“These are barely wounds. You need not trouble yourself, healer,” Kehnan scoffed, reclining in a hammock in one of the bandit’s huts. Regida busied herslef with strips of linen and smears of poultice, tending to the wide, red abrasions that circled Kehnan’s arms where the rope had held him.
“Sabit has said that I am to tend your foolish wounds. I do not question the orders of my queen.” The young woman bristled as she struggled to stretch the linen bandage using only her intact, left arm. The stump of her right twitched with her every movement.
“Nor should you,” Kehnan replied, studying Regida’s expression closely. “The Sabit that I recall would cut off your other arm for daring to doubt her wisdom. But this Sabit seems … weaker.”
Anger flared in Regida’s eyes. “Weak? Would a weak queen risk her position and her tribe against the forces of a mighty king to defend the innocent? Would a weak queen risk her own life against a vicious beast just to save a foolhardy warrior like me, who had challenged her authority?* Would a weak queen risk her soul by carrying a spear carved of the body of the demon that had already left its scars across her mind?”**
Kehnan grinned at Regida’s every utterance, her fury doing more to loosen her tongue than would gold or strong drink. He showed his palms and said, “My ordeal has surely left me light-headed and confused. You have shown me my error. Now, tell me more of the strengths of your bandit queen. I hunger to learn them all.”
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*-Sabit’s rescue of Regida is detailed in Wayfarings of Sabit: Bandit Queen http://ipressgames.com/tag/bandit-queen/
**-Sabit’s creation of her spear is detailed in Wayfarings of Sabit: Road of Woe http://ipressgames.com/tag/road-of-woe/
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Wayfarings of Sabit: Betrayal is copyright (c) 2017 by Michael S. Miller. All rights reserved. New chapters post every Thursday. You can support this and other stories on Patreon, https://patreon.com/michaelsmiller, or at http://ipressgames.com/fiction/.