“That’s not your decision to make!”
Asim’s face was desperate as the cries of dying rebels filled the air. “Please, Raetawy, please give me this. Help me lighten my heart before it’s too late.”
Rae sagged back to the ground, careful not to jostle the arrow shaft as she did. She wanted so badly to fight, to loose a battle cry and wet her knife with the blood of those guards— but she could not refuse Asim.
“As you wish, Captain,” she said.
Asim nodded and rose to his feet, moonlight catching his shaggy, rough-hewn face. Despite his tattered robes, she’d never seen a man look so noble. “Not a sound, no matter what happens. Understand?”
Rae nodded reluctantly.
“Good.” Keeping to the shadows, Asim darted toward the guards who were converging on the last two rebels. One had already been shot in the leg, and the other stood with his fists held defensively before him, having just been disarmed.
The guards were about to strike when Asim charged, snatching up a fallen asa stick from the ground and slashing it through the air, taking out one of the guards with a savage blow to the head.
While the guards were distracted, the two rebels took the opportunity to flee. Asim thrust the tip of the asa into another guard’s neck with a vicious crack. The man made a strangled, gurgling noise, but before he could do more than grasp his throat,Asim brought the stick swinging straight across the guard’s temple, dropping him like a stone.
“What is wrong with you fools?” shouted the head guard. “Take him down!”
Rae watched it all, rapt. Asim turned to attack a third guard, but didn’t see another one circle behind him, blade in hand. Rae wanted to cry out a warning, but she kept her promise and stayed silent.
The blade slashed across Asim’s back with a spray of blood.
Asim grunted in pain, his back arching—but wasted only a moment before he whirled on his attacker with the asa. This time, though, the remaining guards were ready and fell upon him en masse, tearing the asa from his grasp and tossing it away.
“Tie his arms,” the head guard commanded, wiping the perspiration from his brow.
One of the guards produced a length of rope. “What about the two who got away?” he asked.
“The archers will pick them off before they can get far,” the head guard replied. He sniffed, watching as they pinned Asim’s arms behind his back and forced him to his knees. “So, you’re the leader of this rabble?”
Asim said nothing.
The head guard shrugged. “No matter. Your skills with the asa speak for themselves. It’s obvious the rest of them were farmers’ boys and old soldiers, far past their prime. You’re hardly more than a beggar yourself, but perhaps youweresomething, once.”
He placed the curve of his khopesh under Asim’s chin and lifted it, forcing the rebel leader to look at him. “If you think I wanted you alive to squeeze you for information, you’re wrong. You’ve conspired against the king. Your life is forfeit. I simply wanted to kill you myself.”
Omari stirred, grunting softly as he regained consciousness.
The head guard turned his head. “What was that?”
Her pulse racing, Rae shifted silently and put her lips to Omari’s ear.“Shh…”
Asim spoke up again. “Amunmose isn’t worthy of Khetara’sthrone,” he barked, loud enough to cover any sounds Omari might make. “Never has this kingdom seen a more feckless pharaoh. That is why we rise against him, not only for Sakesh, but for all—”
“King Amunmose is dead,” the head guard said.
Asim fell silent.
“We received word earlier this evening, along with new orders from Crown Prince Meryamun. I’ve heard he’s quite a different man from his father and models himself on the Great Uniter: King Sematawy himself. I’ve heard he wishes to return the kingdom to its former might—starting with bringing you Low Khetaran dogs to heel.”
When Asim spoke again, his voice was somber. “This new king changes nothing. Kill me if you wish, but my death won’t divert the people of Sakesh from their purpose. They have suffered for long enough. They will come together and take back this city, take back their dignity—”
It was at this point that Rae realized Asim was no longer talking to the guard. He was talking to her.
“—and come tomorrow, hear me, come tomorrow, the falcon will sail across the sky, and we shall meet him on the—!”
There was a sharp, wet sound, followed by a dull thud.
