"If I ask Somadina in bed, he might soften.Of course, I would expect you to finally understand your place.You loathed Somadina for denying you the title of main wife, so you left him to me.Now look at you; you aren't even a recognised bed slave."
She searched Azul’s gaze, tears pooling in her eyes as she saw the state of her sister.The first time was not the last time Somadina visited, and one hit the next time was not enough.She wiped it away quickly.
Azul's cracked lips parted."Yes.I accept your help."
Chidinma reached into the small pouch at her belt—the one that held her sewing supplies.Her fingers closed around something long and sharp; she withdrew a silver needle, holding it up to Azul.
"For each needle you allow to pierce your flesh," she said, trying to steady her voice."I will raise your case to my husband.A fair trade, wouldn't you say?"
Azul's right hand extended.She hadn’t eaten, so her body shook.
"I’m sorry," Chidinma whispered.Then she positioned the needle's point at the centre of Azul's supinated forearm.
And she pushed.
Azul's body went rigid.A muscle jumped in her jaw.She bit down on her already numb tongue; her golden eyes remained fixed on some point beyond Chidinma's shoulder.She forced her body steady, but the tremor spread all over, making it hard to concentrate on the pain.
The needle slid deeper, piercing skin, muscle, and the sensitive bed of tissue beneath.Blood welled and spilled down the sides of Azul's arm to pool on the stone floor.Chidinma pushed until the silver vanished completely, buried in flesh, with only the faintest outline visible beneath the skin.
Chidinma quickly withdrew her hand.
Azul's hand shook violently; the urge to retract it overwhelmed the false princess’s senses.
Chidinma selected another needle, then another.
Five needles.
By the end, Azul's arm was bloodied, but once cleaned, it looked relatively unharmed, with only small red dots to prove anything had happened to her at all.She held it in her lap, cradling it with her other hand, as sweat dripped from her temples.Her breathing was laboured, her eyes red.
Chidinma sat back on her heels.
She opened her mouth, speaking with no sound.“He will come tonight.The Mal-kai is ready.”With that, she rose to her feet and quickly backed toward the door, her composure cracking under a hammering heart.
Taking a look at her arm, Azul gritted her teeth, and finding a red spot where a needle was embedded, she pressed down around it hard in an attempt to force the needle back out.
Somadina had seized hers when moving her things, so these would have to do as replacements in the meantime.
As Chidinma said, the next time her doors opened, it was Somadina; he had a paper and an inkbrush in his hand, and behind him, a guard dragged in a little girl in a half-unconscious state.She was bandaged, and her body was limp, her eyes glazed, still medicated.
Azul’s heart lurched in her throat seeing Nkiru; she was still recovering, and yet he had brought her all the way here.
“What is the meaning of this?”Azul asked, but her voice couldn’t quite find the strength, as her body shook.
Somadina knelt in front of her and dropped the piece of parchment.His eyes were dark, and Azul found herself looking into the eyes of a man possessed.
“I need you; you write to your barbarian.”
A metallic hiss filled the room, and Azul’s head snapped up, a gasp escaping her lips.A blade was at her servant’s neck, waiting for Somadina’s orders.
Azul looked down on the piece of paper, her body weak and beaten, her heart heavy.
Death, or death?
At that thought, she bit her lip, blood coating her tongue again.
She picked up the brush and began to write.
The door opened without a knock.
