CHAPTER FOUR

We ran. The market erupted into chaos. People screamed and scattered. Assassins pushed through the crowd, chasing us. We turned down a side street. Then another. The palace walls rose ahead, tall and white and impossibly far away.

"The north gate!" Louis shouted. "Make for the north gate!"

An arrow whistled past my ear. Lady Amara grabbed my hand and pulled me around a corner. "Don't stop! Don't look back!" But I did look back. The man with the red stone ring walked calmly through the chaos. Not running. Not worried. Like he knew exactly where we were going. Like he knew we couldn't escape.

We burst onto the main road. The palace north gate was directly ahead, guarded by royal soldiers.

"Open the gate!" Louis shouted. "I am Prince Louis! Open the gate now!"

The guards saw him. Recognized him. Started to open the heavy gates. We were going to make it. Then someone stepped out of the shadows beside the gate. A man in royal armor. Expensive armor. With a cruel smile and cold eyes. Prince Nasir.

"Hello, brother," he said to Louis. "Looking for sanctuary? How unfortunate that I've ordered the gates closed until further notice. Security concerns, you understand."

Behind us, the assassins caught up. Surrounded us. We were trapped. Prince Nasir's eyes found me. Found my birthmark.

"So this is the lost princess," he said. "The Mark of the Warrior Moon. I've been searching for you for so long, little Khalifa. And now here you are, delivered right to me. How convenient."

Prince Louis stepped in front of me, sword raised. "You'll have to go through me first."

Nasir laughed. "Brother, I was counting on it."

"Stand aside, Louis," Prince Nasir said calmly. "This doesn't have to end with your death. Just give me the girl."

"Not a chance." Louis's sword stayed raised, though his wounded shoulder was bleeding heavily now.

We stood in a tight circle. Me, Prince Louis, Lady Amara, and the remaining soldiers. Around us, at least fifteen assassins waited with weapons drawn. Behind them, Prince Nasir watched with those cold, calculating eyes.

"You can't win this," Nasir continued. "Look around you, brother. You're wounded, outnumbered, and exhausted. Be reasonable."

"Reasonable?" Louis laughed bitterly. "You just attacked a royal garrison. You've committed treason. And you want me to be reasonable?"

"I'm protecting the kingdom. That girl is dangerous. She carries the mark of the old bloodline. Do you know what will happen if the people discover her? Rebellion. War. Chaos." Nasir took a step closer. "I'm doing what Father should have done years ago. Eliminating the threat."

"By murdering an innocent girl?"

"There's nothing innocent about royal blood, brother. You of all people should know that."

I gripped my stolen sword tighter. My arms ached. My hands were sticky with blood. But I wasn't going to die without fighting.

"Your Highness," Lady Amara whispered to Louis. "The gate guards. They're loyal to the crown, not to Nasir. If we can reach them..."

"They're too far," Louis said quietly. "We'd never make it."

"Then we die here?"

"Not if I can help it."

Nasir sighed dramatically. "This is getting tedious. Take them. Kill the soldiers and Lady Amara. Bring my brother and the girl to me alive."

The assassins moved in.

"Now!" Louis shouted.

He didn't attack forward. He spun and charged toward the side street we'd come from, the weakest point in the circle. His soldiers followed, shields up, forming a wedge. Lady Amara grabbed my hand and we ran with them. The assassins were caught off guard for just a moment. Just long enough. We broke through their line and sprinted down the side street.

"Stop them, you fools!" Nasir screamed.

Footsteps pounded behind us. So many footsteps. We turned a corner. Then another. The streets here were narrow, twisting, the old part of the city where buildings leaned close together and blocked out the sun.

"This way," Lady Amara said, pulling me down an even narrower alley.

Behind us, one of our soldiers screamed. I looked back and saw him fall, three assassins on him. We kept running. Another soldier went down. Then another.

"There!" Louis pointed ahead. "The Temple of the Moon. They can't attack us there. Sacred ground."

The temple rose before us, old white stone with silver domes. The gates were open, priests in white robes moving in and out. We were almost there when an arrow took down the soldier in front of me. He crashed to the ground and I nearly tripped over him.

"Keep going!" Lady Amara shouted.

Ten more steps. Five. We burst through the temple gates.

"Sanctuary!" Louis shouted. "We claim sanctuary!"

The priests stopped and stared. An old man in elaborate white robes stepped forward. The High Priest.

"Your Highness?" He looked confused. "What is the meaning of this?"

"We're being attacked. We claim the ancient right of sanctuary."

"But who would dare attack a prince of the realm?"

"My brother," Louis said flatly.

The High Priest's eyes widened. Behind us, the assassins reached the temple gates but stopped there, not crossing onto holy ground. Prince Nasir appeared a moment later, breathing slightly harder from the chase. He looked furious.

"High Priest," he said, forcing his voice to sound reasonable. "I apologize for this disturbance. But my brother is unwell. He's been wounded and is not thinking clearly. He's taken an innocent girl hostage. Please, allow me to enter and speak with him."

"The temple grants sanctuary to all who ask," the High Priest said firmly. "Even from princes. You may not enter with weapons drawn, Your Highness."

"This is a matter of state security."

"And this is a matter of ancient law. The temple's sanctuary has stood for five hundred years. Not even the king may violate it."

Nasir's jaw clenched. For a moment I thought he'd order his men to attack anyway. Then he smiled. "Of course, High Priest. I apologize for my... enthusiasm. I'll wait outside until my brother is ready to speak reasonably."

He turned and walked back through the gates. The assassins followed, but they didn't go far. They took up positions around the temple, watching every exit.

"We're trapped," I said quietly.

"We're alive," Louis corrected. "That's what matters."

The High Priest looked at us more carefully now. His eyes moved from Louis's bleeding shoulder to Lady Amara's blood-stained sword to me. His gaze stopped on my face. On my birthmark.

"Great gods," he whispered. "It cannot be. The Mark of the Warrior Moon?"

Louis stepped between us. "High Priest, I need your help. This girl..."

"I know what she is." The old priest's voice shook. "I've seen that mark in the ancient texts. In the prophecies." He looked at me with something like awe. "You're the last daughter of House Rashad."

"Everyone seems to know that but me," I muttered.

"How long have you known about her?" Louis asked.

"I didn't. Not until this moment." The High Priest moved closer, studying my birthmark. "But the mark doesn't lie. This is genuine. Which means..." He trailed off, his expression troubled.

"Means what?" Lady Amara demanded.

"There's a prophecy. Very old. Most think it's just legend." The High Priest looked at Louis. "It says that when the Mark of the Warrior Moon appears again, the kingdom will face its greatest trial. Blood will answer blood. And only the marked one can choose whether the kingdom stands or falls."

"That's not helpful," I said. "I don't want to choose anything. I just want to survive."

"What we want and what fate demands are rarely the same, child."

Louis swayed suddenly. Lady Amara caught him before he fell.

"Your Highness!" She helped him sit on the temple steps. "That wound needs proper care. You're losing too much blood."

"I'm fine," Louis said, but his face was pale.

"You're not fine. High Priest, do you have healers here?"

"Yes, of course. Bring him inside."