Crucible of Fate

wooden bench.
    “If I were a madman, my sheseru would protect my tribe from me,” I reasoned as Taj lifted the heavy cudgel.
    “You’re a coward,” he hissed, his voice full of trembling fear and boiling rage at the same time. “You should perform the execution if you believe so much in what you’re doing.”
    “No,” Taj said, hefting the weapon to the height needed for the killing stroke. “A true sheseru protects his semel from filth.”
    The giant ax was heavy and it fell fast. There was a gasp as Deoles’s head dropped into the waiting basket, and then the body and the bench were wrapped in tarps and removed from the dais. I had my men take both a mile away into the desert and burn them.
    As I was walking over to check on Jin and Yuri, I stumbled, my knees nearly buckling.
    “My lord,” Kabore said, catching me under the arm and making sure I stayed on my feet.
    “I’m fine.”
    “You are not fine,” he clipped his words. “You are barely risen from your deathbed and have spent the day doling out punishment while standing under the hot sun in scalding heat. It’s a wonder you’re still vertical.”
    I felt a little faint but I figured I just needed some water.
    “Stop, you’re fussing.”
    He walked me under an awning, and even the slight change in temperature was welcome.
    “Thank you.”
    “Water,” he barked at some of the servants, who rushed over.
    “I probably need to eat something before I see Hakkan Tarek.”
    He didn’t answer, and I waited.
    “I didn’t think it would be you,” Kabore said suddenly.
    “What are you talking about?” I grumbled.
    “It’s remarkable, really.”
    “What’s that?”
    “You interfere all the time.”
    He’d lost me. “I’m sorry?”
    “For a man who says that he believes in fate, you don’t allow it to play itself out very often.”
    “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    “The Shu.”
    “Do you know what you’re talking about?” I squinted. “Maybe you need some water.”
    “Even before the Shu became yours, my semel, they were still yours to command. The Shu were the first line of defense of the priest, but they are also the most deadly assassins in the werepanther world, and at the discretion of the semel-aten, they are dispatched.”
    “Water for my steward,” I called out.
    He snorted out a laugh. “You have only been in power for six months, my semel, and you have dispatched the Shu four times. Did you know that?”
    I shrugged. “People needed help with their semels. I should have dispatched the Shu here, but because of Yuri, I had to come.”
    “But first you sent your mate.”
    “I allowed him to come,” I insisted.
    Kabore shook his head. “The truth of the matter, Domin Thorne, is that today you blew into this city like the Day of Judgment, and you saved Ipis from a madman.”
    “I wish I had known earlier.”
    “You’re not worried about the decisions you made here today. You know what is right and you were not afraid to make them.”
    “What decisions?” I said irritably. “I simply carried out the law.”
    “And how many semels before you have done that?”
    “I know Ammon didn’t.” I winced as the scar on my belly and chest throbbed with pressure. “But surely his father.”
    He shook his head as he tugged gently on my bicep, urging me over to a table. “Sit down on the bench.”
    I dropped down onto it faster than I would have liked, not steady at all. “How would you know?”
    “I’m sorry?”
    “How would you know if Ammon’s father had or had not carried out the law here?”
    “I lived through his time as semel-aten.”
    I studied Kabore. “How old are you?”
    “Sixty-five.”
    I was stunned. “Are you kidding?”
    His eyes glowed warmly. “How old did you think I was, my lord?”
    “Maybe forty.”
    “That is very flattering.” He seemed pleased as I dropped my head down onto my crossed arms. “You appear to be flushed. Do you feel all right?”
    “I’m fine.”
    “May I touch you?”
    I was going to give him a sarcastic remark, but instead I just said okay. His hand was freezing, and I complained when he touched his palm to my forehead.
    “You’re burning up.”
    My eyes fluttered shut. “Just let me rest a minute.”
    “No, I will not come this close and—” His hands were on my back, and they were all that was keeping me vertical. “I will not lose you, my semel.”
    I felt my body getting heavy.
    “Go fetch me the sekhem!” Kabore barked at