"What—again?" But it was possible. Horses could be rather obtuse sometimes. I reaffirmed my control over the stud. "As I was saying, we're going north. We'll get out of town a ways, then find a place to stay the night." I shot her a glance over my shoulder. "Guess you got your wish."
"What wish?"
"To ride out after Nayyib tonight."
Del's smile was swift as she took out the hair rod, tucking it away in a saddlepouch. "Guess I did."
"And I, meanwhile—unlike a certain someone I could mention, who spent most of the day unconscious—did not get to sleep in a real bed."
She brought the gelding up next to the stud as we turned onto the main drag. "Take solace in the knowledge you are repaying a debt."
"Solace isn't as comfortable as a real bed."
Del nodded, tucking now-loose hair under the neckline of her burnous. "I did tell him you were a disagreeable soul. Cranky, even."
"Told who?"
"Ahmahd. The sword-dancer back at the cantina. A very courteous soul, he was—offered to buy me liquor, dinner, and a bed."
'So long as he wasin the bed." "Well, I suppose he had hopes, yes."
I shook my head, grinning; so … predictable. Just like me. 'This way …" I turned the stud and led Del through one of the narrower alleys, twisting about like a tangled skein of yarn. When at last we left the last hedge of buildings behind, we were free of the town entirely, striking out northward beneath a star-pocked sky. "I suspect they won't think I'd head back into Umir's domain."
"I suspect Ahmahd won't, since I suggested otherwise." Del brought the gelding up next to me again. "I explained we hadn't seen one another for weeks. That you'd been hauled off to Umir's by Rafiq and his friends, and that was the last I'd seen of you. But before then you'd talked of going to Haziz to take ship back to Skandi. I was hanging around hoping you'd show up but was beginning to worry that you'd gone without me."
I grunted. "I doubt he believed you."
"There was no one left in the cantina who'd seen us together. Fouad had different girls working, and everyone else who'd seen us talking had left. Ahmahd will learn the truth, of course, at some point, but at least it will buy us a little time." A trace of dry amusement laced her tone. "Men tend to believe me, if I wish them to."
Present company included; nice of her not to mention that. "Here." I led her off the road. We rode some distance away, winding through scrubby trees and shrubbery, until I indicated a cluster of vegetation forming a leafy blockade against a rill of windblown sand and soil. It sloped into a slight hollow, good enough for a smidgen of shelter. "No one would believe anyone would camp out here, this close to Julah. This close to real beds." A glance southwards showed the flickering lights of the city, sparking against the dark horizon. "We should be safe. Come dawn, we can head for Umir's domain. And let's hope Nayyib's there, or this is all for nothing."
"He is." Del swung down off of her gelding even as I dismounted. "I asked Ahmahd."
Well, that was something. More than we had known. "Did he say if the kid was being held against his will?"
"That he didn't know. Just that Neesha arrived and had not yet departed when Ahmahd and his friend left."
"So it's likely the kid would have heard about any reward for me."
"It seems so."
"And how do we know Nayyib didn't tell Ahmahd about Fouad's cantina, hoping for a cut without involving himself personally?"
Del flicked me an icy glance.
"All right, fine." I was grinning as I dismounted. "We'll assume he didn't."
"He wouldn't. But if he had, don't you think Ahmahd and his friend would have arrived in Julah sooner?"
"Possibly," I conceded.
"Oh, and I did neglect to mention something Ahmahd said about you."
"About me? In between seducing you?"
"He did not seduce me. He attempted to seduce me."
"Ran out of time, did he?"
"He said," Del began, ignoring me, "that he had seen you dance there at Umir's and was quite impressed by your skills."
"At least he's being honest."
"He said you were better than he expected—especially for an old man."
I began untacking the stud. "He did not. You're saying that."
"Ahmahd said it." Del's expression was blandly serene. "Right before he asked me what a woman my age was doing with a man your age."
I scowled at the stud, undoing thongs and buckles, and changed the subject. "I don't suppose this friend of Ahmahd's felt in need of a bath."
"As a matter of fact, Ahmahd said he did go to the bathhouse. Why?"
"Because that's where I was when someone decided to interrupt my soak by taking off my head. Fortunately, I was ready. Last I saw of him, he was wrestling with curtains." I deposited the saddle on end, plus the tied-on saddlepouches, then peeled blankets off the stud's back. They were only slightly damp; we hadn't ridden long enough for the horses to work up a true sweat. "Did your friend Ahmahd happen to mention how many others might be tracking us?"
"Oh, I'm not being tracked," Del said, precise as always. "At least, not as prey. For information, yes. But it's you they want to kill."
"Comforting," I muttered, kneeling to hobble the stud.
"I'm assuming a goodly number are hoping to find you," Del added. "Though they won't kill you out of hand, Ahmahd said. Apparently Umir's far less concerned that you dishonored the circle and your vows than he is in recovering the book, despite what the sword-dancers want. The orders are explicit: you are not to be killed until the book is back in his hands, in case you've hidden it somewhere. Then they can do whatever they like with you."
"Comforting," I repeated. Although it was, a little; easier for me to defend myself if they didn't want to kill me. Not that all of them would accept Umir's terms. "Well, at least we know Ahmahd and his friend won't be following us immediately—Fouad was going to take care of that." The stud was hobbled, haltered, and watered; he'd already eaten at the livery. I took myself to my pile of gear and unrolled my bedding after grooming the soil beneath it, getting rid of rocks. Aggrievedly I said, "Here I am, being hunted by the gods know how many sword-dancers . . . and you want us to ride right into Umir's domain, maybe even into his very house, just to make sure the kid's all right."
Del knelt as she unrolled her own bedding. "Yes."
Nothing more. I shook my head, unstoppered a bota. "I sure hope this Nayyib is worth it."
"He is."
I watched her a moment, noting the slight stiffness in her movements, the pensive frown marring her face. She was defensive about the kid, as if there were more to him than she let on.
She glanced up, caught me staring at her. "What?"
I shook my head and began to unlace my sandals.
"Tiger—"
"I'm tired." And I was. "Let's get as good a night's sleep as we can, then head out at first light."
Her bedroll overlapped my own. Del took off her own sandals, her burnous, and set both beside her bedding along with harness and sword. She crawled beneath blankets. Bathed in the light of the moon, pale hair glowed. "Are you all right?"
I started to answer her flippantly, then reconsidered. Perched on one elbow, I leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the brow. "I'm fine, bascha."
With the abrupt change of mood I'd come to recognize over the years as purely female, she said, "If you truly don't wish to go to Umir's, we don't have to. Perhaps we could find another way."
I didn't wish to go to Umir's. But Del wanted it very badly, and I didn't really have a good enough reason to refuse. I did owe the kid. "We'll go, bascha. I said so." I pulled the blanket up to my chin. "Now, let's get some sleep."