
She swallowed the sudden lump that formed in her throat. So far from where her heart longed to be. It’s not as though I’m managing to sleep as it is. Then, with an exasperated cry, she fell back against the itchy wool of her bedroll. Shahrzad sat up, gripping the jeweled hilt of her dagger. The little beast outside had a bell around its neck! And now the clanging and the bleating all but ensured the impossibility of sleep. An empty threat, but she knew she should at least fight for a semblance of control.Īs if to mock her, the shrill sounds beyond her tent grew more incessant. Her temper mounting, Shahrzad flung off her makeshift blanket and reached for the dagger beside her bedroll. Outside her tent, a goat began to bleat with merry abandon. Wondering . . .īecause the last time I was in Rey, thousands of innocent people perished.Īnd Shahrzad could not return until she’d found a way to protect her people. She hoped he was with Jalal or with his uncle, the shahrban. Her thoughts drifted to the marble palace in Rey. The ring of muted gold flashed twice, as if to remind her of its mate, far across the Sea of Sand.

Shahrzad lifted her hand into a stream of light.
