I was sleeping soundly in my bed when I heard a voice. The women's embrace was too much when the weather was so hot. I had to get up and lay down somewhere else. A dagger stabbed the pillow I was sleeping on. The black clad figure suddenly panicked. He tried to stab me in a panic, and I caught him. I caught his throat with my other hand and lifted him off the ground.
I tried to push the knife into his head, but he decided to drop the knife to the ground. He was screaming his lungs out when I threw him to the wall. His breath left his body. I was seeing red.
I kicked his face, and his skull morphed into a funny shape. He started sceaming and stumbling around.
He was bleeding on the floor, so I threw him out of the house. I don't want his blood to be on the floor. This is the old lady's house, not mine. I can't just do whatever I want here. I need to be clean.
He screamed and screamed, waking up everyone. Even the neighbors started to come out with torches.
They watched the man scream and stumble. He kept falling over. They didn't dare to interfere. The man was clad in black. He was either an assassin or a thief, and he probably deserved it. After twelve minutes of terrible pain and agony, he finally died, leaving behind nothing but questions.
Aisha was way too shaken by the event. I was going to give the full story tomorrow, but an explanation was in order.
"That was probably a Qurayshi man. I've ended their entire caravan robbery operation. The Qurayshi is no more. This man was probably here for revenge."
Aisha looked at me with a confused face. It was as if she didn't think that was it.
"My teacher tried to sell me off to a nobleman. This assassin might be related to that."
Ten minutes later, guards came and talked to me to get my account of the event. I told them about the fact that I ended a tribe of caravan robbers, and I was fairly sure that the man who came to kill me was probably one of their spies.
They took the corpse and left. Commander Kahir was going to hear about this tomorrow. But unlike the guards, he was going to hear about the nobleman.
The next day, Commander Kahir was sitting happily on the training grounds.
"Nazhotep, good news! I've been promoted!"
After seeing my face, he must've realized something was amiss. I told him about the assassin.
"You've helped me in my career, Nazhotep; I'll see what I can do.
Commander Kahir's POV
This guy has been a great boon for me. I'll see what I can do for him. First things first, I appointed my subordinate to oversee the training. My first stop was the source of all these problems. First, I found the ledger of stundent near the temple and looked up Asenath's (Aisha's) master.
It's bad. That's my ex. Suheila, you bitch. What did you do? Fucking whore keeps causing problems for me even after all the shit put me true prior to our separation. Vindictive as hell and nasty to boot. What a fucking nutjob!
I had to recollect myself. Every moment I delay this, Nazhotep's life will be in danger. I'm in the same realm as that bitch, so I have nothing to fear. We are both regular priests, trying to break into the high priest realm. Thanks to Nazhotep, I will be awarded the herb for dispatching the qurayshi so easily, cheaply, and painlessly.
I walked into her office with my head held high. I'll not debase myself in front of this woman anymore.
"Suheila!"
She simled, her whore mouth twisting into a bone-chilling grin. She surely isn't happy to see me. The grin is a sadistic grin aiming to extract enjoyment from my suffering. I just know it.
"Suheila, you bitch. Did you send an assassin to kill my soldier?"
She was startled. She might have thought I was here for her for some reason. She probably thought I was here to beg for her affection. She momentarily acted stunned, as if she didn't know what I was talking about.
Suddenly, she remembered.
"Is Asenath's man your soldier? Why would you risk fighting me for him? That guy has a mere low quality arcane heart. So what if I kill him? His death is a small price to pay to gain the favor of the Shamam clan and acquire the azure ascension herb."
Commander Kahir felt the blood rushing to his head.
"You dumb bitch. That so-called small price to pay is a war hero. The higher ups are using his story to motivate the troops. What do you think would happen if he was killed unceremoniously by a government employee? All of a sudden, that story turns into a story of government corruption and tyranny. Do you think you can humiliate the pharaoh's state any way you wish just because you want to ascend?"
Shamam leaned in.
"What do you mean by a war hero?"
I puffed my chest and let this woman know what Nazhotep did in the desert. He was a man who broke an entire army by fighting their leader in single combat.
"So for the foreseeable future, he is protected by the state. If you take his life, you are on the chopping block. Pharoh doesn't take kindly to corrupters."
She suddenly bolted out of the room.
Shamam Pov
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
I have to meet the assassins as soon as possible. My life is on the line. The state is no joke. If I screw up even more, I might just disappear one of these days. No one would be able to find me. That b*tch, Asenath, was right. What did that guy do? How come you are destroying an army when you are barely better than a mortal? Does that make sense?
I ran to the slums and desperately knocked on their door.
The man on the door guided me to the underground passage.
"You have to recall the assassins from that guy. Please, Nazhotep has become a war hero during the skirmishes against the caravan robbers. The palace cares about him, do you understand?"
The leader of the assassins lazily lifted his head.
"I can't do that. You aren't the only customer who paid for his death. Someone from a noble clan paid an extravagant amount."
Yahub, that retard. He is creating problems for me everywhere. I wouldn't talk to that mouthbreather for a second if he didn't have that herb. I hate this. I really hate this. I'll have an aneurysm one of these days!
I ran to Yahub Shamam. I have to stop him. I warned him about the fact that Nazhotep was a war hero. He replied in the most retarded way. As expected of Yahub, he will always make things hard.
"Who do you think I am? I belong to the Shamam clan. They can't do anything to me. I'll take that girl as my lover. I've decided. And when I decide I want something, I get it."
I want to bash his skull in. His stupid looking grin irritates me to no end. He thinks he is reassuring me. Men like him are the worst. They would reassure you to the underworld and back, yet they would dramatically fall short of meeting expectations. What will he do after murdering Nazhotep? Will he stop the state from retaliating? With what army? Am I crazy? Does it even make sense?
I finally realized. I need to go bodyguard that guy until Kahir finds a solution. Otherwise, this moron will ruin both of our lives. That moron, Yahub, thinks the Shamam clan is above all. The Shamam clan would throw his ass at wolves if it meant appeasing the state.
I ran to the place where Aisha was staying.
"Oh no, they moved out. They had an assassin attack them, and they must've felt unsafe. I don't know where they moved to."
I ran to the real estate agency.
"We don't give information on our clients away."
I slammed a small pouch of glowing sand on the counter. The receptionist's eyes changed. He picked up a ledger and opened a page. He pushed the ledger toward me and left.
"I need to go away for a bit. I sure hope no one here reads the ledger!"
I took the address and ran toward the destination. A burly man with wild hair opened the door.
"Hello, Could I talk to Asenath a bit?"
The burly man has turned and yelled inside.
"Aisha, someone is looking for you. Get dressed." Then he turned to me. "Please wait a bit."
This guy must be Nazhotep.
"This involves you too, Nazhotep. You should listen to me too. We need to talk."
He invited me in after waiting for his woman to get dressed.