Chapter 17 –The Mouth of Hell
Khay's eyes never left the Nazi's face. She saw the firelight dance in his dying eyes, and when she was satisfied the life was truly fleeing his body, she pulled the blade from Black's chest with a twist. Her face was a vivid mask of fury and hatred as she watched him fall to his knees.
"Had you proven worthy, I would have ended your life with honor," she informed him.
"Now you die as a dog, bleeding to death by my hand. It is acceptable, but far less than you deserve."
With his fading sight, Black could see in her eyes the death that she wanted him to have -- the prolonged agony, the slow draining of his life – and in his coward's heart he was glad for the gaping wound in his chest. He continued to stare at her as he gasped shallowly for air. His eyes only leaving her face when he slumped sideways, unable to keep upright any longer.
Safe in the knowledge that the Nazi spy would no longer be a threat, she wiped her knife and rushed to her husband's side.
"We need to get out of here!" she said over the crackling flames, pulling at Ardeth's arms. "The fire is spreading quickly."
Ardeth pushed himself up onto his elbows only to fall back upon the stone floor.
"Ardeth! You must get up!" Khay pulled on his arms again, this time with more force.
Ardeth groaned in pain as her hands closed around the burned and bruised skin. "I cannot, I have not the strength," he whispered hoarsely. He looked into her midnight eyes. "Khayriyyah, you must go!"
"I will not leave you!" she yelled. "You will get up!" She moved behind him and slid her hands under his armpits. "You will not die here. I will not let you!" she screamed as she heaved him up with all her strength. She got him to his knees where he swayed with dizziness. Khay steadied him, then put her shoulder under his arm.
"Stand!" she commanded as she tried to lift his body. "Ardeth Bey, you will STAND!"
But Ardeth did not move.
Khay knelt before her husband and took his face in her hands. She could see the exhaustion in his eyes. Still, she refused to be moved by the fact that his body would not obey him.
"You will get up," she told him forcefully through clenched teeth. "You will not leave me like this. You will not abandon your daughter. You will not abandon your people. You will get on your feet and you will move. Do I make myself clear?"
Ardeth raised a shaking hand to her cheek and caressed her face with his thumb. "I love you," he told her gently, his voice barely audible above the rising inferno.
The queen of the Med-jai took one look at the love and defeat in her husband's eyes and slapped him across the face, hard. "Don't you dare!" she screamed. She slapped him again. "Do you hear me?"
The Med-jai king could only stare at her. Where was the docile woman he married? Where was the librarian? Who was this strong woman? This warrior? In that instant he sympathized greatly with his brother.
Khay got beneath his shoulder again and braced herself. "Now," she said deliberately and with great force, "you will stand!" And with that she heaved herself upright, bringing Ardeth's pain-filled body up with her. He cried out as his burned feet touched the floor but she ignored him. Choking on the thickening smoke, she stumbled forward and Ardeth had no choice but to follow, lest he fall and bury her beneath him; for all that he had no strength left, he would not endanger her. She must escape this place. She would not die here in this flaming hell.
The blaze that hungrily devoured the dry woodpile was now leaping outward, seeking fuel for its' all-consuming hunger. The yellow glow suffused the cellar with a bright, eerie light that was quickly dulling as gray smoke filled the space. A lucky tendril of flame found another source of food, the wooden pillars overhead, and began to feast eagerly. Crackles and pops filled the room with an ever-increasing din until the sound of the inferno masked all other sounds.
Step by agonizing step Khayriyyah and Ardeth made their way through the thick smoke toward the stairs; choking and coughing they stumbled along the uneven stones toward the stairs, knowing that Rick was on the other side trying to break in. It was their only hope. They had almost reached the bottom step when Ardeth's legs finally failed him and they both fell forward.
Ardeth felt himself falling but there was no pain upon impact. The fiery world around him was already fading at the edges and he could no longer fight against the blackness that was once again pulling him under its' dark spell. Khay saw this in the yellow light that surrounded them.
"NO!" she shrieked. "I will not let you do this! I will not concede!"
"My Heart, you must go." Ardeth's voice was so soft Khay had to put her face next to his to hear him. "You must escape this."
"No! I will not lose you again! I will not, do you hear?"
"We will meet again. I promise." A bout of intense coughing seized him then and his body folded in on itself in pain. "Please. Go," he rasped weakly through gasping efforts to breathe. "Our people ... need you. Azizah ... will ... need you. Khayriyyah, my Heart, you must ... do ... this for ... me. "
"Ardeth!" Khay's tears marked a trail down the dark soot on her face. "Do not leave me."
But the exhaustion and darkness had finally won. Ardeth was unconscious.
Khay's throat contracted with rage; rage at the men who had done this to her love, rage at her lack of physical strength, and rage at the fates that would dare to part her from her Heart when she had only just found him after all those lifetimes. Helpless to do anything else to help Ardeth, she made use of the last weapon in her arsenal. Praying that the others were close enough to hear, she screamed.
"MED-JAI! TO YOUR KING!"