Sabit quenched the still-smoldering end of her spear in the hot blood of the guard. Barely two handspans of wooden spear shaft remained intact beneath the iron spear tip that had been Sabit’s only inheritance from her father. Dragging the guard’s body into the room where red curls of smoke still lingered in the corners, Sabit could still hear her father’s voice, mocking her for playing at wielding a spear when she ought to be weaving or cooking or winning herself a husband.
Sabit took the guard’s keys and staggered into the hallway. She barred the cell door and leaned on it. Her heart pounded in her chest. Vivid half-memories still harried the edges of her vision. Constant reminders of failure, rejection and loss dogged her every movement, every sensation. Her muscles trembled on the edge of exhaustion. Sabit knew she had gotten lucky with the guard. He was slow and stupid. She could not hope to be lucky again. She was in no condition to fight her way out of these dungeons, armed with less than half a spear. Stealth was her only option.
Gentle words of a song echoed from further down the hall, the weight of years coloring the rich, sad voice. Sabit followed the song to a cell nearby. Looking in, she found Verdandi seated on a pile of straw. The back of the older woman’s dress were criss-crossed with lines of deep crimson where her whip welts had bled through the wool.
Sabit lifted the cell door. “Verdandi, can you walk?” she croaked.
The older woman turned, her eyes filling with tears at seeing Sabit. “Not as tall or as straight as I could in years past, but quickly enough.” She took Sabit’s outstretched hand and hauled up her weary bones. “Oh, Sabit! The things I told him …”
“They are no matter,” Sabit replied. “Kehnan will pay for his cruelty … in time. Let us go.”
— — —
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Wayfarings of Sabit: Agony is copyright (c) 2018 by Michael S. Miller. All rights reserved. New chapters post every Thursday (and the occasional Monday). You can support this and other stories on Patreon: https://patreon.com/michaelsmiller Find more sword and sorcery fiction at http://ipressgames.com/fiction/.