Page 34 of Dalla's Royal Guards
“That was the plan… until you disappeared,” Nasser replied.
“I thought my purpose for returning was to protect the child,” she said, her voice fading as she looked over their shoulders at the mountains behind them.
“But—?” Musad asked.
She blinked. The burning sensation was back in her eyes. She rubbed her right eye with the back of her hand before dropping it back to her side.
“I told you I’ve never returned to the same place that I have been before… until now.” She looked down and fingered the smooth section of her bow. It was the last free space. “I believe the curse that condemned me to this… might finally be broken....” She trailed off thoughtfully, her eyes returning to the mountain.
Nasser stepped closer and gripped her upper arms. His grip was firm but gentle. His expression was desperate.
“What do you mean broken?” he demanded.
She ripped her eyes away from his face to stare back at the mountain. The faint memories of a life long ago and a man who was like her—but different—rose from the shadows where she had pushed them. That man had made a promise.
“Surely, I would not have returned here if not for him,” she murmured, lost in her memory.
Musad’s tall frame blocked her view, and she lifted her eyes to his face. She swallowed, realizing she had spoken aloud given the scrutiny darkening his eyes. She shook her head.
“Who?” Musad asked.
She pursed her lips. “I need to go to the mountains. If—if I find what I am looking for there, then I will tell you everything,” she promised.
Musad’s face was a hard mask that hid his thoughts. She looked at Nasser. He gave her a grim nod. She breathed out.
“We’ll take you, and then you’ll give us answers,” Nasser said.
“I promise to answer your questions the best I can,” she agreed.
Nine
The hot wind whipped at Detri’s face as he reached the hangar entrance and looked out across the vast airfield. Over a dozen nondescript military vehicles, their paint scratched and dull, patrolled the Kashir International Airport, their engines rumbling. He needed to debrief the shaken remnants of his team. He felt a knot in his stomach; he needed more information before contacting Kramer.
Tomás, the helicopter pilot, and Gunther Krauss, a German mercenary, nodded to him. His eyes flickered over the long wooden shaft embedded in the belly of the Huey before he grimly scrutinized the two men.
“What happened?” he demanded.
Gunther’s expression was stony as he replied in a curt tone, “We were attacked.”
“Attacked? By what? A medieval Viking living in the deserts of Kashir?” he retorted, his voice laced with scorn and disbelief.
Tomás shook his head. “A woman.”
Detri’s eyes widened at the comment. “You’re telling me a woman with a bow took down a military helicopter and sent you running like neutered dogs?”
Gunther muttered a curse under his breath before he pursed his lips. He knew he wouldn’t get anything out of the German now, not after insulting him. He turned his focus to Tomás. The pilot wasn’t as sensitive.
Tomás waved a hand at the three-and-a-half foot shaft protruding from the belly of the helicopter. Detri pushed between the two men and walked over to inspect the shaft closer. The arrow had pierced through the thin sheet metal and lodged in the center. The tip was damaged, but he could see the rounded head. Crouching, he studied the section under the helicopter. He reached out and ran his fingers over the engraving burned into the wood. He didn’t recognize the words.
He rose and turned back to the two men standing silently behind him. Tomás was detaching his body cam while Gunther still looked pissed off at the world. It suddenly clicked why.
“Your brother was piloting the other helicopter, wasn’t he?” he asked.
“Ja.”
A woman had saved the Narva princes and their niece in their first confrontation. This was the second time she had gotten in his way. Detri wanted to know who she was and where she had come from.
“Get the shaft out of there and send it to someone who can read the inscription. I want to know everything there is to know about it. Check it for DNA. I want to know who the woman is,” he ordered.
