Page 151 of The Jasad Crown

“He can’t, I am sure of it,” Namsa protested, worrying her lip. “I wrapped the blindfold in three rounds.”

Still groaning, Efra rolled onto his side.

I wanted to weep with frustration. This was precisely why I hadn’t wanted them to bring Arin here. They had all ignored me, convinced by Efra that my emotions had clouded my judgment, but myemotionshad wanted the contrary of what I recommended. I knew what the man behind me was capable of. “He is the Commander of the most powerful kingdom in the land. Do you think cutting off one of his senses will deprive him of the others? His hearing is better than all of ours combined. He heard Efra move, noted the position, estimated where to kick based on Efra’s height. It’s why I wanted to take his blindfold off. It serves no use. The minute you led him into this mountain, you compromised it forever.”

“Then it is a relief indeed we do not intend to release him from this mountain alive,” Efra spat, rolling to his feet. He strode toward Arin, and I spun toward him. My magic flooded me faster than it had since the battle in Mahair. My skin stretched beneath my rigid veins, and the bottom of my stomach disappeared.

Behind me, Arin finally tensed.

“Are you going to attack a man while he cannot fight back?” Igrowled. Ridiculous, given Arin had flattened Efra not one minute ago, but theprinciple—

“Move aside, Suraira.”

The soft command brushed the top of my hair. I tilted my head back to look at Arin. “You aren’t the one who gives orders here, Commander,” I whispered back.

Jeru stepped forward. “I thought the Urabi had rules about how they treated their hostages,” he said, reasonable in the face of the circulating tension.

“We do.” Eyeing Efra warily, I lowered my arms. “Namsa and I will take them to the cells.”

“Let us go gather the Aada,” Lateef said, taking Efra’s elbow in his firm grip. The older man shepherded a scowling Efra into the corridor.

As soon as Efra and Lateef vanished, a weight shifted off me. “I’m taking his blindfold off,” I told Namsa. “Do the same for Jeru, please.”

Namsa, wisely withholding her comments, stood on her tiptoes to reach for Jeru’s head.

Thumbs gentle on Arin’s cheekbones, I eased the tight blindfold off inch by inch. It slipped right over his hair, dropping to the ground behind him.

Silver lashes lifted. Pale blue eyes ringed in shadow met mine.

“Hello again,” I said.

His gaze roved over me, assessing, then drifted idly over the top of my head.

My brows drew together. Something was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. When he didn’t frown at the blindfold heaped on the ground or the giant tear in his coat, my concern tripled.

What happened after the Mirayah?

Namsa cleared her throat. “Essiya, we should go. The Aada will be waiting.”

Right. I had a measly trickle of time left before I needed to explain to the Aada why abducting Arin of Nizahl days before we headed to Jasad for Nuzret Kamel might be highlighted in history as the peak of human stupidity. Though if I did, they would argue for executing Arin on the spot.

I didn’t hold on to Arin like Namsa did to Jeru as we walked. He wouldn’t try to escape. We had already given him what he wanted.

But I was beginning to think what he wanted might not be exactly what I thought.

Darkness enveloped us at the head of the stairs. Dust motes tickled my nose, and I paused with a hand to the wall to sneeze. I shook my head, cursing the general sediment of mountains, and rubbed at my watering eyes.

Naturally, I did so while descending the next step, and my heel skidded straight off the edge of the stair.

I collided into a solid wall of muscle, saved from tilting right off the edge of the banister-less stairs. The scent of ink and rain flooded my nose. I tipped my head back—to thank him, or maybe to gauge his thoughts about the inefficiency of mountain architecture.

But as soon as he had steadied me, Arin stepped back, putting distance between us. Again, he stared clear over my head.

The spark of concern became a flame. I glanced at Jeru, hoping for an answer, but the guardsman kept his head down.

We continued to the cells without further incident. We placed Jeru in a normal cell, and Namsa insisted on putting Arin in the cell at the far right. “The bars are warded. It is our most secure cell.”

“Take Jeru’s restraints off. I will deliver the Heir to his cell.”

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