Khalifa

32 Glimpse

And then a dagger comes flying to embed right in his neck and he falls to the ground besides her. She quickly scrambles away from him, shell-shocked and lost.

"Done and dusted."

She looks up at Hadi and he offers her his hand. She doesn't take it, pushing herself up and dusting her dress which is covered in more than just dirt. He retracts his hand and goes to pick up his sword.

"Sadly no one's left for interrogation," he remarks.

"There was one I injured earlier, but he has probably escaped by now."

Hadi sheaths his sword and turns to her. He looks uninjured, no sight of a single scratch, neither a sign of exhaustion. Taking down five out of six men with one eye and two daggers seemed too easy for him. Noura realizes she underestimated him. He never was a mere beggar to begin with.

"Someone replaced my note with a fake one," he states. "Someone who knew I've been sending them to you. And not only that, but knows me too. They knew you're meeting me, and so they sent these men after you."

He walks towards her and she cannot form any thoughts once again, his conclusion hitting her hard.

"You told someone about me?"

She shakes her head. "No one besides Annas and Hafez know you. I didn't even utter your name to anyone."

"No, not them. Annas is my slave, and Hafez can die for Eskander. They're both loyal." He glances around warily. "Who did you come here with?"

"One of the royal guards."

"Name him."

Noura hesitates, wondering if she should tell him. She's not sure how much she should trust the man. He could be Eskander's friend and has saved her life, but he's still a man unknown to her behind the pretense. Then weighing her options, she decides to tell him the truth.

"Adam."

His eyebrows go up in surprise. "The caliph's pet?"

Noura makes a displeased face. "You know him?"

"Who doesn't know the notorious executioner of Baghdad?" He chuckles darkly and nods in the other direction. "Come with me. I'll send you back to the palace."

"And Adam?"

"I can't risk him seeing me, so I can't escort you back. But I can't let you go back alone either. There could be still vultures on hunt for you."

"But he'll be looking for me."

"Let him suffer a little for all the torture he puts people through." He walks past her down the pathway. "Come."

She stays rooted to her place, reluctant to follow him, not knowing where he's taking her. He glances at her over his shoulders.

"Still not trusting me?"

Her shoulder drops in resignation. She sighs and follows after him. "What about these bodies?"

"Food for dogs," he replies carelessly.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safer."

"Very specific. This eased my worries."

"Put a little faith in me."

"Your previous deceit makes it difficult. I thought of you to be a harmless poor man. But now I don't know who you are anymore. A spy, a soldier, or a merchant?"

"I'm actually all of those."

She hears the smirk in his voice. He slows down his pace so they're walking side by side. He pulls his hood forward over his head and removes the eye patch. Now both of those orbs can bore into hers. The contrast of them stuns her for a moment. She blinks and looks away.