didn't seem too severe, despite the copious bleeding.

Aradishir looked to Relanya, who had blood on her dagger and across her face. He must look pathetic, hiding behind his concubine and staying safe while Relanya and her handmaidens had fought. He rushed over to her, taking her hands in his and squeezing them, and he didn't give a damn about propriety. "You're well? I'm sorry you had to fight, while I—" He froze as she placed a finger to his lips, heart in his throat as it slowly slid away, leaving a tingling burn that he hoped would never fade.

"You did nothing wrong, Your Highness. Please don't be one of those who thinks more of those of us who can wield a knife, and less of those of you who cannot. That is the type of toxic attitude I am trying to leave behind in the snow and ice."

"As you say, princess," Aradishir said with a soft huff of laughter. "I'm not very good at not being useful."

"Sometimes trusting others is the most helpful thing we can do. Also, you keep a remarkably cool head in dire circumstances, Your Highness. That is a rarer skill than you might think."

Heydar snorted softly. "You should have seen him the night we met Merza, when assassins came far too close to succeeding in their mission. He didn't care about them at all. He just wanted to know that Merza was all right."

"Diamonds have no sense in their heads," Merza said cheerfully, before wrapping an arm around Aradishir's waist and kissing his cheek. "Can we get out of here?"

It was Erfan himself who replied, "Momentarily. The storm is slowly subsiding. For now, we can go upstairs to wait."

"Make certain the owner is compensated for all this mess," Aradishir said with a sigh, "and that the repairs are made in good time."

"Of course, Your Highness." Erfan led the way upstairs, stubbornly ignoring the guard that tried to help him, one hand pressed to his wounded side.

They sat at several of the tables in the main dining area, and Aradishir thanked the guards who brought them water and wine. He looked to Erfan. "You need stitches at the very least."

"I'll be all right until we can get to the palace, Your Highness. I'm sorry again for not stopping this sooner."

"You did your best, and none of us thought they'd be so determined to kill me they'd risk going about in a sandstorm, nevermind one of this severity. Did we lose anyone?"

"No, Your Highness, the most severe injury is mine. The rest are scrapes and bruises. We took care of roughly thirty assailants."

"How in the world did we all fit down there?"

"Poorly," Relanya said. "The poor owner, that mess will take ages to clean up, and all that costly wine. It's kind of you to have already thought of that and attended the matter. My siblings would not have." She sighed. "I hope we can do a more successful tour later. I really did want to see more of the city."

An ache spread through Aradishir's chest, sharp and twisting. "You will, I promise. When Bakhtiar returns, he will take you himself, and I don't think anyone wants him dead the way they do me."

"Of course," Relanya replied, but Aradishir swore she looked disappointed for a moment. About what? That the tour would have to wait that long? Maybe he could speak with Mother and see something arranged.

Certainly, he couldn't continue to attend her in Bakhtiar's stead if simply being in his presence was going to put her in this much danger. She was the future queen. Her safety was of the highest importance.

She would have been safe, or at least significantly safter, if she'd visited the city with literally anyone else.

A guard stepped inside and bowed, "Your Highnesses, Lieutenant, the storm has abated sufficiently, and guards have been dispersed to ensure our path home remains cleared."

"Thank you," Aradishir said, and motioned for Relanya and the others to be escorted first, then his harem, before he finally followed them. He was tempted to insist they travel separately, so that only his carriage would be at risk, but that would take time and more guards, and right now speed was their greatest advantage.

So he settled in his seat, directly across from Relanya, and stared out at the city as they went, heart heavy with regret and recrimination.