I wrinkled my nose. “Your mother liked me.”
He gave a tight smile. “You know what my father is like. He’s too focused on ruling the kingdom to like even his own children.”
“That’s not true,” I said swiftly. “He has always been proud of you. It’s obvious to anyone who sees the two of you together.”
Rek sighed. “Proud, perhaps, but that is not quite…” He shook his head. “That’s beside the point. I don’t think it likely that Father commanded such an outrageous thing against the child of one of his viziers. I know he valued your father and considered him one of the most promising of the junior viziers. But I won’t act rashly. I’ll investigate before I take any action.”
I nodded, relieved. As much as I didn’t want Azzam coming after me, even less did I want to attract the ire of the sultan.
“Thank you,” I said. “And it might be for the best to keep him close, just in case he is the traitor, after all. As you said, you need proof, and that will be easier to get if you haven’t evicted him in disgrace.”
“Very wise.” He smiled down at me. “As your recommendations always were.”
Adara, who had taken our exchange as an opportunity for her own private conversation with Navid, approached in time to hear Rek’s final words. She let out an unladylike snort. “Oh really? You didn’t think so highly of her suggestion that time the twins convinced us to break into the royal treasury, and the guards caught us, and Zaria said you should—”
“Adara!” I cried. “I was seven years old!”
“I think I need to hear the full version of that story.” Navid trailed behind Adara, his eyes only for her.
Rek looked at him with misgiving. “I think we need to be returning to the palace.” Adara opened her mouth to protest, and he fixed her with a stern look. “Now.”
Adara sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”
“Are you really allowed to wander wherever you like now that you’re of age?” I asked her in wonder. “It seems hard to believe after how cloistered you all were as children. It was hard enough just to get permission for us to go riding in a large group with a whole squad of guards in tow.”
“Isn’t it delightful?” Adara cried. “All I have to do now is take my maid and two guards—and let the guard captain know where I’m going.”
“Funny, I don’t see a maid and two guards now,” Rek said with false surprise.
She laughed. “My maid is waiting outside, thank you very much. Obviously I couldn’t tell the captain where I was going because I didn’t know myself. And I didn’t need guards because I kept in sight of you the whole time.”
“Although I didn’t even know you were there,” Rek said. “But I suppose your unwavering faith in my ability to protect you despite this impediment is meant as a compliment.”
“Naturally.” She gave him a broad smile.
He sighed and gestured for her to precede him to the gate. Instead of doing so, she turned to offer her hand in farewell to Navid, her golden cheeks turning faintly rosy as he bowed gallantly over it.
Rek stepped forward, as if he meant to break up the scene, but I caught at his arm, speaking in a low voice.
“I need to speak to you for a moment.”
Rek looked reluctantly toward his sister, and my grip tightened. “It’s important.”
His gaze snapped back to me, his brows lowering. Stepping swiftly to one side, near the wall, he towed me with him.
Navid’s attention appeared to be fully on Adara as he murmured something that made her giggle, but I caught the brief moment his eyes flickered to us. There was concern beneath his smiling expression, but he didn’t relinquish the opportunity my actions had provided.
“I did see something,” I said in a whisper. “In the forest, just after we met.”
Rek’s attention was focused now, the intensity of it nearly making me lose my train of thought.
“The man we were chasing was a decoy,” he said, stating it as fact. “I was almost certain of it after he escaped us. We were supposed to be chasing a legendary gang of forty thieves, but forty people couldn’t move that fast or that nimbly.”
I nodded. “The rest of them were moving in the opposite direction, toward me. I hid in a bush and heard them talking. He was definitely a decoy.”
“Did they say something that might lead us to their whereabouts?” Rek was now the one gripping me, and I tried not to be distracted by his hand on my arm. “Or did you get a good look at them? Did any of them have any distinguishing features?”
I took a deep breath, afraid of what my next words might unleash. “Actually, it was bigger than any of that. It was completely…fantastical.”