More action to come! :-D Sorry but the chapter is a little shorter than the last few. Hope that's okay :-) As always – sorry for any spelling mistakes. Hope you like it. :-)

Keyla didn't even think about taking the same way she had done the last two times when entering the palace. It would take too long and in broad daylight it was just too much of a risk. If she was seen and arrested or - even worse - attacked, she would never get a chance to talk to the princess or Dastan or anyone else who had any authority at the palace. Of course it was just as risky to just storm through the main gate and demand that she would be led to the princess but as of now, Keyla couldn't think of any other option.

She rushed through the street once again leaving the people in her way behind disgruntled but she cared even less than she had when she had hurried back to her host's home. Now it was even more pressing that she arrived at her destination as soon as possible. She could just hope to run into somebody wise enough to listen to what she had to say and realize that there was a real threat at hand.

Keyla reached the main gate that lead to the palace completely out of breath. She had hoped she would be lucky but there were two armed guard on each side of the gate and they already eyed her suspiciously when she was walking up to them now. When she reached the gate, the taller one of them stepped into her way. Keyla could have screamed in frustration. She had no time for this kind of distraction. She needed to find Dastan or princess Tamina!

"Where to young traveler?"

"You have to let me through!"

Instead of listening to her as she had foolishly hoped for, the two men started laughing. But she wasn't fooled by their laughter. Maybe they were amused by her demand but they never even for a moment let their guard slip. She watched in horror as both of them placed a hand on the handle of their swords. She knew they were trained and ready to kill her if she would pester them any longer but she had no choice. She needed to get her precious information to the royal couple.

"Yeah sure. We hear that a couple dozen times a day."

"It is important!"

"And that we never heard before either."

"Damn you, you idiots!"

"Hey! Watch your words!"

One of the two guards was about to draw his sword now and Keyla squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She was doing Dastan and Tamina no good. What she did manage though was to get herself killed right in front of the palace without ever getting a chance to stop the impending treachery from happening. She just had to find another way into the palace. There was always a way in...

She wouldn't be getting anywhere with these two guards. Her frustration brought tears to her eyes. She needed to warn Dastan and Tamina. She just had to. But for once luck was on Keyla's side. When she opened her eyes again she barely could believe what she saw. Princess Tamina was just crossing the courtyard right outside the palace. Keyla didn't care if the guards would attack her anymore She ran right into them, screaming for the princess at the top of her lungs.

"Princess Tamina! I need to speak with princess Tamina!"

The guards were cursing at her, trying to pull her back but Keyla only had eyes for the princess. A wave of relief washed over her when she realized she had managed to get Tamina's attention. The princess was looking into her direction, detecting the turmoil at the palace gate with a frown on her face. Keyla did not hesitate. She yelled out to her once more, her voice toppling over with urgency.

"Princess it is me! Keyla!"

It took an unbearably long moment but then recognition dawned on the princess face and when Keyla saw a smile appear on it, she knew she was on the safe side again. Moments later the princess changed her path and came walking to the main gate with quick long steps. All of her royal authority lay in her every move and her words when she addressed the two palace guards now that were still trying to hold Keyla back.

"Let go of her!"

"But my princess..."

"I said let go!"

The guards reacted immediately and Keyla felt the pressure that had just been put on her arms seconds ago disappear. The princess gave her a soft wave, motioning to her to follow her and Keyla hurried to get past the guards. She had no more time to lose. She looked around the square and could find no sign of Dastan anywhere around. She would have preferred not to tell this story twice.

"What is it you came here for, Keyla?"

"Where's Dastan? He should hear this too!"

"He's not here. He's at the main gate, overseeing the last of the preparations for his father's arrival this afternoon..."

She could not wait for somebody to fetch Dastan, she needed to tell the princess now. Steps needed to be taken. Keyla nodded her head, took a step closer to Tamina and lowered her voice. She didn't want the whole palace to know about the treachery that had unfolded. Maybe there were people here who were in on the plan. She didn't want them to be warned. She hurried to explain what she had come across, whispering into the princess's ear.

"You need to send troupes to the houses of the merchants Malik and Feroz. They plan to attack you and Dastan I believe they plan to murder the both of you!"

"Why would you say such a thing?"

Tamina sounded taken aback by Keyla's statement and for a moment she eared the princess would not believe her, would even send her away without acknowledging the danger. Keyla was sure this was hard to take. She knew for a fact that the merchant feroz was one of the wealthiest and most known people of the city of Alamut. The charges she had come forth with were very serious. She accused those men of treachery and keyla was sure the punishment win Alamut was the same as it was throughout the Persian empire. Those men would be executed. But it was the truth and she needed for Tamina to listen to her and believe her.

"The merchant Feroz spoke to me about your wedding last night. He told me he was disgusted by the fact that you chose to marry into the Persian royal family but that measures would be taken. I didn't think anything of it at first but this morning he sent me on a mission to deliver a mission to the merchant Malik and he had me return with the answer that he would send his men on the way. The letter that was given to him and that I was asked to deliver, he burned after reading it so I have no knowledge what it said. But when I asked Feroz about it, leaning on him a bit he said there was no more worries about the wedding because there wouldn't be one. He plans to kill you, I'm sure of it!"

"What exactly did he say?"

Keyla had never felt more relieved in her life than in this very moment when the princess questioned her about what she had come across. She believed her otherwise she had just told her off and had send her away. But Keyla had managed not only to win her attention but to convince her that what she was telling her was the truth. Keyla tried hard to keep her nervous excitement and worry at bay so that she could fully concentrate on what exactly it had been the merchant had told her before she had left for the palace to give the information to the princess.

"He said there would be no wedding and that he and the man he planned this with would never allow a Persian reign in Alamut..."

Even while she was repeating the words, a breathtaking horror grabbed a hold of Keyla. She had no idea why she hadn't realized this before. She had been so preoccupied with getting to the palace in time that she had not thought about the merchants words very thoroughly. He had never even said a word about the princess or about feeling disgruntled about what she had done. He had always only spoken about the Persians...

All of a sudden the message she had delivered and what she had come to see at the other merchant's house made sense to her. They had not send out men to attack the princess. In fact this had never been about the princess at all. Keyla looked into Tamina's eyes and she saw the same horror mirrored in them that she felt right now. They both voiced there realization at exactly the same time, worry and sheer desperation audible in their voices.

"Dastan..."

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