by Candy Crum
After climbing onto the roof where she would be safe, she looked around to make sure everyone was in position. Had she not known where her guards were, she wouldn't have seen them. Her men agreed this was the location least likely to be visited, and they'd demanded their queen go there.
While she didn't care about danger and was confident in her abilities as well as those of her guardsmen, she acquiesced, knowing it was her duty to her people to stay alive.
If she died, Bast and Cleo would rise to power the moment they returned to Kemet. Neither was ready, and neither wanted it yet. They weren't finished growing up and finding who they were as individuals. She would do anything to make sure they got that chance before it was their time.
"My Queen!" someone whispered loudly from below.
She reached out with her power, but she was too far away from the earth to sense any changes. "What is it?" she called back in the same fashion.
"We have incoming."
"Alert Faraj. Quickly!" she ordered.
Within seconds, she heard someone scratching on the window at the back of the house. It was far less obvious than knocking, and it worked beautifully. She heard the soft creak of the window as it opened and quiet whispers from below. While she couldn't sense the vibrations in the ground that her guard had sensed, she could feel Faraj making his way through the small farmhouse.
Asim looked around but saw nothing and no one. This particular home sat on a patch of land that was close enough to the Nile that rich, black earth supported its livestock and crops. A good portion of the crops brought into the city were purchased from farmers like the one here and others along the river.
That was why her soldiers had assumed this location would be the least likely to be hit. No farmer would willingly leave his land or risk it, so why would the stranger try to recruit one? So far, it seemed recruitment was his goal. Theft and devastation hadn't yet been a problem.
She wondered if that was about to change.
Within two minutes, Asim saw horses coming across the land. There were more than ten, but from that distance, she couldn't get an accurate headcount. She flattened herself on the peak of the roof and slid down the back enough that she would not be seen. It felt as though time stood still while she waited for something to happen.
After what felt like an eternity, she heard the noisy horses come to a stop and several men talking. She badly wanted to pull herself up to look over the peak and see how many men there were, but she remained still. She wouldn't have to hide like a coward for long.
There were several sharp knocks on the front door, and Faraj's footsteps vibrated through the home as he moved to the door.
"Good evening," Faraj said. "It's quite late. What can I do for you men?"
"I assume you own this home," a man with a deep voice said.
He didn’t sound angry or threatening, but she couldn’t see them, so she decided to wait to pass judgment.
"That I do. Have you come for food? We have plenty if you're hungry," Faraj responded in a friendly tone.
"That's not why we're here. Well, not entirely. We do need supplies, but we also want to ask you a few questions."
There was a pause. "A few questions?" Faraj asked. She was impressed by how well he acted.
"Yeah. I'm sure you're aware the desert has become…hostile."
Her hands cramped from holding on so she didn’t slide, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. The gradient was light enough that she didn't have to hold much of her weight, but it was still painful.
Hurry the hell up, she thought.
"Given those beasts out there, that's a friendly way of putting it, I'd say," Faraj replied.
"Exactly. It's been scary, and it's only gonna get worse. We've discovered some very unsettling news. It affects all of us, but it affects people like you directly. We're hoping you'll help us solve this problem before it becomes too much."
"Oh, no." There was a pause and some rustling. She heard the front door creak shut, and she felt Faraj's footsteps move onto the covered front porch. "Sorry about that. I don't want my wife and daughter to hear. What's going on?"
"We found several soldiers patrolling a little too far from Jadid. Turns out, they weren't patrolling at all," the man with the deep voice said.
"They were inspecting the area," a man with a higher voice said. He didn't sound much older than seventeen, but she couldn’t be sure without looking.
"Inspecting the area? For what?" Faraj asked.
"They're scouting to figure out where they can get the most supplies in an emergency. The queen is panicking and preparing for the apocalypse. I'm telling you, she's coming for all of us."
"What!" Faraj exclaimed, shock in his voice. She was pretty sure it was genuine. "Why would she do that? We give the city anything they need."
"Because we're all out here alone. They're in that damned city with their tall walls and an army to protect them. What happens if the queen gets paranoid about these monsters? She'll order land to be seized! She'll take whatever resources she needs to feed her family and her legion of worshippers. Those soldiers have proven that."
"How does a handful of patrolling soldiers prove that?" Faraj asked.
She could hear the disbelief in his voice, and she prayed he'd hold it back for a little bit longer. She wanted to go down there and punch that guy in the face, but she couldn't without giving everything away.
"Because they attacked us. We patrol too. Our priority has been to protect our lands since the queen pulled back all the soldiers. We make sure the monsters don’t attack, and we make sure the people around here aren’t hurting anyone. Recently, because of what we’ve seen, that careful watch has extended to the queen’s men.
“We saw strange men on our land, and we went to find out why. It has never been illegal or even ill-advised to approach a soldier. When we got close enough to see that was what they were, we started to back off, but they had other plans. They attacked us for no reason. Fortunately, we were able to come out ahead. I'm not proud of it, but we got one to talk, and he told me the queen has them scouting the land."
"Straight from the horse's mouth," the higher-voiced man said, backing his friend up.
"Exactly. How can we argue when they told us that themselves?"
Lying bastards, she thought. Those soldiers had no defensive wounds. She'd suspected as much, but the medical examiner had confirmed it after the bodies had been cleaned. Her soldiers had been executed. They were snuck up on and taken. She had no idea how that had happened, but it had.
The men below had failed to recruit people the old-fashioned way and were now resorting to fear tactics. They were trying to turn her people against her and the kingdom. She suspected that wouldn't work on those closer to the city, but it would only need to work on a few to start an unnecessary war in the midst of an already terrifying time.
She heard chattering among the other men who’d arrived with the two talking to Faraj. Fear settled in her belly as she heard rocks shifting on the left side of the house.
"Excuse me," he shouted around. "Gotta piss." The man took a few more steps around the side. "What the fuck? Who the hell are you!"
"Shit," she said out loud as a fight ensued.
Her men leapt from the shadows below, and she pulled herself all the way up to the peak to prepare for battle. While she had no way of knowing if any of the men below was the dangerous stranger they'd been warned about, she knew for sure they were assholes preying on the weak, or at the very least, the gullible.
You'll regret this, she thought as she slid down the front of the roof and down onto the porch cover. You'll all regret this.
Chapter Ten
The moment Faraj heard the man around the side of the house call out, he reached for the sheathed knife he had attached to the back of his pants. He moved like lightning as he thrust it into the side of the lying bastard standing in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw several men rush around the side of the house, but he c
ouldn't do anything about it. His focus needed to be right where it was.
Rage washed through him as he thought of what those men had tried to do. They'd assumed he was a farmer and probably not very smart, and they'd wanted to use him. They wanted to turn him into a weapon and take his supplies.
What if they hadn't been there? What if the real farmer had not agreed to join? They'd come for the supplies, and Faraj had no doubt in his mind they would have left with whatever they'd come for. He became angrier when he thought of what those men would have done to get them.
Every word that had come from his opponent's mouth had been carefully planned before they'd arrived. So many lies, all so they could recruit an army dedicated to a false cause.
He hadn’t had much time to figure out why because of the random man who had walked around the edge of the house to piss. Silent hopes had filled Faraj's mind that he wouldn't discover the soldiers, but they were quickly dashed.
He needed to end this before the queen was injured. His goal was to maim without killing if possible. They needed answers before anything like this happened again.
Pulling the knife free, he stepped back and swiftly kicked the man's knee, forcing him to the ground. His opponent fell, a choked, pain-filled groan escaping his throat as he struggled to grab his side with one hand and his knee with the other.
As he turned to the other three men standing on the porch with him, his senses picked up vibrations moving through the house as the family inside ran to the back room and the queen slid down the front of the roof to stand on the porch roof above him.
Faraj ducked and sheathed his blade as the first man threw a punch. Thrusting his arms out, Faraj was able to shove him off-balance as he worked to defend himself against the next man. Not killing them made the fight more difficult, but he would stick to the plan if he could.
His new opponent was taller and broader, built much like the unfortunate fellow on the ground he'd had such an enlightening conversation with before things went south.
As Faraj had expected, his opponent used his size to his advantage instead of talent. He threw punch after punch, but Faraj was far too skilled for any of them to land.
The soldier ducked another swing and punched the man in the right hip, forcing him to take several steps back toward the edge of the porch, which was exactly where Faraj wanted him.
The Queen's Guard's eyes flashed blue as his opponent once again ran for him. Faraj moved quickly and placed one steady foot forward in a lunge position as he tucked both fists against his chest. The moment the man stepped into range, Faraj thrust both fists outward, planting one in the man's chest and the other in his stomach. He cried out as Faraj's hard hits released a blast of power, throwing him onto the fertile earth in front of the house.
Power swelled in the air above Faraj, and his magic allowed him to feel the tiny vibrations traveling through the wood as the queen gracefully moved her body. The earth shook as a crevice opened before Faraj and swallowed his opponent up to the shoulders.
The wounded man on the porch let out a terrified gasp as he struggled to push himself away from Faraj. Looking to his left, the final two men on the porch stood staring at him, uncomfortably shifting their weight from one foot to the other as they debated what to do.
Faraj smiled. "Would you like to try with me, or would you like to run?" He extended a hand, inviting them to go as his smile grew. "But keep in mind…" his free hand moved to point above him, "I don't think you'll escape Queen Asim's reach. After all, isn't she dangerous and paranoid? I don't think she'll let you get too far."
"Oh, shit," the man bleeding out behind him muttered. It was quiet, but Faraj was able to hear it, which amused him greatly.
The remaining two who stood before him looked at one another with wide eyes, understanding the grave mistake they'd made.
Asim nearly laughed at Faraj's comment. She couldn't see the faces of whoever was left down there, but she could imagine they were priceless. Knowing her best guard could handle himself, she set her sights on the rest of the men she had heard around the side of the house earlier.
Coming to the edge of the porch roof, she saw that her men were outnumbered, but only by a few. She took a deep breath, knowing that if she could even the playing field, her guards would pull through and win.
Every instinct in her body screamed for her to jump into the middle and defend her men and the innocent people inside the farmhouse. They were her people, and those men had come to prey on them.
Her brain, however, not so gently reminded her she wasn't just a warrior, she was a queen. She was a queen with thousands of innocent lives under her rule who looked to her for answers and strength. If she died and there was an attack by the beasts to the south, what would happen to her subjects?
She growled, hating the feeling of being so useless.
Taking a deep breath, she decided the best way to protect her men and herself was to cause a distraction.
Without further hesitation, Asim leapt off the porch roof, silently landing on the ground below. Looking to the left, she saw Faraj dealing with two men, who slowly lowered themselves to their knees and placed their hands behind their heads.
She was surprised they'd given themselves up, but then she'd opened the ground to bury a man up to his shoulders, which was a pretty powerful message.
Ducking, Asim reached out to touch the small rocks along the ground that were part of a path around the house. Her eyes flashed blue as her power flowed through her body.
Her hands balled into fists and tightened, crushing dozens of the small rocks into dust. The noise was muffled by the sounds of fighting in front of her, so she was free to move with little worry.
Her hands lifted, palms up, as she stood, the rock dust rising with her. Her graceful fingers danced as the dust mixed with the moisture she simultaneously pulled from the air around her. Thanks to the Nile, the farms and villages close to its banks had damper air than they had in the desert, and she was more than happy to use that to her advantage.
She thrust her hands forward, and the wet mixture whipped through the air and wrapped around the necks of two men closest to her. She then clenched her fists again, evaporating the water to harden the mixture. The men grabbed their throats, dropping their weapons to use both hands to pull on the rings.
Asim roughly yanked her hands back, pulling on the rings and taking the men to the ground. One of the rebels became visibly distracted by the noise and turned, allowing the guard opposing him to take control of the fight.
The guard knocked the man to the ground and punched him hard in the face, then grabbed a large stone and struck the man on the side of the head, knocking him unconscious. Asim wasn't sure if the rebel was dead or not, but given the deep, oozing wounds she saw on her guard's shoulder and the bare section of his chest, she didn't really care.
"Go, my Queen," her guard said as he stood. "Don't risk yourself."
"I'm not useless," she said, knowing he was right but wanting to help anyway.
He shook his head. "No, you're not. But if you die here, you will be. There's a war coming, and this isn't the battle we need you for."
Her eyes widened at his harsh and blunt words, not because they'd angered her but because they were true. Putting her pride away, she clenched her jaw in annoyance and took several steps back.
Wasting no time, the guard rushed back into the fight. Though she hated to do it, she stayed back to keep an eye on the three men on the ground. The first two still fought the rings around their necks, but they’d managed to climb to their feet.
"You bitch!" one shouted. "What did you do?"
"While I'd love to say, 'that's Queen Bitch to you,' I won't do the Great Queen a disservice. You should, however, close your mouth before I do far worse."
He spat on the ground, his face scrunching as he pulled hard on the ring again. "Fuck you. You're no queen of mine, and neither is that bitch in the sky. She's the reason all this is happening."
Asim smil
ed. "Well, this was a fun talk. Goodnight."
He opened his mouth to protest, but she flicked her wrist, and the ring threw the man toward the house. His head hit the side with a loud thud, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
She looked at the other man with the ring around his neck. "What about you? Will you be a big boy and be nice, or do you need a nap, too?"
He shook his head and slowly sat down. "No trouble here. I know when I'm beaten."
Asim gave a curt nod. "Thank you. Put your hands behind your back, and I'll remove the ring around your throat."
He quickly did as she asked, and she went to work fashioning him stone handcuffs, a tight ring around each wrist with a three-inch-wide middle section to hold them together. Once his arms were secure, she closed her fist and crushed the one around his neck.
He took a deep breath and calmly said, "Thank you."
"No problem," she said as she secured the legs and wrists of the other two men on the ground.
The fighting died down faster than she'd thought it would. While her assistance hadn't truly been required, her taking out two had made it easier for the others to do what they needed to by focusing on only a single opponent. She wouldn't complain about that.
Two of her men had been seriously injured and the others had suffered minor injuries and broken bones. It could have been worse, and she knew that. Four of the rebels had died, three had serious injuries that might result in death, and the others would be fine.
They had plenty of people to question, and she planned to do just that. She’d need everyone to return with her to the city to guard the prisoners, but she planned to send soldiers back to check on the family and stay with them for a few days. Zuri wasn’t among the men, and that was enough to make a pit form in her belly.
Chapter Eleven
Arryn and Corrine had been asleep and cuddled up together for nearly two days. They woke only long enough to drink, take a few bites of food, and use the bathroom, then they passed out again. When Arryn awoke on the third day, she felt better than ever.