Before Kehnan could react, Sabit was climbing into the cart to better study the strange device and the bracelet perched atop of it. Several people had already crawled aboard the huckster’s cart, proffering coins in outstretched hands. The huckster gathered the money and handed out the tiny porcelain cups. A beefy woman with a desperate … Read more
Sabit seized the hand on her shoulder and yanked. Bracing her hip, she pulled the bigger man forward, tipping him off-balance. Controlling his fall by twisting the arm she held, Sabit put the man on his back in the dust of the bazaar. Putting her knee on his chest, Sabit looked down at Kehnan. “Don’t … Read more
In the open air, the searing pain of Sabit’s scar faded quickly. Allowing her feet to take her where they would, Sabit tried to quiet the turmoil in her mind and heart. Her memories of last night were still like a gaping hole—a wound in her psyche, leaking blood that stained the impressions of all … Read more
“You gave Allamu your vow that you would return him home to Urom,” Qaansoole said, rising from her seat to confront Sabit’s casual announcement that she would not go to that far-off city. “I also vowed to protect the prince of Ghabar.* And to serve the god Batuul beneath the Wicked Rocks.* And to protect … Read more
“Allamu has secured a place in a large, well-guarded caravan headed for Urom,” Qaansoole said as Sabit savored a bowl of fragrant broth. “We have at least five days before they leave, so there is plenty of time to arrange provisions. One night’s reunion with an acquaintance of old will hardly delay our journey.” The … Read more
“What happened to you?” Allamu asked, rising from the dusty ground at the foot of the city wall. “We were to meet here at sunset. Are you hurt?” Sabit opened her parched mouth to speak. What had happened to her? She had been in the bazaar. She had looked for provisions. She had met Kehnan. … Read more
A shaft of morning sunlight bathed Sabit’s closed eyelids in a scarlet glow, like the fire of a demon’s heart. Her head ached like a walnut about to crack. Every muscle throbbed as though she had pulled an elephant up a mountain. Her tongue was fused to the roof of her mouth, as dry as … Read more
In the deepest reaches of the night, Sabit dreamt. • • A battlefield—littered with bodies, flowing with blood. The acrid tang of smoke. A vicious war-cry. Numberless ranks of foes. The taste of copper at Sabit’s lip. A brutal charge. Everywhere, the dance of battle. Sabit’s spear—long and sharp and cruel. The iron tip piercing … Read more
The man in the cloak lunged at Sabit, his bronze blade whistling toward her throat. Sabit dropped to a crouch, the strike that sought to take her head sailing uselessly above. She punched the man in the side with a fury that sent him lurching to the ground, vomit spewing from his mouth. Kehnan dodged … Read more
“I have been dead these six years and never knew it,” Kehnan professed as he and Sabit wound their way through the tight alleyways of Bahteel. “I swear I have not felt my heart beat with the thrill of true life since we parted, Mongoose. But to see you make those blades dance again, it … Read more