You make it safely to the cupola and race down the winding stairs leading deep underground. You dodge falling debris as you run through the final tunnel. You hear Dastan following right behind you. You stop suddenly and signal him to stay back. You both duck behind a column and peer out.
Towering over the ma.s.sive chamber is the gigantic Sandgla.s.s.
103.
You can"t abandon Dastan. You turn to face the Ha.s.sansins, gripping the Dagger.
The Persian army, which just a moment ago had their weapons trained on you, now start fighting the Ha.s.sansins. Dastan fights beside his brother; Seso and Amar bravely face the enemy with whatever they can get their hands on to use as weapons.
But it seems the pit vipers are trained to seek out the Dagger. They ignore your friends and head straight to you. Very quickly they surround you.
You slash at them, but it"s no use. There are too many of them. The moment you kill one, another bites you. Then another. With weakening strength you watch first Garsiv, then Seso and Amar, and finally Prince Dastan, all succ.u.mb. Even the Persian guards with their crossbows can"t outfight the vicious Ha.s.sansins.
You can"t fight anymore either; the poison is rushing through your veins. Your knees buckle, and you collapse to the ground. The last thing you remember, before your eyes shut forever, is someone prying the Dagger from your fingers.
"I"m sorry," you whisper to the G.o.ds, your ancestor, and perhaps most of all, to Prince Dastan.
THE END.
When you come to, you"re alone and the Dagger is gone. You wonder how long you"ve been out.
You slowly find your way out of the cave, not knowing what you"ll discover. Not knowing what to do next. You see that a terrible slaughter took place outside. The Ha.s.sansins are gone.
You find Dastan, kneeling beside his dead brother Garsiv.
"I"m sorry," you tell him.
"At the end, he believed me," Dastan says, his eyes full of pain. "Saved me, even."
You nod.
Now he looks at you more closely. "The Dagger?"
"It"s gone," you confess. You feel so defeated, so . . . lost. "Protect the Dagger. No matter the consequences. That was my sacred duty. That was to be my destiny."
You look away, unable to meet his gaze. You don"t want him to see the confusion and hopelessness in your eyes.
"We make our own destiny, Princess," Dastan declares. He takes your face in his hands and turns it. He looks deeply into your eyes. "We"ll get it back," he promises.
15.
Later that day, you accompany Dastan to the stables at the edge of the bazaar. This is where he is to meet with his uncle. His plan is to prove his innocence, but you have a plan of your own.
Dastan studies the crowd, and you realize he"s spotted his uncle. The hooded man picks up a pomegranate. Dastan sidles up to him.
"You used to buy those for me when I was a boy," Dastan says.
"You would spit the seeds at Garsiv," the man replies, lowering his hood. Yes, it"s Nizam. "You should not have asked me here, Dastan."
"I had no choice, Uncle."
Dastan grips his uncle"s arm and nods at you. You nod back. Then he pulls Nizam into an empty livestock room. You stand where he can see you, acting as bodyguard.
For a few moments, anyway, you watch, but once they seem to be engaged in deep conversation you slip away. With the Dagger.
I wonder how Dastan will react when he discovers I replaced the Dagger with the sultan"s silver nutcracker, you think. For a moment you feel a pang of regreta"then shake it off.
You have to get the Dagger to safety. Let Dastan fend for himself.
58.
You take a deep breath, focus, and race at the wall. You leap up and press off the wall with one foot, sending all your energy upward. You graze the wall with your other foot, twist in midair above Roham"s head, and plant your foot again. The momentum brings you over him, and you push off againa"this time somersaulting back to the ground. Amazingly, you land on your feet.
You did it!
Dastan gapes at you, but he"s clapping as hard as everyone else. "Maybe I should take lessons from you," he says.
"Now for the promise," you remind him. "You said you"d give the man anything he wants."
"I said I"d give it to the man," Dastan says, stepping closer to you. He brings his lip to your ear and whispers, "not to the princess." He looks down at your bare feet and ankles. "Interesting tattoos."
Fear races through you like cold water. He knows.
You step away from him. "The prince is going back on his promise?" you demand. "I had no idea he had no honor."
Now the crowd begins to taunt Dastan, though they seem pretty good-natured. They"re his men, after all.
But Dastan holds up a hand to quiet them. "I would never go back on a wager. Tell me, sir," he says, his eyes twinkling with amus.e.m.e.nt, "what is it you would like?"
119.
You force yourself not to smirk as Dastan reluctantly hands you the Dagger.
"Good luck with such a deceitful wretch as your bride," Dastan says to Tus as he stomps out of the room.
"Thank you," you say to Tus, slipping the Dagger into the waistband of your skirt. "It is nice to know that there are honorable Persians."
Tus smiles and gives you a little nod. "I hope this will set things straight with your maidservant"s family."
"Everything will be all right now," you say. "Of that I"m certain."
You head to your chamber, and as you turn a corner you run into Prince Dastan.
"You may have won this round, Princess," he snarls, "but be warned. I will be keeping watch. You harm any of my family and I will make you pay."
You can tell by his ferocious expression that he means every word he says. You have made a powerful enemy. Yet you feel drawn to hima"and his conviction.
You cannot let that worry you. Because the next thing you need to plan is your escape from the marriage.
But after how easily you retrieved the Dagger, you have no doubt you will find a way. Your role as a Guardian of the Dagger of Time has been tested, and you succeeded admirably in protecting it. You won"t allow something as silly as a political marriage to keep you from your true destiny.
Not even a prince as handsome and courageous as Dastan.
THE END.
No one notices you as you scurry out of the palace compound. If I were a prince, where would I spend my time? you wonder. Then bitterness stabs your heart. The correct question is: where would an invading Persian celebrate his cruel victory?
You push down your anger, mixed as it is with sorrow, and try to think. Often you"ve heard of soldiers celebrating in the taverns. Working men, too. If nothing else, there"d be talk. Dressed as one of them, the men may very well talk to you.
You rarely travel beyond the safety and comfort of the palace compound, other than on an occasional trip accompanied by guards. You feel a wave of excitement at being able to explore while unrecognized and virtually unseen. Then you remind yourself of your true task: to protect the Dagger, no matter the consequences.
You have heard of a district where there are many taverns as well as places for sport. You have only a vague notion of where it might be, but you set off, determined.
45.
You trudge after him, your mind reeling with his revelation. Then you spot something odd up ahead. As you come closer, you realize the gruesome truth. Skeletons mounted on stakes dot the landscape. You and Dastan stop and stare at the sun-bleached bones.
"Who were these people?" you ask.
"Years ago, this valley held the biggest salt mine in the empire," Dastan tells you. "Until its slaves rose up. Killed their masters." He nods at the skeletons. "I heard they boiled them alive."
You try to hide your shudder. Dastan grins at you. "Welcome to the Valley of the Slaves," he says.
You enter the valley. Dastan leads Aksh through the cauldron of red sand, scanning for signs of trouble. You trail behind. Every fiber of your being is protesting. You do not want to take another step deeper into this dangerous territory You eye Dastan up ahead of you. Maybe you can bribe him for the Dagger. Or maybe you could pretend to faint, and when he comes to rescue you, you can steal it back.
Neither are foolproof plans. But you"ve got to do something before you go any further.
If you pretend to faint, 50
If you try to bribe him, 32
"The dagger you wear in your belt," you announce.
You see you"ve surprised him. Well, what did he think you"d ask for? Pretty dresses? Jewelry? He doesn"t know you at all.
But will he do it?
He holds your gaze a moment, clearly weighing his next move. But he truly can"t deny you, not in front of his friends. Can he?
He pulls the dagger from his belt and examines it. You guess he"s trying to understand why it"s so important to you. You hold your breath.
Then he shrugs and holds it out to you. You take it from him, your hands trembling. You did it. You retrieved the Dagger!
Now you just have to get it safely out of the city and to its resting place in the temple found in the Hidden Valley. There is no time to lose! With a nod of thanks to Dastan, and before he can stop you, you race off. You need to find your horse, Astrella, and ridea"fast!
40.
You hear a moaning and feel tiny brushes across your face, tugs on your hair. "Stop!" you shout. "Who are you? What do you want?"
There"s another lightning flash and your stomach tightens. There must be dozens of people! Some appear to have slit throats, others look ravaged by disease, some are very old; there are even some children who look as if they wasted away.
They look, you think with a shudder, dead. But that cannot be. . . .
"You are the one we"ve been waiting for," a disembodied voice says. It sounds like a chorus of echoes.
"What do you mean? What do you want me for?"
"We"ve been waiting so long," the voices moan. "You have what we need."
Now you feel tugs at your clothing, and it"s clear from Astrella"s behavior she feels them pawing through the saddlebags. In another lightning burst you realize the people are transparent. The truth hits you. You"re surrounded by ghosts.
"What are you looking for?" you demand. "Who are you?"
"We are the ones who have always been here. But no one stays. No one helps us. We want to go back."
"Back where?" you ask. Where would ghosts be trying to go? And why would they think you could help them get there?
"Not where. When!"
Cold fear rises in you. Now you understand. They want the Dagger!
29.
"I won"t allow you to risk it," you insist. "This is my destinya"not yours."
Before he can say another word, you scurry to the cupola and down a winding staircase.
An earthquake shakes the walls, the floor. All is collapsing around you. You don"t carea"you have to stop Nizam.
He is approaching the Sandgla.s.s, his focus so intent that he doesn"t even seem to be aware of the shaking and rumbling.
"Stop!" you cry. "Don"t do it."
He turns and looks at you. And laughs. "You think you can stop me? A mere girl?"
That makes your blood boil. You charge at him. Then the ground rises up and cracks. This time the earthquake splits the floor!
Nizam stumbles, and as he desperately struggles to find something to hold on to, he stabs the Dagger into the Sandgla.s.s. The glimmering sand begins to flow. Pulled into it, you see time begin to rewind.
You go all the way back to . . .