‘Thank you, Samuel,’ Empress Lillith returned, and threw a dark scowl towards the desert-man in her door.
Utik’cah almost boundeddown the stairs and Samuel could not help but follow suit, sensing the urgency in his actions. They had barely reached the tethered line of camels, all sitting and chewing with their jutting,yellow teeth, when Utik’cah was shouting at his team to depart. His men scurried about and began ordering the stubborn animals to their feet.
Samuel had no sooner mounted with the Koian woman clinging behind him, than the desert-men began shouting and starting out the gates. Samuel held on fiercely to the sun-warmed saddle. Already, he could sense the energies of the desert in turmoil. Looking over his shoulder, he could feel the storm approaching-a great tyrant of power rampaging in the distance.
They were only about halfway back to Hol when the desert-men began looking even more anxious. All of a sudden, they began shouting and pulling their camels aside and desperately pulling the bundles from the animals’ backs. Samuel was left not knowing what to do, until Utik’cah came scrambling towards them.
‘Get down! Get down!’ he called.
Samuel slipped from the high saddle and landed spryly on the golden sand, but he had forgotten about the Koian woman latched onto him, and she came sprawling down behind him, head first. He ignored her curses and splutterings as he interrogated Utik’cah.
‘What’s going on?’ he asked with concern.
‘The storm is upon us. It is greater and faster than we expected. We should not have left Yi’sit, but it is too late to go back now. We musttake shelter at once!’
The men had already thrown down some leathers and canvases and had started constructing a number of small, rounded, sturdy-looking tents. Utik’cah grabbed Samuel and the Koian woman roughly and dragged them to the first one that was readied.
‘No matter what happens, wait inside,’ he told them. ‘Sit still and we will come for you when we can.’
Samuel was about to ask what he meant, when a shrill scream sounded and something obscured the sun. Day became dusk as Samuel turned and saw a wall of darkness falling upon them,a storm-front of wind and sand that blocked out the very sun. Utik’cah gave them a shove and they were both insidewhenthe shadow struck. It was a sudden transition from the clamour and panic of the desert-men outside, to an unspeakable howling of wind and shaking of their tent, as if maddened banshees had descended upon them. Their refuge was tiny and Samuel was pressed against one side with the Koian against him. The struts and framework that kept the structure intact rattled and shook violently. The windward side of the tent began to bend in and Samuel could feel the soft sand pushing in upon them.
‘What’s happening?’ the woman beside him asked, but Samuel only hushed her impatiently.
There was no sound of the men outside; indeed,there was no sound other than the overpowering roaring of the wind and,after only a few minutes,a dark line had begun tracing its way up the tent as the sand piled up around them.
As timewore on, Samuel grew increasingly worried, for the line continued to rise and the light dimmed with each moment. Finally, as the creeping line reached the top of their shelter, they were left in utter blackness. Their only solace was that the noise of the storm was now muffled so as to be bearable.
‘Magician?’ came a muted whimper from beside him. ‘I’m afraid.’
‘Just be quiet,’ he told her. ‘We will wait for the storm to subside. Then Utik’cah will come to find us.’
She bumped against him as she struggled to be comfortable.
‘Sit still!’ he told her, for the tent was already deformed under the weight of the sand, and he did not relish the thought of their shelter collapsing beneath itand suffocating them.
‘I need air!’ she hissed back at him, and he could sense that she had sat up.
He did the same and his head bumped into the roof-such a thin barrier to maintain their tiny bubble of sanctuary within the sand. He sat quietly, listening for the others, but all he could hear was her breathing,faster and more urgent.
‘Breath slowly,’ he told her. ‘If you keep that up you will use all of our air.’
‘It is my air to use!’ she barked back at him, but he had no reply for such a statement.
They sat long in the darkness, waiting for some sign of rescue. It was hot and Samuel could feet condensation on the inside material when he brushed against it. Distantly, the storm continued to murmur, whispering its secrets in some timeless,unintelligible tongue.
‘Why did you lie to your Queen, Magician?’ she said after some time, breaking the silence.
‘Empress Lillith? What do you mean? I did not lie to her. What do you know? You cannot even understand when we speak.’
‘I don’t understand the words but I understand your tone and the expressions on your face. The word for
‘Only to get what we need. It is not something the Empress needed to know.’
‘I think you lie to yourself, also,’ she told him. ‘It is not something you were forced to do. You choseto doso willingly.’
A moment of silence.
‘It helps our cause,’ said Samuel.
‘She is responsible for countless deaths,for killing your friend and my countrymen.’
‘Why do you sound so insulted? Have I done anything to you?’
‘I was stolen from my family, raised as a god and used as a puppet. Even now,I am a toy for Canyon and the likes of you. My life was stolen and I know nothing about common people or their lives. All I see are the ghosts of their fears and ambitions, played out in their colourless dreams. I can see the lives of those around me, butInever participate, because I don’t know how. I have spent every moment in some temple or hidden away, practising pointless rituals. Why should I not be insulted? All I want is for someone-anyone-to be honest with me. You were the last person in the world that I had any faith in. Is it so much to ask?’
Samuel had no comforting words for her and he lay back down as best he could, with his knees bent up to keep his feet from pressing against the wall of the tent. It was much later before she did the same, wordlessly shifting down beside him. After several hours, the hum of the storm still sounded, but Samuel guessed it was now night time above them.
‘Can you not even make a light for us?’ she asked, but Samuel did not even try. Everything she said seemed designed toirritate him.
He awoke many hours later and listened for the storm. It was very dim, but he could hear it just on the edge of his perception, droning far away. Her steady breath sounded beside him and he guessed she was asleep. There was a weight across his chest and it took him a moment to realise it was her arm. His own arm was leaden and bristling with pins and needles, for she had rolled upon it. He tried to pull it out from beneath her, but it caused her to stir and she rolled even closer,with her nose against his shoulder.
He could smell scented soap in her hair and he was wondering if he should just ask her to move, when she sidled against him and kissed his cheek. Again, he was not sure if she was awake, so he froze still. Again she kissed him and he felt her fingers crawl up to his chin, where she pulled his mouth against her own. The warmth of her lips was welcoming and he began to kiss her in response. She hugged him properly and he then knew she was no longer asleep. Wordlessly, they lay together, embraced in darkness.
Voices and rough scratching against the outside of the tent roused Samuel and a brilliant slit of sunlight fell in upon him.
‘Samuel!’ came the voice of Utik’cah. ‘I-’ but the voice stopped and the opening was shut again as quickly as it had opened, leaving Samuel blinking at the dim light that found its way through the coarse material. ‘I will give you a moment.’
Samuel realised he was still intertwined with the Koian woman. Her eyes were wide open, and she was looking at him-horrified. She squirmedaway fromhim and he found his clothes scrunched up behind him against the wall of the tent. It was difficult, but he managed to wriggle his way into his robes while she held her own clothes across herself, watching him all the while.
