“How do you know we have enough fursa for that?” Arinaas asked.

Maram’s smile was grim. “Amani is loyal to liberation, but she is also my sister and loyal to me.”

For a long tense moment, the two of them stared at one another. And then Arinaas smiled.

“You will make a formidable queen,” she said. “What other cities?”

“We will have Qarmutta in hand with Rabi’a’s knights,” Maram said. “Al Hoceima, Shafaqaat, Rahat, and Ghazlan.”

“It will be done,” Arinaas said.

“How?” Maram drawled. “By the power of Dihya? I am sending an agent.” She stepped aside and Aghraas stepped forward to stand beside her. Arinaas’s eyes widened as they fixed on the daan on her face.

“Siha, yakhti,” Arinaas said.

“Baraka,” Aghraas replied.

“Aghraas will bring you de-armament codes. I do not trust communications enough to send them any other way.”

“I dislike leaving you in the middle of an assassination plot,” Aghraas said, folding her arms over her chest.

Ah. The argument.

“It’s a day’s travel. Be back before Qarmutta.” Aghraas was silent. “There is no one else, Aghraas.”

Aghraas’s struggle was visible, and a part of me felt I should look away. In the end, she closed her eyes and nodded. The smile that stole over Maram’s face and then was gone seemed too private for me to have seen.

“I will be there soon,” Aghraas said, turning to face Arinaas’s projection.

“I look forward to making your acquaintance in person,” she replied. Her eyes moved to Maram. “I’m glad Amani was right, Your Grace.”

Maram’s eyes widened and I smiled. “Your Grace?”

“You are queen,” Arinaas said. “Our queen. You have our knights and our loyalty.”

“Yes,” she murmured. “I suppose you’re right.”

“By your leave?”

Maram gestured her assent and Arinaas’s holo flickered out.

“And you, cousin?” Maram said, turning to Furat. “Do I have your loyalty?”

Furat sank to her knees and bowed her head. “Until death, Your Grace.”

29

Qarmutta was at the heart of Tayfur province and the seat of the Banu Ifran’s power. I had been all over the world now, thanks to my duties as Maram’s double, but I’d never seen a place that looked like this. It was a world of sandy hills and rocky mesas, dotted with bright green shrubbery, short trees, their branches bowed with fruit, and even brighter flowers. The city itself was spread out over four hills that ringed the mesa at its center, on which was built the pride of the city: the Court of Lions.

Though it was under Zidane rule now, in the era of antiquity Qarmutta had been ruled by the Kushaila. It was a favorite city of an ancient family that no longer existed—a prince had fallen in love with a daughter of the Salihis and built the palace in her honor. A court of lions for his lioness.