Hakeem gasped and slowly took control of his body again. He'd ask Kilig to punish him with death – merciful death, like Godwalkar's assassins were taught. Kilig could do it, since he didn't love him anymore.
Hopeful again, he uncurled and rose from the cot, driven by a new determination. Where could he find Kilig? He knew where Kilig's cousin Rahul lived, so he went there first. Rahul had done some work on Ramya's house five years earlier and still remembered him, so he pointed him to Kilig's sister's house.
Hakeem walked there feeling lighter at every step. He'd see Kilig one last time and then it would be over.
***
Kilig was startled by Hakeem's visit. He wasn't expecting the young man to knock on Gauri's door with his most innocent smile.
"How did you find me?" he asked bluntly, jarred.
"I asked Rahul," Hakeem answered. "Will you let me in, or do you want all the neighbors to see me hug you and kiss you?"
"I don't want you to hug me and kiss me," he muttered, but backed away and let Hakeem in since he didn't want to display his own business in the street. Gauri was in a back room and she wouldn't even notice the visitor.
They both stood in her entrance, Kilig embarrassed by Hakeem's adoring stare and unable to look at him.
"What do you want, Hakeem?"
"I've come to ask you something," Hakeem said, keeping his hands behind his back.
"Shoot."
"Will you give me a merciful death?"
"What?" Kilig stared incredulous at Hakeem. "Are you out of your mind?"
"No, I'm aware I've wronged you and deserve punishment and my last wish is that you do it instead of asking somebody else. I know you don't love me anymore, what I did is unforgivable..."
"I do forgive you," Kilig snapped, jarred.
"You don't know what I've done after you left. And you don't love me anymore." Hakeem smiled. "Therefore I'm asking you to kill me with a quick noose job."
"No!" Kilig exploded, outraged. He'd had enough of killing and he didn't hate Hakeem enough to want him dead. He actually felt sorry for Saif's son and didn't understand what he was ashamed of. "Hakeem, it's time you grow up and take responsibility for your mistakes! You can't take the easy way out!"
Hakeem rolled his eyes and then put his arms around Kilig's neck.
"Kilig, I love you, and if I can't have you, I'd rather be dead." His lips sought Kilig's, but the kiss tasted sour. Hakeem's smile as he pulled back was rueful. "You can't bear my touch anymore," he continued, letting go. "I don't blame you. I was stupid, and did even worse things than those threesomes... did Guisarme tell you how I spent my time in Darantasia?"
"No, you're not a topic of discussion with Guisarme," Kilig replied. "Hakeem, you have one child, probably a second on the way..."
"Ah, yes, it's a boy, Corabella delivered two days ago." Hakeem shrugged, lowering his eyes.
"Well don't you think it's time you start being a father to those children?" Kilig chided.
"Why? They have fathers." Hakeem retorted. "And I don't know how to be a father. I never had one!"
"Of course you did." Kilig glared at him.
"Oh, just because Saif dumped you for me and my mother you think he was a good father? He was a shitty father, Kilig, your beloved acharya was just a sick old man who liked boys and never taught me anything about life and family and..."
Kilig saw red. How dare Hakeem say those awful things about Saif. The little bastard knew nothing! His hands wrapped around Hakeem's neck and he squeezed, clenching his teeth.
He'd never strangled anyone with his bare hands – preferring the noose for a quicker job – but Hakeem didn't offer any resistance.
Saif's son didn't struggle and just shut up. Hakeem's willingness to die was obvious since he didn't react when Kilig's fingers compressed the airways and interfered with the flow of blood in his neck. Kilig's chokehold became deadly and Hakeem slowly smiled. "Thank you," were his last mouthed words.
Kilig let go and the rage subsided. He finally realized that Hakeem had said those things on purpose. He had to drive him mad to have his merciful death.
As the young man's body collapsed, Kilig closed his eyes, trying to regain control. He had killed in anger. All those years of training and Hakeem had tricked him into killing again, completely losing control of his emotions.
He opened his eyes and looked at the limp body, the green eyes now fixed and the slight smile on those lips that had driven him crazy for so long. He knelt by Hakeem's side, closed his eyes and sighed. He took him in his arms, carrying him like a bride, and slowly went back to the Assassins' Guild building, where he knocked with his foot since his hands were busy.
Sabre opened and gasped at the sight of Hakeem who looked asleep except for the finger marks on his neck and the paleness of his skin.
"Kilig, what..."
"Help me prepare his funeral pyre," he said, stepping in.
The actual funeral was held in the courtyard of the school, with Guisarme standing next to Kilig, and Sabre, Anelace and the children on the other side.
"Are you all right?" Guisarme asked as they gathered Hakeem's ashes to take them to the temple.
"Yeah. He joined his parents, I guess."
"What happened? You fought six months ago, couldn't you forgive him?"
"I had forgiven him, but I don't love him anymore. The passion was gone on my side – not on his. I feel like I failed him. Maybe if I hadn't left when I did, he wouldn't have fallen."
"He was never a strong person in the first place." Guisarme shrugged. "Unlike you, he always depended on others. Probably because he found you to cling to when his father died, and never had to fend for himself. How did he die, though? I had managed to stop him from killing himself – and trust me, he was close to self-destructing completely!"
"He came to me and requested merciful death. I refused to give it to him, so he said things he didn't mean to drive me over the edge."
"So you killed him."
"Yes. He still loved me – too much."
Guisarme shook her head with a sigh.
"He was weak," she said. "You were the strong one."
"So why do I feel like crying?" Kilig asked with a lump in his throat.
"Because you loved him, and you still cared for him even if the passion was gone. You think you failed him, but he was an adult and can only blame himself for his fall. You can cry, Kilig, nobody will blame you. But then you must move on."
"I know." Kilig put the lid on the urn of Hakeem's ashes. "Come with me to the temple?"
"Sure." Guisarme smiled, shooing away Anelace and Sabre.
Kilig left the building without looking back.
Acknowledgments
A special thank to beta-readers B-Abby, Michael, Lissa, Nancy and mostly Camila who loved "Saif's Legacy" so much, she prompted me to write more about those characters.
And thank you Mighty Editor Zoe Markham for proof-reading.
***
About the Author
Barbara G.Tarn had an intense life in the Middle Ages that stuck to her through the centuries. She prefers swords to guns, long gowns to mini-skirts, and even though she buried the warrior woman, she deplores the death of knights in shining chainmail. She likes to think her condo apartment is a medieval castle, unfortunately lacking a dungeon to throw noisy neighbors and naughty colleagues in. Also known as the Lady with the Unicorns, these days she prefers to add a touch of fantasy to all her stories, past and present – when she’s not wandering on her fantasy world of Silvery Earth or in her science fantasy Star Minds Universe. She dabbles into historical fantasy with her Vampires Through the Centuries series and has started post-apocalyptic/steampunk series called Future Earth Chronicles. She’s a writer, sometimes artist, mostly a world-creator and story-teller. Two of her stories received an Honorable Mention at the Writers of the Future contest and one was published in Pulphouse Magazine #5 (March 2019). She writes, draws, ignores her day job and blogs at: http://creativebarbwire.wordpr
ess.com.
For more info on the series or other titles go to Unicorn Productions.
If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on your retailer of choice, thank you.
Did you love Kilig & Hakeem? Then you should read Saif & Kilig by Barbara G.Tarn!
Assassins are not all the same, someone prefers the old school from the far south to Godwalkar's rules. But not Karuna the Sorrowful, who's been waiting for his savior to take him on as apprentice, so he can become Kilig the Sword.
Read more at Barbara G.Tarn’s site.
Also by Barbara G.Tarn
Future Earth Chronicles
Brainwaves (Future Earth Chronicles Book 1)
Wanderlust (Future Earth Chronicles Book 2)
Across Continents (Future Earth Chronicles Book 3)
Himalayas (Future Earth Chronicles Book 4)
Airships (Future Earth Chronicles Book 5)
Silvery Earth
Books of the Immortals - Air
Books of the Immortals - Earth
Books of the Immortals - Ether
Books of the Immortals - Fire
Books of the Immortals - Water
Chronicles of the Varian Empire - Volume 1
Chronicles of the Varian Empire - Volume 2
Chronicles of the Varian Empire - Volume 3
Male Lovers of Silvery Earth
Amazon Spring
Amazon Summer
Books of the Immortals
The Hooded Man
Kilig & Hakeem
Saif & Kilig
Kilig the Sword
The Young King
Firebird
Beautiful
Amazon Fall
The Path of Water (Quests Book 1)
The Path of Fire (Quests Book 2)
Tales of the Northern Kingdoms volume 1
Tales of the Northern Kingdoms volume 2
Male Lovers of Silvery Earth Volume 2
Fairy Tales Revisited on Silvery Earth
Tales of the Queendom of Maadre
More Tales of the Southern Kingdoms (One Volume Edition)
Tales of the Southern Kingdoms (One Volume Edition)
The Path of Air (Quests Book 3)
Quests Volume One: The Paths of Water and Air
The Path of Earth (Quests Book 4)
Quests Volume Two: The Paths of Fire and Earth
Talwar and Khanda - Assassins in Love
Saif's Story
Honorable Assassins
Axelle, Wanderer (Silvery Earth Heroines)
The Complete Chronicles of the Varian Empire Box Set
Assassins Guild of Silvery Earth Box Set
Fall of the Southern Kingdoms
Angelica, Scholar (Silvery Earth Heroines)
Two Stories of the Varian Empire
Male Lovers of Silvery Earth Volume 3
The Sun Sword (Legends of the Moren Empire Volume 1)
Quests Box Set
Star Minds Italiano
Angelo Tecnologico (Star Minds #1)
Mercanti di Schiavi (Star Minds #3)
Star Minds - la trilogia
Stella Cadente
Legame Mentale (Star Minds #2)
Star Minds Frammenti - Donne
Star Minds Frammenti
Star Minds Universe
Star Minds - The Trilogy
Star Minds Snippets
Star Minds Next Generation
Star Minds Next Generation Diaries
Star Minds Chasing Stardom
Star Minds Interregnum
Star Minds Third Generation Snippets
Star Minds Starter
Adventurer (Star Minds Lone Wolves)
Pilot (Star Minds Lone Wolves)
Hacker (Star Minds Lone Wolves)
Thief (Star Minds Lone Wolves)
Mercenary (Star Minds Lone Wolves)
Freelance (Star Minds Lone Wolves)
Star Minds Lone Wolves Shorts
Star Minds Lone Wolves Team - Missions 1-5
Star Minds Lone Wolves Team - Missions 6-10
Star Minds Lone Wolves Team - Missions 11-15
Star Minds Lone Wolves Team - Missions 16-20
Star Minds Lone Wolves Team - Missions 21-25
Star Minds Lone Wolves Team - Missions 26-29
Rogue (Star Minds Lone Wolves)
Terra d'Argento in italiano
Amori Maschili a Terra d'Argento
L'eredità di Saif
Smeraldo e Kyrio
Il giovane re
Saif e Kilig
Vampires Through the Centuries
Charioteer of Buddha
Indestructible
Kaylyn the Sister-in-Darkness
Kristine the Youngest
Norman Blood
Rajveer the Vampire
Shashank the Fledgling
Vampires Through the Centuries Novellas
Standalone
Johnny & Marian
Six Months and Other Love Stories
Best of Friends
Ciaran & Harith
Happiness is...
Choices, Changes and Other Stories
Pat & Babs
Body Switches
Yash and Ryo Lost in the Milky Way
Today People
Soul Thieves
The Fern and The Cross
Otherside
Joint Operations
Relationships (5 Short Stories of Love and Friendship)
Mumbai Dreams
Watch for more at Barbara G.Tarn’s site.
Kilig & Hakeem Page 17