AN: This fic may or may not update as scheduled for the next month or so. Star Wars has eaten my soul and I just... don't have it in me to work on this story with any regularity.

Chapter Ten

1861, Persia

Everything seemed to be moving at half its normal speed that morning as Saeed woke and took breakfast with his wife and children. He'd known this day was coming. The Shah had not allowed him to forget it, in fact, not since he'd chosen a precise date for the deed to finally be done.

"Husband, you look as though you've seen a djinn," Zareen said as she cleared their plates. She was heavily pregnant with what they were hoping would be the last child they would be blessed with but had not yet begun delegating her duties around the house to their children. "What is wrong?"

"It is nothing for you to concern yourself with, habibti," he replied, shaking his head. Fool, he thought, you mustn't allow Zareen to worry for you in her condition. "Just a passing memory."

She crossed the room to lean against him and press a kiss into his hairline. "If only I could chase away those memories," she murmured as she draped her arms around him. Saeed gently nudged her until she sat in his lap.

"With you by my side, my love, I would gladly relive those memories daily just to feel the weight of you against me."

"Is that a remark about my weight, habibi?" Zareen asked, an offended look in her eyes. Saeed's eyes widened.

"No, no of course—" Laughing, Zareen leaned in and kissed her husband to silence him. Saeed melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms tightly around his wife.

"You will be late this morning," she scolded when they finally came up for air, their faces a mere breath apart. "Will the Shah not be angry with you?"

"Let him be angry," he replied. "You are far more important to me than anything the Shah could need me for today." I am not prepared to step over the threshold into a world without my brother, he thought as he pulled her in for another kiss. She obliged happily.

It was only when there was an all-too-familiar knock at the door that Saeed finally let his wife stand again.

"Shall I answer the door, habibi?" she asked. He nodded.

"Tell them I will be just a minute more." With that, he slipped back into the bedroom they shared with their children. Though the sun was already high in the sky, the children were sleeping peacefully. He stood just inside the door and watched them for a long minute before turning and heading back for the door where one or two of his men would be waiting for him. As he approached, he witnessed a rare candid moment between one of his newest men an his wife. Their child must have been kicking, as he was on his knees with his ear pressed to Zareen's belly. He was laughing, as was Zareen.

The moment ended too soon as the young man realized that Saeed was standing right there. He scrambled to his feet, clearing his throat and mumbling apologies so quickly that the Daroga could not make any of them out clearly. He smiled.

"I heard that your wife is also with child, Amir."

"Y-Yes, sir," the young man replied, straightening his back. Saeed couldn't help but laugh. "It is her first child— ou-our first child."

"And you sound positively terrified, Amir. You will make a terrific father."

"How— How can you know that?"

"Because you're terrified. Now, what has the Shah put on our agenda for the day?"

"We are to attend an execution this afternoon. We also have a new recruit to show the ropes," Amir said. "He is waiting with Mateo and Isaac at the tower."

The tower. Saeed couldn't hide his disgust as he thought of the tower that served as the Shah's private prison. If you were sent there you knew the only way you were coming out was wrapped in a burial shroud. He could still see the sick pleasure in the Shah's eyes as he decreed that the police would be moving from their current, properly central location to the prison tower. He knew precisely the message he was sending Saeed. It was only a matter of time before it would be his neck on the chopping block.

"When is the execution?" he asked. Amir shook his head. He wants us to attend an execution. What is he planning?

"This afternoon," he said. "That's all that I was told."

"I suppose we shall find out soon enough," Saeed said with a sigh. He turned to his wife and cupped her face with his hand. "I will see you after nightfall, habibti. Do not over-exert yourself today. I worry when I have to leave you alone."

"I will see you when you return," she replied, kissing his palm.

Amir and Saeed walked together in silence, neither man entirely certain they could trust the other. Saeed was well aware that the Shah had been planting spies and trying to catch him doing something bad. He was almost certain that Amir was one such spy. And Amir had been told such stories by the royal guard that he was nearly convinced that Saeed had orchestrated the murder of the Shah's wife.

"Sir!" Isaac called as Amir and Saeed entered the tower. "Sir, this is Rahman. He's one of Nazir's cousins."

Saeed breathed an audible sigh of relief. A bit of luck; finally a new recruit who didn't come directly recommended by the Shah himself. Isaac laughed knowingly, glaring at Amir, who shrank back near where Mateo stood.

"It is good to meet you, Rahman," Saeed said, embracing the man. "Your cousin Nazir is a good man, one of my most trusted men."

"I know, sir. He speaks quite highly of you. He recounts the tale of how you and he brought the Shah's precious new toy back with a load of slaves at every family gathering."

That was when the gears in Saeed Rahimi's mind began to turn and he realized, horrified, precisely what was about to happen. That boy— that terrified, deformed boy— was going to be used to carry out the order that his men had refused for years. He'd known the Shah was a corrupt man, but to force a child to take the life of an innocent man…

"Sir?" Isaac's eyes, wide and full of worry, brought Saeed back from the far off land he'd gone to in his mind just then. He blinked and looked at the man expectantly. "What do you want us to do? I mean, it's your brother, sir."

"I know, Isaac," Saeed said. "It would seem there is nothing we can do."

"There is always something you can do. We could sneak him out—"

"Isaac…"

"—And we could bring him across the border, the Shah will never—"

"Isaac, please…"

"Sir, you can't just take this lying down! Gul did nothing wrong!"

"My brother died many moons ago. The man who currently resides at the top of the tower has long since lost what made him my brother. At this point it will be a mercy killing." Saeed tried very hard to convince himself of that.

"But sir—"

"Isaac, I know that you are just trying to spare me another heartbreak. I appreciate it. But I fear that it is time to let him go." I must speak with the Shah at once. There is precious little time remaining before all hope is indeed lost for poor Gul.

Once again, Saeed turned his attention to the new man. "If you'll follow Isaac and Amir, they will show you the ropes, Rahman." The younger man nodded and turned to Isaac, an eager smile on his face. Isaac looked at Saeed, a glint of intrigue in his eye. Saeed shook his head. "I've got a small bit of personal business to attend to. I will return before the sun begins to set."

Before his men could utter even a word of protest, he had turned and walked out of the tower and back into the blazing sunlight. He was halfway across the courtyard before his knees buckled and he toppled to the ground, fighting back the sobs that threatened his career and his life. He wasn't allowed to show emotion, not on the job. Not when it was his son awaiting execution and certainly not when it was his brother. Get it together, Rahimi, he told himself. There's a time and a place but it's not here. It's not here.

He composed himself quickly and hurried on. He had precious little time before the assassin would carry out his brother's sentence. He had one final chance to save his brother's life as well as his own.