Sabit felt Allamu’s warm hand on her face. The scar at her wrist felt so cold, it burned. Bright sunshine glowed red through her eyelids. The babble of the bazaar seemed far away.
Forcing her eyes open, Sabit saw Allamu kneeling over her, a look of concern on his noble features. She smiled to see him again. Surely her harsh words could still be mended. She might still fulfill her implied promise and protect him on the road to Urom.
The road to Urom—the mountain road she had walked in the lands of the dead. Ishum’s words echoed in her mind, chilling her blood. “You will kill your friends,” Ishum had said, foretelling the fate that awaited Allamu if she stayed with him. Everyone knew the dead never lied, Allamu could die at any moment. It was just as the old woman had discerned from her tea leaves: Sabit’s choice would mean life or death for a man she cared about.
Allamu took Sabit’s hand, “Strength, my friend.”
Sabit pulled her hand back as if bitten. “Get away from me, Allamu!”
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Wayfarings of Sabit: Bazaar of Death is copyright (c) 2017 by Michael S. Miller. All rights reserved. New chapters post every weekday. You can support this and other stories on Patreon: https://patreon.com/michaelsmiller or http://ipressgames.com/fiction/