Goddess by Fiona McIntosh Page A

see—and I loved her deeply. I still do; it matters not that she is long dead. She will be the last person I think of as I draw my final breath.’ His voice thickened as he spoke.
    Ana felt his candour deserved a response.
    ‘I have no memory of my mother. I was orphaned, left in the desert and found by a goatherd, the only man I have known as father and who I love dearly.’
    ‘I remember the day you were found.’
    She swung in her saddle to face him, filled with surprise. ‘You knew me then?’
    ‘I knew of you,’ he corrected. ‘I was told of the newborn protected by the Samazen.’
    Protected? She had never thought of it that way. Ana had always thought the famed desert wind had killed her family and, although she had been spared, she had never viewed it in a kindly light.
    Arafanz broke into her thoughts. ‘And your stepmother? Do you love her?’
    ‘I despise her. But the feeling is mutual. No doubt that is why she sold me into the harem.’
    ‘Was she jealous of you, Ana? As jealous as the Valide is of you?’
    Ana looked sharply at him. ‘How do you know about the Valide?’ Then she answered her own question. ‘Ah yes, Razeen, the traitor. He was known as Salazin in the palace. How did you meet him?’
    ‘I have known him since he was born.’
    ‘I heard that he came from the Widows’ Enclave. Found by the Grand Vizier, who was impressed by his fighting prowess and especially the fact that he was mute.’
    ‘He is not mute.’
    Ana looked at him aghast. ‘Not mute?’ she repeated, imagining all those occasions this past year that Salazin had escorted her to the Zar’s rooms or fetched her from somewhere to meet with Boaz. The young man had never uttered a sound. ‘But he worked as one of the elite mute guard that protected the Zar.’
    Arafanz nodded. ‘I know. He tricked everyone. That was the point.’
    Ana refused to believe this. ‘But why?’
    ‘I needed someone in the palace.’
    ‘To spy on the Zar?’
    ‘That was an additional advantage. No, Ana. Razeen’s most important job was to spy on you.’
    She stared at him bewildered. ‘But if you have known about me since my birth, been so interested in my welfare, why did you permit me to be sold into the palace in the first place?’
    Arafanz shrugged. ‘Another of Ellyana’s secrets.’
    Ana couldn’t even begin to think that comment through. There was too much pain attached. She shook her head to clear it of Ellyana’s machinations.
    ‘So Salazin betrayed us all,’ she said sadly.
    ‘Not at all. He protected you all. It was Razeen who fought courageously against his brotherswhen the attack on your camp came; he was the one who kept a formidable ring of protection around you, the Valide and the Grand Vizier until Spur Lazar arrived. And it was Razeen who once again killed his own in order to keep the Valide and the Vizier alive long enough for the Spur to deal with their pursuers.’
    Ana was stunned by the ruse. She took a few moments to find her voice. ‘And did Razeen continue to ensure their safety?’
    ‘I know you’re eager to find out the welfare of your companions, Ana.’
    ‘Only the health of the Spur,’ she corrected.
    Beneath his beard, she saw Arafanz smile.
    ‘I know. He made sure your Spur survived and then, sadly, Razeen succumbed to his wounds,’ he said sardonically.
    ‘He was injured?’
    ‘He suffered many cuts but he inflicted a wound upon himself—in his belly—that would have looked fatal at the time. They had to leave him behind and I made sure he was picked up as soon as they had departed.’
    Ana shook her head at Arafanz’s complexity and cunning.
    ‘How interesting that you would go back for a fallen warrior to save his life and yet you cast so many to their unnecessary deaths. Is Razeen special?’
    ‘No more special than any of the other men who commit their lives to Lyana’s cause.’
    The heat was intensifying around them and Ana recalled how Lazar, during their journey, had often