“Stand aside!” A commanding voice made the guards nearest the door part, allowing an older man to stride through. Obviously someone had run for Captain Jerome.
“Captain! I’m glad you’re here.” I turned to him, but several guards instantly leaped in front of me, blocking my passage to their captain.
“He saidstand aside,” a younger voice said from behind the captain.
The authoritative tones made the guards jump to obey, melting out of my way as quickly as they’d appeared. It took everything in me not to run to Rek and throw myself into his arms.
I settled for a swift walk.
“Thank goodness.” I hoped no one could see my legs shaking as the tension of the last hour began to dissipate. “I asked for you, but I wasn’t sure anyone would actually deliver the message.”
“They probably wouldn’t,” he acknowledged. “But I happened to be with the captain when they sent for him.”
“I instructed His Highness to stay safely behind,” Jerome said, “but since you seem to know him, I’m sure you know he’s not one to listen to my instructions.”
I managed a shaky chuckle, and he gave me an assessing look.
“Now that I’m here,” he added, “I can’t say I’m too concerned about his presence. For once, my guards seem to have overreacted to the situation.”
“I was behaving strangely,” I said in an apologetic voice. “And I’m glad they brought so many because there are thirty-eight violent criminals hiding in those oil jars.”
“What?” Jerome’s voice rang out like a whip lash, his head spinning to stare at the jars.
Rek’s eyes grew wide. “The gang?” he asked in a strangled voice. “In those jars? How is that possible?”
“It’s a long story.” Exhaustion was hitting on the heels of the shaking. “I tried to get a message to you first thing this morning, but the guards on the gate wouldn’t let me through. I asked them to pass a message via Samuel or Benjamin, but I’m assuming they didn’t.”
“Samuel and Benjamin?” Jerome broke his hard stare at the jars to send me a rapid glance. “It sounds like something has been going on here that I should have been informed of.” He gave Rek a single loaded look before turning to bark a stream of orders at his men.
I grimaced apologetically at Rek. “Sorry. I think I just got you into trouble.”
He laughed, still looking incredulous. “I’m the crown prince, remember? The captain can’t yell at me like I’m one of his men.” He slipped an arm around my back. “But I’m worried about you. You look like you’re about to fall over.”
I had been feeling that way, but the sensation of his arm around me sent energy surging back through my limbs.
“I’ll be all right,” I said, but he was already drawing me away, pulling me back toward the door.
I tried to protest but caught a signal from Jerome. He was clearly instructing Rek to get me back behind the gate, so I gave up trying to hold my ground. Besides, the captain was likely relieved that I was distracting Rek and keeping him from diving into the thick of any fighting that might be about to occur.
As soon as we were safely inside the palace grounds, peering out through the whorls and twists of the gate, Jerome barked a loud order. The guards took a synchronized step toward the wagon, but several of the jars ripped open before they could get any further, the thieves inside leaping out. Some of them had weighed their options and decided to make a stand.
A shout went up from the guards, and they rushed forward in a more ragged line to meet their foe. The commotion brought the rest of the thieves bursting out as well. Some launched themselves at the closest guards, while others tried to make a run for it, aiming for weaker points of the circle.
None made it out, however. The thieves were at too much of a disadvantage, disoriented from the jars, blinking in the light of the sunset and the blazing palace lanterns, and surrounded by prepared guards. The ring of spears kept them from making much use of their knives, and soon they had all been disarmed and arrested.
Only two guards had been hurt, both by thrown knives, and no one had been killed. I closed my eyes and blew out a long breath. It was the best possible outcome.
“Is that the entire gang?” Rek asked, clearly torn between wanting to go out to join his captain and not wanting to leave me.
I straightened, horrified with myself. “No! It’s not! I should have said something immediately. Their captain—Esai—posed as a merchant and used the jars to sneak them past our gates. I knew I had to get them away as fast as possible, so I had to leave him there. Last I saw, he was eating with Ali and Mariam, but anything could have happened by now! We have to get back there.”
“You stole his gang from under his nose?” Rek sounded awed.
“I just climbed onto the wagon and drove away,” I said. “It wasn’t much.”
“Just climbed on and drove away—with thirty-eight thieves in jars.” Rek shook his head, a laugh in his voice. But when he turned to shout an order, his face was serious.
Half the palace must have been alerted to the commotion at the gates by now, so plenty of grooms were on hand to respond to his command. Within minutes, four saddled horses were pawing at the ground at our sides, two of them already carrying Samuel and Benjamin.