Red Hood's Revenge

Talia whispered. “We still need to secure Rajil and the others.”
    Another of the guards joined Naheer. “I will see that no one leaves this garden or cries for help until you’re safely away from the mansion, Princess.”
    “As will I,” said a third. The rest held back, though none of Rajil’s guards appeared eager to take up arms and defend her.
    “You can’t,” Talia said. “Rajil will—”
    “Forgive me, Princess,” said Naheer. “But our lives are yours now. Rajil has witnessed our choice. You can’t scrape the memories from her mind.”
    “ I can’t, no.” Without another word, Talia grabbed the back of Rajil’s robe and hauled her to her feet. Talia’s arm snaked around Rajil’s throat. Her other hand gripped her wrist, and she pulled tight. Rajil struggled briefly, but Talia’s hold cut off the blood to Rajil’s head, and she soon slumped. Talia dropped Rajil to the ground and turned to Snow.
    “And once again you turn to the sorceress for help.” Snow grinned as she pressed a hand to Rajil’s forehead. “I can probably block the memory for a few days. I’ll try to make her sleep a while as well. What about the other guards?”
    “We’ve fought together before,” said Naheer. “Every man here took an oath to protect his fellows.”
    And not one had moved to stop Talia from knocking Rajil unconscious. Talia blinked hard. A lump in her throat kept her from speaking. Instead, she simply clasped Naheer’s arm in her hand and squeezed.
    He hesitated before returning the greeting, an old street gesture between brawlers. “Come, Your Highness,” he said. “The sooner you leave this place, the safer you’ll be.”

    The one called Naheer led them down the steps. Danielle didn’t understand what had happened, but something in the garden had changed for Talia. Confidence and uncertainty warred on her face with no clear winner, but she appeared even more determined than before to lead them to safety.
    Danielle spoke softly to Faziya, encouraging her with every step to keep her from fleeing back to the garden. Faziya was visibly trembling. Talia had tried twice to comfort her, but both times Faziya had shied away, hiding behind Danielle.
    Between Naheer’s calm presence and Roudette snarling at anyone who stared, they reached the back of the mansion unchallenged. The stables were built into the rear wings, with the back courtyard walled off to provide a small yard for the horses.
    The inside of the stable smelled of dust, barley, and manure. Naheer shouted something to the boy mucking out one of the empty stalls. The boy set his pitchfork against the wall and hurried away.
    Danielle approached the closest stall. She wasn’t as comfortable on horseback as her friends, but she had learned enough to recognize a beautiful animal when she saw it. This was a gray mare, smaller than the horses back home, long- necked and muscular. Even in the confines of her stall, she held head and tail high, giving her a proud appearance.
    Naheer was saddling a roan mare. The saddles were shorter and wider than Danielle was used to, with large saddlebags. The boy returned a short time later, carrying blankets and waterskins.
    “What did Naheer say to him?” Danielle asked.
    Snow grinned. “The boy is Naheer’s nephew. He said to prepare the horses and that he’d box his ears if he loitered about to flirt with the girls inside.”
    “What will happen to him, once Rajil remembers?” Danielle asked.
    Snow translated the question, as well as Naheer’s response. “He is family. I will take him from this place tonight, and I will keep him safe.” The obvious worry when he looked at his nephew gave the lie to his threat to beat the boy for any delay.
    “Where do we go from here?” Danielle didn’t know everything that had been said in the garden, but Snow had summarized Talia’s exchange with Rajil. “We still don’t know where to find Zestan.”
    “Faziya might.” Talia threw a saddle onto a third horse. “We leave the city and do what we can to restore her, and we hope she learned more than we did.”
    Talia even sounded different. Her words were . . . not calmer, but more certain.
    “What can I do?” asked Danielle.
    “Keep Faziya calm.” Talia yanked the second saddle tight and moved on to the gray mare.
    “Uh-oh.” Snow touched the empty spot on her choker where the mirror had been. “Our fairy friend is back.”
    Talia barked an order in Arathean. The boy paled and argued