The smell of horses welcomed Humban to the stables. It was different from the palace's scents—more earthy, but as pleasant in its own way. It reminded him of camping out in the desert.

He stopped outside the fifth stall. A stallion came to the door. His sleek, night-black coat gleamed in the sunlight flooding through a window and around him. He whinnied in greeting before nuzzling Humban.

"Of course I brought you something, Jalezar." Humban grinned as he held out a pear from his satchel. He blinked, and it was in the stallion's mouth.

Humban slipped into the stall and bolt the door closed behind him. That was no easy feat. The bags he carried threatened to overbalance him.

Napir had been generous in his allocation of supplies, so much so that Humban had reminded him he was going to be away for a month at most, not six. At least he wouldn't run out of food and water in the desert. That would kill him surer than an Amaluan goddess would.

Jalezar followed Humban to the equipment in the corner of the stall, his hooves thudding against the dirt floor. Humban set down the bags with a grunt. He was glad Jalezar would be carrying them across the desert.

"Are you ready for a mission?"

Jalezar gazed at Humban with his dark, intelligent eyes. He snorted, crunching his pear.

"Is that a 'yes' I hear?" Humban lifted the saddle from its rack.

The stallion listened as Humban explained their mission. He didn't made no reply, but the General knew his horse understood how important this was. Humban didn't need reinforcements, not when he had Jalezar.

No man could follow orders better or be there when Humban needed him. He didn't fear the journey to the legendary Amaluan city because Jalezar made him feel safe. Humban alone may not scare other men off, but an army horse with the power of ten men certainly would.

"So, we're going to be in Bennam until the Amaluan meeting. After we get the information we need, we'll return to Yasa. Can you handle it?" Humban placed Jalezar's saddle on his back.

Jalezar nosed at his satchel, and Humban knew what he wanted. He offered the horse another pear, which he snatched with his teeth.

"Just you and me for the next month, boy." Humban stroked Jalezar's neck.

Jalezar whinnied in answer. It sounded like he was saying he looked forward to that.

"Don't tell me you were leaving without saying goodbye," came a voice from the doorway.

Humban turned to see a figure with windswept curls standing with her arms crossed over her chest.

The Princess's red dress and gold-embroidered shawl looked out of place in the stable, like a flower that had sprouted up in the middle of the desert. The glare she wore wasn't as regal. The etiquette instructor whose company she had just left might go so far as to call it "unladylike".

"Vala." Humban nodded in greeting before turning back to Jalezar.

What was so urgent that the Princess had left her lessons and raced down to the stables to see Humban?

"Don't 'Vala' me." She rushed over and poked Humban in the shoulder. "What were you thinking, volunteering to spy on the Amaluans? The war effort is here, Humban. This is where we need you."

At the sound of her raised voice, Jalezar gave a plaintive neigh.

"I'm sorry," she crooned, patting Jalezar's head. "You're a good boy. Unlike your general." She turned her blazing eyes on Humban.

Humban turned away from her, tightening the saddle's girth.

When he and Vala sat on the palace roof, talking about the war, their lives and everything else, the conversation flowed so smoothly that it was easy to forget she was just a child.

At sixteen, Humban wouldn't have understood what he was doing now or why. He didn't expect Vala to understand either, but he could try to explain.

"Name a better man to do this than me. Name someone who cares about Gilgar more." He met the Princess's eyes. "Name someone who will fight harder."

Vala shook her head. "This isn't about fighting. This is about blending into the shadows without breathing a sound and not getting caught by the enemy or their rampaging goddesses!"

He smiled. "I can do that too."

"Humban!" Vala pulled at his shoulder, forcing him to face her. "You're not taking this seriously."

"On the contrary." He met her eyes. "I'm the only one taking this seriously. Spying on the Amaluans' meeting can give us the edge in this war. Why am I the only person who sees that?"

"Because the rest of us see the cost!" cried Vala.

In the stalls around them, the horses stomped and neighed their agitation.

Vala lowered her voice. "You're going into enemy territory alone except for your trusty steed. You're fine with facing a Gilgarian-hating goddess and getting captured by the Amaluans, who would torture you for our military secrets if they don't kill you on sight."

"And is that any better than sitting in Gilgar, waiting for the Amaluans to get here, not knowing anything about which direction they're coming from, then watching them invade my city before they murder everyone I care for in front of me?"

Vala shakes her head. "Even if you do this, our victory isn't guaranteed."

"It isn't if I stay either." Humban attached the waterskins and sacks of food to the sides of Jalezar's saddle.

"This plan is madness." Vala grabbed Jalezar's reins. "You can't do it."

Humban snatched the reins back, gritting his teeth against his temper. "It's my choice, not yours. I'm going."

"Humban..." Something in Vala's eyes changed.

Were those tears Humban saw?

She turned away before he could tell for sure. "I just— I don't want anything to happen to you." She met his gaze, her eyes once again steady.

Humban couldn't be mad at her for looking out for him the same way he'd look out for a friend. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me. I'll be fine."

Her mouth quivered, betraying that her moment of weakness hadn't truly passed.

"Keep an eye on the Dahali for me, will you?"

"Why?" Vala frowned.

"Just in case." Humban rolled up his sleeping mat and blanket and fixed them to the back of the saddle. "You can never be too careful in wartime."

He didn't have time to share his suspicions with Vala. Besides, the walls might have ears.

"As you wish, General." Vala rested her right hand on her left shoulder in a mock salute.

Humban grinned. "You know you're one of my best soldiers, right?"

Vala cracked a smile. "I do. I just wish you'd say it more often." She held the stable door open.

"Then I shall proclaim it from here to Bennam for all the land to hear." Humban ruffled her hair as he led Jalezar past her.

Princess Vala reminded Humban of Niarzina with her curly hair that had a mood of its own and the way her face could go from smiling to petulant in a moment. He supposed that now Niarzina was gone, Vala was the closest thing he had to a sister.

"Please don't." She swatted at Humban's hand, scowling. "It's enough if you say it once in a while." Her face softened when she looked up at him. Her big dark eyes were so like Niarzina's. "Take care of yourself, will you?"

"I will." Humban turned to leave. "I'll be back before you can miss me too much."

Behind him, Vala scoffed, but she didn't disagree.

Humban mounted Jalezar, and then they answered the desert's call.

***

Eight days later, Humban came upon a river. It wound over the land as far as he could see, sparkling as if the stars had fallen to the earth so that the water could carry them away.

He dismounted Jalezar and fell to his knees beside him, dipping his face into the water with less grace than his horse. The water was cold against his face. Its coolness slid down his throat, replenishing what the desert had taken from him.

Humban's journey had been going according to plan when he saw a maroon flag embroidered with a golden lion fluttering in the wind. An Amaluan camp. He'd had to take a longer route to avoid them, and Napir hadn't budgeted supplies for a desert detour.

If Humban and Jalezar hadn't come by this river when they had, the desert might've dried them out from the inside, and they would've failed their mission before beginning it.

Humban looked up, squinting. That was the shadowy outline of a city up ahead, a ruined one, by the look of the lopsided homes silhouetted against the stars.

Humban tilted his head up to the archer formed by the stars right above him.

He had arrived at Bennam.

After eight sweltering days and freezing nights in the desert, he was here.

Humban resisted shouting his victory into the night. He filled his biggest waterskin before hanging it on Jalezar's saddle.

Jalezar nuzzled Humban's shoulder.

Humban tore his eyes from the stars. "We made it, boy." He led Jalezar to what remained of Bennam.

They stopped in front of a collapsed section of the wall.

"This way, Jalezar."

Humban horse followed him through the rubble and over the streets of the deserted city.

The mudbricks formed domed structures, a style that had been replaced, but it made sense that this type of housing had survived in Amalu's oldest city.

Bennam was the ruin Humban had imagined it would be. A heaviness hung in the air, like every crumbling house he passed was a tomb. Death lingered in night's shadows, watching as he passed. People had lived and died here.

The stars gave him and Jalezar light to navigate the dirt streets, but not enough for them to feel safe doing so. The horse nickered plaintively. Humban stroked his neck to comfort him, concealing his sense of unease.

The palace stood at the centre of the city, as faded as a memory. Levels of gardens, each smaller than the last, gleamed grey in the starlight.

The mosaic tiles had shimmered once. The statues had been whole. Like the city surrounding it, the palace's skeleton was all that remained.

A tall tower stood away from the rest of the palace. Was that a light Humban saw burning in its window?

Humban shook his head. The desert had drained him of water and sense. His exhausted mind was playing tricks on him.

The palace ruins must be where the Amaluans held their meetings. There must be at least one council room still standing, still grand enough for them.

The best place for Humban to hide out was one of the abandoned homes, where they would be less likely to come upon him by accident as they passed through the city. He would have to stay clear of the main street, but the outskirts would leave him vulnerable too. He would have to find a safe place somewhere between them.

Humban had heard tales of the brutality the Amaluans who once lived here endured at the hands of his people.

There were reminders of it all around him—a shattered wall, blood splatters on the ground, toys strewn about.

Humban swallowed the lump in his throat. Here was a reminder that no man and no kingdom was above violence.

A century ago, Amalu had sunk three Gilgarian ships docked at their harbour. Gilgar's responded by attacking Bennam. Capturing the city was a strategic move, but it hadn't been necessary to kill all these innocent people.

They were civilians. The Gilgarian army could've contained their uprising if they wanted to claim the city.

Maybe then Bennam wouldn't be the setting of every Gilgarian horror story. Maybe it would still be alive and happy and prosperous.

Humban and Jalezar wandered deeper into the ghost city, stopping outside a home that looked out at the palace. It would be the perfect vantage point. Humban would see the Amaluans arrive if he was looking out at the right moment.

With a reassuring pat on Jalezar's neck, Humban left the horse outside and slipped into the house.

His frame blotted out the starlight, throwing the room into darkness. He stepped on something with a loud crack.

Gasping, he fell back against the wall of the tiny room. His heart raced. He looked down at the floor and immediately wished he hadn't.

He should've recognised the sound of bones breaking.

A contorted skeleton lay at his feet, its dress tattered and stained with a rusty red. Although it couldn't speak, Humban felt its pain a century after its death. A shredded shawl covered the bony shoulders. It had been a woman.

Bile rose in Humban's throat. A different scene flashed before his eyes.

Kiririsha lying on the ground. The fingerprint bruises on her neck. Her beautiful face twisted in agony. Her mouth open in a silent scream.

Humban had never seen Kiririsha's body, but she came to him in his dreams. She brushed her lips over his skin and asked him if he missed her. She tugged at his curls and asked why he had let the Amaluan soldiers hurt her. Didn't he love her?

It was Humban's guilt talking, not the girl he was supposed to marry. She was long gone. She knew the peace he would not.

Had he been there, Humban would've torn the soldiers limb from limb and set fire to their remains, and it wouldn't have been enough punishment for what they had done to Kiririsha, to his family, to everyone in Lenav.

He should've been there. He had loved Kiririsha, but not enough to stay in Lenav, and he had paid bitterly for his choice.

It was too late to tell her he was sorry.

His insides roiling with disgust at the Amaluans, at the Gilgarians, at himself, he stumbled out of the house. Jalezar reared.

"It's okay, boy." The lie came as easily to Humban as those he had told his family.

Humban calmed Jalezar before gathering his reins and continuing his search for shelter.

They only needed one room. If it was empty, Humban needn't bother checking the others. He doubted he'd find a house free of corpses or other reminders of the past, and if he kept up this search, it would last the night.

Once his stomach stopped churning, he took a tentative step into the simple kitchen of another home.

A table stood beside the hearth against the far wall. Humban couldn't see more than that, but at least the room was clear. Humban's shoulders sagged with relief.

For all he knew, there were skeletons in the other rooms. As much as the thought of sleeping under the same roof as the dead filled him with dread, it was getting late. He didn't have time to be fussy. This would do for tonight.

Jalezar followed Humban inside and spread his thick blanket over the floor to keep out the dust before unrolling his sleeping mat over it. His muscles burned with the exertion of travelling, but it dissipated when he lay down beside Jalezar. The hard ground had never felt so comfortable.

Humban pulled his thin blanket over him. With a final glance at the palace, he glimpsed the light in the tower window. It went out. He fell asleep before he could wonder what it meant.