Within moments, I was alone again, still stationary among the trees, my breathing heavy despite my continued immobility.
It took several long moments for my brain to sputter back into motion, catching up with the meaning of what I had just seen.
If the guard captain was right, he had just spotted their quarry within sight of where I now stood. And surely a group of guards that size—led by the prince no less—wouldn’t be pursuing an ordinary criminal.
I turned and ran, the branches I had been clutching falling from my arms. Weaving between trunks and bushes, I sprinted toward Ali. When I promised Navid I would return his father to him, I hadn’t seriously thought we would come so close to danger.
I catapulted into the clearing where I had left Ali and the donkeys. The animals brayed, and Ali regarded me with mild concern while I panted, trying to catch my breath enough to speak.
“Is something wrong?” He peered at the quiet trees behind me.
I nodded. “Guards. In the woods.” I struggled to slow my breathing. “Chasing that gang, I think. They’re near.”
Ali frowned. “Were they heading in this direction?”
I shook my head. “They went the opposite way, but even so…” I frowned, trying to put my discomfort into words. I had never felt so alone beneath the trees.
I glanced over my shoulder. The forest had gone quiet, with not even the most distant sound of riders. The guards must be long out of reach by now, the thieves ahead of them. I told myself to relax, but my body didn’t respond.
Ali peered into the leaves, seeming unsure of the best course of action. I took several more steadying breaths and shook my head. I was behaving like a fool. We were in no danger here. The forest was quiet.
I paused, finally identifying the cause of my lingering discomfort. It wasn’t just quiet—it was too quiet. I might not be able to hear riders, but neither could I hear anything else. The ordinary sounds of the forest hadn’t resumed.
I looked toward the donkeys. The oldest of them—usually the leader—brayed quietly. Her expression was unusually alert as she swung her head from side to side, facing toward the trees.
“Quiet!” I whispered, holding up a warning hand to Ali.
His frown deepened, but he obeyed, honoring me with his instant faith in my judgment. I could only imagine how Nyla would have reacted in the same situation.
An old familiar thought flashed through my mind. If only Ali’s wife Mariam had been the one with the inheritance instead of Nyla. Ali and Mariam would make far better employers.
I pushed the pointless dream aside. All my attention was needed on the current situation.
At first my straining ears could hear nothing. I was almost at the point of relaxing when a faint noise reached me.
I sucked in a breath. “Did you hear that?” I whispered.
“Riders,” Ali breathed. “That was a harness, for sure.”
A moment later the sound of hushed voices reached us.
“The guards?” Ali asked hopefully, but I shook my head.
“The squad was heading directly away from us. And they weren’t creeping through the forest, either.”
Our eyes met and held, horror growing in both our gazes. I didn’t need to voice my fear about who this second group of riders might be.
“We must hide ourselves!” Ali said quietly. “They can have no interest in my firewood, but what if they choose to kill anyone they meet rather than let us live to report their presence?”
I nodded fervent agreement, but Ali didn’t move. His eyes flew around the unusually round clearing, jumping from tree to bush.
“We could climb a tree,” he blurted out. “No, wait, the donkeys can’t climb.” He wrung his hands, his eyes making the circuit again.
I waited a moment, but he produced nothing further beyond a concerned groan, so I took charge.
“You climb that one.” I pointed at a nearby tree with regular branches and a dense enough canopy to keep a person hidden. “I’ll take the donkeys into the bush over there by the rocks. Hopefully the space in the middle is big enough for us all.”
Ali hesitated only a moment before nodding agreement and scrambling onto the first branch of the indicated tree.