"My husband has already sent word to your father with one of his falcons," Zara told her. "You will not need to tell him yourself."
Amani glanced at the Falcon Princess in awe. How had she known what she'd been thinking? She supposed the colors in Zara's head told her a lot about a person's thoughts. Her hand was on her shoulder, after all.
"I am a failure," Amani whispered, her chin trembling.
"You are not a failure!" Disbelief resounded in Zara's voice.
"I am," she insisted. "I've been passed over for marriage five times and here I return to Suridesh divorced, by the very man who denied me twice."
"No, the god of Spiders was directing your path."
Amani wiped her eyes and glanced at her friend. "You think so?"
"I do. Khalil and I are very close to the god of Falcons. He has guided us through our lives, and we have felt his touch on our hearts. I have no doubt the god of Spiders is at work here as well."
"How could being rejected be the work of the Spider god?"
"Our gods can see all of creation laid out before them. The god of Spiders knew that one day Karis would pass. He knew you would be the one to heal his steward's heart. He didn't wish for you to marry the Scarab or any other man your father offered you to." Zara touched Amani's arm. "You were meant to be with the Spider Prince, Amani. The god of Spiders gave him Karis that so he could better love you."
"How could he possibly love me as much as he loved Karis?"
"Ziyad has come to care for you. Probably a lot more than you think. He can love you and he can love Karis. One love does not cancel out the other."
"Perhaps." Amani glanced up at the city gates. "There is my mother!"
Zara smiled and raised her hand. "Go and be with her."
Amani briskly walked the short distance and embraced Marad with tears in her eyes. Her sisters weren't too far behind.
"Where is Father?" Amani asked, wishing she could hide from prying eyes.
"He didn't want to come and shame you further with even more gossip," Marad said, keeping her voice quiet.
Amani took a deep shuddering breath. "I'm sorry, Mother!"
Marad pulled her to her chest and let her weep on her shoulder. "It is not your fault your husband divorced you. The Spider Prince is the one who should be sorry for giving up the most beautiful woman in the desert. And it will be my pleasure to tell him that when he arrives for the Council."
Amani was helpless to do anything more than follow her family back through the gates. She kept her eyes firmly on her feet, avoiding the curious gaze of onlookers, until she reached her father's white tent. Once inside, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, she was home.
~ * ~
Ziyad left his caravan the moment they came to rest outside the walls of Suridesh. The Falcon's caravs weren't too far away. That meant Amani was here.
The sun was low on the horizon. By the looks of things, Ziyad had made good time. He'd been only a few hours behind Khalil. Those long days of being on the move had paid off.
He ignored the people of his old friend. Those in green robes watched him curiously as he strode around their caravs and into the city. Many people stopped what they were doing to watch the Spider stalk by. A few whispered to each other.
His face was set—he was determined to win back the heart of his wife.
This wasn't going to be easy.
But was anything truly easy?
Ziyad rounded a bend and sighed with relief the moment he laid eyes on Ahmed's tent. He licked his lips and swallowed hard. But before he could announce himself outside the tent flap, Ahmed himself came out to greet him, with a stern look on his otherwise welcoming features. Ziyad looked down at him.
When the governor didn't say a word, Ziyad spoke. "I am here to see my wife."
"You have no wife."
After the long, harrowing push to get to Suridesh, Ziyad was in no mood to play games. "I am here for Amani."
"My daughter is not here."
Ziyad growled. "Do not lie to me, Ahmed. I know she rode the Falcon's caravan."
The rotund little man nodded and his jowls shook. "That's right. And she is a guest in the Falcon's royal tent. I suggest you look there. Although I do not believe you are welcome."
Ziyad took a deep breath and sighed hard. "Then I will go there."
He turned to leave, but Ahmed stopped him. "You will not be allowed to see her, Spider. She does not wish to see you."
"She is my wife. She will see me."
"You divorced her. Therefore, you cannot stand in her presence until you face the Princes' Council."
Ziyad slowly turned to face Ahmed. "The Princes' Council?"
"Yes," the governor said, clearing his throat nervously. "The Falcon has called the princes to Suridesh to make you stand trial, to decide if your wedding vows to Amani are still intact. But by the pain and suffering you have caused my daughter, I pray they vote no."
Ziyad was taken aback by the venom in the man's words. But he bowed his head anyway, in a sign of respect. "Then I will take my leave of you, Ahmed. Until the Council."
With that, Ziyad turned on his heel and retreated down the road. If Amani was staying at the Falcon's tent, there was no way Khalil would let him see her. Perhaps he could find a way to sneak in. Surely she wouldn't turn him away.
He hoped.
~ * ~
Ziyad waited until night had fallen. Khalil's royal tent was dark. He knew where the prince and his wife slept. He also knew where the prince allowed his guests to stay. They had their own space in the rear of the tent, partitioned off from the main living area.
And that was where Amani had to be.
Looking left and right, Ziyad prepared to lift the outer wall of the tent to go under it. But a booming voice in the darkness stopped him cold.
"Ziyad Bihar, what do you think you are doing?"
He groaned loudly. That was Khalil, and by the sound of his voice, he was gloating.
"I am here to see my wife, Falcon," Ziyad growled. "Care to stop me?"
Khalil glanced around the empty street as if looking for someone. "Hmm, I didn't know you had a wife, Spider."
"Don't play this game with me," Ziyad said, moving away from the tent and crossing his arms on his chest. "I have come a long way to make amends, and you will not get in my way."
"I am not playing a game." The Falcon's voice had become deceptively calm. If Ziyad didn't know him better, he wouldn't think he was furious at all. "Amani doesn't wish to see you. And by the law of the princes, you cannot see her until the Council has convened."
"And how long will that take?" Ziyad asked in frustration.
"As long as it takes for Tariq, Qadir, Siraj and Jaden to
arrive."
"You have no right to keep Amani from me, Khalil." Ziyad tried hard to ignore the nagging in his gut that told him Khalil did have that right. He'd witnessed Ziyad's mistake, and so had both of their caravans.
"You cannot pretend nothing happened at your oasis, Spider. You divorced Amani, and no amount of wishing it was otherwise can undo what you have done. At first, I thought this was the best thing you'd ever done for her. But now I'm not so sure. For the entire trip to Suridesh, your wife never emerged from her carav. At least not until we were almost here. She has removed your ring from her finger and adopted the green of my people. Amani is more than welcome to ride my caravan if the princes decide she is better off without you and your black heart."
Ziyad sucked in his breath. "She removed my colors?"
Khalil nodded slowly. "You have broken her. The woman she once was is gone. She no longer smiles. She no longer laughs. And with this disgrace, she will never find a man who loves her."
"She cannot be with another, she is my wife!" Ziyad couldn't keep his voice down no matter how much he wanted to. He ran his fingers through his hair in an effort to keep a grip on his raging terror.
"She is not!" Khalil fired right back. "Amani is free of you, Ziyad. If she wanted, she could marry anyone—Hyram perhaps—and be happy."
Ziyad's eyes narrowed as fury blinded him. "Hyram was here?"
Khalil gave him a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "While you strode to Ahmed's tent, your cousin came here. He had a nice chat with Amani before returning to your caravan."
"Gods," Ziyad whispered, feeling bile rising up in the back of his throat.
"If she wishes to marry the man, I will gladly oversee her ceremony. Then she would return to your caravan. Except this time, she'd have the right to sit near you at their wedding feast, instead of with the servants."
Ziyad's breathing quickened as panic began to overwhelm him. "She wouldn't marry Hyram. She has told
me she doesn't find him handsome."
"Are you sure of that?" Khalil asked, his voice gentler. "He has shown her more compassion and friendship than you ever did. Amani needs a man who will love her, Ziyad. If that man is not you, then let that man be your cousin. Find another to bear your heirs. You said yourself one woman is like any other."
"I made a mistake, Falcon. I need to right it."
"If fixing your mistake is your only concern, then she will not return to you. The princes will not agree to allow your wedding vows to stand unless you claim her as your princess."
Ziyad watched helplessly as Khalil pulled something from the folds of his robes. The Falcon held up a new Spider armband, made of platinum and onyx. It shone in the light of the moons and Ziyad gasped at its beauty.
"I know you buried your armband with Karis," Khalil said. "And I also know you consider her your princess, but she is dead, my friend. Amani is warm and alive. She can love you for the rest of your life. Karis never can." He lifted the armband. "Zara made this for you. If you want to keep Amani, if she is the only woman for you, if your heart burns with jealousy at the mere mention of Hyram's name, then you must give her this. You must claim her. Or else merely divorcing her will not be the biggest mistake of your life. If you don't claim her, it will haunt you forever."
With trembling hands, Ziyad reached for the band. Khalil gave it to him and stepped back.
"Wait for the Council, my friend. Then make your choice."
Ziyad watched as Khalil disappeared around the side of his tent. He clutched his new armband to his chest while his stomach fluttered wildly. Either Amani was to be the next Spider Princess or he'd have to let her go.
And letting her go was not an option.
Fifteen
Jaden Rahasha, Cobra Prince of the Golden Desert, gazed out of his carav and shuddered when Suridesh came into view. He'd considered ignoring Khalil's call for the Princes' Council, but then the others would only convene to ask why he'd abandoned his duty.
And he couldn't bring attention to himself. Not if he was to stand before the Spider.
"Calm down," his princess, Sahirah, said behind him. She ran her hand over his shoulder. Once, he'd never been able to get enough of her. But his resentment toward his wife had only been growing these past few months. "They cannot possibly know our secret."
Jaden turned from the door and slammed it behind him, pushing her further into their royal carav. "The witch is dead, woman. And with her died her magic. The Spider himself killed her, along with the Falcon. There is nothing now that can prevent Ziyad from knowing it was you who killed his princess!"
"Don't be absurd," Sahirah said, adjusting her dark brown robes. "The Spider does not know."
"How can you be so sure?" Jaden yelled. His heart thumped wildly in his chest. "It is possible we are wandering into a trap! What if Ziyad has already learned of our mistake? What if this Council is nothing more than a ruse to bring us to him before he slaughters us?"
Sahirah gazed at him with thinly veiled animosity. "The Spider would not choose such devious methods to kill us, husband," she spat. "If he wanted us dead, I have no doubt he'd bring war to our caravan."
"I do not share your certainty." Jaden began pacing on the fine brown and gold carpet. The embroidered cobras in the fibers seemed to be mocking him. "We should attack first."
"Are you mad?" Sahirah screeched. "Every prince in the desert is in Suridesh. There is no way we can attack anyone."
"Not obviously," Jaden mused, scratching his chin. "But the Spider will find out what we have tried to hide, one way or another. We can no longer keep the secret that our oasis has been shrinking these past two years. The god of Cobras has forsaken us! People will begin asking questions. Rumors will spread. Never has a god looked away from his steward."