❝My love will drown you to the depths of the sea.❞
Furat bin Kiyan, the fleet admiral of Al Andalus, is a spy and a rebel on a mission to kill the caliph of Cordoba and claim the throne for himself. But finds himself in trouble at the hands of Rahaf...
Tis all a Chequer-board of nights and days Where Destiny with men for Pieces plays: Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays, And one by one back in the closet lays.
— Omar Khayyam
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THE CABIN is on fire.
The roaring of thunder in the sky shakes the earth. He wishes the rain would come sooner to burn out the flames. But he knows it might not come soon enough. And if he doesn't escape the cabin on time, he'll be dust in its ashes by the coming dawn.
"Traitor," the prince beneath him hisses at him.
"No more than you," he hisses back.
Tonight is the night he will change the fate of this kingdom. Tonight is the night the prince of Cordoba will die. And he must die. For if the prince survives then it isn't only his life at stake, but many others will fall under the wrath of his sword as well.
Hovering over the bloodied prince with his own wounds bleeding, he uses his full strength to bring down his dagger and end his life. But there is still much life left in him despite their long and strenuous fight.
The wood from the roof of the cabin falls with a loud warning of the spreading fire. He can feel the heat of it drawing near. But he cannot give up on his purpose. If his life is to be sacrificed for the cause he holds dear, then be it so. Either the prince dies at his dagger or both of them burn in this fire.
Using the weight of his body to bear down and the force of his arms against the prince's countering him, he presses his knee to his wounded chest and feels his opponent's arms buckle.
No reason shall bother him today. No guilt shall chase him in this life. All the kingdom can mourn his loss. But when the sun rises for the next day, the prince of Cordoba has to be a distant past.
As they both struggle against each other, the fate of one becomes clear against the other— one of them is to die, and it is not him.
"Die, Ameer Tahman."
With those last words said to the prince and assured that now life is close to end for him, he uses one hand to force the dagger down and the other to strangle him. Until the prince gives up against him and the dagger finds his heart.
The thunder roars again and the rain begins to fall.
