“Enough, Tia!” She pinched her arm, fingers digging into Tia’s flesh. “Enough questions, enough running about the city, enough foolishness. Palace life is not a game constructed for your amusement! You will conduct yourself with decorum until Zagros arrives, or I will have you locked up until he does.”
She was sincere. No doubt of that. True anxiety licked at Tia’s resolve. Her mother had the power to force her into the detestable marriage.
Perhaps it was time to silence her questions. To focus on her freedom.
But somewhere above her, her father roamed the Gardens, captive in both mind and body.
And who would champion his freedom?
CHAPTER 13
Tia leaned against the stone half wall of the rooftop garden and searched the nighttime desert for answers. She had no energy for a run. Here at the northern end of the city she could forget that all of Babylon lay below and almost believe herself alone in the vast darkness, with nothing but dark sand and sky.
She scanned the blackness above, traced the outlines of Taurus and Aries with her eye, naming them as her tutors had taught, wishing she could read their messages like a mage.
What would they tell her, if she had ears to hear? Should she cease her pursuit of truth as her mother insisted?
The night breeze played with her robes, drifting the purple fabric across her arm and raising a chill. The garden’s silence pressed against her, a marked contrast with the noise and activity of the palace day. She breathed in the heavy scent of jasmine and curled her fingers around the lip of the stone wall.
“Palace life is not a game, constructed for your amusement.”
Her mother’s words haunted her steps throughout the day and followed her here, to the isolation of the garden. Tia rubbed at the stone wall until pieces loosened under her fingers, then picked at them and hurled them downward.
Was she nothing more than a palace pet? A mischievous cat chasing a ball of twine?
She wanted to deny it, but the thought plagued her. Though she wished to do something of importance, to have purpose, no opportunities to be anything but idle had been offered. And so, all her pursuits had been for her own amusement, as Amytis said. Tia took risks and sought thrills, but nothing was ever at stake. Oh, perhaps she chanced an injury, a physical blow. But she risked nothing of true importance. When there was a question of her privilege, her position—in this she took no chances.
Caught up in her own thoughts, she had not noticed the sound of conversation that drifted to her on the night air. A low laugh across the garden tensed her muscles.
She turned her head only slightly but saw no one, heard only muffled words. She shifted on silent feet along the length of the wall toward the voices.
“She knows nothing.” A man’s voice. Familiar, though Tia couldn’t place it.
“If not now, she will.” Another man.
“You concern yourself unnecessarily. Our secret is safe.”
Shadir . The voice belonged to the old mage, her father’s favorite. Did he frequent this garden as often as she? How often had he watched her come and go? Her heart pounded, and she held her body stone-still and silent.
“We are never safe.” The other’s voice was urgent, frightened even. “Our plan is too fragile. Too easily thwarted.”
Shadir laughed again, and it seemed to Tia like the laughter of darkness. “You forget the powers that stand behind us. We cannot fail.”
There was a pause, and then his companion responded with a voice uncertain and wavering. “I—I am not always convinced—”
“Stop. There is no room for doubt.”
“There are so many pieces to put in place. How can you be certain it will come together?”
Shadir did not answer immediately, and she leaned toward the voices, pulse racing. Had she missed his response?
But when it came, it held chilling animosity. “I have waited a lifetime to bring him down. I will not be stopped, not by an unruly princess nor her
She was sincere. No doubt of that. True anxiety licked at Tia’s resolve. Her mother had the power to force her into the detestable marriage.
Perhaps it was time to silence her questions. To focus on her freedom.
But somewhere above her, her father roamed the Gardens, captive in both mind and body.
And who would champion his freedom?
CHAPTER 13
Tia leaned against the stone half wall of the rooftop garden and searched the nighttime desert for answers. She had no energy for a run. Here at the northern end of the city she could forget that all of Babylon lay below and almost believe herself alone in the vast darkness, with nothing but dark sand and sky.
She scanned the blackness above, traced the outlines of Taurus and Aries with her eye, naming them as her tutors had taught, wishing she could read their messages like a mage.
What would they tell her, if she had ears to hear? Should she cease her pursuit of truth as her mother insisted?
The night breeze played with her robes, drifting the purple fabric across her arm and raising a chill. The garden’s silence pressed against her, a marked contrast with the noise and activity of the palace day. She breathed in the heavy scent of jasmine and curled her fingers around the lip of the stone wall.
“Palace life is not a game, constructed for your amusement.”
Her mother’s words haunted her steps throughout the day and followed her here, to the isolation of the garden. Tia rubbed at the stone wall until pieces loosened under her fingers, then picked at them and hurled them downward.
Was she nothing more than a palace pet? A mischievous cat chasing a ball of twine?
She wanted to deny it, but the thought plagued her. Though she wished to do something of importance, to have purpose, no opportunities to be anything but idle had been offered. And so, all her pursuits had been for her own amusement, as Amytis said. Tia took risks and sought thrills, but nothing was ever at stake. Oh, perhaps she chanced an injury, a physical blow. But she risked nothing of true importance. When there was a question of her privilege, her position—in this she took no chances.
Caught up in her own thoughts, she had not noticed the sound of conversation that drifted to her on the night air. A low laugh across the garden tensed her muscles.
She turned her head only slightly but saw no one, heard only muffled words. She shifted on silent feet along the length of the wall toward the voices.
“She knows nothing.” A man’s voice. Familiar, though Tia couldn’t place it.
“If not now, she will.” Another man.
“You concern yourself unnecessarily. Our secret is safe.”
Shadir . The voice belonged to the old mage, her father’s favorite. Did he frequent this garden as often as she? How often had he watched her come and go? Her heart pounded, and she held her body stone-still and silent.
“We are never safe.” The other’s voice was urgent, frightened even. “Our plan is too fragile. Too easily thwarted.”
Shadir laughed again, and it seemed to Tia like the laughter of darkness. “You forget the powers that stand behind us. We cannot fail.”
There was a pause, and then his companion responded with a voice uncertain and wavering. “I—I am not always convinced—”
“Stop. There is no room for doubt.”
“There are so many pieces to put in place. How can you be certain it will come together?”
Shadir did not answer immediately, and she leaned toward the voices, pulse racing. Had she missed his response?
But when it came, it held chilling animosity. “I have waited a lifetime to bring him down. I will not be stopped, not by an unruly princess nor her
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