Traitor to the Throne (Rebel of the Sands 2)

I brought the water skin to my mouth and with shaking hands sipped slowly, cradling my injured shoulder close to my body. There were a dozen of us, give or take. That meant a whole lot of missing faces who were now just bodies in the sand if they hadn’t gotten away with Ahmed and Shazad. I was the only Demdji among us. Hopefully that meant Hala and Delila were together, and between them, they could hide even a big group of moving rebels. And Shazad would get them all to safety. I had to trust they’d be waiting for us.

My aunt, Safiyah, was among those who’d escaped with us, as were two of the other women from Saramotai. I supposed it was hard to follow an escape plan when you didn’t know it. Safiyah was helping dole out food. A few other familiar faces were dotted around. Relief eased my heart a little.

There’d be no fire tonight. It left us vulnerable to Nightmares or Skinwalkers but we were a lot more vulnerable if we lit a beacon to the Sultan’s army. We’d just have to ring the camp in whatever iron we had and hope for the best.

Everyone was ravaged from the escape. Some were already stuffing bread into their mouths and simply collapsing as the sun sank low. We’d need to set a watch, and divvy up the supplies among the horses and pitch the tents. And there were a thousand and one other things to think of. But my head was spinning and I couldn’t think of them.

I downed the water until my head steadied. We wouldn’t have to make it last that long anyhow. By now I knew our part of the desert. We were a three-day ride from the port city of Ghasab, but at the pace we’d set, riding all night and through the day, we’d be there by sunset tomorrow. From there we could resupply and rejoin with everyone at the meeting point in the mountains. Well, everyone who’d gotten away.

I stowed the water away and gingerly tried to slide off the horse, testing my weight on my tender right arm as I braced myself against the saddle. It surrendered instantly, buckling me towards the sand in a messy heap.

‘You’re hurt.’ Jin reached down toward where I was sprawled. I ignored his hand and pulled myself up with my good arm, using the stirrup. The horse was so tired it barely protested.

‘I’ll survive.’ I tried to hold my arm as normal as I could as I turned away from him. ‘I always have.’

‘Amani!’ He raised his voice as I walked away, loud enough so a few of the rebels glanced our way, before quickly getting back to work. Everyone knew enough to stay out of it. ‘I watched you walk across an entire desert. I’ve memorised the way you move. And right now you’re moving like you’ve dislocated your shoulder. You need to let me take a look at it.’

‘I can give you something for the pain,’ Safiyah interrupted, brushing sand off her fingers. Almost everyone knew enough to stay out of it.

‘She doesn’t need something for the pain,’ Jin said evenly. He was talking to Safiyah, but his eyes never left me. ‘She needs someone to pop her arm back in its socket before we have to saw it off.’

That made me stop.

I turned back to face him. He had unwrapped his sheema and wound it around his neck and I could see his face clearly. Jin had always been good at bluffing. A faint smile reappeared, like he could read what I was thinking more easily than I could. That smile always meant trouble. ‘Willing to chance it, Bandit?’

I was almost sure he was lying. But I wasn’t more sure than I was fond of having two working arms.

‘Fine.’ I extended my arm to him as far as I could, like a kid holding out a wounded animal she’d found in the desert. Jin didn’t take it. Instead he put a hand on my back. The familiar thrill rushed up my spine. My body didn’t seem to know I was angry at him. He led me into the small blue tent I claimed when we were on the move. Someone had pitched it for me. He let the tent flap fall shut behind us, sealing us in privacy.

The tent was too low to stand in. I stooped stubbornly until Jin pulled me to the ground to sit across from him. Night was descending fast around us, but there was still just enough light to see by. Outside I could hear the shuffle of the camp as it got ready for a night in the desert.

‘I need to see it.’ His voice was gentle now that we were alone. It took me a second to understand what he meant.

‘Fine,’ I said again, avoiding his gaze.

Very carefully, he put one hand on my upper arm and slid the other one under my khalat at the collar. His fingers were warm and familiar. Once he would’ve made a joke about getting his hands under my clothes. But now a silent tension hung between us – until I couldn’t stand it any more. ‘You sure you know what you’re doing?’

‘Trust me.’ Jin wasn’t looking me in the face, though he was so close to me it was almost the only place he could look. ‘I had to learn on the Black Seagull, before this all started.’ This. I knew he meant the Rebellion. I almost laughed. It was such a small word to mean all of us and everything we’d done and everything we still had left to do. ‘A lot of sailors got hurt getting tangled up in ropes.’

He did something that sent a stab of pain through my side. I hissed through my teeth.

‘Sorry.’

‘You goddamn should be.’ Pain sharpened my tongue. ‘This happened when you shoved me, you know.’

‘You’re right,’ Jin deadpanned, fingers still prodding gently at me. ‘I should’ve let you get shot; that’s so much easier to recover from.’

‘And what would you know about that?’ We were running for our lives. This wasn’t the right time to be picking a fight, not in the middle of a war. But I hadn’t been the one to bring it up. ‘You weren’t around when I did.’ ught the water skin to my mouth and with shaking hands sipped slowly, cradling my injured shoulder close to my body. There were a dozen of us, give or take. That meant a whole lot of missing faces who were now just bodies in the sand if they hadn’t gotten away with Ahmed and Shazad. I was the only Demdji among us. Hopefully that meant Hala and Delila were together, and between them, they could hide even a big group of moving rebels. And Shazad would get them all to safety. I had to trust they’d be waiting for us.

My aunt, Safiyah, was among those who’d escaped with us, as were two of the other women from Saramotai. I supposed it was hard to follow an escape plan when you didn’t know it. Safiyah was helping dole out food. A few other familiar faces were dotted around. Relief eased my heart a little.

There’d be no fire tonight. It left us vulnerable to Nightmares or Skinwalkers but we were a lot more vulnerable if we lit a beacon to the Sultan’s army. We’d just have to ring the camp in whatever iron we had and hope for the best.

Everyone was ravaged from the escape. Some were already stuffing bread into their mouths and simply collapsing as the sun sank low. We’d need to set a watch, and divvy up the supplies among the horses and pitch the tents. And there were a thousand and one other things to think of. But my head was spinning and I couldn’t think of them.

I downed the water until my head steadied. We wouldn’t have to make it last that long anyhow. By now I knew our part of the desert. We were a three-day ride from the port city of Ghasab, but at the pace we’d set, riding all night and through the day, we’d be there by sunset tomorrow. From there we could resupply and rejoin with everyone at the meeting point in the mountains. Well, everyone who’d gotten away.

I stowed the water away and gingerly tried to slide off the horse, testing my weight on my tender right arm as I braced myself against the saddle. It surrendered instantly, buckling me towards the sand in a messy heap.

‘You’re hurt.’ Jin reached down toward where I was sprawled. I ignored his hand and pulled myself up with my good arm, using the stirrup. The horse was so tired it barely protested.

‘I’ll survive.’ I tried to hold my arm as normal as I could as I turned away from him. ‘I always have.’

‘Amani!’ He raised his voice as I walked away, loud enough so a few of the rebels glanced our way, before quickly getting back to work. Everyone knew enough to stay out of it. ‘I watched you walk across an entire desert. I’ve memorised the way you move. And right now you’re moving like you’ve dislocated your shoulder. You need to let me take a look at it.’

‘I can give you something for the pain,’ Safiyah interrupted, brushing sand off her fingers. Almost everyone knew enough to stay out of it.

‘She doesn’t need something for the pain,’ Jin said evenly. He was talking to Safiyah, but his eyes never left me. ‘She needs someone to pop her arm back in its socket before we have to saw it off.’

That made me stop.

I turned back to face him. He had unwrapped his sheema and wound it around his neck and I could see his face clearly. Jin had always been good at bluffing. A faint smile reappeared, like he could read what I was thinking more easily than I could. That smile always meant trouble. ‘Willing to chance it, Bandit?’

I was almost sure he was lying. But I wasn’t more sure than I was fond of having two working arms.

‘Fine.’ I extended my arm to him as far as I could, like a kid holding out a wounded animal she’d found in the desert. Jin didn’t take it. Instead he put a hand on my back. The familiar thrill rushed up my spine. My body didn’t seem to know I was angry at him. He led me into the small blue tent I claimed when we were on the move. Someone had pitched it for me. He let the tent flap fall shut behind us, sealing us in privacy.

The tent was too low to stand in. I stooped stubbornly until Jin pulled me to the ground to sit across from him. Night was descending fast around us, but there was still just enough light to see by. Outside I could hear the shuffle of the camp as it got ready for a night in the desert.

‘I need to see it.’ His voice was gentle now that we were alone. It took me a second to understand what he meant.

‘Fine,’ I said again, avoiding his gaze.

Very carefully, he put one hand on my upper arm and slid the other one under my khalat at the collar. His fingers were warm and familiar. Once he would’ve made a joke about getting his hands under my clothes. But now a silent tension hung between us – until I couldn’t stand it any more. ‘You sure you know what you’re doing?’

‘Trust me.’ Jin wasn’t looking me in the face, though he was so close to me it was almost the only place he could look. ‘I had to learn on the Black Seagull, before this all started.’ This. I knew he meant the Rebellion. I almost laughed. It was such a small word to mean all of us and everything we’d done and everything we still had left to do. ‘A lot of sailors got hurt getting tangled up in ropes.’

He did something that sent a stab of pain through my side. I hissed through my teeth.

‘Sorry.’

‘You goddamn should be.’ Pain sharpened my tongue. ‘This happened when you shoved me, you know.’

‘You’re right,’ Jin deadpanned, fingers still prodding gently at me. ‘I should’ve let you get shot; that’s so much easier to recover from.’

‘And what would you know about that?’ We were running for our lives. This wasn’t the right time to be picking a fight, not in the middle of a war. But I hadn’t been the one to bring it up. ‘You weren’t around when I did.’