The Book of Wonders Read Free

just like me.”
    â€œI know, I know,” Zardi soothed, even as fear pinched at her skin. In the distance, she could see the steady advance of the sultan’s guards marching along the riverbank. Curved sabers hung from their waists, and Zardi knew that they needed little reason to use them. Crimson tattoos of staring eyes covered their faces, necks, and arms. The ink left their expressions stiff, a red mask of judgment that told every man, woman, and child that the sultan’s guards were always watching. They moved in perfect unison, standing shoulder to shoulder like bricks in a wall. The wall! That was it. That was how they could get to Sinbad! She dragged on Rhidan’s arm. “We need to get to the sultan’s arch.”
    He looked at her in confusion.
    â€œDon’t you see?” she said. “All ships have to pass under the arch to leave Taraket. If we get on it, we’ll be able to see the Falcon go through.” She paused, not quite believing she was about to say her next words. “And when it does, we’ll jump down onto the deck. We’ll be able to ask Sinbad everything he knows about the Black Isle!”
    â€œYou’re a genius.” Rhidan’s violet eyes blazed. “Let’s go!”
    Pushing along with everyone else, they eventually broke free of the frantic throng and sprinted along the riverbank, but the way ahead was heaving with yet more people. Beggars pulled at sleeves and held out hands for a coin, while skinny urchins in rags watched the crowd with calculating eyes. Traders from all over Arribitha had traveled along the Tigress River to Taraket, eager to sell their wares, and Zardi and Rhidan found themselves dodging street sellers proffering mirrored glass from Azra, sidestepping women trading animal skins from the northern Ice Plains, and finally barging past men selling musk, fireworks, and porcelain from the distant kingdom of Mandar.
    Over her shoulder, Zardi could see Sinbad’s ship. The Falcon was striking a course down the middle of the Tigress, doing its best to avoid the other boats. For a moment her breath was stolen as she looked at the majestic vessel. Its sails were jade, ruby, and amber, and the hull was made of a rich ebony wood that proudly reflected the eddies and swirls of the river. Zardi blinked hard. She didn’t have time to be mooning over the ship. She and Rhidan had to get on top of the sultan’s arch before the Falcon passed through it.
    They charged on, the soft ground of the riverbank squelching beneath their sandals, and finally arrived at the arch. It reared up in front of them—a huge stone structure stretching over the Tigress. Its curving surface was made of massive, spaced columns that jutted upward. The arch had never been stepped on; it was a whim of the sultan’s, a symbol to show that all were beneath his greatness. Under their breaths, some dared to call the arch the widow reaper because of the countless men who had died during its construction, some slain by the guards for not working fast enough, others crushed beneath falling rocks.
    Rhidan’s and Zardi’s fingers instantly began to search for handholds to climb to the top of the first pillar, but they found none. Zardi hunkered down and formed a cradle with her fingers. “Hop up,” she said.
    Rhidan didn’t hesitate and placed a foot in her hand. As Zardi vaulted him up onto the widow reaper’s lowest column, she marveled at the transformation of her usually cautious friend. He normally had his nose in a book of riddles or mathematics and certainly never climbed walls. He hadn’t even questioned what would happen to them if they were seen on the arch or how they were going to get off the ship once they got the answers he needed, not that she’d quite worked that out either. He seemed so different that, for a heartbeat, she wondered if he might leave her behind. But without pausing, Rhidan offered his hand