Chapter 16: The Lintel

The veil fell on the stone between us.

I didn't pick it up.

I stood there in the slanted morning light with my sunburn and my braid and my own face.

For a breath nobody made a sound.

Then the oldest court lady said, very clearly, "Well. By the stars."

The Hall broke.

Somebody on the council shouted, "The perfumer!"

Somebody else shouted, "She's dead. She walked."

Ruya was on her feet on the dais, white under her kohl.

She wasn't surprised.

She was frightened.

Sadeq raised one ringed hand, and the Hall slowly went quiet for him.

It always did.

"Nazira Thaleb," he said. "Condemned by the Sultan's seal for poisoning his bride. Walked out of the Sand Gate."

"And here she stands, behind a veil, at the Sultan's bedside."

He shook his head.

"There's no question to ask. The seal has already spoken. What the seal says cannot be unsaid."

He turned to the captain of the guard.

"Walk her out again at dawn. And this time, captain, send the dogs with water."

A few of the council laughed.

Tamir didn't.

He picked my veil up off the floor and held it in his hand.

Then he looked at the Hall.

"I knew," he said.

The laughing stopped.

"I knew her smoke the first night she came back. I kept her secret because I wanted to live."

"Majesty," said Sadeq.

"The night before her walk," Tamir said, "I went out through the Sand Gate alone. With a shovel."

"I buried a skin of water at the first cairn. Tied with my father's falconer's knot."

The whole Hall stared at him.

"I sealed her death without asking her one question," he said. "Then I went out in the dark so I could tell myself I hadn't."

"It's the worst thing I've ever done. I've done it in front of you, so I'll say it in front of you."

Keep reading free with an account. Start Falling for the Sultan Who Ordered My Death from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.