Ricko Daggerheart's Arc

Chapter 11 of 18

Dawn broke over the dunes. Ricko and Kelli held to their promise. They did not speak of the night before. They fought cold now, the way she wanted. Torin pulled his wagon up the road toward the city, barrels of spice stacked high in the bed. Beneath a false floor, Ricko, Kelli, and T'Zaro lay flat in the dark. The wheels groaned. Ricko breathed slow and kept his hand off his knife. Torin was the elephant trader who had saved Ricko long ago, pulling him from the sand before the patrol could take him. He drove now like a man with nothing to hide. He hummed. He waved to a cart going the other way. Only Ricko knew the fear under that calm. The wagon stopped. Boots crunched outside. Through a crack in the boards Ricko saw the great sandstone gate rise overhead, the golden banner hanging from its arch. Guards stood under it. One stepped forward, young, dark-haired, armor dusty from the climate. His belt bore the sun-shaped buckle of the palace. "Spice, is it?" the guard said. His name, stitched on a strap, read Rashid. "Open the back." Torin climbed down. "Of course, officer. Fresh pepper and saffron. Smell for yourself." He lifted a barrel lid. The guard leaned in and sneezed hard. Rashid wiped his nose and frowned. He drew a short rod and tapped the wagon bed. Tap. Tap. The sound rang hollow over the hidden space. Ricko stopped breathing. Beside him T'Zaro's hand found a knife hilt in the dark. Kelli's fingers closed on Ricko's wrist, hard. Wait, the grip said. Not yet. "Hollow here," Rashid said. He crouched. His fingers slid along the board seam, searching for the catch. Torin laughed loud. "A smuggler's trick, that false bottom. I bought the wagon off a fool who used it for silk tax dodging. Empty now. Dangerous to keep, I know." He pressed a small pouch into Rashid's hand. "For your trouble. And a jar of saffron for your mother." Rashid weighed the pouch. He looked at the seam again. Ricko felt the panther coil beside him, ready to spring and ruin everything. Then Rashid stood. "Rip that false floor out before you come back," he said. "Next guard won't be so kind." He waved them through. "Move along." The wagon rolled. The gate's shadow passed over the cracks in the boards. They were inside the walls. Ricko let his breath go. When the wagon stopped in a quiet lane, Torin lifted the floor. Kelli climbed out first. Her face was set, her feelings sealed away as promised. "The drain tunnel sits at the base of the old wall," she said. "The guard rotation turns at moonrise. We have one shot." She looked at Ricko once, cold and clear. "On me. Stay close." They were through the gate. The jewel waited below the palace now, and the hardest part lay ahead.