"Are you certain it's her?" asked the guard Nasrin had called Kameko, switching back to her native tongue.
Nasrin spared the guard another glance. "I'm certain. I see my sister in her face." Returning her attention to Sam, she asked in Thulian, "Is Tsalene well?"
Sam's stomach dropped to her toes. Nasrin didn't know. How could she? The sisters had lived an ocean apart for more than half their lives. So Sam had to be the one to tell her: "She died."
The color drained from Nasrin's sun-bronzed skin, shock written on her face. "It can't be," she said hoarsely. She sank to the ground and clutched her head in her hands. Kameko knelt beside her, murmuring indistinguishable words in her ear. Nasrin nodded, and, leaning on the guard, she slowly returned to her feet. Her deep blue eyes were bright with unshed tears. "How did she die?"
Sam gripped the iron bars of the gate with both hands, needing to hold onto something sturdy. Grief tore through her, suddenly raw again, as though her mother had died just yesterday. Behind her, Braeden laid his hand on her shoulder, lending her his strength. She took a deep breath. "She was killed by a demon, three years back." Swallowing, she added, "She gave her life to save mine."
Nasrin bowed her head for a long, uncomfortable moment. When she raised it again, her eyes were dry, wetness replaced by anger. "How is that possible?" she asked, her voice a hiss. "She married a duke. He should have protected her. "
"It wasn't his fault," Sam said, surprised to find herself leaping to her father's defense. "It was mine. I was angry at them--my father and my mother. I ran off and hid in the woods. My mother went after me." She paused, squeezing her eyes shut. "We were unarmed when the demon attacked. We had no chance."
"How did you survive?" The blunt question was Kameko's.
Sam barked out a humorless laugh. "I was lucky. He came too late to save my mother."
"He?" asked Nasrin. "Your father?"
"A Paladin." Sam shook her head, correcting herself. So much had changed since that terrible day in the woods. "A former Paladin."
At that, Nasrin and Kameko exchanged a look. Sam wondered if the news of Thule's looming civil war had somehow reached the Sun Sisters--and if so, what exactly they'd been told.
"I am glad to know you," Nasrin said finally. She made an impatient gesture toward Kameko. "For the Mother, open the gates already and let in my niece."
"What about her companion?" asked the guard, reverting once more to Rheic.
Nasrin's gaze swiveled to Braeden for the first time since she'd arrived. She sucked in a sharp breath, her fingers dipping beneath her wide waistband. Kameko sent Nasrin a puzzled look, and then tensed, reaching for her sword.
"Why are you here?" Nasrin asked, her voice trembling with restrained violence. Sam darted a backwards look at Braeden, startled by her aunt's sudden animosity. Braeden's appearance elicited all sorts of reactions, but most held some element of fear or fascination. Nasrin's whole body shookânot with fear but fury, as though he had affronted her on a deeply personal level.
Sam fought back a flare of temper. She knew how the world viewed Braeden, yet she'd expected more of her own blood. "He came with me," she told her aunt. "I trust him more than anyone else on this earth."
Nasrin's attention didn't waiver. "Answer me, aliah."
Braeden flinched, dropping his gaze to the ground. "I am not who I once was, sister."
What in the Mother's name did that mean? Sam shot him an aggravated look. Now was not the time to be cryptic. "Braeden is my--" she stopped, uncertain of how to describe their relationship. "He's my friend," she finished lamely.
Nasrin spared her an incredulous glance, then put two fingers to her lips and produced an ear-splitting whistle. Every eye turned to them. "Assirah-li!" Nasrin shouted. Arrest him.
Sam barely had time to process the sting of betrayal before the entire convent burst into coordinated chaos. Sun Sisters, recognizable by their white robes and shorn hair, streamed from the main building, trampling through the gardens. Guards with shielded faces leapt down from their lofty perches on the gate columns, forming a tight semicircle around Sam and Braeden. One of them jabbed a spear underneath Braeden's chin.
Sam went to bat the spear away, but Braeden stopped her before her hand could close around its wooden shaft. Gripping her by the wrist, he captured her gaze and shook his head. Don't interfere, his eyes said.
"They want to hurt you," she said aloud. Echoing her words, the guard drove her spear deeper into Braeden's skin, drawing blood.
"They want to punish me," he said, as though that meant anything different.
The slow trickle of blood down his neck set fire to her rage. Her right hand itched with want of her weapon, but even enraged, she knew better than to draw a blade when surrounded. "Punished for what?" she asked between gritted teeth. She knew Braeden's past was far from pristine; he'd been paying penance for as long as she'd known him. But the last time he'd walked on Rhean soil, he'd been a child. Whatever sins he'd committed were beyond his control.
It was Nasrin who answered her. "For his butchery of our people. He who took so many lives has no right to keep his own."
"You're punishing a man for a child's mistakes!"
Nasrin's blue eyes flashed. "A mistake is taunting someone weaker than you, or telling a lie. Death is unforgivable."
"Sam," Braeden said softly. "Let them do as they please." Stretching open-palmed hands in front of him, he knelt on the ground. The idiot man was submitting to his own arrest. Would he never forgive himself for actions that weren't truly his fault?
Another guard stepped forward, sliding a dagger into her hand. Sam's fingers grazed over the pommel of her sword; if the guard tried to hurt him, Sam would hurt her in return, damn the consequences. But the guard used the blade only to cut through the wide belt around her waist. With practiced ease, she bound his wrists together, tying a complicated knot. The restraints were nothing more than a formality; Braeden could break free with little effort. But he made no effort to resist, barely flinching when the other guards poked him with their spears.
The main gate swung open. The guards prodded Braeden to his feet. Shoving Sam out of the way, they closed their ranks, surrounding him on all sides. Their spears jostling against him, they marched him through the gate and up a shallow flight of stairs onto the raised walkway bisecting the gardens. Sam jogged after them, until Nasrin stopped her short.
"Let go of me," Sam snarled.
Her aunt didn't loosen her grip on Sam's elbow. "My sister was soft-hearted," she said, her voice even, "but I didn't think she'd raise a fool."
Sam ignored the insult. "Where are they taking him?"
"To the dungeons."
"And then what? You'll kill him?"
"He deserves to die," Nasrin said, with a quiet rage Sam didn't understand. "But that is not for me to decide."
A sense of foreboding sent shivers down her spine. "Who decides, then?"
"The Arbiter," her aunt replied.
Sam didn't know enough of the Sun Sisters to recognize the title, but it sounded important. "When?"
"The Arbiter will mete out justice when she arrives."
"She's not here?"
Nasrin shook her head. "The Prime has business elsewhere."
Sam's pulse sped up, her mind racing. "When will she return?" She'd have that long to find a way to free Braeden.
Nasrin studied her before responding, her expression unreadable. "She arrives tomorrow morning."
Not enough time. Her heart shattered. She didn't even know how to find the convent's dungeons, let alone free Braeden from his cell.
Nasrin's expression cracked. "I'm sorry, niece." Her apology sounded sincere, but Sam no longer trusted her so blindly. Besides, in matters of life and death, it was action that counted, not words. Nasrin may be sorry her niece was upset, but she wasn't sorry she'd done it.
Her aunt dropped her grip on her arm, her gaze filled with pity. Whether it was genuine or not Sam couldn't decide. Gently, she said, "The Arbiter is merciless but fair. The aliah will have a trial."
A/N: A bit on the short side but have been crunched at work. Looking forward to your comments, and please vote if you enjoyed! Man, making up a language is hard.