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"I’et out, taking a deep, shaky breath"Are warriors patient?"

"Always,"he confirly"It is one of our h meI had never felt safer than I did at that moment, safely ensconced in his armsFate was indeed a cruel mistress

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The palm trees in the courtyard swayed softly in the breeze as Cleopatra and I huddled together Dressed co to fade into the backdrop of night as we traveled down the beach to the hidden cave

"Are you all set?"she whispered anxiously, staring into my eyes"Do you knohat to do?"

I noddedI was coht was our best chance at getting the bloodstone back from Pothinus

He was still unaware that Tehran had defected to Cleopatra, so he was expecting a htLittle did he know that I would be the one walking into that cave Hopefully, he would be taken enough by surprise so that I could get the upper handNot likely, but it was still our hope

Cleopatra took me by the arm and we made our way down the two hundred steps to the waterThe breeze carried the scent of jasmine to us fro scent as we approached the guards at the botto to see two cloaked figures eh that they could see who she was

"My queen,"they bowed loering their spears to their sides

As they stood again, surprise at her appearance was evident on their faces, but ere unconcernedThey answered to her, after all They weren’t exactly going to question her

I slidfor the cool erIt was strapped securely around ertips if I needed itI looked at her and she nodded, so I took a step forwardShe was going to hang back twenty paces, in case Pothinus atching the beach

Twilight glittered on the top of the Mediterranean, the reflection of the lass as Ithe abandoned beachDarkness shrouded everything around

Everything was co down to me noas the one who had to meet Pothinus, I was the one who had to somehorench my amulet away from him, I was the one who held the histories of the world in her aroing to be a disaster I wasn’t capable of wrenching anything Who was I kidding?

The sand et beneathto the foaht onin driftwood and strings of seahich littered the beach in wet cluerly over the debris as I ht of the torches that lined the palace’s courtyard, the night was so dark that when I glanced behindCleopatraOnly her head was visible, bobbing along in the nightHer face was completely concealed by her cloakI sed hard and continued walking, searching the rocks for the opening of the caveAnd I alht, signaling the deep abyss that it containedApprehension built in rew until I could barely breathe As I walked the few re steps to thes I needed was to hyperventilate on the shoreIt would be a dead giveaway to Pothinus that I wasn’t Tehran

I paused outside of the cave for a briefheartMy birthood sign

The sea beat relentlessly against the coast and I tried to concentrate on the rhyth in the darkness and was probably wondering what the heck I was doingI took one last deep breath and stepped inside

Without the light from the moon, the cave was even blacker than the beachI waited for a moment so that er, I still couldn’t see a thing

A deep voice echoed from within, from somewhere hidden in the shadows

"You are lateYou know I hate it when you are late!"Pothinus rasped

Panic began to overwhel at all if I couldn’t even see hi to make sense out of any of the shadowy shapes, but it was simply too darkIt was i the upper handI was surrounded with utter blackness

And then a htI could scarcely believe ood fortune slipped aith every step that

Pothinus took, because each step was bringing him closer to the moment that he realized who I was