Salem
“Shut up!!!” I hiss at her and she chuckles.
Paula comes into the room while eating an apple.
“He hasn’t said a word since yesterday, he wouldn’t even eat.” Paula says to me with her mouth full.
“Finish eating and then we can talk.” I rinse my face and mouth.
I walk towards where Misha is kept with Elena walking behind me. I open the door to his cell and sit facing him on the ground, Elena remains outside.
“It must be boring for you.” I comment and he smirks.
“Why don’t you tell me how to contact your men so they’ll know we have you and we can do a simple exchange.”
“I don’t think you understand me Salem.” He sighs out loud.
“Is this a pride thing?” I massage my palm.
“Do you think my men would ever respect a captive, doing that is the same as a death sentence. This is not Roelum, a general is feared and not respected.” He calmly explains to me and I nod.
“What exactly are you saying?” I ask.
“I cannot give you what you ask but I am certain we can work this out. We both get what we want.” His eyes glow with excitement.
“Hmmm… What are you proposing?”
“Kill the men who came with me, they witnessed everything that happened and I cannot let such talk get back to my people and I will tell you exactly where you need to find your men. I don’t really care what you do with the ones keeping them captive.” He folds his hands.
“Are you serious?”

“I have never been more serious.” He smiles a little.
“You want me to kill your men on the chance that you will tell me where my men are and at the end, I will release you. Is that right?” I grin at him.
“Simple and perfect.” He nods.
“Hmmmmm… okay.” I agree to his demands.
“Okay?” He looks at me shocked.
“Yes… okay. Is there a problem?” I raise my brow.
“N..Noo, for some reason, I thought I would have to convince you.” He explains.
“I see… They are your people and not mine. Why do I have to care if they live or die?” I shrug.
“They are still people; you would just kill defenseless men just because I ask for it?” He shakes his head.
“Yes, if it would save mine.”
“What makes you think I would not lie about your men’s whereabouts?” He argues.
“I am taking a leap of faith, hoping that you will keep to your word.” I stand.
“Wait… Is this a game?” He asks.
“Why would you think it is?” I reply and he frowns at me.
“This is inconsistent with your character.” He mutters.
“You have a good head on your shoulders, does this look like a game?” I pick up a sword and walk into the next cell.
I make sure that he has the full view of the room, I go to one of the men and I’m about to strike.
“Wait!!!” Misha calls loudly.
“Why? Did you change your mind?” The one I wanted to kill glares at me with a hint of fear.
I sigh out loud.
“Misha… I consider myself to be a patient woman. Understanding even… I cannot for the life of me understand why you think I’d be easy to manipulate.”
“Because I have beautiful eyes?” He mutters and I grin.
“Walk me through your logic… You thought I would haggle and try to negotiate while you waste time giving your men the much-needed time to find and rescue you… or worse… an opportunity to kill me.” I tilt my head to the side and laugh loudly.
“Why would you even think like that? Incase you haven’t noticed, I want you… bad.” He releases a full-blown smile.
“Oh… I don’t know, the knife behind you and the entire pretense that you still have your hands tied is laughable. You should have escaped last night.” I sit back down.
He stretches his hands. “Not with your loyal dog watching me.”
“Hmmmm… will you tell me how to contact your men now? Or do you still have more tricks up your sleeve?”
“What gave me away?” He asks.
“You might seem to come across as a selfish man but that pain in your eyes when I killed Luna, it was fleeting but it was there. The respect in these men’s eyes when they look at you is not something that can be gained by a man who would sell out his men to save himself. You still feel rage when you look at me, I had no idea she meant so much to you. This means that you two have known each other for a while and not just a recent encounter. Can I ask you a question?” I lean forward.
“It is your prison, your rules.” He finally glares at me.
“When did you plant Luna?”
“It was her choice; she was with the Rabians… we wanted to enlist them so we could destroy Roelum from the inside out and then she met you and thought it was a great idea to have direct information. She was always stubborn. You should kill me now; I will kill you the moment I have an opportunity.” He says with a straight face.
“There we go, honest conversation. You can try to kill me but you won’t succeed…. That is a promise.”
“South-east of Carny’s grave, there is a hollow ground. Your men are there, you can send one of us to deliver whatever message you want. You are right, they will not jeopardize my life.” He turns the other way as a sign that he’ll stop talking.
I send of his men there… We decide on the exchange at the Tamorrah’s crossing. We prepare for the exchange, I put Paula in charge of safeguarding Misha and the rest of his men.
I see Roark and other men; they don’t look bad and neither do they look good. I turn and signal my men to let them go, Roark and his team walk to us slowly and Misha does the same.
“I swear on Luna’s blood, my blade will run through you so deep that you will feel every sharp turn and twist.” Misha whispers to me.
I widen my eyes and throw him a kiss at that as he passes me. Roark and his men reach us… Misha takes his men and go. Paula hugs Roark… he pats her back and makes his way towards me.
“What do you think?” I ask.
“He is King Abu’s bastard son; he wants his father’s approval. You know how that works.” Roark responds and stretches his body.
“I see… we are a bunch of rejects running around defending the same people that scorned us. Is this what fate means?” I grin at him and pat his back.
“It’s one whole drama… You, Erin and Misha.” Elena shakes her head in amusement.
“Were you treated nicely?” we walk back to the camp.
“Except for the occasional threats of rape and constant spitting… We were okay.” He replies and I see the determination in his eyes.
“Soon Roark, soon… we will pay them back.”
We ride back to the camp in silence, Shem greets us at the entrance and takes Roark in a hug.
“It is good to see you, old man!!!” Shem declares.
“I see that you were unable to manage without getting yourself into some sort of trouble.” A voice rings with mischief and I grin.
“Akka!”