When Sara hesitated, he advanced upon her menacingly, spitting out the words in his anger. “You should bear in mind,” he hissed, “that though you might be Queen, in the Khisu’s absence I am in charge of his women. There are many ways you can be beaten without scarring—and the marks will long have healed ere Xiang returns. Now go—and if I ever again see you on that balcony without proper robes and padding and decent veils, I will punish you until your screams can be heard all the way to that godless northern cesspit from whence you came.”
Sara stared at him, appalled. He meant it—and in fact, she realized, with cold, sinking fear in the pit of her stomach, on the flimsiest of excuses he would beat her anyway. She had dragged Zalid into this plot of hers—and now that he was in too deep to back out again, he was terrified, and wanted to take it out on her. Shaking with fear, she rushed into her robing room and found the tangle of straps that held the thinly stuffed and slightly weighted sack securely to her stomach. She fastened it on, already hating the unwieldiness and trying not to think about the next five months, when the weight and padding must be markedly increased. Once it was hidden beneath her loose robe, she stared at her silhouette in the tall mirror of polished silver and scowled, wondering how in the name of all the gods she’d thought she could get away with this. And yet what choice did I have? she thought despairingly.
When she had maneuvered and plotted to become Queen, she had never considered the fact that she could not have children. But neither had she reckoned on the Khisu’s desperate desire for another son—another heir—to replace the luckless and despised Harihn. As each month passed without a hint that the longed-for child had been started, Xiang had begun to turn colder toward her; less patient and more careless and cruel. When he started to neglect her, and turn back once more to the beauties of his harem, Sara knew that she would have to act quickly to preserve her position—and Zalid, with his power and influence within the harem, was the only one who could help her. Luckily, because he had been one who’d brought her to Xiang in the first place, his fortunes were very much tied up with her own. Being the discoverer of the new Queen had brought him a good deal of riches and prestige—but Xiang had no use for those who failed or disappointed him, and if that Queen should be found wanting, not only would Zalid lose his livelihood but quite possibly his very life.
Between Sara and the eunuch, Ae plot had gradually been hatched. Zalid had found the Queen her own personal, and very bribable, physician, and was squandering much of his own gold and her jewels upon the man in the happy knowledge that the wretch would not live many more months to enjoy their benefit. Sara only had to pretend to turn moody, as pregnant women often did, and Xiang happily acceded to her request that her body servants be replaced by a single mute slave girl. The odd custom of this land, that women were sequestered during pregnancy, had worked in their favor, as had other, unexpected events.
Xiang had been overjoyed by Sara’s false announcement—but swiftly following his first rush of triumph came the rankling awareness that the other, older heir still lived. Though Harihn had vowed never to return, the Khisu had brooded blackly upon his son’s continued existence, and the threat that it posed to the unborn Prince—for of course, in the manner of those who always got their own way, he was convinced that the child would be a boy. Enough time had passed now for Xiang to forget the fear that Aurian had instilled in him. For days after her departure the city had been a bloodbath, while his soldiers quelled the uprising of the slaves that the Mage had freed and got things back on a proper footing. Once this had been accomplished, however, with none of the dire repercussions that Aurian had promised, he had dismissed her as a threat. When the sudden ending of the sandstorms had opened up the desert route to the north, he had decided to take his army and eliminate Harihn once and for all.
Xiang’s departure had come as a considerable relief to the Queen and her fellow conspirator. Aman, the vizier, who had taken charge in the Khisu’s absence, knew what was good for him and kept well away from the seraglio. When it came to his women, Xiang had a well-deserved reputation for jealousy. That left Sara and Zalid free to act—and it was much easier now to keep up the subterfuge. The eunuch had agents among the poor, in the lower quarters of the city, who were keeping an eye on several girls due to give birth at about the right time. As soon as one dropped a son… Sara smiled to herself. What a joke on Xiang, that the next ruler of the Khazalim would be a beggar’s brat! By the gods, if she could bring this off it would be worth it!
Heartened by the thought, she washed her face and collected herself before going back into the other room to confront the eunuch. She must not let him see how badly he had frightened her. As she passed the mirror, she caught a glimpse of the bruise that was darkening on one side of her face, and scowled. One day she would make him pay for that! As the beloved mother of Xiang’s heir, she would have far more power than she possessed now. In the meantime—Sara grimaced. Zalid had certainly found a way to ensure that she wore those accursed veils!
The other chamber felt much more pleasant now, with the approaching cool of evening. The eunuch was standing looking out over the very balcony that he had forbidden her to use. Anger dissipated the last traces of Sara’s lingering fear. She drew herself up to her full height and looked at him coldly. “Have you no duties to perform?” she snapped. “I want cooled wine, a light meal, and my slave girl to draw my bath.”
Zalid turned to her with an insolent bow that was hardly worth the name. “Your will, my Queen. And do you not want the news I came to bring you? News of your beloved Khisu?” His smile was mocking—he had no illusions about Sara’s true opinion of her royal husband.
Sara’s heart leapt into her throat. “There’s news? What is it? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Pray do not distress yourself, Lady—not in your delicate condition.” His manner was so falsely unctuous that she wanted to strike him.
“Get on with it!” she shrieked.
“As you wish. A homing bird arrived today with a message that Xiang had reached the far side of the desert. They not only found signs of Harihn’s occupancy at Dhiammara, but there are clear signs on the edge of the forest that the Prince and his companions survived the crossing. That being the case, the Khisu is determined to follow his trail farther northward.” The eunuch bowed again, not making an effort to hide his smile. “Alas, my Lady, it seems we must steel ourselves to bear sad tidings. The absence of our beloved Lord must be extended.”
Sara sat down on the edge of the bed, weak-kneed with relief. No matter what abuse she had to put up with from Zalid, it seemed that the gods were still smiling on her plan. Companions, the eunuch had said. So when Xiang finally caught up with the runaway Prince, he would have Aurian to contend with. She wondered what would suit her best: to have Xiang return to indulge her for giving him an heir—or to have him dead, and be the mother of the newborn Khisu of the Khazalim, with all the power attendant on such a position. Either way, she stood to win. Sara smiled to herself. It looked as though the next few weeks would be very interesting indeed.
Xiang was unnerved by the forest. This place was like nothing in his experience. He was used to the open spaces and endless horizons of his barren land, where the only sounds were the chirring of the cicadas and the susurration of the shifting desert wind. Here the trees pressed in on him, surrounding him in gloom and cutting off the warmth of the sun. On all sides there were shifting shadows—swift flickers of movement that startled the horses and made the Khisu jump and whirl, hand on sword hilt, to face a threat that turned out to be nothing more than a branch that was tossing in the wind.