Crucible of Fate

almost swollen shut.
    “You fought Yuri in the pit,” I said, holding out my hand to Rahim.
    He passed me a pistol.
    “No,” Yuri said quickly, pleading.
    I saw Constantine shiver.
    “You have a new choice. You may shift and fight Taj to the death in the pit, or you may remain here and become a servant of the house of Tarek and a member of the tribe of Feran.”
    He gulped, and I saw tears welling. “You would banish me here? You would strip me of my tribe that I was born into; I would no longer be of the first tribe, but part of the tribe that made me fight the mate of my semel in the pit?”
    “Yes,” I said, my voice level and hard, holding out the gun for him. “Or you can put a bullet in your head now; I don’t care which. But from this day forward, I will never see you again, because if I ever do, even when I visit here, I’ll have you hung. Do you understand?”
    “Please, my semel. I—”
    “Choose now!” I roared.
    “Here!” he cried out before his face crumpled. “I will remain here.”
    I had the almost overwhelming urge to strangle him to death.
    “My semel… please….”
    “Remove him from my sight, and if he says another word, take out his tongue as well. He can speak when we’re gone.”
    “Yes, my lord,” Rahim said, taking the gun from me, studying my face as he did so.
    “You have my leave. I want Deoles up here next.”
    “Yes, my lord,” he said before he had Constantine dragged away.
    “Domin.”
    My eyes moved to Yuri.
    “Thank you for sparing his life.”
    “He’s dead to me,” I advised my mate. “And I will kill him if I ever lay eyes on him again. Do you understand?”
    Quick nod.
    I gave my attention back to Hanif and his mother. There were two other women behind them. “Your sister and your cousin?”
    “Yes, my lord.”
    I greeted both women, who thanked me profusely and then gushed all over Yuri. Hanif’s mother, Hakkan’s yareah, Alana Tarek, was next in front of me.
    “Will we be given the body of our semel to bury in the crypt of his fathers, my lord?”
    I studied her face. “I would think it would defile the others, yareah. What say you?”
    “I would like to tell you that because once he was a good man, only later bewitched by a belief in his own power, he could be forgiven.”
    “But he cannot,” I empathized.
    “No, my lord, he cannot. He turned on his own children.”
    I took her hand gently in mine. “There are no perfect men, but most try to make the right choices for their tribes. You must help guide your son on his new path.”
    “I will.”
    “You should return with me to Sobek until—”
    “With your permission, my lord, we will remain here and oversee the building of our new home. It will be built for a family, to receive friends and shelter travelers. You must visit often and check our progress.”
    “I will.”
    She thanked me again.
    “The woman he made his new yareah, was she a puppet or a villain?” I inquired.
     “She’s a child, my lord, and was given power over life and death. Please remove her from my sight when you leave. She was a laundress before she was elevated; perhaps she might find redemption in serving others.” The yareah of Feran was an amazing woman.
    “And the boy?”
    “He was forced as the girl was not. Please send him back to his mother.”
    “I will have it done.”
    She was close to tears.
    “I understand that if it weren’t for my mate, your daughter was to be a conquest of your mate’s sheseru.”
    “She was.” Alana shuddered, squeezing my hand tight.
    “He raped many of the young men and women, did he not?”
    Her eyes were turbulent, and I saw it then, that even Hakkan Tarek’s yareah had not been safe.
    “He let horrors befall his own house.”
    “Yes, my lord.”
    “He dies today.”
    “Bless you, my lord.”
    My eyes flicked to Yuri, and he, understanding, called over to Taj. “You are needed, sheseru!”
    Hanif caught his mother when she fainted.
     
     
    D EOLES could barely stand, still exhausted from the shift Jin had pulled him through that morning. But he was defiant when he was led up to the bench he had put both men and women across when he raped them in front of the assembly on the order of his semel. It sat now atop tarps, and he shuddered when he saw it as understanding washed through him. The area was covered in plastic for a very practical reason.
    “You would really kill me for following orders?” he railed as Taj pushed his head down onto the polished