Shira’s whole face went still.

‘Oh, God.’ The truth of my own words hit me. ‘The baby isn’t the Sultim’s.’

‘Keep your voice down,’ Shira hissed. Across the baths, one of the girls surged out of the water with a scream of triumph, her fist fastened around the ruby, tight as a noose. She kicked her way to the edge of the pool, showing the red stone proudly to Kadir, who leaned down to steal a kiss from her. She dropped the ruby into a small pile of colourful jewels on the side of the baths, keeping it separate from the piles of the other girls. When they were done, the Sultim would set their prizes into a necklace and gift it to them. It was like watching children play a game. Only the games in this harem could end with losing your head. The Sultim pulled another small yellow diamond from his dwindling pile.

‘What the hell were you thinking?’ Infidelity meant death in the harem – even I knew that. It had happened to Ahmed’s mother when she gave birth to Delila. And it had happened to other women, too; there were countless stories, too many to ignore. Men who slipped into the harem without permission. Servants, princes who were not heirs … in every single tale it cost everyone involved their lives. Shira was a lot of things, but stupid wasn’t one of them.

‘I wanted to survive.’ Shira’s fingernails clicked dully against the tiles at the edge of the bath. I realised they’d been filed down low. She always used to keep them longer in Dustwalk. ‘You left me and Tamid to die in Dustwalk so you could stay alive.’

She said Tamid’s name different from how she used to back in Dustwalk. It didn’t stick to the roof of her mouth with disdain. I supposed whatever they’d gone through together was the sort of thing that was bound to turn you into allies.

‘Is Tamid the one who—’ I started, already dreading the answer.

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Shira snapped. ‘I wouldn’t risk giving the Sultan a cripple for a son.’

‘And you really wonder why I think you’re awful?’ I clenched my fists, fighting the old urge to defend Tamid. He wouldn’t fight for me. I wondered if she was why he loathed me now. Had she infected him with her hatred of me on the journey? Or had I made him hate me all on my own?

‘Is what I did to survive any worse than what you did?’ She moved her foot in slow circles through the water, sending out ripples. ‘Naguib abandoned me here after I was no good to him any more. I would have died if I hadn’t proved myself more interesting than the other girls in the harem.’ A new chorus of shrieking emerged from the gaggle of girls, as another jewel sailed into the water. ‘But even being the Sultim’s favourite will only keep you alive here so long. So I’ve done the only thing I could that really ensured my survival.’ She ran her hands along her swollen stomach, her jaw working. ‘And you can tell whoever you want. No one will believe you.’

Good God, she was not making this easy. It’d been a long time since we’d last bickered in Dustwalk. I’d faced a whole lot of folk worse than her. But she was making me feel like we were right back under her mother’s roof and there was nothing I wanted more than to best her just once.

‘Yes, they will, Shira.’ If she wasn’t going to flinch, neither was I. Because if I knew one thing for sure, it was that if anyone found out Shira was carrying some other man’s child and pretending it was the Sultim’s, she’d lose her head. I held her life in my hands just the same as she did mine. ‘And I reckon you know that.’

Shira stared me down. Being Sultima suited her; even I had to admit it. There was weight in those eyes that’d make most folk want to drop their gaze first. But I’d grown up shooting; I could outlast her.

‘Fine, it’s a deal.’ Sure enough, Shira blinked first. ‘I won’t tell on you if you won’t tell on me.’

‘You’re going to have to do me one better than that, cousin.’

‘You want something else?’ She scoffed, still running her hands across her stomach over and over. She had a whole lot of power here. But she didn’t have any over me. Finally she pursed her lips, as if the words she was about to spit out tasted bitter. ‘Of course you do. Fine.’ Then Shira tossed her head back and laughed like I’d just said the funniest thing in the world. For a second I thought she’d lost her mind. Her voice echoed around the tiled walls, carrying over the commotion in the water and making Kadir look up. And he saw me. Damn it. Shira gave me a satisfied smirk. ‘Better talk fast, cousin. I’m guessing you’re the new toy Kadir keeps talking about. The one he’s not allowed to have. So you have until he gets here to play with you to spit out what you want.’

I really wanted to push her into the water. ‘Rumour has it you’ve got a way to pass contraband in and out of the harem.’

‘Who says that?’

‘People,’ I evaded. ‘Do you or don’t you?’ I kept one eye on Kadir as he got to his feet, sauntering lazily around the iridescent blue tiles of the pool towards us. It was like being tracked by a hungry Skinwalker. I wanted to get out before he got to me.

‘I might,’ she said, hedging. Wasting time. ‘What is it you’re so desperate to get in that you’d threaten my life for it? A bottle of liquor? New clothes? That certainly seems worth the price of my head.’ It wasn’t a half-bad attempt to make me feel sorry about blackmailing her. Anyone else and I might’ve actually been sorry.