Reign of Darkness (The Prince's Assassin #2) - Ariana Nash Page 0,24
are fond of fantasy tales, Yasir.”
“Granted, a few might be fiction. Besides, you’re half Seranian, aren’t you curious about your heritage?”
“A little.” There hadn’t been much time for curiosity as a blacksmith’s boy, and considering Mah’s history was a taboo subject, Niko hadn’t thought much of his family beyond the forge. The south seemed like a whole other world away and nothing to do with him.
“You’ll like this one, and it’s relevant to our friend.” He inclined his head toward Vasili.
The way he said “friend” had Niko wondering exactly what Vasili had told him. “Tell your tale, Yasir.”
“Zarqa’ al-Yamama fought against the nasdas, a hideous being that could kill just by touch, as though it drew the very soul of a person out of their body and into its own, making it stronger with every death. Zarqa’ and the nasdas warred for centuries, until Zarqa’ tricked the nasdas into a human body, like a jinni in a lamp.”
Mah had told him that one. “I’ve heard the lamp story.”
“Your mah told you about its three wishes? Did she tell you the three wishes were, in fact, keys that locked the nasdas’ prison?”
“No.”
“Most myths don’t say how Zarqa’ was a sorceress, or how her eyes were black, but I’ve heard a lot of stories, made up a whole lot too. But what I saw in your man when he killed those marauders reminded me of that old tale. I asked myself why a man of high society—he can’t hide his accent—would be traveling so humbly south, and why he needs such a formidable guard alongside him, and why, when he was threatened, his eye turned all-black, just like Zarqa’s from the legend.”
Niko pinched his lips together. This was exactly what he’d feared would happen.
Yasir side-eyed him. “The sorceress Zarqa’ trapped the nasdas in human form, inside a mountain, locking it deep inside the stone with three keys. She charged her soldiers, shirdals, with keeping it there.”
Niko squinted ahead at Vasili’s back.
“Do you know what shirdal means, Lycus?” Yasir asked.
“No.”
“Griffin. Like the Loreen King’s banner. That’s some coincidence, don’t you think?”
“Uh-huh.” Niko’s heart thudded harder. So Yasir, after seeing Vasili’s all-black eye, assumed he was some kind of sorcerer? Gods, if only it were that. The truth was more likely to be Vasili and his brother contained the split spirit of this nasdas—or as the Cavilles called it, the dark flame. “Out of interest, when did this Zarqa’ trap the nasdas inside a mountain?”
“Seven centuries ago, so the legend says.”
“Hm. Long time,” Niko said.
“Of course, it’s all fantasy,” Yasir added. “Because if the nasdas existed, that’d be some serious world-changing shit people would need to know.”
“We have enough trouble with elves.” Niko forced a laugh. “It’s just a Seranian story.”
“Yeah, except… there’s a family in Seran, known as the shirdals, among other names. I figured maybe your man might have heard about them, and given his… affliction,” Yasir gestured at his eye, “thought he might be heading their way?”
Which would make this journey no accident on Vasili’s part. If he’d read in his books about a people in the south who were aware of the dark flame, there would be no better time to visit them than now, while Vasili was temporarily free of the palace. “Interesting story.”
“Yes, I thought so too.”
“But what does it have to do with Varian?”
“Well, his eye, I thought. You don’t see something like that every day.”
“His right eye was taken by elves.”
“Not that—fuck. I had no idea. But that’s not what I meant, and you know it. I saw what he did, saw something inside him—”
Dammit, why didn’t Vasili listen? He’d known Yasir wouldn’t let it go. “I suggest you don’t mention your stories to anyone.”
“He killed those marauders like they were no more bothersome than leaves in the wind. I’ve seen men kill. What Varian did was—”
“Defend himself.”
Yasir frowned hard. “His eye, Lycus. You saw it too. That’s not normal. He has magic in him. You can’t deny it.”
“I don’t know what you want, Yasir, but I’m suggesting you don’t mention these tales to Varian—or anyone. I’d hate to think what might happen should your stories be taken for truth.”
Yasir snorted. “So it’s like that. And if I talk, what happens to me?” His glare burned Niko’s face, and Niko silently cursed Vasili all over again. “And here I was, thinking we were friends.”
Niko flinched at the man’s tone. “You were mistaken.”
“Clearly.”
His gaze found Vasili riding ahead, rocking with Adamo’s plodding motion, the reins loose in