My mind screamed calculations of violence—knee to groin, teeth to throat, nails to eyes—when light sliced through darkness like a blade through flesh.
"Get off her." Aritan's command cut cold as a winter steel from the doorway. Candlelight painted his face in savage angles, shadows carving him into something demonic. "Now. Or I'll gut you myself."
Khalden's muscles coiled against me, a predator deciding whether to release prey or defend his kill. "She's mine to—"
"The tribe leader demands Noura's presence." Aritan stepped closer, the candle flame wavering with his movement, casting wild shadows that danced like spirits. "Touch her again, I'll feed you to the wolves piece by piece. Starting with the parts you seem so fond of using."
"You can't threaten me, Aritan. I found her. I carried her. I have rights—"
"You have nothing." Aritan's hand moved to his belt knife with practiced ease. "Chief's orders supersede your cock's demands. Move, or bleed."
Khalden rolled away, spitting curses that would have made demons blush. "This isn't over, goddess. We have unfinished business."
"We have nothing," I snarled, shooting upright with ice in my spine and fire in my glare.
My hands shook as I yanked on furs and wool, each movement a declaration of war against the trembling that threatened to betray my fear. The fabric scraped against the skin where his beard had burned me raw.
My boots struck the floor like hammers on an anvil as I passed Khalden without acknowledgment, my shoulder checking his as I moved toward the door.
"Thank you," I said to Aritan once we'd cleared the hut, though the words tasted like ash.
"Don't thank me." His voice carried no warmth. "The tribe leader wants you intact for questioning. Khalden's stupidity would have complicated things."
The cold air bit at my face, a welcome assault after the suffocating heat of Khalden's body. We walked in silence through streets that seemed to stretch longer than they had before, each shadow potentially hiding another threat.
"Your leader," I finally said, needing information more than silence. "What's his name? What kind of man is he?"
Aritan's pace didn't slow. "Chief Marwan rules Kharzai. As for what kind of man—he's the kind who keeps his position in a place like this. That should tell you enough."
"That tells me nothing."
"Then you're not as clever as you pretend." He glanced at me sideways. "Nervous?"
"Wouldn't you be?" I kept my voice steady despite the earthquake in my chest. "First your hunter tries to rape me, now I'm being dragged to judgment. What happened to Nadir? Is he—"
"Already with Marwan." Aritan's mouth twitched at the corners. "Arrived an hour ago."
Relief flooded through me so powerfully I stumbled. Rafi was alive. Beaten, imprisoned, but alive.
Aritan actually laughed—a short, sharp bark. "Look at that face. Pure relief. We're not as cruel to guests as you might think, girl. We're merchants and hunters, not monsters."
"Khalden seemed plenty monstrous."
"Khalden's an idiot who thinks with his cock. Most of us have better sense." He studied me as we walked. "How's the knee? The healers know their craft."
I tested my weight, surprised at the significant improvement. The swelling had reduced, the pain now manageable rather than crippling.
"Better. Much better actually. Your healers—they know more about medicine than ours did."
"Trade routes bring knowledge along with goods. We learned from southern merchants, eastern healers. Isolation breeds ignorance." His tone carried an edge I couldn't identify. "Your people should try it sometime."
"My people—"
I caught myself before revealing anything about our tribe's traditions.
"Are far from here, clearly." Aritan pointed ahead. "There. The chief's house."
The structure loomed larger than the surrounding huts, built from thick timber with actual glass windows—a luxury I hadn't expected.
Guards flanked the entrance, their eyes tracking our approach with professional interest rather than hostile suspicion.
"The woman, Noura, for Chief Marwan," Aritan announced.
"He's waiting," one guard replied, pushing open the heavy door.
Warmth and lamplight spilled out. I stepped inside, my eyes immediately searching, scanning, desperate—
There. At a table laden with food and wine sat two men. One stranger, lean and sharp-featured with calculating eyes. The other—
"Nadir!" His false name died on my lips as I flew across the room.
He rose just in time to catch me, my body slamming into his with enough force to drive the breath from his lungs. His arms locked around me, crushing me against his chest while I catalogued damage—split lip, blackened eye, blood crusted at his temple.
"You're hurt—"
"I'm fine." His voice rumbled against my ear, rough but wonderfully alive.
"How touching." The stranger's voice cut through our reunion like a knife through silk. "Though perhaps introductions are in order before you devour each other completely."
We separated reluctantly. The man rose from his chair with fluid grace, younger than Ammar but carrying himself with similar authority. His smile seemed genuine, reaching eyes that sparkled with something between amusement and curiosity.
"I'm Marwan, leader of Kharzai." He gestured to chairs across from him. "Please, sit. You must be exhausted, and we have much to discuss."
I obeyed mechanically, my hand finding Rafi's beneath the table. His fingers interlaced with mine, squeezing once in reassurance.
"Thank you, Aritan," Marwan said without looking at the hunter. "You may go."
"Chief." Aritan departed without argument, the door closing with finality.
Silence stretched between us, taut as a bowstring. Marwan poured wine with steady hands, pushing cups toward us.
"Now then," he said, settling back in his chair. "Your real name, please. Noura doesn't suit you nearly as well as the truth would."
Shock ripped through me. I turned to Rafi, searching his face for explanation, for betrayal, for anything that would explain—
"I told him everything," Rafi said quietly. "Our real names, where we're from, why we ran."
"Why?" The word came out strangled. "Why would you trust him? You don't even know him!"
Marwan laughed—not mockingly but with genuine warmth that transformed his face from dangerous to almost paternal.
"Oh, but he does know me. Or rather, I know him." He leaned forward, eyes dancing with secret knowledge. "Rafi is my friend, even though we've never met before today."
"That makes no sense." I pulled my hand from Rafi's, confusion and fear warring in my chest. "How can you be friends with someone you've never met?"
"The same way winter knows spring is coming," Marwan replied, his smile growing wider. "The same way rivers know the sea. Sometimes, my dear Zahra, friendship exists before the friends themselves realize it."
I looked between them—Rafi's calm acceptance, Marwan's knowing smile—and felt like I'd stepped into a story whose beginning I'd missed entirely.
"I don't understand what's happening."
"No," Marwan agreed, raising his cup in mock salute. "But you will."