If the cocky pirate was taken aback by Nahri’s fiery words, it was only for a moment. He shot an amused look at the shafit girl at his side. “Nobles. What did I tell you? No family loyalty.”
The girl didn’t smile. Her ears were a human round beneath curly red-black hair gathered in braids that fell to her waist, tied off with leather bands and decorated with cowrie shells and glass coins. A pattern of inky blue dotted triangles was tattooed across her brow and chin. Besides her bloody nose, a nasty gash marked one check.
She crossed her arms. “I don’t like this.” For the first time, Ali noticed a trace of familiarity in her accent. “We should take them to Shefala,” she declared, sending his heart soaring. “The queen’s family is there and would probably pay as handsomely as the Daevas. We could be there and gone in a week and wash our hands of this whole business.”
“Yes,” Ali urged, wishing he could hug her. “That is exactly what you should do. My family has enough gold to pay whatever ransom you desire.” He wasn’t normally one to boast of his family’s wealth, but he’d personally shower these two with coins if it kept him and Nahri safe.
“Enough gold to buy back my magic?” al Mudhib retorted. “You claim Manizheh is lying? Fine. Lift that seal on your face, give me a taste of my abilities, and I will consider taking you to Shefala.”
Ali hesitated, not wanting to reveal how powerless he was. “I’m not going to do that. For all I know, if I give you your magic, you’ll snap your fingers and have this ship halfway to Daevabad. But if you bring us to Shefala, I promise—”
“Your promise doesn’t carry weight anymore, al Qahtani. I’m a sailor, and I can see which way the wind is blowing. Your family has lost this round, and hers is ascendant. I don’t only want gold. I want to sail the dunes of my homeland again, and I’ll need magic for that—magic I suspect you’re not actually capable of returning to me.”
“Captain.” The shafit girl’s voice was thick with warning. “It will take us months to get to Daevabad without magic. We’ll be on the ocean for half of it, with a man they say is an ally of the marid. The crew is already whispering—”
“The crew will do as it’s told,” al Mudhib ordered, the humor gone from his voice. “As will you, Daevabadi. I’ve been sailing this ocean a hundred years and never seen a hint of any marid. Don’t tell me you’re frightened of a bunch of Ayaanle fairy tales after only a few seasons on their coast.”
Daevabadi. No wonder the girl’s accent was recognizable. But a Daevabadi shafit? Did that mean she’d escaped? Ali had never met a shafit who’d successfully fled the city they were bound to by law.
Nahri spoke up again. “You’re making a mistake.”
“We’ll see.” Al Mudhib turned back to the shafit girl. “We’ve been tarrying here too long anyway. It’s time to get the ship down, even if we need to break it into pieces and reassemble them on the shore. Tell your fellows to get started.” He jerked a thumb at Nahri and Ali. “And watch these two. If the prince starts whispering with his gilded Ayaanle tongue, feel free to cut it out.”
“And the Nahid?”
Al Mudhib looked supremely unworried. “Keep the princess fed and make sure none of the men get her alone. I don’t mean to deliver a half-starved royal weeping in her veil to the fire-worshipping lunatics running Daevabad.”
He strode off without another word.
Ali swore. “Pirates. Of all the people we could have run into.”
The shafit girl had watched al Mudhib leave, and Ali didn’t miss the relief that passed over her face when he was gone. “My captain told me to take your tongue if you talk too much,” she reminded him.
“I am going to take his head, so he can damn well say what he likes.”
She turned to regard him, a playful smile on her lips. “I’d heard Geziris were hot-tempered.”
Ali didn’t rise to the insult. He could see how badly he’d injured her and felt guilty despite the circumstances. “I’m sorry about your face.”
“Sorry you didn’t kill me, you mean.”
“I wasn’t fighting to kill.” He lifted his shackles. “But I was outnumbered.”
“You were indeed.” Curiosity lit in her eyes. “They teach you how to fight like that at the Citadel?”
“They did. And I take it you’ve seen it, if you’re Daevabadi. When were you last home?”
“A long time ago.” Her eyes dimmed. “Let me get you both some food. And please don’t do anything that would require us to kill you. This is the most excitement we’ve had in weeks.”
“Terrorizing and stealing from the local Ayaanle isn’t entertaining?”
She tapped her round ears. “I haven’t terrorized any Ayaanle, prince. Al Mudhib doesn’t let those of us with human blood out of his sight. He staked a boy to the beach last week and let the tide drown him for trying to run out on his indenture. Yes,” she added when Ali failed to mask his shock. “So you can keep your judgment to yourself.”
She strode off, and Ali waited until she was gone to speak again. “So. Apparently I kidnapped you.”
“Of course.” Rancor laced Nahri’s voice. “Even the lies Dara and Manizheh spin make me into someone who needs to be saved.” She slumped back against the deck, exhaustion creasing her face. “I’m not being delivered to them in chains. I’ll throw myself into the sea first.”
“It’s not going to come to that,” Ali insisted. When Nahri’s expression only grew more doomed, he went on. “Come now. Where is the woman who once braggingly picked a lock in Daevabad’s library?” He rattled his chains. “I’d think you delighted by the challenge.”
“Have you an actual
