Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim

Author:Maiya Ibrahim [Ibrahim, Maiya]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2023-01-24T00:00:00+00:00

We escape the Swallowing Sands as suddenly as we entered them, and it is an act more restorative than returning home after an eternity lost. The last dune tapers to a low bed of sand, and the night turns to afternoon in a blink. The haze that was draped over my mind lifts; even the heat attacks less intensely. I utter a silent prayer of thanks to the Spirits, and to Auntie’s ingenuity.

“She led us to Alqibah instead of back home,” Amira says as we emerge on an unfamiliar plain framed by stony hills.

“She guided us true,” I say, my eyes scouring the scrubby land. “This is where our destiny lies.” In the Kingdom of Alqibah, a place I did not even know existed a couple of months ago. It isn’t much different from the Sahir, not yet at least, but it is enough for me to realize I am trekking on the same ground where my brother might be this very moment.

A falcon’s call sounds above us. Sinan, soaring behind Auntie’s undying light. Which means…I look back at the three figures sprinting across the grit toward us, Taha at the fore. I descend from the saddle and help Amira down as he reaches us.

“You made it out,” he puffs, staggering to a stop. He is flush from the heat, skin beaded with sweat, worry evident in the lines crowding his eyes. I stare at him disbelievingly when he pats my arm. “You made it out,” he repeats, nodding, as if he still doesn’t believe we aren’t a mirage. “I’m glad.”

I try not to make my shock obvious. Reza and Fey pile up behind him, rounded eyes gawking out from between smudges of dirt.

“How?” Reza croaks. “I watched you ride off, Imani.”

“I watched you run after her,” Fey says to Amira.

“I shouted at you both to stop,” Taha murmurs distantly, as if speaking from within a terrible memory. I recognize the look on his face…. As leader of the group, the fear and helplessness he must have experienced, witnessing us venture off the path to our certain dooms, would have been paralyzing. It is the same fear and helplessness I felt watching Amira plunge from the balustrade in the First City. Watching the door to Atheer’s room close for the final time.

“It wasn’t your fault.” I show him the vial. “I would have perished if it weren’t for my sister. She saved me as I was being buried alive by the Sands, and she reminded me that I possessed this—” Slowly the light descends from the sky and returns to its crystal housing, where it swirls gladly. I push the stopper back in. “A gift of undying light, woven with a piece of our auntie’s soul. It guided us out of the Sands.” I slide the vial into its leather pouch and put that in my pocket.

Taha’s eyes dance over me. “Aziza Zahim has mastered animancy?”

I can’t help but laugh. “Auntie believes mastered is a strong word, but I am inclined to say yes, she has.

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