The Treasure

  “A high price.”

  “Too high for the grail?”

  “He thinks to beggar you,” Balkir said. “Let me have him. I’ll make him give you the grail.”

  “You interrupt,” Nasim said icily. “Leave us.”

  Balkir’s eyes widened. “I did not mean—forgive me. I only wished to—”

  “Did I ask for your aid?”

  Balkir shook his head and backed quickly out of the tent.

  “A fool,” Kadar said. “I’m surprised you endure him.”

  “A loyal fool. Not like you, Kadar. I could always count on your brilliance, never your loyalty.”

  “Because I’m not a fool. I’d not throw my loyalty down a bottomless pit.” He smiled. “Now that he’s gone, we can talk freely. I wasn’t joking. I want him dead.”

  Nasim shrugged. “It’s an unimportant thing. However, the ship . . .”

  “Is also an unimportant thing.” He paused. “When tossed in the balance. Look at me, Nasim: I was a dead man.”

  He became still. “You know it was the grail?”

  “What else? You saw the wound.”

  Nasim’s gaze hungrily raked Kadar’s face. “Do you know how fortunate you are? You’re young and frozen in time. Every year that passed, I knew my body was failing me and I couldn’t get my hands on the grail.” He frowned. “But perhaps if I drink constantly from the grail, I will reverse in aging. Is that possible?”

  He shrugged. “I know little about the grail.”

  “Tarik does not seem to be getting younger. He only stays the same.” His lips twisted. “So I’ll take what I can get.”

  “You agree to the bargain?”

  “On my terms. I’ll not go unguarded to meet you, and I’ll send you word of the meeting place tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Send it to the old cypress near the stream seven miles from here. I think it best that you not know exactly where I am from now on.” He added mockingly, “Not that I don’t trust you. But Balkir might be tempted to attack while I’m unaware and run another sword through me. Send a messenger to the cypress at midday and I’ll be there.”

  “You’re never unaware.” Nasim smiled slyly. “Do you wish me to send Balkir with the message tomorrow?”

  “You are annoyed with him. You don’t wish to see him alive again?”

  “On second thought, I’ll send someone else. I won’t give you Balkir until I see that golden coffer.”

  “As you like, but he’d better not live a minute longer.”

  “No longer than you’ll live if you try to betray me.” He paused. “And I’ll find the woman and kill her too. You cannot hide her forever.”

  “I’m not worried. When you have the grail, you’ll lose interest in both of us.”

  “That’s true.” Nasim’s eyes glittered in his taut face. “Nothing is more important. Bring me the grail. I have to have the grail.”

  “Tomorrow.” Kadar turned to leave. “You won’t be disappointed. Just make sure you don’t disappoint me.”

  Vaden’s army was camped some fifteen miles east of Nasim’s camp on the southern slope of Mount Vesuvius.

  Selene, Tarik, and Layla arrived at the camp in the late afternoon.

  Kadar strode out to meet them. “You brought it?”

  Tarik jerked his head to indicate the mule behind him. “Selene saw that I did. She watched me like a hawk as I loaded it on the mule. She wasn’t about to let you go to Nasim without something to bargain with. Did all go well today?”

  “As we expected.” Kadar turned to Selene with a smile. “You see, all your worry was for nothing.”

  “I wasn’t worried.” It was a lie. The relief that had surged through her when she saw him had almost made her dizzy. “I wasn’t expecting anything to happen today. I had every confidence you could keep Nasim from killing you as you dangled the prospect of the grail before his nose.” She slipped from the saddle. “We both know it’s after he gets the grail that you’ll be in danger. Is Vaden ready?”

  “Oh, I’m always ready,” Vaden said as he joined them. “But I’m not sure I’ll be given an opportunity to test that readiness. We’re too far away.”

  “Tomorrow after I receive the message about Nasim’s new location, you’ll move closer. If you can do it without Nasim’s guards seeing you.”

  “I can do it.” His gaze went to the chest tied to the mule. “Is that it?”

  Layla nodded. “And you’d better be prepared to protect it.”

  “I’ll protect Kadar and do my best to destroy Nasim and his men. That’s my only commitment. I wish nothing to do with your grail. I’ve had my fill of such tripe.” He turned on his heel and walked away.

  “Vaden is not enamored with objects of power,” Kadar said. “You’ll have to rely on me.” He turned to Selene. “Our tent is over there. Are you ready to eat or would you prefer to refresh yourself?”

  “Neither. I’m stiff from the ride.” She set out for the perimeter of the camp. “I want to walk.”

  Kadar caught up with her. “May I go along?”

  “If you like.”

  “But I’m not invited?”

  “I won’t be good company. I’m in a foul humor.”

  “I’d rather be with you in bad humor than anyone else in good.”

  She felt that usual melting at his words. This was not the night to quarrel with him, no matter how tense she felt. She slowed down and they walked in silence for a while. “Do you have any idea where he’ll choose to meet you?”

  “I have an idea where I’d choose. I’ve explored the area, and there’s a plateau on the western side of the mountain. It’s open enough so that you could see an attacking force on one side, and the cliff drops sheer to the valley on the other. I’d be surprised if Nasim chose any other place.”

  “You can’t just ride into his camp with the grail.”

  “There’s a cluster of boulders a short ride away. I’ll hide the chest there and try to lure Nasim away from the camp.”

  “I’ve been thinking about Balkir. He’s always with Nasim.”

  “I believe I’ve found a way to rid myself of him. We’ll see, tomorrow.”

  Speculation. All of it was too frighteningly uncertain. She could feel the muscles of her stomach tighten at the thought. Don’t think of it. Not yet.

  She stopped as they reached an outcropping of the mountain to look down at the ruins below. “Tarik says there are people, a whole city buried beneath all that stone.” She shivered. “One night they were alive and happy and the next they were buried. All their plans, all their worries and joys gone.”

  “Stop brooding. Their situation was nothing like ours. Disasters like that happen once in a thousand years. No volcano is going to rush down and destroy us. We’re controlling our fate.”

  “I know.” But she still felt a heavy melancholy as she looked down at the ruins. “But it must have been terrible. Tarik said he heard the sky was black for days.”

  “I doubt if he heard it secondhand.”

  Her gaze flew to his face. “Why do you say that?”

  He didn’t look at her. “He was quite probably here or nearby.”

  “What?” she whispered. “But that was centuries ago.”

  “Yes.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Ask Tarik.” He pulled her close. “But not now. I want to hold you.”

  Centuries, she thought incredulously. “It’s not possible. I thought a few decades.”

  “So did I.”

  “And Layla?”

  “The same.” He paused. “I knew it would frighten you, but it was important for you to know. No one should have to make a choice without the full truth.”

  “It’s more unbelievable than ever now.”

  “Not when you talk to them.”

  “I don’t want to talk to them about this.” She stiffened. “What choice?”

  “Not now. You’re feeling a little desperate, and it wouldn’t be fair.”

  “
I want to know.”

  He shook his head.

  Her hands tightened on his arms. She had a chilling idea what choice was to be offered. “Then tell me what choice you’re going to make.”

  “I have no choice.”

  His words struck her like a blow. “I don’t understand.”

  He put his fingers on her lips. “Shh, no more. Not tonight. I cursed Tarik for doing the same thing, but he was right to go slowly. I just wanted to prepare you.”

  “You’re as bad as they are. I don’t have enough to worry about with you going to Nasim tomorrow. You have to boggle my mind with this.”

  He smiled. “Better to split the worry. You were too somber. You’d have brooded all night about Nasim.”

  “And you’d rather I brooded over some idiotic choice. Well, I’ll not do it. I won’t think of you at all.” She whirled and strode away from him. “Idiot.”

  “Does that mean you won’t sleep with me tonight?” he called after her.

  “Of course I’ll sleep with you. Do you think I want to live with guilt if you get your stupid head chopped off? Just stay away from me until I can bear to look at you without wanting to slap you.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said meekly. “Fortunately, Vaden isn’t so disdainful of my company. He wants to go over the plan this evening.”

  She didn’t answer as her pace quickened. A few minutes later she was inside the tent Kadar had indicated. Imbecile. What made him think introducing a new hazard weakened the impact of the first? It was just like a man to think that a woman could not hold two thoughts in her head at the same time.

  Nasim.

  I have no choice.

  Panic was rising, and she had to remain calm if she was to get through tomorrow. How could she be calm when she was whirling in the dark?

  She strode out of the tent and went in search of Layla.

  “You’re upset,” Layla said warily as Selene strode into her tent. “Did you argue with Kadar?”

  “No, he was too busy mumbling idiocies about choices and Pompeii and Tarik and you living for centuries.”

  “Oh.”

  “Well, talk to me.” Selene plopped down on the cushions. “And don’t tell me to go slowly or that I’m not ready or I’ll throw a pitcher at you.”

  “I wouldn’t want that.” Layla smiled. “There’s going to be enough violence tomorrow. What did he tell you?”

  “Nothing. He’s being as cautious and annoying as the rest of you.” She bit her lower lip. “He told me he had no choice. What did he mean?”

  “It seems he was very clumsy.”

  “What did he mean?”

  Layla dropped down on the cushions across from her. “Shall I start at the beginning?”

  “If you don’t, I’ll strangle you.”

  “Another threat?” Layla clucked reprovingly. “Since all this is clearly Kadar’s fault, I really think he should get the brunt of this.” She held up her hand to stem Selene’s words. “Very well, I’ll tell you all that Kadar knows.”

  The tent was silent for a long time before Selene whispered, “A thousand years . . .”

  Layla nodded. “It sounds like a long time, but it passes more quickly than you would think.”

  “Why didn’t anyone tell me that Kadar had already taken Eshe?”

  “Did you really want to know?” Layla asked. “Kadar said you could think only of Nasim.”

  She supposed that was true. If she had not been so obsessed, she would have suspected Kadar was keeping something from her. “And I’m the one who gave Kadar the potion.”

  “You didn’t know what it was.”

  “Tarik did.”

  “And it saved Kadar’s life. Would you have him dead?”

  “No.” She remembered saying that she didn’t care if it was sorcery as long as it cured Kadar. “I’d give it to him again tomorrow if it meant keeping him alive.”

  “Well, it will keep him alive for a long, long time.” Layla paused. “He did not ask you to take it too?”

  “No. I don’t think he will. I told him—it frightens me.”

  “More than seeing yourself grow weak and old while Kadar remains young and strong? More than leaving him alone when he needs you?”

  “You want me to do it?”

  “I’m saying it’s a decision with which you have to come to terms. You can’t hide your head in the ground and ignore the facts.”

  “I don’t even know if they are facts or if it’s some outrageous myth. I don’t know anything about Eshe.”

  “Neither do we. We can’t give it to enough people to gather a full picture.”

  “So you pick and choose?”

  She nodded. “What else can we do?”

  “On what basis?”

  “Do you want me to say we have rules? We don’t. Sometimes it’s someone who is brilliant and has much still to give to the world. Sometimes it’s only someone whom we cannot bear to lose.”

  “No rules?”

  “Choice. They have to agree.”

  “And what of their families?”

  “We aren’t monsters, but the quantities are scarce. Each person we choose to receive Eshe is allowed five vials of their own. No more.”

  “And they have to choose who in their family is to live, who is to die?”

  “I never said we were perfect. We do what we can.”

  “I couldn’t do it.”

  “You could do it. I did.”

  “You didn’t do it. You had no children.” She stiffened as the thought sank home. “Children—is the reason you have no children because of Eshe?”

  “At first I thought it was, but there have been other women given Eshe who later conceived and gave birth.” Her lips twisted. “So I cannot blame it on the potion. I’m just barren.”

  “And what of the children? Are they frozen in time like you and Tarik?”

  “You mean, do they never grow up? Eshe doesn’t work like that. Growth takes place the way God intended. When the growth ends, the aging stops.”

  “But you couldn’t know that. You must have taken horrible chances giving the potion to children.”

  “I didn’t give it.” She added deliberately, “But I didn’t stop it being given. The first child to take it was the eight-year-old son of a Greek woman. His name was Niko, and I was very fond of him.”

  “Not fond enough to wait until he was grown.”

  “Do you know how many children die each year? How few reach their full growth? This was the seventh child born to Ariane. The others had died, and Niko was a terribly delicate child. She desperately wanted to make sure she could keep him alive. Did I have the right to stop her?” She met Selene’s gaze. “And, yes, I wanted to know if it was safe to give to other children. The only way to find out Eshe’s limits was to probe them. I made myself part of her responsibility. Blame me, if you will. But not until you’re willing to stand in my shoes.”

  “I’m not willing. I don’t want—” Her hands clenched. “I hope this is all a lie.”

  “But you’re no longer sure it is.” Layla smiled faintly. “It’s very sobering, isn’t it? But you’ll become used to the idea.”

  “Will I?”

  “It’s a great gift.”

  “So you say.”

  “Because it’s true. Death, not Eshe, is the enemy.”

  “Tarik chose Kadar not only to receive Eshe but to protect the grail. I don’t think he meant to give him a choice in the beginning.”

  “It was very difficult for Tarik. Eshe has always been an unbearable burden for him. He must have been desperate to relinquish the grail.”

  “And you thought he sent me to you because he couldn’t bring himself to give me the potion. Would you have done it?”

  “Oh, yes. I was desperate too. I’ve been without Tarik for a long time. I thought he was reaching out to me.” She grimaced. “I would have done anything, and I’m far more ruthless than Tarik.”

  “Yes, you are. For God’s sake, if your story is tru
e, I’d think the years would have made you more civilized.”

  “Souls don’t change. I’ve come to believe we’re all born with the soul we take to the grave. We learn, but we cannot change that part of us. If anything, we become more of what we started out to be.”

  “Then God help us.”

  “Sometimes He does. Sometimes we help ourselves.” Layla paused. “And sometimes we falter and make mistakes. When that happens, you forgive yourself or let it destroy you. I won’t let either Tarik or myself be destroyed by what happened to his brother. We just have to go on.” She moved her shoulders as if shrugging off a burden. “Enough. I’ve told you all you asked of me. It’s not easy to sit here and have you stare at me and question things I’ve questioned myself. Now go away and let me have some peace.”

  Selene wearily rose to her feet. Peace. She wouldn’t know peace this night. Her mind was too full and her emotions too rampant.

  “What are you going to do?” Layla asked.

  “About Eshe? I don’t know.” She turned to the tent entrance. “Perhaps there’s nothing to be done. Maybe you and Tarik are mad and there’s no such thing as Eshe. I can’t think any more about it right now. I’m upset enough, and there’s Nasim to deal with.”

  She stopped outside the tent and drew a deep breath. Night had fallen, and the cool air felt good on her hot cheeks. She was shaking, she realized. It was all very well to say she couldn’t afford to think of Eshe, but how could she not.

  I have no choice.

  Five vials . . . No more.

  You can’t hide your head in the ground.

  But she must try not to face it tonight. She had found out what she needed to know. Now she mustn’t be distracted from the urgency of Nasim.

  Her gaze searched the camp, and she saw Vaden and Kadar in conversation by the fire. Good, she would have time to recover her composure before she set out to do what had to be done.

  KADAR WAS SITTING by the tent entrance when she arrived two hours later.

  He stood up. “You were gone long enough. I thought you’d run away.”

  “No, you didn’t. You know I’d not be that foolish. Why would I cheat myself?”

  He smiled. “Still, I was uneasy enough to check to make sure your horse was still staked with the others. Where were you?”