The Sultan's Spy

Chapter 15: Shadows

The night air was warm, the moon nearly full and only the lightest of breezes stirring through the trees. Eliska sat on the edge of the roof, legs over the edge, just staring at the stars. Sometimes she forgot how peaceful it was at night, especially here, away from the markets and docks. Here it felt like she was the only one awake.

Soft footfalls on wood announced the arrival of her guest. She pushed herself up, and without much care to the drop, stood and hopped back onto the central part of roof. The slender form wrapped in mottled grey and black cotton waited for her approach, only her face visible. Eliska smiled when she recognized Sitara, one of her nieces. "I see they have you running pick-ups now."

Sitara ducked her head and smiled. "Sometimes. Do you have verbal reports you need me to carry? Or is there something else you need? Oh, Aunt Zina told me to give you these," she said, reaching into her robes and pulling out a thin sheaf of papers.

Eliska took them, glancing over the first handwritten sheet. Tariq's name jumped out at her and she smiled. So they finally had their report on him done. That was good. Her spell might bind him for as long as she wished it to, or until she lost the spell by breaking her word, but it didn't hurt to know more about the man she was living with.

She flipped through the rest of the papers, finding two reports from the guards, what looked like a condensed version of the weekly information report on the happenings of the palace, and a list of all this week's activity in the city that the family had deemed unusual. Eliska couldn't resist a smile. It was so nice to get letters from the family, to be kept in the loop of what was going on. Finished her cursory glance, she carefully hid the papers inside her clothes.

"I do have some verbal reports for you," she told Sitara as the girl rejoined her. She'd already picked up her written notes from underneath one of the flowerpots Eliska kept up there.

Her niece nodded eagerly and leaned in. Eliska had to fight back a smile. She hoped she hadn't been that bad when she'd first run reports, hadn't looked so excited about something so mundane. Though if she were honest, she'd admit she'd probably been worse.

"The most important thing I need you to tell Zina is that she needs to investigate whichever elite guard is married to Durdana. She and an older friend of hers, I don't know that one's name, said some things that indicate some of the guards might be abusing their power. I don't know what, but it involves money, so she should start there.

Also, the theft of all the saffron in the spice house seems really odd, even if it is the most expensive of spices. I feel like there might be something else to it, so if she could look into that as well, I think we might get something. I assume she knows about the calligrapher's death?"

At Sitara's nod, Eliska continued. "Then those are the main things. There are some rumours about potential pirate activity, but nothing concrete. There's been no talk about slavers or anything else that would affect my work, so tell her I'm sorry for not having anything solid yet. Do you have all that?"

Her niece paused for a moment, then nodded. "I'll let Aunt Zina know as soon as I get back. She also told me to tell you that you need to be careful and if you're not keeping a proper watch, you'll probably end up dead."

"I hope that doesn't happen. I'd hate to have to get rid of a body," called a male voice.

They both jerked to stare. Sitara dropped into a defensive pose, hands already reaching for knives while Eliska just raised her eyebrows. Seeing what her niece was up to, she stepped forward and moved so she stood between the two. "You're up late," she told Tariq.

He grinned and sauntered closer. "So are you. I thought it was odd you'd be on the roof so I thought I should keep an eye out, in case anything untoward were to happen."

"You're so kind," she replied, voices heavy with sarcasm as she flapped a hand behind her back at Sitara. "I can sleep easy at night knowing such a gentleman is in the same house."

"I do try. And it is a husband's duty to see to the safety and care of his wife."

"Bye, Aunt Lissy," Sitara whispered, before scampering off into the darkness.

Tariq watched her go, peering into the darkness that swallowed her almost immediately. "Who's your little visitor there? She looks too big to be the same one I met before."

Eliska sighed. "One of my nieces," she said, turning towards the doorway back into the house. She wanted to go over the papers she'd gotten, but first she needed to get rid of Tariq, and as much as she hated to admit it, the fastest way was to just answer his questions.

"You must have a lot of nieces," he said, falling into step behind her.

"I do."

"She was dressed the way you were when we first met."

She grimaced. He was too observant and intelligent to be safe. "She's a trainee. She's learning the ropes and was checking in with me."

They were inside now and Tariq stopped in the main family hall. When Eliska would have moved past him to head into the women's quarters, he reached out and caught her elbow. "You're not getting off that easy. She's a trainee, and you're not. You said you were work for the government and you're looking into the slavers. I want to know what exactly it is you do."

She met his eyes steadily, inwardly cursing. There wasn't much she could say that would make sense to him besides the truth. And while he was bound by her spell, and on the list of people who knew too much and would be rounded up or killed if she lost the spell, she really didn't want to trust him with this.

"You first," she said, stalling for time to think. "Why do you hate slavers so much?"

Tariq's grip tightened as his face hardened. He sighed after a moment though his body remained tense. "My little brother was killed by slavers when we were children. I've hated them since then. Now, who are you really?"

Eliska considered her options, none of them really good. She studied Tariq's face, thinking quickly. So far he hadn't done anything to hurt her or the investigation, had been upfront about information, and while he didn't seem to care much for her family, didn't seem like the type who'd be a problem later. Her cursory look at the paper on him hadn't shown her anything too outrageous, though she had noted her was a known criminal. Not that it surprised her. He'd known far too much about what was going on in every part of the city to not have had some kind of dealings in the underside of things.

Which should also mean he'd have a good idea if she was lying or not, most people who could survive the darkness having developed that kind of sense. Eliska made a face she didn't bother to hide. "If you tell anyone, you'll be killed."

He shrugged. "I thought your little spell kept me from that?"

"It does. If it ever breaks and you reveal anything, you'll be dead before you know it. You're on the watch list, but if I tell you this, you'll be on the contain list if the spell breaks," she said, not bothering to say that he was really on both lists and it was only a matter of time before he was completely removed from the former. "Are you sure you want to know?"

Tariq nodded. "You have more than enough secrets, and I hate being left in the dark."

Holding his eyes steadily, she said, "I'm a spy."