Author's notes: I can't apologies enough for the length of time it's taken me to get this chapter up. I nearly have the next chapter written as well so you wont have to wait long for it either. Can I just take a moment to thank everyone who's stuck with this story. The view count still goes up and so too do the favourites and the alerts. For this I am so encouraged by. Like Nizam, my story has been resurrected, but I don't need to take your souls as payment! :D

You may want to read over a few chapters to remind yourself what's going on! Also, I feel like it's been too long since my last update for me to be comfortable that what I've written is of the same standard as the rest of the story. I can't tell because it's my story, but if there's been a drop in quality due to my absence from writing I can only say sorry, and hope that it gets better now I'm writing again!

Comment replies:

Iamthestig - Thank you for this. I'm glad you enjoyed the twist, and that you appreciate that I do know where this story is going, even if my poor readers do not!
Everybody Dance- Hope that when you said "can't" wait, you really meant that you could and you're still reading this! ;)
Goddess of the sands - Can't promise much Dastamina in this chapter but you can be sure that there will be loads in the next one!
SilenceCat- Every writer loves doing cliffhangers! I'm so glad you like Zolm and Nasreen, when I brought in an OC i was nervous no-one would take to her!
Sorree - Answer is just down below ;)
Starfish - I'm so glad Zolm/Nasreen are your favourite. I'll try to be as... nice... to them as I can but I make no promises for anything!
Twiceonsunday - Wow! The best characters? That's such an amazing complement for me, thank you so much and I hope you continue reading!
Sumbunnyluvsu77 - Thanks for reviewing, you've no idea how much it means to me, especially since you said you don't often review!
Callista252 - Thank you! Hope this chapter is worth your wait!
NegligibleNaina - Look, see... I am updating... it just took a very long time! Hope it's worth it!
Peacefreakx3 - Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it!

Woffles92

Chapter 13 – Seeking Revenge

As they dragged her limp body from the room Zolm felt oddly detached, as if he wasn't really there at all. He remembered that this was how dreams felt, could this really be happening, or were his visions intruding on his slumber?

"Was there something else you wanted Hassansin?" Nizam asked brazenly, "You have your orders."

Zolm was brought back to reality and the understanding of what had occurred hit him with the full force of its clarity. He fought down the rage that threatened to erupt. Nizam had killed her, or as good as. His hand hovered over his sword as he suffered a moment of indecision of whether or not to slice Nizam open. Was he really invincible to all but these supposed 'sacred' blades? If Zolm took the risk and found that it had all just been an elaborate deception then he would have the satisfaction of taking revenge for Nasreen. If Nizam had been telling the truth then his efforts would be fruitless and he would condemn himself to the same hopeless fate. While he wrestled with himself, he still remembered the cornerstone of his teachings; that above all, he must not let his emotions show. If your enemies could see that you were troubled in any way, then they had already won half their battle.

There was a sickening sense of irony to that logic, he realised, because if he'd had managed to put that into practice with Nasreen then he never would have given into her wiles and none of this would have happened. It struck him, not for the first time in his life, but certainly for the first time in many years that the world was a cold and cruel place.

"No, my lord," he answered calmly, although he was imagining the beautifully horrified look on Nizam's face as he plunged the 'holy' blade through his ribs and up into his still beating heart so as to make sure, human or not, that the damage done would be unmistakably fatal.

"Then go."

With a small bow of his head, the Hassansin left the room. Horus immediately joined him again.

"When do we leave?" he asked expectantly.

"We don't. Nizam has commanded that I act alone and the rest of the brothers are to remain here as his own personal guard," Zolm said, his voice quiet and calm despite the turmoil inside him.

"A compliment to your skills no doubt, but still, we have always carried out our missions together. Alone we are strong, but together we are invincible."

"You don't need to tell me that," the serpent master snapped, "But if I fear that you suggest that to his lordship then you may end up in the same way as that girl they dragged from here…"

A girl, that's all she was. Sure, she had begun to show signs of womanhood, but she had been too young, and utterly underserving of what had happened. The effort required to keep his feelings under control was physically painful.

"There's a reason that we are forbidden from taking lovers," Horus murmured, his voice full of an emotion somewhere between sympathy and condemnation.

Zolms heart seemed to miss a beat and his icy eyes flashed with momentary confusion. There was no coincidence here. He knew, but how? As if reading his mind, he continued to speak.
"I saw you and her during my last meditation."

Even though Zolm knew that visions of the other brothers dark and deepest secrets, past and present, was an unavoidable consequence of living in such a tightly woven community, he still couldn't help feel somewhat violated. Then, he felt ashamed and angry. He was supposed to be their leader and set an example, but he had been found to be weak and unworthy.

"They keep them in the dungeons," Horus continued, "The people that Nizam…uses. I know it might be difficult for you, but perhaps it would be a mercy if you finished her passage to the afterlife? It's cruel to leave her languishing somewhere in between this world and the next."

The thought had not occurred to him but there was a painful truth to the words. What must it be like for her? Was she alive and stuck in a body that would not respond, or was everything about her dead, save for the heart that still beat and the lungs that still drew breath?

"Be ready for my return," Zolm commanded deliberately refusing to let Horus in on his thoughts, "And prepare the brothers for any orders, no matter how unexpected, understand?"

With a nod of his head, Horus left him. As his head swam, Zolm returned to his chambers to gather together his things, but no matter how he tried, he still couldn't get the thought of Nasreen hovering perpetually somewhere between life and death out of his mind. He felt physically sick, like the first time he had ingested snake venom. He'd vomited for three days as he drifted in and out of a fever, and it was that sensation now that threatened to consume him. Disgusted by his own weakness he made a decision then and there that he would pay a visit to the dungeons and prove that he was no weakling.

There was no getting used to the inane chatter of the Sheik, Dastan decided as the small company trekked their way slowly through the sands, leading their horses instead of riding to save them for a sudden burst of speed if necessary.

"It took me years to build up that racing empire…years! Bloody Persians. No offence to you prince, but do you know what really gets me about your lot?"

When it became clear that the question wasn't rhetorical and that Sheik Amar really did want an answer, Dastan pretended to look as interested as possible.

"No, what?"

"Taxes. All you seem to do is tax, tax, tax."

Amar mimed the act of strangling to reinforce the point he was trying to get across.

"That's why I run my little operation in the desert, so I can evade the taxman , do you get what I'm saying?"

Dastan chuckled.
"Being third in line, I never learned about the financial running of country, my brothers Tus and Garsiv had the unpleasant task of sitting through those lessons. I'll be sure to mention it the next time the subject comes up."

Even as he said it, talking of the future so casually felt somewhat wrong, but he decided not to think about it too much. After all, there was nothing wrong with being optimistic.

In sharp contrast to the Sheik, his manservant Seso, said very little. He was tall and intimidating, and had skin the colour of burnt bread. There were a few others in their company who had followed them from the hidden city when they had made their escape. The company were skirting around the base of the mountains as they made their way to nowhere. They were escaping from Nizam's army, but where their ultimate destination lay was unknown. There was nothing left for them to go back to in the Valley of the slaves, they had seen the smoke and knew that all that remained of the outlaw sanctuary was some charred wood, piles of rubble, and a few ostrich feathers floating on the breeze.

Alamut was a possible destination, but before they headed straight into the scorpion's nest, they needed a plan of action. So for now, they wandered, keeping the mountains close in case they were spotted by one of Nizam's patrols and needed to lose themselves quickly.

Tamina had been uncharacteristically quiet since they had left the valley. Dastan watched her as they walked, observing the subtle changes in her face as she thought. She was exquisite; painfully so. Her dark hair was braided practically, yet elegantly. Yet it wasn't just her beauty that ignited a fire within him. No, she had a determination to match even Nizam's, but instead of evil, it was for all that was good and right. She was a competent ruler who loved every single citizen of Alamut. He supposed that's why she was so distant, anguished by the suffering of her people under his Uncles murderous new regime. He placed his hand, rough and calloused by years of holding a sword into hers, which was as soft as the finest Asian silks. She looked up at him and gave a weak smile.

"Are you alright? I'm sure we could stop and rest if…"

Tamina gave a chuckle.

"I'm made of stronger stuff than that Dastan. I spent three days in an inn with nothing to do but rest."

He smiled and squeezed her hand. For a moment there was a lovely content silence between them as they both savoured a moment of intimacy in something so simple as holding each other's hands, almost forgetting the reality of their situation. Then, as Dastan glanced to the horizon, he knew that their time was up.

"Sandstorm," he muttered in frustration.

"We need to get out of here," Tamina breathed with a note of fear not quite hidden in her words.

He smiled. Maybe it was just coincidence, or perhaps some events in time are doomed to repeat themselves, but he responded just as he had before.

"Only a Princess would think she could outrun a sandstorm."

The prison was located underneath the palace and as a result it never saw the sun, and was known to be one of the coolest places in the city. However, as Zolm descended the narrow spiral stairs he was unnerved to discover that the deeper he went, the warmer it got. The second thing he noticed was the stench. It was natural for prisons to stink, but the smell coming from the bodies that were crammed into the cells was so overpowering that he thought he might retch.

The guard at the entrance, who didn't even look up as Zolm entered had a very bitter expression on his face, and it occurred to the Hassansin that to guard the cells through the heat and stench was in itself a punishment.

Inside, the cells were fit to burst, and because most of the doors were open, it did indeed look like the excessive occupancy had forced the gates open. Despite the number of people, there was very little movement. Very few of the prisoners were conscious thanks to Nizam's new form of punishment. Zolm raked his eyes over the faces that sat, or lay, around the room, thoroughly checking each one for any sign of her. In one cell, there was a woman who was fully aware, attending to one of the lifeless forms. Momentarily intrigued, the snake master looked closer and felt a disgusted clench of his stomach when he realised that the lifeless body belonged to that of a girl who couldn't be more than six years old. Suddenly the woman turned and met his gaze through the gap in her headscarf. Through her eyes he could see nothing but pain. The feeling that she was conveying to him was so overwhelming that he had to leave for fear that her sorrow would swallow him up as well.

Quickly, he moved on, searching every corner until, at last, he found her. The sight of her, proper up against the wall stirred rage deep inside him. She looked every bit a corpse, except that her eyes, now uncharacteristically dull and lacklustre, were open and every few moments her chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. He stood, staring at Nasreen, still disbelieving that the blazing youth who had set him alight had been reduced to nothing but a barely glowing ember. The longer he stood, the more the fury began to swell and grow within him. It was unjust and inhuman. With shaking fingers, he unstrapped the dagger he kept up his sleeve and grasped it so tightly around the hilt that the skin of his knuckles turned impossibly white. He couldn't just leave her like this. There was one final thing that he could do, one small victory that he could snatch from under the feet of Nizam. He would save her from the suffering and from the indignity of wasting away from thirst and hunger while surrounded in her own filth.

This was his fault, everything that was happening rested on his shoulders for he had been the one to bring the monster back from beyond the grave. It sickened him, and if he hadn't taken it upon himself to personally reverse his actions and send the Persian back to wherever he had been summoned from, he would have seriously considered falling on his blade and being done with the whole wretched business of living.

Zolm's eyes were wide with an unhealthy mix of hatred and determination as he swiftly moved across the cramped call. He raised the dagger high. With a guttural scream that was the accumulation of his wrath, he brought the blade down in one swift blow that pierced flesh, muscle and bone.

The Hassansin breathed deeply, fighting back the terrible wave of emotion the threatened to overwhelm him. At the crucial moment, he had failed. He was a murderer by profession, but of course, she was the exception.

He had worked himself into such a frenzy that even as he realised he couldn't douse the flickering embers of her life, he still had to kill something. So instead, he had driven his dagger through the chest of the man lying on the floor next to her. When he pulled the knife out, there was no rush of blood, not even a trickle. He felt dissatisfied to find that this man had been dead long before either he or Nasreen had been in the prison. The irony of it caused him a brief moment of amusement. He had so desperately wanted to kill something, yet had stabbed a corpse.

But now what was he to do? He couldn't leave her to starve, but at the same time he couldn't take her with him. As he puzzled over his dilemma, one of the many flies that had been buzzing around in the squalor landed on her cheek. With lightening reflexes, he grabbed it and crushed it between his fingers, enjoying the small fleeting satisfaction of it. Now, he had killed something.

"Is the pretty one yours?"

Zolm spun his head around to see the woman from earlier. He found himself incapable of speech and so gave a short nod of his head.

"I'm so sorry," she said softly.

Her compassion made the Hassansin feel awkward. Luckily he was saved from further discomfort as she spoke again.

"He took my daughter from me," she began, and behind her veil he could see tears glistening as they spilled from her dark eyes.

"A new law was made, and no family was allowed to pack up and leave the city without paying tax. We didn't know this tax would be one of his monstrous sacrifices. My husband offered himself, and so did my eldest son, but Nizam insisted that it was Aeesha. Now we can't even leave this dreadful place because I cannot leave her, and we are not allowed to take her with us. I pray to the gods at every sunrise and sunset that they will make that maniac suffer for this madness in the eternal fires of hell!"

Ever more determined to avenge Nasreen, Aeesha and every other wronged person whose soul had been taken so that Nizam might live, Zolm found his voice.

"I plan to send him there myself."

"Then the gods be with you, friend," she replied.

Inspired, he reached inside his cloak and withdrew the leather bag that contained his coins. Uncomfortably, he offered it out to the woman.

"I must go away, but I cannot leave her here to starve. Take this, and when you come to feed your daughter, will you do the same for Nasreen?"

Slowly, the woman reached out and took the purse gently from him.
"Of course."

Zolm had no guarantee that she would look after Nasreen, but something deep inside him said he could trust her.
"Thank you."

"May the gods bless you, friend," she added, "for if you don't stop Nizam then I fear no-one will."

Without pausing to reply to her, he left the prison, allowing himself one final look back at Nasreen. He would collect his horse, and would set out to track Dastan and Tamina and take that damnable dagger from them, by whatever means necessary.