Page 27 of The Prince's Wife

"How is Master Masood?" Aradishir asked.

"I was told he was doing well as I was leaving," Queria replied. "I also sent someone to inform His Majesty of this."

Damn it. The decision was sound, but he'd really been hoping to save informing him until morning and delay the inevitable lecture that much longer. "Do we have any idea who actually did the deed yet?"

"Not yet, Your Highness," Yahra said. "We have our suspicions, as there aren't actually that many people in the city capable of this kind of work, not with this level of skill. They knew how to get inside, bypass the guards downstairs, quickly execute several people, and take Kubra away without alerting any of the surrounding houses.

"Chalk," Javed said from where he was still at the desk. "Some of these papers have traces of chalk dust on them, like it was on someone's hands or clothes."

Queria and Yahra's gazes sharpened at that, and they shared a look. Chalk wasn't native to Tavamara, except for very small deposits at the north end of the Great Desert. But even further north, their triad of neighbors had plenty, especially Lavarre, who exported it to them in exchange for glass-quality sand. That trade, along with so many other arrangements, had been suspended for a few years when hostilities arose, but had in the past year resumed. Various industries were still recovering from the shortfall, in fact, but trade matters were Bakhti'spurview, with guidance from their father. "What would chalk have to do with this?"

"Someone involved in this worked with chalk, likely responsible for moving it into or out of the warehouse. That will make it much easier to find who we're looking for," Queria replied. "I'll go find Desmaradi and get guards pointed in the right direction."

He swept from the room, leaving only Yahra, as even the other guards who'd been investigating the room had departed. "Highness, you really should not be out here. No one will attack you here in Lady Kubra's home, but anyone could assault you between here and the palace."

"They would have to get past my guards, who are better trained than the unfortunate souls who died tonight protecting Lady Kubra. Also, your son is with me, and he's the best protector I have by far. That being said, there is nothing further I can do here, if there was ever anything at all. We'll be taking the papers Javed gathered. Please bring Lady Kubra to the palace the moment you find her."

"Of course."

"Thank you." Aradishir left, his harem around him and guards flanking them, to where his horses waited in the courtyard. Out on the street, more than a few people—staff, likely, sent out by the lords and ladies of the various houses—were milling about like it was normal to stand around in the middle of the night.

Heydar held his horse, and then rested a hand on his leg once he was up, squeezing lightly in comfort and reassurance. Unfortunately, there was no guarantee whatsoever that they would find Kubra alive. He had a million questions, but everything would have to wait until they were home again. "Let's go." Heeling his horse into motion, he followed the guards back to the palace.

They'd barely reached the courtyard when Witcher himself stepped from the shadows. His father must be truly incensed to send his secret favorite to watch for him. "Your Highness."

Aradishir sighed. "Where are they?"

"The hummingbird room, Your Highness. I'm to escort you personally," Witcher said, mouth twitching with the barest hint of a smile. "For what it's worth, they aren't mad at you, only worried, and extremely angry at the situation. They want to speak with you to fully understand and sort out what steps to take next. I think you can agree this problem has spiraled beyond your scope."

"I could have handled it," Aradishir said with a sigh, but didn't argue further. Because yes, kidnapping people to force him to cooperate, or whatever they were doing, was out of control. The merchants, and whoever they were tied up with in all of this, were panicking. Acting desperately. If they were not stopped, more lives were going to be lost.

In the hummingbird room, a small parlor with an obvious theme, his parents waited. His mother had two concubines with her, Harata and Onri, and his father had Witcher and Nandakumar, who had more political acumen than the whole rest of the court combined. "Father, Mother. I did not mean for anyone to wake you. I was going to tell you everything in the morning." His parents, more than anyone, rarely got a full night of sleep, and he hated to be yet another person taking that from them.

"I'd rather be informed straight away. If they are willing to kidnap a powerful merchant, and kill to do it, they're willing to go to even greater extremes," Shah replied. "Tell us everything, every last detail of this war you have been waging. I keep apprised, but not as well as I should have, clearly."

Servants arrived then with food and strong tea, and after Heydar had poured for him, Aradishir told them everything, from the very day he had taken up the fight at his mother's command. It was a fight of a few years now, and even more acrimonious than when it had started. "I don't know why I didn't think they would do this, when they have already tried to assassinate me on two different occasions."

"Four, actually," Shah said quietly. "We simply prevented two of them before they got close enough for you to be aware of the problem."

Aradishir drew a sharp breath. "What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You have enough to worry about, and they were dealt with, so there was no reason to further burden you. Why did you insist on going to Lady Kubra's house?"

"Because I don't fully trust all the guards, even if Commander Yahra has been working hard to weed out traitors. I was worried that something important might be destroyed. As there were already plenty of guards when I arrived, it's still possible, but we did salvage what we could of the papers. Seemed strange to me that, in the midst of a kidnapping, under heavy risk of being caught, they made a point of stopping to destroy everything on that desk. I'll start going through it all after I've gotten some rest, as right now it would probably all just look like gibberish."

"At least we have a lead with the chalk, thanks to you, Lord Javed," Fahima said. "Thank you."

"I'm always happy to help however I can, Your Majesty."

"You don't have to suck up to my mother, she already likes you," Aradishir said.

"Shir," Fahima said in light reproval.

"I'm just saying, if you wanted to kill me, nothing would dissuade you."

She rolled her eyes. "There will be no killing. Mostly because I am asking nicely that you do not leave the palace again until this matter is resolved once and for all. Please do not force me to make it an order."

"I won't— I mean, I'll stay, I won't make you order me." Aradishir yawned. "So what are we going to do?"

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