The Rose & the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn #2) - Renee Ahdieh Page 0,116

smile as Shahrzad glided into view. She was dressed in simple clothing. A cream qamis and pale grey sirwal trowsers. Her wavy hair fell to her shoulders, and she was unadorned, save for the jeweled dagger at her hip.

But she was, as ever, a queen.

Khalid watched as Salim tried in vain to conceal his shock.

“Are you surprised?” Shahrzad asked, her hazel eyes lambent. “I suppose you’ve tasked many soldiers with finding me. Or perhaps you did not think I would manage to find my way out of your city?” She took her seat beside Khalid.

The Sultan of Parthia managed to mask his shock with admirable speed. He tried to smile at Shahrzad, but his smile lacked the odious surety of before. “I continue to be impressed with you, Shahrzad al-Khayzuran. But it’s clear you had assistance in escaping. Perhaps you could regale me with the story one day, so that I can be certain to address the lapses in my security.”

“Oh, it’s quite the story.” Shahrzad grinned. “And I did have a great deal of help. But if you don’t mind, I think I’ll let your daughters tell you the story.”

THE ROSE

SHAHRZAD WATCHED WITH BITTER SATISFACTION WHILE Salim Ali el-Sharif was undone by his daughters. First one, then the other.

As his plans were utterly routed.

Though it did little to fill the hollow left in her chest after Rahim’s death, Shahrzad did feel a shadowed sort of satisfaction to see Salim fall at the hands of women. Especially at the hands of those he’d been so willing to cast aside or use as pawns.

It was time for Salim to learn that his daughters were much more than objects to be used and discarded at his whim.

But the true difficulty had come when Salim had been faced with Yasmine.

It was easy for him to disregard Despina. He’d done so for most of her life. But Yasmine? Yasmine was the daughter Salim had loved. The daughter he’d prized.

She had been his future.

“What would you have me do, Yasmine?” Salim asked once he’d realized the full breadth of her treachery.

Yasmine’s lovely eyes welled with tears. But she did not cry. As Shahrzad had long suspected, there was an undeniable strength to her, even in the most trying of times. “I would have you stop this, Father. Stop this endless fighting. This endless unrest.”

“I did this for you. To ensure your future.”

“No.” Yasmine shook her head. “You did it for many reasons, but if you’d ever paused to hear my thoughts, you would know this was not what I wanted. You do not know what I want.”

Salim’s features hardened. “What do you want?”

“I want to go through life and not regret all that I am.”

“I have never—”

“You have.” She sat tall. “Had you not been who you are, perhaps I would not have repelled those I truly care for. Perhaps then I could have found the happiness I sought.”

Shahrzad saw Yasmine’s eyes flit to Khalid for less than an instant. It was not intentional. And Shahrzad did not resent it, for she understood. Yasmine had known all along that her father’s deplorable actions had been a hindrance to her union with Khalid.

Yasmine took a deep breath. “Perhaps then you would not have had to resort to such base means to achieve your goals.”

Anger lighted Salim’s gaze once more. “And now that we are here, what is to become of us, daughter? For in doing what you have done, you have abased our family. Would you have me surrender? Would you have us lose all for your childish hopes?”

She did not respond.

“You may do as you please, Salim,” Khalid replied instead. “You may turn and walk from this table now, if that is what you wish to do,” he continued. “But the gates of your city will burn until dawn. And once they are gone, there is nothing to stop us from laying siege to Amardha.” Khalid leaned forward. “But I would rather not. I would rather not kill so many people for my pride and your conceit.”

“Then you would have me surrender?” Salim bit out in a wrathful whisper.

“You surrendered the moment you appeared before my tent.”

A wave of fury passed across the sultan’s face. “And what of the others involved in this? Many of your bannermen have supplied arms and funds to this cause. What of them?” His voice grew louder. “What of Reza bin-Latief?”

It was Tariq who spoke in response to this charge. “Make no mistake: my plotting uncle will be dealt with.