I gave him an airy smile that ignored my own deep concerns. “I promise I’ll do my best, Rowan. Thank you for sending Yara to wake me.”
He chuckled. “She’d have stopped baking me treats if I left her out of something as dramatic as this.”
I laughed. “You know she dotes on you and would never stop baking you your favorite buns.”
“Nonsense. You’d better be getting on now.” He held the door wider.
I nodded once and fled into the dark, silent streets. The call had come faster than I expected, but I couldn’t refuse it. All I could do was hope that I managed to escape the snares of a magic treasure cave for the second time in as many days.
PARTII
THE PRINCE AND THE THIEVES
CHAPTER10
Iarrived at the south gate out of breath. The streets had seemed to stretch on forever, far longer than when I walked this way with Ali and his donkeys.
“Zaria!” Adara’s voice sounded far more excited than the dangerous mission warranted.
I waved my hand in the direction of her mount, too busy catching my breath to reply. Navid had beaten me, since his house was closer to the city’s edge than Kasim’s, and I eyed him with concern.
I pulled him slightly away from the royals, lowering my voice. “Kasim?”
His face tightened. “He knew about the gold,” he murmured back, equally quietly. “Something about a trick with the scales.”
I winced. “I’m sorry about that. I had no idea.”
“He seemed convinced we’d stolen it, and it was hard to persuade him otherwise when we couldn’t produce any relatives.” He sighed. “After that he insisted on carrying Father off to discuss affairsbrother to brother.I’m fairly sure his intention is to force Father to split the gold with him in exchange for his silence, but then the messenger arrived, so I had to leave.”
We both looked toward Rek, who was watching us from atop his dark chestnut mare with narrowed eyes and a brooding expression.
“Apologies, Your Highness,” Navid said quickly, in a louder voice. “A family affair.”
“Just Rek is fine. Since we’re all about to risk our lives together.”
I was sure there was a pointed message in there, but he couldn’t entirely hide the underlying excitement. He was nearly as bad as Adara.
“I almost didn’t recognize you without that impressive white stallion,” I said.
A cloud shifted, sending a spear of moonlight down to light his grin. “We wanted less conspicuous mounts for this business.”
“I’m surprised we’re riding at all.” I frowned. “I don’t think we’ll be able to conceal the horses inside the cave. Are you thinking of waiting outside to catch the thieves when they arrive after all?”
He shook his head quickly. “We’ll tether them some distance from the entrance, but we want to move quickly now.”
I considered arguing that it would be a safer plan to wait outside the cave, but I knew Rek wanted to overhear significant conversation among the thieves, and that was unlikely to happen outside. And I suspected both he and Adara would refuse to come so far on such a venture only to leave tamely without entering the hidden treasure cave.
I saved my breath.
A plain faced man, who looked to be in his thirties, stepped forward and silently held out the reins of another dark-colored mare. I took the reins with a leap of excitement as Rek introduced the guard as Samuel and a second one behind him as Benjamin.
It had been years since I had ridden, but I had no hesitation or nerves as I let Samuel boost me into the saddle. I had missed riding through the trees on the back of a finely bred horse, and even the terrifying plan before us couldn’t prevent a spark of pleasure at doing so again.
Benjamin separated from the group, crossing the rest of the way to the gate and engaging in a quiet conversation with one of the guards there. Within moments, the gate had been swung open enough to let us all file through before it thudded shut again.
“My cousin,” Benjamin said in response to inquiring looks from both me and Navid. “He won’t cause us any trouble.”
Neither of us replied because Rek urged his horse forward, picking up speed, and the rest of us hurried to follow. I directed my mare to the front of the small pack, gesturing at the trees to our left.