The Book of Wonders (26 page)

“The Windrose would be useless if Zardi died,” Rhidan said. “Only she can use it.”

“Fine, she comes with me.”

“Never,” Zardi spat. “I won't help you kill innocent people.”

“Then you sentence yourself to death with your crewmates.”

“Please!” The word sounded misshapen coming out of Rhidan's mouth. “Please spare them.”

She shook her head. “I made a promise to my snakes: sailors' flesh. They have been very patient.” She grinned. “I think it's time you all get back to work. NADEEM!”

There was the sound of hurried footsteps.

“Yes, my queen?” Nadeem bowed, his face stony.

“Take these three to the prison.”

“Yes, my queen.”

“Then fetch Sinbad so that he can join me for dinner. Give him a little of the draft if he becomes unruly.”

They've been drugging him
, Zardi realized with horror.
That's why Sinbad has not come for us
.

“Yes, my queen.” Nadeem stood there for a second, looking unsure.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” the queen hissed. “Be gone, I have much to prepare.” She looked at Zardi. “We leave tomorrow morning. Be ready to direct me to the Black Isle or I will kill you and then ensure that your friends suffer even more painful deaths than necessary.”

Zardi glared at the queen. She needed time to think. Her eyes dropped to the spelltrap that hung from the queen's belt. Khalila's magic. It was their last hope.

Almost as if Satyan could read her mind, the snake moved closer to his queen's side, protectively.

Now is not the moment to strike
, Zardi thought.
But I will. I'll find the queen's chamber and steal the spelltrap while she sleeps
. The plan beyond that was still shadowy, but she knew one thing.
I'll need help
. Her eyes fixed on Nadeem.

Silently, they followed him from the throne room and into the long corridor that led to the prison. Satyan followed once again at the back of the line.

Nadeem no longer bragged or crowed about his status as the queen's advisor. As they walked, he looked shrunken somehow.

But will he help me? Zardi
wondered.
He has to! Time is running out and I'm all out of options
.

“I need you to distract Satyan,” she told Rhidan and Khalila in a whisper.

“Follow my lead.” Rhidan dropped to the ground and began scrabbling around in the dirt. “Where is it?” he wailed. “Where's my amulet?” Satyan was at his side instantly, hissing furiously.

Nadeem looked back. “What's going on down there?”

Zardi ran to his side. “Rhidan's lost his amulet.”

“Tell him to stop being so pathetic,” Nadeem snapped. “He's not the first person to lose something. Better just to forget it.”

“It doesn't have to be that way.” Zardi grabbed onto his words like a drowning person. “Sometimes we can save what we thought was lost. Just like you can save the crew.”

Nadeem pinched the bridge of his nose. “How many times do I have to say it? They're not in danger.”

“Not in danger? Once the queen's machine is finished, she's going to feed the crew to her snakes. She said so.”

“She doesn't mean it. She's just trying to scare you.”

“Nadeem, she's going to kill them. Believe me, please. You're the only one that can help us get out of here.”

Nadeem pushed his hands through his thick black hair, looking over at Satyan, who was circling Rhidan menacingly. Rhidan was raking his fingers through the dirt like a person possessed.

Khalila suddenly pointed to a far corner and cried out. “Over there! I just saw something catch the light.”

“You know, I never wanted any of this to happen.” Nadeem's voice was papery thin. “I was just trying to keep everyone safe. It's such a mess and I don't know how to put it right.”

“You can put it right,” Zardi told him. “We both can. You just need to leave the door to the prison unlocked and I'll do the rest.”

Nadeem's eyes flickered with fear. “I'll get caught.” He looked over nervously at Satyan, who had followed Rhidan over to the corner and was making impatient hissing noises.

“Just put us back in our cell and then pretend to lock the door behind you. How are the snakes going to know the difference?” Zardi replied calmly. “But first, tell me where the queen sleeps.”

“Why?” Nadeem asked.

Zardi hesitated. Could she really trust Nadeem?
Trust is the friend of trust
. Zubeyda's words came to her suddenly. “I'm going to take the spelltrap from the queen while she's asleep,” she revealed. “If Khalila has her magic back she can fix all of this.”

Nadeem swiftly checked that Satyan was still occupied with Rhidan before speaking. “Tonight, wait until you hear the guards on the door fall asleep, then turn right at the top of the tunnel where your cell is,” he said in a whisper. “Follow it until it branches into two. Take the left branch. You're looking for the second door along. That's the queen's chamber.”

“Thanks, Nadeem.”

“Promise me one thing,” he said after a long moment.

“What?”

“Don't leave me behind, all right?”

“I won't.”

Nadeem turned toward Rhidan and Satyan. “Enough!” he hollered. “Rhidan, get off your knees and get moving.”

Zardi gave her friend the tiniest of nods to show that the need for a distraction was over. He scrambled to his feet and dusted himself off, stopping as he reached his pockets.

“Can you believe it?” Rhidan said, pulling out the amulet. “It was here the whole time!”

Satyan gave a hiss of annoyance and Nadeem took Rhidan roughly by his arm. “Come on. It's time to take you back to your cell.”

They fell into line again with Nadeem leading the group. As they walked into the tunnel that housed the prison, Zardi peered all the way down the snake-filled passageway. At the end of it—give or take a few twists and turns—was the queen's chamber. Tonight she would be visiting.

“Here we are.” Nadeem held open the cell door and they filed inside. “Good-bye,” he said from the doorway.

“Good riddance, more like,” Rhidan muttered under his breath. Khalila sat down with a sigh, clutching her side.

“Good-bye, Nadeem,” Zardi replied.

The door closed.

The key jiggled in the lock.

And Zardi breathed a sigh of relief as it failed to make a full turn. Nadeem had kept his promise.

“So, how was the meeting with the queen?” Ali asked.

Zardi turned and saw all of the crew standing there next to the flying machine, their faces hungry for information.

“Let's just say it was full of surprises,” Rhidan said tersely.

“Did you see Sinbad?” Tariq asked eagerly.

Zardi shook her head but told them that, from what she could make out, Sinbad had not abandoned them but had been drugged in some way.

“So what did the queen want?” Zain asked.

“Me,” Zardi replied. “She wants me to use the Windrose to direct her to the Black Isle.”

“What about the rest of us?” Mirzani asked.

“She's going to let you all go tomorrow,” Zardi lied smoothly. She felt awful about not telling her friends the truth, but panic made people stupid. If they knew about the queen's plan, and that the door was unlocked, they'd probably flee down the tunnel only to be met by the snakes.

Rhidan frowned at her, his eyes demanding answers, but Zardi wouldn't give them to him, not while the others listened. Keeping the secret meant keeping them alive.

H
ow's Khalila?” Zardi asked, her back resting against the stone wall.

“In a lot of pain, but she's sleeping now.” Rhidan crouched down beside Zardi. “Are you going to tell me why you lied to everyone and said that the queen will be letting us go tomorrow?” He peered at her hard. “And what were you speaking to Nadeem about?”

“I'm going to get Khalila's magic back,” Zardi said and quickly explained her plan.

Rhidan's cheeks flushed with excitement. “What are we waiting for? Let's go.”

“I'm not risking your life,” she said firmly. “One of us can do it.”

“It is not your choice to make. I've just found out that my father is some kind of crazed inventor who created a snake woman,” her friend replied. “On top of that, Khalila told me that it was probably my amulet that drew us to this island in the first place. Apparently, magical objects have a way of being drawn back to the place where they were forged.” He grimaced. “This is my mess. I'm coming with you.”

Zardi studied her friend. His jaw was set determinedly. There was to be no arguing with him. Secretly, she was relieved that she wouldn't be alone.

As the sailors finally went to their room to sleep, Zardi and Rhidan crept over to the door and waited until the sound of the guards' even breathing could be heard. “It's time,” Rhidan whispered.

Zardi gently pulled the door open. The width of the two sleeping snakes blocked the doorway. Taking a deep breath, she and Rhidan stepped over the bodies.

Leaving the prison behind, they bolted down the tunnel and didn't stop until they turned the corner. They gulped down mouthfuls of dank air. The way ahead split into two paths. Zardi pointed to the left branch. “The queen's chamber is this way.”

They edged forward. Rhidan froze and pointed to a heavily breathing snake that hung from the ceiling. Its eyes were wide open and it was staring straight at them. A spasm of fear went through Zardi.

Calm down
, she told herself.
Snakes don't have eyelids
. “It's asleep,” she whispered.

The tunnel sloped downward, and when it leveled off, they spotted a wooden door set into the wall. A warm golden light eked out from beneath it. Some way beyond was a second door that stood in complete darkness.
The queen's chamber
. Zardi stopped still as an echo reached her. “Can you hear that?”

Rhidan cocked his head and then all color bled from his face. “Snakes!”

Zardi's stomach twisted. It wasn't just snakes. She could hear the queen's hissing voice reeling off orders. The voice was still far away, but it was getting closer. Her knees felt hollow. Her plan to steal the spelltrap while the queen was sleeping was unraveling like a ball of twine falling through the air…

“The queen is coming,” she mouthed to Rhidan. She pointed to the door just ahead of them. “In there, now!”

They pushed the door open and slipped into the dimly lit room. The coiled tension in Zardi's muscles relaxed as she looked around. The chamber was empty except for a wooden chest in one corner, and a grand-looking bed with a large stone chair beside it.

The lamps that hung from the ceiling spluttered gently, and they heard the slight rise and fall of breath that came with sleep.

Zardi and Rhidan stepped closer to the bed. It was surrounded by gauzy drapes, woven from golden thread that revealed the silhouette of someone sleeping. Gently parting the veil, they both looked down at the slumbering figure.
Sinbad
.

His face appeared peaceful at first, and Zardi felt a flash of annoyance that he could be so serene while his crew slept in a stone prison, locked up like animals. But as she peered closer, she noticed lines around his eyes and mouth that had not been there before. His face looked waxen and drawn. Zardi reached out to touch the captain's shoulder but Rhidan stopped her.

“She's outside the door,” he hissed. “We've got to hide.”

Zardi's eyes quickly took in the room. “You hide behind the chest and I'll take the chair.”

Rhidan gripped her hand. “Be safe.” He dived behind the chest.

Zardi ducked behind the stone chair just as the door to the chamber opened. Peeping from her hiding place, she saw the queen sweep in, accompanied by four ivory snakes. The serpents remained by the door but the queen headed straight to the bed and firmly pulled aside the drapes.

“Wake up, my darling,” the queen entreated, stroking Sinbad's cheek. “We need to talk.” But the captain continued to sleep.

With a polite cough Nadeem stepped into the room.

“What do you want?” the queen asked curtly.

“My queen, you really should get some rest. You haven't slept at all.”

“Can't you see I'm busy?”

“Yes, my queen, but he won't awaken. You'd need to brand him with a red-hot iron.”

The queen hissed angrily. “How much sleeping draft did you give him?”

“The whole flask,” Nadeem answered nervously. “He was demanding to see the crew again. He wouldn't calm down.”

“You're useless!” the queen screamed. “Leave us.”

Nadeem left, his head bowed.

The queen turned to the ivory snakes and ordered them to do a patrol of the tunnels. The snakes slithered out of the room, the door closing with a thud behind them.

Zardi crouched lower in her hiding place as the queen sank into the chair next to the bed, the spelltrap swinging from her belt.

“The flying machine is finished,” the queen said to the sleeping captain. “And I will fly at first light.” She gave a little sigh. “I'm loath to leave you, but I've been waiting for this moment a very long time. I found the plans for the machine right here in this chamber, Iridial's old workshop.” She took Sinbad's hand into her own. “Destiny brought you to this island, my love, so that your crew could build my glider. Once I get my revenge on the Black Isle, I will come back to you.” She squeezed his hand. “Your men will be dead by then, and you will be angry, but in time you will forget and we will be happy.”

Zardi listened as the queen continued to talk to Sinbad, outlining their future together. Eventually, though, her words began to blur and tumble into each other and the queen dozed off.