“Of what?” Heat rose to my cheeks. Marriage? Had my desire for him been so clear on my face?

His eyes twinkled. “No. Not that.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“I mean yes, definitely that, but that’s not all.”

“Oh no?” I smiled.

“No. I’ve been thinking about that favor of yours. The necklace.”

Ah. “What about it?”

“What if you…” He raised a shoulder. “What if you used the favor to beg Ummi to take the Koru into Alu? You’d be safe. Uruku could be gone, and we could move on with our lives. But this?” He waved to the weapons on our right. At Iltani throwing knives with Humusi on our left. “This will not be enough if you’re facing a group of guardsmen. And I won’t be able to be with you every second in Alu. It worries me.”

“But Ummi said she would not defy the sarratum. I don’t want to beg her to break that vow.”

“Even if it means your life? Or the life of Nanaea, who is so intent on going in with us?”

“I don’t think Ummi would do it, anyway. She is as loyal to the sarratum as Nasu is to Arwia. And she may have less desire to help me later on down the road if I push her to break her vow.”

I trailed my hands down his chest. Let them fall to my sides. “Let us see what sort of conditions we face when we get to Alu. If it is impossible, I will ride back here and beg her to use her skills to help us. They said they were not leaving Wussuru for a few more nights, so we have a little time.”

He nodded, but his eyes said he didn’t agree. “Then while we’re there, I’ll do everything in my power to ensure your safety.”

“Dagan, Nanaea has been working on our disguises and will be done before we leave. Her skills will help ensure our safety, too.”

“You have a lot of faith in a little needle.” He raised an eyebrow at me.

“We all need to have faith in something.”

MOONLIGHT GLIMMERED ON Dagan’s bare shoulders as Iltani, Nanaea, and I crept out from our cover in the scrub near the south gate of Alu and darted to the copse of sycamores where we’d stashed our cart of supplies. The donkey we’d hitched to the front stared at us mournfully, and I fed him some of our foraged watercress and rubbed his bristly nose.

“Soon, my friend. We’ll have you tucked into a nice, cozy barn soon enough.”

Nasu had told us that sticking to the south gate would be our best bet for entry, but that we’d need to be careful getting in because guards were everywhere. We’d counted at least four at the gate and several of them up on the walls, stalking vigilantly, bows in their fists, quivers full of arrows on their backs.