from falsehood, it is most useful.” He bowed. “I shall tell the emir that you are who you claim to be.”
“Wait,” said Caina. Mazyan’s scowl deepened, and he reached for his sword, but Sulaman stopped him. “Since you are so well-informed, you have probably guessed what I plan to attempt.”
“Some of it,” said Sulaman. “You are with Nasser, so likely you share the same goal.”
Caina wondered how much Sulaman knew about Nasser. Did he know that Nasser had once been the last Prince of Iramis? Nasser and Sulaman had clearly worked together in the past. How much did Nasser know about Sulaman? For that matter, did Tanzir know about either of them? And that did not even factor in whatever game Samnirdamnus was playing with her and Morgant.
No wonder Caina had been so agitated lately. She was in the middle of a web of secrets and lies, and though she had constructed much of it herself, she could not see all of it.
“Any counsel you can give me?” said Caina. “You’ve aided me before. Against the Huntress, and when I sought Morgant the Razor.”
“Yes,” said Sulaman. “I heard that you had found him. Tell me, Master Ciaran. Do we share the same goal?”
“You told me,” said Caina, “that you wanted to protect the people of Istarinmul. If Callatas is not stopped, he will kill the people of Istarinmul. That alone, I think, should be reason to help me.”
Sulaman inclined his head. “Very well. When you go to the Inferno, you must do as you have always done, or you shall perish.”
“And what have I always done?” said Caina.
“Break the chains,” said Sulaman. “Shatter the bonds. Free the slaves.”
“I don’t understand,” said Caina.
“You shall,” said Sulaman, “when the hour is upon you, for it is in your nature. That is all the aid I can give you for now, I fear.” He hesitated. “One secret I shall share with you, and one only.”
Mazyan growled. “Master…”
Sulaman raised a hand, and the hulking bodyguard fell silent, though he kept glowering at Caina.
“Callatas knows of me,” said Sulaman, “and he suffers me to live, for he thinks he may have need of me in the future. Yet if he realizes that I am his enemy, that I have aided his foes, he will either kill me or imprison me in a place like the Inferno. So I am limited in what I can do. Those words, scanty as they are, are all the aid I can give you for now.”
“I understand,” said Caina. “And your aid has saved my life more than once before. Thank you.” He had told her where to find Morgant the Razor, which in turn had led her to finding Kylon in the Ring of Cyrica. And if she had not found Kylon and Morgant on that day, if she had been alone, the Sifter would have killed her.
“I am glad,” said Sulaman. “May the Living Flame watch over you.” The poet bowed to her, and she bowed back. Sulaman left the room. Mazyan glared a little longer, and then turned and departed as well.
A few moments later Tanzir Shahan, emir of the Vale of Fallen Stars, walked into the tower chamber.
He had changed so much that Caina barely recognized him at first.
In Malarae he had been fat, so fat that he had trouble walking long distances. Tanzir had lost a great deal of weight since then, and while he was still stout, the climb up the tower stairs had not winded him. He wore chain mail and plate armor without discomfort, as if he had grown used to it. His face was harder, leaner, with fresh lines marking his bronze-colored skin despite his youth. He looked, in fact, like his dead brother, and Caina felt a twinge of alarm. Just how much like Rezir had Tanzir become?
Then he stopped and stared at her, the astonishment plain upon his face, and Caina remembered the terrified young man that had come to Malarae to negotiate peace between the Padishah and the Emperor.
“Sonya Tornesti?” Tanzir said. “It truly is you?”
Caina bowed. “My lord emir. It has been a long time.”
Tanzir started to pace back and forth. That was new, too. He had never preferred to stand when a chair was at hand. “When my khalmir told me that the mercenaries claimed to have a message from you, I was sure it was a trick. Or a trap. The Living Flame knows that the Teskilati have tried to have me killed a half-dozen