Traitor to the Throne (Rebel of the Sands 2)

I’d been allowed to sit. Ordered, more like. But his sons stood at attention behind me. The Sultan ordered me to tell him what had happened. He wanted the truth, he said. And that was what I gave him. I left out Leyla, but I couldn’t avoid Tamid. The Sultan would question why I’d been alone in the palace when I wasn’t supposed to be. I tiptoed around that part of the story as carefully as I could, my heart in my mouth. One wrong word and it could all be over. I asked Rahim to take me to the Holy Father. He left to give us privacy. I tried not to let relief leak into my words as I slipped on to the next part of the story without any questions from the Sultan.

When I finished speaking, no one said anything for a good few moments. I had a strange feeling like I was back in school, in trouble along with Tamid for something stupid I’d done, facing the anger of a teacher. The three of us lined up in front of the Sultan like we were quarrelling children, not soldiers and spies fighting for a country. The Sultan was silent as the last of the sunlight outside faded. Through the huge window I could see the lights of Izman start to flicker to life.

My mind kept running back to the same thought: the gun. The Sultan had seen me holding a gun to his heir’s head. Holding it like I knew what I was doing. Holding it like the Blue-Eyed Bandit would hold a gun. He had to know I was more than just a desert girl now.

But I didn’t try to explain it. The guilty always talked first. Rahim and I were both smart enough not to interrupt the Sultan’s silence.

‘Father—’ Which made us both smarter than Kadir.

‘I didn’t give you permission to speak.’ The Sultan sounded calm. Unnervingly calm. Deceptively calm. ‘You are a thief, Kadir.’ Kadir bristled, but the Sultan was already talking again. ‘Don’t disagree with me. You tried to take something of mine.’ He gestured to me. I hated being referred to as belonging to the Sultan. But I couldn’t help the surge of satisfaction over being worth more to him than Kadir right now. ‘And trade it for the support of the Gallan.’

‘She’s not human, Father!’ Kadir’s voice rose. He sounded close to stomping his foot in rage like a child.

‘Everyone knew that, brother,’ Rahim interjected. His calm just made Kadir angrier. ‘If you only just figured that out, I have some concerns about the intelligence of our future ruler.’

The Sultan held up his hand. ‘If you think now is the time for bickering, with a foreign diplomat dead in my palace, then I have questions about your intelligence, Rahim.’ He nodded at Kadir to continue.

‘The negotiations were lasting forever. And the Gallan were never going to make a new alliance with us so long as you were so blatantly flaunting a half-human thing in violation of their beliefs. They came to me’ – his chest swelled with pride – ‘and demanded her death before they would negotiate any further.’

The Sultan didn’t raise his voice, but even I shrank under the look he gave Kadir. And it wasn’t even directed at me. ‘They demanded her death because she is making lying to me about their resources and their intentions more difficult, and revealing that the Gallan empire is stretched thinner than they would like us to think.’ He spoke slowly, carefully, like he was explaining something to a child. ‘And they came to you because you have clearly been itching to get your hands on her in some way for weeks now.’

Kadir sneered, flopping into the other chair petulantly as his father spoke.

The silence that followed was worse than the glare. ‘I didn’t give you permission to sit.’

Kadir started a laugh, like he thought his father might be joking.

‘Stand up,’ the Sultan ordered calmly. ‘Take an example from your brother for once. Perhaps I should have sent you to Iliaz instead of him.’

I remembered what Rahim had told me – that the Sultan had sent him to Iliaz to die. I understood the threat implied in his words. But it was lost on Kadir.

‘All that military training didn’t help him beat me in the Sultim trials.’ Kadir stood, shoving the chair so it clattered angrily against his father’s desk, shifting some of the papers from the edge onto the floor. ‘So, what, are you going to put him on the throne instead of me now?’

‘The Sultim trials are sacred.’ The Sultan kept all his attention on his son, ignoring the disrupted papers on the ground. ‘Overturning them would turn the people more against us than they already are. You’d have to die before we held another Sultim trial, Kadir.’

‘So unless you’re going to do everyone a favour …’ Rahim muttered.

I snorted under my breath, drawing the Sultan’s gaze. I stifled it too late. The Sultan had already noticed the connection between me and Rahim. But his gaze shifted away again without comment.

‘The Gallan king is due to arrive tomorrow, in advance of Auranzeb.’ The Sultan’s fingers returned to drumming out the same pattern. ‘You will come with me to meet him, Kadir. And you will tell him the same story I will. That the ambassador went into the city without a guard and was killed by rebels on the street. Do you understand?’

Kadir’s jaw worked angrily for a moment. But if he thought his father was going to give in first, he was badly mistaken. ‘Yes.’

‘Good. You are dismissed.’

Kadir slammed the door behind him on his way out, like an angry child.

‘That lie may not be wise, Father,’ Rahim said. ‘If it looks to the Gallan like you can’t control your own people—’ uo;d been allowed to sit. Ordered, more like. But his sons stood at attention behind me. The Sultan ordered me to tell him what had happened. He wanted the truth, he said. And that was what I gave him. I left out Leyla, but I couldn’t avoid Tamid. The Sultan would question why I’d been alone in the palace when I wasn’t supposed to be. I tiptoed around that part of the story as carefully as I could, my heart in my mouth. One wrong word and it could all be over. I asked Rahim to take me to the Holy Father. He left to give us privacy. I tried not to let relief leak into my words as I slipped on to the next part of the story without any questions from the Sultan.

When I finished speaking, no one said anything for a good few moments. I had a strange feeling like I was back in school, in trouble along with Tamid for something stupid I’d done, facing the anger of a teacher. The three of us lined up in front of the Sultan like we were quarrelling children, not soldiers and spies fighting for a country. The Sultan was silent as the last of the sunlight outside faded. Through the huge window I could see the lights of Izman start to flicker to life.

My mind kept running back to the same thought: the gun. The Sultan had seen me holding a gun to his heir’s head. Holding it like I knew what I was doing. Holding it like the Blue-Eyed Bandit would hold a gun. He had to know I was more than just a desert girl now.

But I didn’t try to explain it. The guilty always talked first. Rahim and I were both smart enough not to interrupt the Sultan’s silence.

‘Father—’ Which made us both smarter than Kadir.

‘I didn’t give you permission to speak.’ The Sultan sounded calm. Unnervingly calm. Deceptively calm. ‘You are a thief, Kadir.’ Kadir bristled, but the Sultan was already talking again. ‘Don’t disagree with me. You tried to take something of mine.’ He gestured to me. I hated being referred to as belonging to the Sultan. But I couldn’t help the surge of satisfaction over being worth more to him than Kadir right now. ‘And trade it for the support of the Gallan.’

‘She’s not human, Father!’ Kadir’s voice rose. He sounded close to stomping his foot in rage like a child.

‘Everyone knew that, brother,’ Rahim interjected. His calm just made Kadir angrier. ‘If you only just figured that out, I have some concerns about the intelligence of our future ruler.’

The Sultan held up his hand. ‘If you think now is the time for bickering, with a foreign diplomat dead in my palace, then I have questions about your intelligence, Rahim.’ He nodded at Kadir to continue.

‘The negotiations were lasting forever. And the Gallan were never going to make a new alliance with us so long as you were so blatantly flaunting a half-human thing in violation of their beliefs. They came to me’ – his chest swelled with pride – ‘and demanded her death before they would negotiate any further.’

The Sultan didn’t raise his voice, but even I shrank under the look he gave Kadir. And it wasn’t even directed at me. ‘They demanded her death because she is making lying to me about their resources and their intentions more difficult, and revealing that the Gallan empire is stretched thinner than they would like us to think.’ He spoke slowly, carefully, like he was explaining something to a child. ‘And they came to you because you have clearly been itching to get your hands on her in some way for weeks now.’

Kadir sneered, flopping into the other chair petulantly as his father spoke.

The silence that followed was worse than the glare. ‘I didn’t give you permission to sit.’

Kadir started a laugh, like he thought his father might be joking.

‘Stand up,’ the Sultan ordered calmly. ‘Take an example from your brother for once. Perhaps I should have sent you to Iliaz instead of him.’

I remembered what Rahim had told me – that the Sultan had sent him to Iliaz to die. I understood the threat implied in his words. But it was lost on Kadir.

‘All that military training didn’t help him beat me in the Sultim trials.’ Kadir stood, shoving the chair so it clattered angrily against his father’s desk, shifting some of the papers from the edge onto the floor. ‘So, what, are you going to put him on the throne instead of me now?’

‘The Sultim trials are sacred.’ The Sultan kept all his attention on his son, ignoring the disrupted papers on the ground. ‘Overturning them would turn the people more against us than they already are. You’d have to die before we held another Sultim trial, Kadir.’

‘So unless you’re going to do everyone a favour …’ Rahim muttered.

I snorted under my breath, drawing the Sultan’s gaze. I stifled it too late. The Sultan had already noticed the connection between me and Rahim. But his gaze shifted away again without comment.

‘The Gallan king is due to arrive tomorrow, in advance of Auranzeb.’ The Sultan’s fingers returned to drumming out the same pattern. ‘You will come with me to meet him, Kadir. And you will tell him the same story I will. That the ambassador went into the city without a guard and was killed by rebels on the street. Do you understand?’

Kadir’s jaw worked angrily for a moment. But if he thought his father was going to give in first, he was badly mistaken. ‘Yes.’

‘Good. You are dismissed.’

Kadir slammed the door behind him on his way out, like an angry child.

‘That lie may not be wise, Father,’ Rahim said. ‘If it looks to the Gallan like you can’t control your own people—’