“My dear friend,” Allamu said, “how I have missed you!”
Sabit knew he was not real, just a ghost of memory like every other person she had seen. But the wisp of beard upon his chin and the apples of his brown cheeks were too perfect. She could not leave him unanswered.
“Missed me?” answered Sabit. “How could you miss me after I abandoned you so cruelly?”*
Allamu chuckled. “You had good reasons to abandon me. You thought the man you stayed beside would die for your choice. When you chose to cleave to Kehnan and heap that fate upon him, I have never been more touched by a rejection. It made me love you more.”
“Love me? You and I never spoke of love! We traveled together. I vowed to take you home and I failed. I forsook that vow. But love …” Sabit’s voice trailed off. This was the trick of the magic–showing her things that were true, things that were false, things that she had desperately longed for, things that her heart had coveted in its most secret depths. Anything to get her to stay.
Allamu moved to embrace Sabit, his arms wide and warm. Sabit knew how welcoming those arms would be. Had she dreamt how welcoming the rest of his body might prove?
She leapt around Allamu as though dodging the arc of a deadly sword. Without looking back, Sabit charged into the city of Bahteel.
—
*-Sabit’s parting from Allamu is detailed in Wayfarings of Sabit: Bazaar of Death.
— — —
Photo by Luděk Maděryč from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/metal-chain-in-grayscale-and-closeup-photo-86733/
Wayfarings of Sabit: Chains 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/.