Chapter Twenty-Two—Final Considerations

Shiro awoke to the sound of shouting and then a slamming door. He got up, his heart racing with the sheer anticipation of what they were about to do. It wasn’t quite sunset yet, but dusk was well upon the face of Darshuun as orange light cut across the decorated wall inside his rooms.

Strapping his sword to his back, he opened the door and went downstairs and found Ali and his slaves sitting in the dining chamber. Four of his slaves were human, one looking to be an Abassir man with bulging muscles. Another was a cat eye, surprisingly.

“Ah,” Ali called, noticing as Shiro entered the dining chamber. “Come. We were drawing up our plan of attack.”

At the table there was a large sheet of velum. The cat eye slave was marking it up with a shard of charcoal. Shiro was aware that these five men were slaves due to the double earrings they all wore, one being that of a small silver ring, the second a much larger copper one.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” he asked.

“After your ordeal,” he said, eyeing his men, “I wanted you to get as much sleep as possible. We are still not ready to leave. It is far too early. The sun needs to go down completely.”

“I suggest we wait until twilight, Master,” the cat eye said, his voice raspy. Shiro regarded him for a moment. His fur was off-white and he had a black spot on his forehead, his large green eyes clearly more observant than his ever could be.

“Yes,” Ali said. “That is a good idea, I think. Shiro?”

As much as he hated waiting, he knew this was probably the best. He nodded. “Is that a plan of Faridoon’s property?”

“It is,” the cat eye said.

“Shiro,” Ali said. “This is Naro.”

They greeted each other. Then Naro said, “This is the outer wall of the mansion. It’s on the river here.” He pointed with a clawed finger.

“Do we know how many guards there are?” Shiro asked.

The cat eye made a musing sound that reminded Shiro of a jungle cat from the southern regions of his homeland.

“Malu and Shurk haven’t seen very many guards,” Ali said.

“But we don’t know for certain,” the strong slave said. “There was a lot of coming and going at the mansion.”

“Naturally,” Ali said. “Faridoon, whether he is disgraced or not, is a man of consequence. It makes sense that he would have many people coming and going.”

“Many of them could be servants,” Shiro said.

“Some were,” another slave said, a man with dark skin even compared to that of the traditional Abassir. Of course, the empire had subsumed other lands into its territory, so that was not a completely accurate thought.

“If you had to say which were servants and which were not, Shurk?” Ali asked.

The slave looked at him. “I am not sure I can say, Master Ali. Forgive me.”

“Ah,” Ali noised as he waved a dismissive hand. He turned back to the group as a whole. “We do not have a lot of information. But if we do this right, I know we can come out ahead.”

“We do know there is at least one man in front of the gate,” the muscular slave said.

“That means another behind,” Naro added. “One to deal with newcomers, the other the open the gate.”

Ali nodded.

“I say,” Ali said, “most of us make our way to the walls from the river while two more go to the gate as a distraction.”

“No,” Shiro said.

“Why not?”

“If we do not secure the gate, Faridoon can escape if he has a stable.”

“We are almost certain that he does,” Naro said. “There were mounted riders that came and went regularly.”

“I see,” Ali said. “Good point, Shiro. What do you suggest?”

Looking at the diagram, he realized there was one main gate and then a sally gate, or a back door out of the mansion if it were. “We have to keep them from escaping. They will try to flee if they know they will lose the fight.”

“So we block the doors?” Ali said.

“Yes,” Shiro said.

Ali shrugged. “How do we do this without alerting the men at the gates? If we kill them, the men inside will sound warning bells.”

“We could…” Naro ventured.

“Go on, Naro,” Ali said with a gesture. “Tell us your thoughts.”

“We could sneak in. Rely on stealth. If they never see us coming, then we may be able to kill Faridoon and get out without being detected.”

It seemed to Shiro that Ali had not told his slaves about Jessamine and the lamp. Was that for security reasons? He did go on about trusting only slaves and young naive boys.

Perhaps, he thought, he does not feel the need to tell his slaves all the details.

“Shiro?” Ali asked. “I think it is too risky.”

Shiro nodded. “So do I, but… perhaps we can try a two-pronged approach.”

“What do you mean?”

“We sneak in,” Shiro said, “and if we are discovered, we have men on the outside ready to kill the gate guards and to block the doors.”

There was a pause between the members of the group. Ali shrugged in that way when he puts up his palms and moves his shoulders from side to side. He nodded. “It could work. I like it, Shiro.”

Shiro smiled.

“And I thought I was the better strategist,” he added.

“Perhaps I am learning from you, my friend,” Shiro said.

“Now you sound like me.”

Shiro laughed.

“Now we decide who does what,” Ali said. “And when.”

“We have time,” Shiro said. “The sun has just gone down. By the way.”

“Yes?”

“Where is your wife?”

“Oh,” Ali said as if he had just remembered leaving some money somewhere. “I sent her to Omassi to be with her mother and father.”

“That seems wise.”

“Ha!” he scoffed. “Wait until she gets back. She’s going to have my balls.”

Nusah snorted.

Ali whirled on the boy who quickly started staring at his feet.

“Well,” Shiro said, covering for the young man. “It was funny.”

“Yes, well… in any event, we must not be discovered. I plan to continue living in Darshuun for a long time to come. If anyone discovers I was involved in all this everything will be—“

“No one will find out,” Shiro said. “What are turbans for if not to keep a man’s identity hidden?”

Ali made an excited jabbing motion with his index finger as a huge smile appeared on his smooth face. “Exactly!”