“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 … Read more
Sabit awoke. She lay on her soft couch of cedar wood. The wind whispered in the trees, carrying the sound of the morning exercises of the army of Ghabar. Her army. Sabit was home. Rising, she overlooked the courtyard where dozens of troops practiced drill, just as she had taught them. At their head was … Read more
The flesh-merchant sat on the ground, half-covered in human waste. The whites of his eyes, wide with terror, shown through the brown, stinking filth. Blood flowed from a cut on his forehead into his left eye. He rifled through the polished baubles around his neck. As Sabit approached, he snatched forth the talisman of a … Read more
Sabit hauled the large clay pot filled with stinking human waste out from under the stone commode. She replaced it with a clean pot and wrapped a loop of rope around the flared lip of the full vessel. The rope trailed from a long, wooden pole with another matching, stinking pot at the other end. … Read more
“I told him you were the lost princess of Kelmaars, called Masuura,” Qaansoole said, wiping the blood from Sabit’s lip. “You are fleeing from an arranged marriage to an ugly, vicious man. You have two rewards upon your head. One from your betrothed and one from your father. Heguir was delighted and dispatched emissaries to … Read more
“No wonder this feral cat refused to tell me her name,” Heguir chuckled after Qaansoole had said her piece about the warrior woman lying chained on the floor. “She will make me a tidy profit. The gold shall be a balm to my wounds she inflicted, as will the knowledge that she is delivered to … Read more
Heguir led his guards and the shackled Sabit through the crowded compound, Rayshabu following behind. She held her head low like a chastized child. The procession wound through reeking barracks of chained captives, awaiting the next buyer of their misery. Their eyes passed over Sabit without hope or pity, the brutality of their daily labor … Read more
“I hope you enjoyed your introduction to the realms of dreams, foul wench,” sneered Heguir. “You shall only linger there again once I have your name and you abase yourself before me.” The room swam in Sabit’s sight. Her shoulder hurt, like a glowing ember had been encased within the skin. Her hands were still … Read more
The woman—small and lithe—extended her hand to pull Sabit to her feet. As the spearwoman rose, she felt the pain of her battle with the boar—bruised ribs ached, cut flesh burned—but it was distant, more like the memory of pain than pain itself. She stood up and gazed down at her rescuer, a full head … Read more
Sabit had been amazed by the speed of her walk from Ghabar to Bahteel. But setting her feet to a run in this bizarre realm set the world iself rushing past her. With the flicker of thought, she was out of Rayshabu’s home, into the streets of Bahteel. A moment later, the city gates lay … Read more