CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

THE FIRE BURNED LIKE A strong inferno, bright like the sun, and hot like the desert. It turned everyone’s brown eyes golden as the fire seemed to lick at their feet. No one dared to look away from it.

Yusuf closed his bota bag before speaking. “You have called for our help, my son, and we are here to answer it.”

“This isn’t what I wanted,” Sokath tells him. What, specifically, he didn’t know himself.

He could feel his father’s heavy gaze on him, but he did not dare to look up. He instead continued concentrating on the sand beneath him, tracing lines and symbols into it with a stick he had found. This reminded Sokath of the time he and Zeeda would practice writing their names in the sand behind their family’s tent, hoping that one day they would have to use it. He never did and he probably never would, but perhaps his sister was able to.

“You were expecting something else,” Yusuf said, almost filling in the words himself. “Perhaps an army?”

“I was expecting more people.”

The leader sighed. “What I have planned does not call for more than the necessary people you see here.”

Sokath’s eyebrow twitched. He hated how his father never made any unnecessary moves. He wanted to say, that’s why Mazeeda is gone, because you didn’t dare take more than what was asked of you, he wanted to say it, the words dripping at the edge of his tongue. Sokath bit them down and swallowed it. “What plan possibly only needs six people to kill the king and bring Mazeeda back?”

“You doubt me,” the older man stated matter-of-factly.

“Have more faith in your father,” Shazerade soothed Sokath. She knew when Sokath was getting his buttons pushed, this was no different. As she looked at her old lover, she found his eyes lost in the sea of fire.

He clenched his fist at her soft voice. “What do you know about faith?”

Shazerade’s breath halted in her throat as he stared at her, his eyes relentless and stubborn. Just like always. She looked away as quickly as she caught his gaze.

Alik watched his lover from the corner of his eyes.

“Father,” he said, closing his eyes. Shazerade took note of his clenched fist. “What am I missing?”

He still refuses to meet father’s eyes, Toha thought, feeling like he was caught in a venus fly trap.

Yusuf put his palms out and open. “My son, a horse may not be a camel, but if it is a camel in spirit, then the disguise becomes the truth.”

“Braiding a horse’s mane and dressing it up as a camel are two different things.” Sokath finally matched his father’s gaze with the same heaviness.

Toha and Rain looked at each other, concern written on their faces.

“Perhaps,” Evilla’s leader hummed, amused that his son could finally muster the courage to look him in the eye. “But if they believe that the horse is a camel, then that is enough.”

Sokath scowled, his eyes turning to slits. “What are you planning?”

“The king of Yaheisea and his council are expecting an army to come marching at their door, just like you, but that is what we want them to believe because in reality-” Yusuf looks at the two lovers who sit next to him “-these two are the ticket inside that door.”

Sokath couldn’t help but catch Alik’s leering eyes for a beat of a second before giving his undivided attention back to his father. “How so?”

“I have asked Shazerade’s hand in marriage,” Alik said, his voice surprisingly a higher pitch than Sokath presumed. He had expected a deeper voice for such a big build, but the mountain man proved him wrong with his smooth and alluring tone, almost feminine.

“My parents have given their blessings,” the young woman shares, “and your father approves of us. I wanted to tell Mazeeda and get her blessing as well.”

“What about my blessing? My thoughts on this?” He was acting irrationally, but Sokath was getting his patience tested in every corner of the world right now.

“I have no need to hear your opinion, especially as of right now,” Shazerade said, rather coldly. “You’re hurting and confused right now, and it’s my fault but-”

“It’s also your fault that Mazeeda is with that murderer, fighting for her life while you cling to yours selfishly.” Sokath’s voice did not waver one bit. His emotions were getting the best of him, he usually never let them slip out, practicing great restraint to always hold back. “We would not have to be here if you weren’t such a coward to face death in the eyes. Mazeeda is twice the woman you will ever be.”

“Sokath…” Rain mumbled out, his voice overtaken by the crackles of burning wood.

“You say those things,” Shazerade said, her voice beginning to dwell away from her softer tone, “but I know you Sokath.”

He only shook his head, denying it all.

“You would have been heartbroken if you had found out that I went; my death just a mere one out of the thousands. You had cried on my shoulders when you had found out that I was alive and well.”

“Still, you broke my heart in the end. So I guess that was inevitable.” His voice was a whisper, almost like a hush to put a baby to sleep. Perhaps it was from the roaring heat of the fire, but his eyes began to glisten.

“Son, you forget why we’re here: you failed to do what was asked of you.” Yusuf’s voice was stern and loud.

“I know that,” Sokath spit out venomously like a king cobra.

Yusuf raised a hand up. “Then there is no reason for you to be upset. You have failed and we are here to fix that mistake. This was your fault.”

Toha bit the inside of his cheek. Something awful and tense was brewing between his brother and father. To step in would be like walking into a sand storm and expecting to come out of it alive. The rope that seemed to be tethering the two of them was slowly thinning, ready to snap at any moment, and Toha did not know what to do in order to fix it.

“What do you plan to do?” Sokath’s voice growled out, hard and dangerous. “Do not tell me that you are to use Shazerade and Alik as a decoy to get into the palace.”

“Exactly that!” Yusuf chimed. “We will send a message to the king that we are to visit on behalf of Mazeeda, asking for her blessing on her friend’s engagement. Once we are in-”

“If we get in,” Sokath cut in brutally.

“When we get in, we are to act diplomatically. Do not step out of the bounds I have laid, one false move, one wrong word and this plan will end badly.”

“This is suicide.” The oldest son looked at his father with a deep scowl. Sokath was not sitting well with this, especially now that he was beginning to understand that this was putting everyone he loved on the line. He did not want that for Rain and Toha, nor Shazerade and Alik. He began to curse himself, angry that he failed to bring Mazeeda home in the first try.

Perhaps father was right, he thought to himself helplessly.

“It will not turn out like that,” the father told his son, his voice filled with false confidence. “I have brought gifts for my daughter and her husband. During the exchange is when we strike. Rain, I have faith that you will be able to kill the Caliph.”

Rain sat up straighter, snapping himself out of his thoughts. His eyes wavered with discomfort and uneasiness. He pointed to himself. “Me?”

“Of course.” Yusuf nodded once in his direction, a soft smile playing on his face. “I knew you were meant for it since the day you were born. To give birth to a son whilst it rains in the desert gave me the sign that you were going to be bound to something far greater than yourself. To name my youngest son Rain for being born in the rare presence of rain was something of a blessing.”

“That’s too big of a burden!” Toha yelled out, outrageous with how crazy everything seemed to be. This entire thing was happening too fast, he didn’t know how to grasp a hold of it.

“You have gone insane!” Sokath spoke over his brother, his voice a bellow in the night. “At this point we may as well be walking into a suicide mission.”

“No, we won’t. I have given this task to Rain because he is well qualified for it.” Yusuf’s face flickered orange from the fire, plain and emotionless, like a mask.

“He’s only fourteen!” Sokath screamed out, pointing to his youngest sibling. “You expect him to carry out such a big deed?”

“Sit down,” the leader commanded as his son overtowared his sitting form. “My patience is wearing thin for you.”

“Father,” Toha said, his voice soft just like his mother’s, “Sokath is right. Rain is too young. Allow me to do such a task, I care not of the consequences that I will have to pay in the future.”

“No, I want Rain to do it. This is what times like these call for.”

Sokath laughed, but it’s pathetic and almost lonely, brittle around the edges. “No, this is what you want.”

“I said sit down!” It was a roar. A statement to listen and obey.

He didn’t listen, his shadow towering over Yusuf. “You want a kid to murder for you so your hands stay clean.”

“You want me to accept that statement as if it’s true, but it’s not.”

“Then do it.”

“I will not.”

“Please,” Rain begged, “I don’t mind it, really. How can it be any different than killing an animal?”

Sokath only shook his head, probably even shaking the memory that was beginning to resurface. “Terribly different. It is not covered in fur or scales or feathers. It has hands and feet that fight, eyes that plead, a mouth that speaks words of mercy. It has memories, a family, a lover, a life. It is human and so are you. That is why it is so easy to kill an animal because they look different and that’s why it’s so hard to kill a human: they look like you.”

He paused for a moment. “But what could you ever understand?” And looked down at his father.

Everyone seemed to look at Yusuf, as if waiting for him to clarify what Sokath was implying. They were only met with, “This is the only way. Either you stand with me or you don’t.”

“I refuse to believe this is the only option,” Sokath said.

“This is what’s left after you failed! Yusuf bellowed out, standing up as well. It was then that he realized just how tall his son has grown. Am I realizing this just now? He stood below his son’s nose.

The oldest son clenched his fist. “You’ve made your point loud and clear! Yes, I know I failed. Yes, the Caliph is not dead because of me. Yes, I didn’t bring Mazeeda home. I am aware of my mistakes, so stop humiliating me. I-”

Sokath felt soft, delicate hands against his heaving chest. It was the lightest touch, almost a like feather, but he knew that touch anywhere.

Stood before him was Shazerade, her face calm in contrast to his; her hands steady while his trembled with anger. She stood between him and his father.

On the other side was Toha and Rain, holding back Yusuf.

Alik sat there, calm amongst the storm, ready to jump in if anything were to happen to Shazerade. Or anyone.

Sokath had not taken note just how close he and his father were getting, just how willing they were going to get rough with each other. He took a step back, needing space between them.

Shazerade clasped her hands together in front of her, bowing her head in understanding. “I didn’t want you to get hurt.” It was true. Once she realized how upset Sokath was and Alik pointing out how close Yusuf was getting, she knew she had to step in.

“I wasn’t intending to. I’m fine.”

The engaged woman sighed. “I look at you and it shows me otherewise.”

“Then stop looking,” he pleaded. He looked over her lean frame and caught his father’s eyes.

Yusuf dared not to break eye contact, not fully listening to what his other two sons were saying.

“If mother was here, she would be furious,” Toha reasoned with his father. “I think it is best if you take a step back to breathe. It would benefit both of you.”

Rain remained quiet, keeping himself to his thoughts. Was this all my fault? If I had reasoned with Sokath, would we be here at this moment in time? It was times like these where he wished Mazeeda was here. She, alongside Toha, were the more reasonable ones in the family. Rain was the type to act on emotion just like Sokath.

What would Mazeeda do? What would Mazeeda do? What would Mazeeda do? The youngest chanted like a mantra.

“I-” he began.

“Between the two, one of us needs to step up to do Rain’s job,” Sokath directed to the leader. “I will not go through with this plan if Rain is to kill someone for you.”

“With or without you, it will go smoothly. We don’t need you to complete it,” Yusuf said as Toha struggled to push his father away.

He only scoffed. He needed some time to himself right now, time to reason and clear his mind.. Turning on his heel, Sokath trekked his way to his tent, opened the flap saying, “You never needed me anyway,” before stepping in.