Rek threw me up onto the shorter of the two available mounts, himself springing into the saddle of his white stallion. As we walked our horses out the smaller door, Rek swerved toward the captain.
Jerome looked up, a frown descending over his face.
“Where are you going, Your Highness?”
“To catch their captain—if I can. There’s no time to waste. You’ll have to oversee the questioning of these prisoners yourself. With any luck, you’ll have the name of the traitor by the time I get back, and we’ll have eliminated the threat and the gang in one day.”
Jerome looked less convinced about the inevitability of a positive outcome, but he was obviously able to read the steely determination on Rek’s face, so he didn’t protest.
Rek pointed his mount down the street and let him have his head, the rest of us following in single file. Just like with the wagon, the light traffic on the streets scattered before our hasty progress. While the trip to the palace had seemed to stretch on impossibly long, the return journey passed in the blink of an eye.
As we turned down my street, I dared to let myself hope for the best again. If they were all still seated at the meal, Esai might not even realize his men were gone yet. Rek, Samuel, Benjamin, and our household guards could easily arrest one man, no matter how skilled a fighter.
But as soon as I saw the gate swinging loose, I knew it wasn’t going to be so simple.
Someone inside must have heard our hoofbeats because a maid appeared, peering out with a terrified look, as if fearing some fresh attack. When she recognized me, she held the gate wide, however, and we rode straight through into a milling crowd of agitated people.
From my vantage point on horseback, I could see into the center of the mass of people. They were gathered around a person lying on the ground.
“Rowan!” I slid off the mare’s back, pushing my way through the crowd.
They gave way before me which only increased my fear of what I would find. When I burst through the inner ring, I found Yara sitting on the stones of the courtyard, Rowan’s head resting gently in her lap. His eyes were closed, and his face looked strained, but I could hear his rasping breaths.
I dropped to my knees beside him, noting the bandage around his side that was already stained red with leaking blood.
Mariam appeared, Ali trailing behind her, his face full of shock and bewilderment.
“I’ve reported what’s happened through the door to Nyla, so her hysterics aren’t our problem any longer, we must focus on—”
She broke off as she saw first me and then Rek pushing his way through the crowd to join me.
“Why…Your Highness!” They both bowed low.
“What has happened here?” Rek asked, not bothering with formalities.
“I’m not entirely sure, Your Highness,” Ali said. “It was all very strange.”
“It was one of our late brother’s business associates,” Mariam explained. “He wished to check on his wares during the meal, but instead he appears to have attacked our head groom and run off.”
Rowan’s eyes fluttered open at her words, and his gaze latched on to me.
“Sorry, Zaria. I tried to stop him, like you said. But my body isn’t as spry as it used to be.”
Tears sprang to my eyes. “You were supposed to get the guards to do that! Not throw yourself in front of him.”
“No time,” he answered. “He came out too soon after you left.”
I seized his hand and squeezed it, the tears spilling over. His injuries were my fault.
“Tried to stop him leaving?” Mariam stared at Rowan. “Whatever for?”
“Because he’s loyal and trustworthy,” I said fiercely. “And because I told him to. That man wasn’t Kasim’s business associate—he was the captain of the gang of thieves who’ve been harassing the roads of this kingdom for decades.”
Mariam gave a small scream, her eyes flying from me to Ali and back again. I had worded the revelation carefully, considering our audience, but she and Ali knew why the gang were interested in our household in particular.
“Every one of those jars had a thief inside,” Rek added. “If it wasn’t for Zaria’s quick thinking in delivering them to the palace, who knows how many of you might have been killed?”
The effect of this news on the surrounding crowd of servants was deafening. Several screamed, and all of them began talking to each other in panicked tones.