Obsidian by Sienna Frost

Author:Sienna Frost [Frost, Sienna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Sienna Frost

AN UNFORGIVABLE SIN

"SOME MISTAKES," DJARI’S mother had once said, "are not forgiven by the gods."

But she was the Chosen One, wasn't she? The gods had plans for her, hadn't they?

She had never voiced those thoughts, even though they had been the reason behind her every disobedience, every mistake she'd made. But one could take privileges and blessings only so far before they ran dry, and sometimes pride had its consequences. Pride, Djari knew, was one of her sins among many, and she was about to pay for it tonight, here, in the isolated canyons of the Djamahari.

They're coming for me.

She clenched her teeth against that thought and swallowed it down before it reached her face. She had seen it coming for some time, had understood it from the tightness of Hasheem's jawline and the way he'd jumped every time someone made a noise near their wagon. She knew, from that suffocating tension and the pungent sense of dread from both Hasheem and Khali, what was about to become of her.

In a way, it shouldn't be any different. Eventually, she would have to share a bed with her husband, a man of her father's choosing; a stranger, just like these men, if one were to look at it from that angle. For the past fifteen years she'd prepared herself to live with such an arrangement, and had accepted it as her duty to the Kha'gan. Put that way, she should have been prepared.

She wasn't.

The nightmares of her mother being attacked had returned, repeatedly, for the past two nights. They felt more real now than when she had them back at camp. The surroundings had changed in these new dreams to resemble where she was, as if they’d been premonitions. She wondered sometimes if Nazir's gift also existed in some amount in her. A disturbing thought, that, considering the situation.

And it was her mistake that had put her there. Sheer impulse was what had gotten her running to the stable as soon as word had come about Hasheem defying Nazir. Her impatience, carelessness, and pride were to blame for trying to gain some time with him. What she'd wanted to accomplish with that time, she wasn't sure. It had never occurred to her to wait—impatience was another of her sins—but the moment she'd seen the band of men surrounding him, she knew this was one mistake that would not be forgiven by the gods.

The metal doors clanged open, yanking her back to reality. Hasheem jumped at the sound to shield her with his body, his knuckles bone-white and trembling as he gripped one of the bars on the wagon’s window. He was trying not to show it—the fear that had been eating him alive and terrorizing him for the past few days—had made a point of hiding his face, turning his back to her as much as he could. It hadn't worked then. It definitely didn't work now.

"Stay behind me," Hasheem croaked, his voice broken from disuse, or from panic, she wasn't sure.

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