“They tried to use the king’s son to gain power over the king,” Myrrh said. “But they botched it, and killed him and his mother instead.”
“That was part of the conspiracy?” I asked, appalled.
“Now they are trying again, more carefully,” Myrrh said. “You must not let them prevail, my liege.”
“So you see, sire, sometimes she is right, sometimes she is wrong,” Sa’ood said. “She’s probably guessing.”
“I am not wrong,” Myrrh said firmly. “It’s just that when it’s the far future, the details can be cloudy. I will still marry the king’s magician son, when we come of age. He must be rescued now.”
“It is my son we are rescuing,” Jewel said. “He is not the king’s son.”
“Not yet,” the girl replied succinctly.
Jewel and I exchanged a glance. If we rescued the boy, and Jewel married me, and I became king again, I would of course adopt the boy. He would become the king’s son.
“My son,” Jewel said, a new realization dawning. “I thought they meant to sacrifice him while he remained an innocent child, before his manhood came upon him.”
“That, too,” Myrrh said. “But mainly they do not want him to achieve his magician power, to rival theirs.”
Shaken, I turned to Sa’ood. “I think your daughter’s power is valid. We need her help.”
“We do,” Jewel agreed.
“But she’s a child!” the merchant protested. “She doesn’t know about the ugliness of adult politics.”
“Father, without the king’s intercession, I would today be a young temple whore, and mother an old one. Now without my intercession, the king’s second son and my future husband will die tonight.”
“So much for childish innocence,” Jewel murmured.
I faced Myrrh. “I have two djinn I can summon, but neither is at present strong enough to help significantly, and the act of summoning them will betray our presence to the enemy. So I must not use magic until the last possible moment. What do you recommend?”
“I must go with you, my liege, to clarify my vision of immediate events. I can take you there via a secret route that few know of, so that they do not see you coming.”
“But I must bring them the cheese and chocolate,” I said. “They are expecting the merchant’s eunuch to deliver them.”
“They know your ruse,” the girl said. “The real ruse is theirs, to bring you to them, since their other traps have failed.”
“But if I don’t bring the cheese and chocolate, I won’t get a chance to rescue the boy.”
Myrrh glanced impatiently at Jewel, as if to say “This idiot is my future father in law?” Then she faced me. “Let someone else deliver the goods, while you strike unexpectedly to free the boy.”
It occurred to me that this savvy girl would make a good daughter-in-law. “Who else would risk dealing with these dangerous men?”
“I will do it,” Sa’ood said. “It is my delivery to arrange.”
“But you have a business to run,” I said.
“Only because you saved my goods and my family from loss, my liege. This is simple enough to do.”
I glanced at Myrrh, but she did not protest. The man still felt he owed me.
Neither did Jewel. “I am coming with you too,” she said firmly. “My son knows me better than he knows you.”
What could I say? That I preferred to travel alone with an obliging girl child? I dismounted, returning the horse to Sa’ood.
Thus it fell into place. With strategy and sufficient fortune we would surprise Zeyn’s party and achieve our mission.
Sa’ood took the merchandise and mounted the horse. He set off down the street, making no secret of his presence. Meanwhile we rented horses of our own.
Myrrh led Jewel and me on a devious route through alleys and back streets, and then along a deserted trail into an abandoned wilderness region. I wore a scimitar the merchant had rummaged from his stores, relieved to be armed again. There was no telling what might lurk in a wasteland like this.
“That is a brave thing your father is doing, serving as decoy,” Jewel said to Myrrh.
“He is a brave man,” the girl agreed. “Fortunately he is not in danger. They will accept his explanation that his eunuch ran away in fear. They know the king will make an appearance before the boy is sacrificed.”
“They will have the boy hidden and under guard,” I said. “Can you locate him?”
“Yes.”
“Here is my plan,” I said. “I must reach the boy, persuade him that I represent his mother—”
“No problem there,” Jewel said. “I will be with you when you find him.”
“Then have us all be conjured into the lamp, so that Lamprey can conjure us to safety. The magic will alert them to our presence, but it will be too late to stop the rescue. Do you think that will work?” Because now I valued her precognition.
“Yes.”
There had to be a catch. “Are there any complications we need to be aware of?”
“Just one,” Myrrh said. “He is in a locked chamber, in the temple carved from stone, deep in the mountain, under armed guard. I know where he is, but I don’t know how to get safely into it. There is no back access to the temple itself.”
“I will figure out a way,” I said with false confidence.
Jewel gave me a glance that said “You had better.”
“This way,” Myrrh said. “Quickly.”
“But we have a clear trail ahead,” I protested.
“Don’t argue with her,” Jewel said. “She knows what she’s doing.”
So we deviated from the easy path and made our way up a tortuous detour that ended in a blank face on the slope of the mountain. “This is impassible,” I said, disgusted. Our mounts were clearly exhausted.
Jewel nudged me. I followed her look.
Down the ragged slope was the trail we had been following. A small creature was walking along it, going in the opposite direction to ours.
“That’s just a stray dog,” I said.
“Watch it closely,” Myrrh said.
Then I saw the patch of white foam on its muzzle. “Who happens to be rabid,” I concluded.
“No safe way to fight or stop that,” Jewel said. “We simply had to be where it isn’t.”
Now I understood. It was a persuasive demonstration of Myrrh’s ability. She had seen the cur coming, as it were, and taken evasive action.
We gave the dog time to clear, then made our way cautiously back down the path to the main trail. Our horses uneasily sniffed the trail; they knew what had passed there. Fortunately the animal had never been aware of us, so had not followed us up the slope. Probably its sense of smell was damaged by its malady, so it had missed us. Someone else would suffer that encounter.
We resumed our travel. I glanced nervously back, but Myrrh assured me that the animal was not coming back.
“That cur reminds me of my ex-husband,” Jewel murmured.
I had to laugh, knowing she meant in nature rather than appearance. Still, it was another suggestion of the kind of enemy we faced: madness might be easier to deal with. And what about this prophecy of a great magician emerging? I could handle a man with a scimitar, but magic was different. The thing about prophecies was that they always came true, though not necessarily in quite the way expected.
Then suddenly the barren landscape gave way to an awesome cliff overlooking the hidden valley. There across the way was the dread Temple of the Moon.
How could we ever get into that, unobserved? There was only the guarded front entrance, and maybe a servant’s access to the side. A narrow trail led down the face of the cliff to the valley floor, so we could get there, but then what?
Chapter Twenty-three
We considered our options, and it was Jewel who had the most convincing argument. “The sun is setting and they’re going to sacrifice my boy tonight. There’s not a thing we can do up here.”
And she set off, on her own, down the
winding trail. She was a mother who would not be denied. I knew then that part of my challenge was not so much to save her son but to keep Jewel alive as well. She was clearly reckless and desperate, and I didn’t fault her for that at all.
I looked at Myrrh and the girl gave me a half smile. I did not need second sight to know that what was about to happen in our immediate future would be a delicate balance of luck and fate. Like with Faddy and Lamprey, one can come to rely too much on such talents. Sometimes, as Jewel had recklessly shown, it is time to act.
Myrrh and I angled our own mounts down the treacherously narrow trail. I have never had a fear of heights; indeed, flying high above the land on nothing more than a rug had been exhilarating. But my mount’s maddening tendency to walk on the far edge of the rocky path was having a strange effect on my testicles. With each loose pebble that spilled over the ledge, falling hundreds of feet straight down, and with each dubious step that seemed closer and closer to the edge, my testicles seemed to rise into my stomach to hide like frightened mice.
It would not be very heroic to shut my eyes and so I forced myself to stare at Jewel, who was still twenty or thirty lengths ahead of us. She had yet to look back, assuming we would follow. Little did she know that I would follow her to the ends of the earth.
To distract myself, I looked back at Myrrh. If the young girl had a fear of heights, she didn’t show it; indeed, if anything, she seemed lost in thought. No doubt lost in her own second sight. I was tempted to ask what she saw as our chances for survival, but declined. Some things were best unknown, and I knew the power of suggestion.
Instead, I said, “Your father mentioned that, in the past, your second sight was not very reliable. And yet, as far as I can tell, you have proven to be spot on. What has changed?”
She nudged her dust-covered horse a little closer to me. My horse moved to one side to make room, unfortunately, even closer to the far edge. I inadvertently gasped as the frightened mice sought refuge even higher up into my stomach.
Myrrh grinned. “Do not worry, my liege. You will not fall.”
The girl’s perceptive abilities were off the charts. I wondered if, also, she was telepathic or a mind reader. Often one with such abilities had many other abilities, too. Some of which they rarely admitted to.
The girl suddenly gave me a wry smile, and I suspected I was close in my assumption. She shrugged as if I had asked her a question, and I knew she was being coy.
You can hear my thoughts, young lady, can’t you? I thought.
Perhaps, came a small voice in the back of my mind that could have been my own, but I suspected otherwise.
You are a girl of many talents, I thought.
But this is not a talent I readily admit to, came a long string of words, and I knew now that the girl was speaking directly into my mind.
I can see why, I said. It is is better to have those around you not guard their thoughts.
A voice giggled in my head, and then said, As if they could. But, yes, mind reading has helped keep us alive, and has helped us sell a lot of cheese.
I laughed at this. Yes, indeed, knowing your customer’s set price beforehand would be invaluable.
Your secret is safe with me, I thought.
Good. This can be an invaluable service to you, as well, my lord.
Of that I had no doubt. I thought: But you have not answered my question.
It is true, came the sweetly innocent words. My talents and abilities have been spotty in the past, but they seem to be becoming more reliable. But it is like anything. On some days your swordplay might be razor sharp. On other days, you might be listless and dull. It also depends on the circumstances. In this particular case, saving Jewel’s son is of great importance to me, and so the second sight comes to me clearly and powerfully, although much remains to be seen, in more ways than one.
I thought about that, and I knew she could probably read my thoughts, but I also suspected that such mind reading was of great effort to her.
Right again, my liege. I have my own thoughts to think. There isn’t time enough in the day to constantly be aware of more than my own. And besides, I feel a particular affinity for you. You saved my family, and now you will save my future husband.
Aw, I thought, so we will be successful.
There are three likely outcomes that I can foresee, she thought. All have equal probability. Success will ultimately be determined, I believe, on your love for Jewel, your cunning, and your resourcefulness.
And perhaps you? I suggested.
Oh, I couldn’t hurt, she giggled.
We broke off our mental dialogue, and shortly, as the sun was now nearly hidden behind the western foothills, we mercifully reached the bottom. My frightened mice dropped back into their proper place.
Jewel was waiting impatiently for us in the shadows of an overhang. With her jaw set and her lips a thin line, she looked as fierce and determined as ever. I knew it was taking all of her control to wait and not to charge forward.
She was a desperate mother, but she was not foolish. From around the overhang, I saw that the narrow path opened into a wide valley floor that led directly to the Temple of the Moon. Guards were there. Many of them, in fact. Their armor and weapons gleamed in the last of the sunlight.
And high above, as if on cue, the full moon seemed to suddenly appear in the southern sky. What now?
“There’s only one way in for official visitors,” said Jewel. “And it’s heavily guarded.”
I glanced at Myrrh and I suspected she had read my thoughts, or, in the very least, surmised what I was about to ask. “I do not believe there is another entrance we can use.”
Good enough for me, but how would we get in?
Now I was certain she was reading my thoughts. Three words appeared in my mind: Wait for it.
I waited, and Jewel did so impatiently. I set a hand on her forearm and she flinched. “We will save him,” I said. “But we need patience.”
“For what?” she snapped.
And then we saw it or, rather, heard it. Coming from the valley floor to our right, heading toward the Temple of the Moon, was a group of riders on horseback. I didn’t need second sight to know who they were. Officials of some sort, here to participate in the ceremony. My anger bubbled over. They were here, of course, to witness the sacrifice of the boy. Who were these people, I did not know, obviously friends of Jewel’s ex-husband, those who hoped to share in his dark power and his supposed rise to the throne.
The party was coming around a bend, and not yet visible to the soldiers, but quite visible to us. The narrow path we had followed down was, in effect, the perfect ambush point. I secretly wondered if Myrrh had known this. I glanced at her but she was looking ahead, her eyes glazed, and I suspected her thoughts were elsewhere presently.
The ambush idea had me thinking. I was about to turn to Jewel when Myrrh’s hand snaked out and grabbed my arm. “Good idea; bad timing.”
“What are you talking about?” snapped Jewel, unaware that Myrrh and I had just communicated telepathically.
“I was just thinking out loud, Amira,” she said, addressing Jewel with her formal title. After all, if everything worked out, Jewel could very well be the girl’s mother-in-law.
Another thought for another time. I wasn’t sure whose words those were. Myrrh’s or mine.
“I sensed my lord’s desire to ambush this party and to take their place, but I sense great strength and much dark magic within this group. It would be better to wait.”
Jewel nodded suspiciously. The woman was, perhaps, more perceptive than I had given her credit for. Clearly she did not fully accept Myrrh’s explanation. When all this was said and done, I would see about convincing Myrrh to include Jewel into our small circle of telepathy.
Perhaps, came the single word.
And so we waited. The first group pushed on, while we hid in the shadows. A second group appeared. A smaller party. Indeed, there were only three of them.
This was our chanc
e.
Chapter Twenty-four
I drew my scimitar. “Stay back,” I told Jewel and Myrrh grimly. “This may get messy.”
“Don’t,” Jewel said. “A fracas will attract attention from the guards at the temple, the last thing we want.”
“Those travelers are not going to yield their places voluntarily,” I pointed out. “This is an important event.”
“And how will we emulate them if we don’t know who they are?” Jewel asked. “The temple surely has a list.”
She had a point, unfortunately. “You have a better way?”
“I do,” Myrrh said. “I have powdered bhang my father uses for difficult negotiations. One sniff will put a man into a pleasant daze for a few minutes, during which time he will answer questions and be amenable to suggestions. We can learn what we need and be off before they realize.”
“And when they do realize, what then?” I asked dubiously. I knew of bhang, of course; it derived from hemp and had pacifying and hallucinogenic properties. It had been a palace staple when I was king, useful for making resistive maidens amenable, the beauty of it being that they seldom actually remembered what had transpired during the session. There had been the lovely chaste daughter of a visiting king from the infidel kingdom of France, fair game of course since they were not true believers, but they did have a barbarian hangup about virginity. News of my lust for her would have meant war. What a delight she had been for a night, thanks to bhang! If she remembered, she never told, and there was no war. Not something I’m proud of, and certainly not my finest hour. I had let my power and lust cloud my better judgment. My wife had not approved, obviously; true, rulers often did have a harem, and I was no different, but it had been politically dangerous, she said. She thought I should have confined my incidental passions to girls of the faith. She did have a point; infidels were socially unclean.
“By then we will be inside the temple,” Myrrh said. “The real party will be barred as impostors, since the listed envoy will already have been admitted.”
“But surely the temple authorities will be suspicious,” Jewel said.