Alizayd, thank God,” the man said when he caught sight of Ali.
Ali made his way over cautiously, raising a hand to stop Lubayd and Aqisa from following him. He was here as a soldier now, not as a civilian from outer Am Gezira. “The Qaid has gone to the palace?”
Daoud nodded. “We received orders from the king that troubled him.”
“What orders?” Ali asked, instantly concerned.
Barghash, one of the louder, brasher captains spoke up. “He wants us to raze the neighborhood in which the attack took place. It is unnecessary. We found the shafit who lived in the apartments with their throats cut. The attackers must have killed them. And the attackers themselves are dead! We’ve been asked to slaughter scores of shafit for no reason other than—”
“That’s enough,” Abu Nuwas interrupted. “You took an oath when you joined the Guard to obey the king.”
“That’s not quite the oath he took,” Ali corrected. “He pledged to serve God and the security of his people. And the shafit are also our people.”
Abu Nuwas gave him an annoyed look. “Respectfully, Prince Alizayd, you hold no rank here. You are not even supposed to be here. I can have you escorted to the palace if you like.”
The threat was clear, and Ali saw more than a few men bristle … though their barbed glances were not for him.
Ali paused, seeing Muntadhir and Zaynab in his mind. Their father.
Bir Nabat and the life he might have lived.
God forgive me. God guide me. “I’m very sorry, Abu Nuwas,” he said quietly. Ali’s hand dropped to his khanjar. “But I’m not going back to the palace.”
He cracked the other man across the skull with the hilt of the blade.
Abu Nuwas fell unconscious to the dust. Two of the officers immediately went for their zulfiqars, but they were outnumbered, the remaining officers and several infantrymen lunging forward and restraining them.
“Please make sure he’s all right,” Ali continued, keeping his voice calm. He picked up the scroll from the ground, his eyes scanning the repulsive order, his father’s signature clear on the bottom.
It burst into flames in his hand, and Ali dropped it to the ground.
He gazed at the shocked soldiers around him. “I didn’t join the Royal Guard to murder innocents,” he said flatly. “And our ancestors certainly didn’t come to Daevabad to raze shafit homes while their children sleep inside.” He raised his voice. “We keep the peace, understand? That’s all that’s happening right now.”
There was a moment of hesitation among the men. Ali’s heart raced. Aqisa reached for her blade …
And then Daoud nodded, swiftly making the Geziri salute. “Your prince has issued a command,” he declared. “Draw up!”
The soldiers in the courtyard, slowly at first and then moving at the speed with which they would have obeyed Wajed, took their places.
Daoud bowed. “What would you have us do?”
“We need to secure the shafit district. I won’t have anyone seeking vengeance tonight. The gates to the midan will need to be closed and fortified—fast. I’ll need to send a message to the king.” And to my siblings, he added silently, praying he’d made more headway than he thought while arguing with them in the closet.
“What about the Geziri Quarter?” Daoud asked. “There are no gates separating us from the shafit.”
“I know.” Ali took a deep breath, considering his options and suddenly wishing he’d done a bit more scheming with Zaynab. He fidgeted with the prayer beads around his wrist. Whose support could he count on?
His fingers stilled on the beads. “I need you to get me every Geziri muezzin you can find.”
You’re a good Banu Nahida.
Nisreen’s words from the other night rang in Nahri’s mind as she stared at the sink. A good Banu Nahida. The shock in her mentor’s face, the way the spark—the jesting and the weary patience, everything that made her Nisreen—had vanished from her dark eyes, the hands that had guided Nahri’s now growing cold in the quiet of the Grand Temple.
“You need a break.” Subha’s voice yanked her from her thoughts. She threw a towel at Nahri. “You could have washed your hands a hundred times for how long you’ve been standing here staring at the water.”
Nahri shook her head, drying her hands and retying her apron. “I’m fine.”
“I’m not asking.” Nahri glanced at the other doctor, startled, and saw only determination in her eyes. “You wished to work with another healer? Fine, then I’m acting on behalf of our patients. You are not fit to treat anyone right now.”
Before Nahri