An hour later, Frank was back in the square giving a similar lesson to the second group of thirty students. They were all women except for Mathi and two others. Sophyra told him this was because male slaves rarely lived past the age of thirteen in Grama. Since thirteen-year-old Asabya were considered men, so were thirteen-year-old slaves, and one of the favorite spectacles of the Feast of Yud’dha was when the male slaves were herded into the clearing where Frank and his friends had placed the dead bodies. Once there, they were used as fodder while being subjected to torture and torment and death at the hands of their masters. Those lucky enough to survive two sennights of this were spared the horror for two years by law. Mathi had survived his first trip to the clearing when he was thirteen, but he had been scheduled to return this year. Frank had saved him from having to go through that again, and that helped bolster the Anmah’s mood more than anything except Sophyra’s forgiveness.I

“Let them go!” he roared. “Whatever you are, let them go!”“He cannot, Captain Mistri. He is just a boy again. Come to me now; I need you.”Frank’s head snapped up as he heard Nikale’s clear, strong voice, and he expected to see her standing right next to him, but she was kneeling on the ground, one hand on each of his friends’ foreheads. They were both still thrashing around violently, and he took one glance at the small body at his feet and ran across the square, his sword still in his hand. When he reached Nikale, she glared at it.“Put that away. It will do you no good here. Now, hold her down until I can help her.”He sheathed the sword and knelt beside Sophyra who was screaming and trying to claw at her arms and legs. He grabbed her wrists and held onto them tightly.“What is happening to them?” he gasped, astounded at Sophyra’s strength.“Do not talk,” Nikale said in a tight voice. “Just hold her down. Do not let her hurt herself.” She muttered something else he did not quite h

Frank bent down and pulled off his boots. “You and everyone else in my life, Nikale,” he said with a sigh, and she gave him a small smile and left the room. He pulled the covers back and climbed into the bed next to Sophyra before pulling her into his arms. She shifted her position and draped one arm over him as she laid her head on his chest. He kissed her hair and tried to rest, but there were too many things racing through his mind—the Daitya, the Azazil, Nikale, the twenty-seven men he would kill before last light. He was still wide awake when Mathi stuck his head into the room to tell him that last meal was ready. It was only then that he wondered where the boy had been all this time. When he asked, Mathi smiled.“Hiding. When something can control the captains like that, I hide. Perhaps someday I will not have that instinct, but until then, I have no shame in it.”“Nor should you,” Frank said, sliding out of bed and tugging on his boots. “You will have reason to hide again after

“Each time a Sainika is born into the world, he has the abilities that are necessary for whatever Sayatan has sent. The abilities I have witnessed before are translation, physically feeling emotions, seeing thoughts, second sight, and remarkable fighting ability among others. You, however, seem to have all these abilities. This has never happened before.”Frowning, Frank drew his sword and looked at it. “That does not sound good.” He glanced up at Telantes. “Does not that mean this time things will be worse? That Sayatan is sending everything he is got?”“I suppose that is a possibility, but I also know that Yisu always gives His Sainika what he needs to overcome Sayatan and his underlings. I do not want you to get discouraged or to doubt yourself.”“Discouraged? No, it is not that, and I do not doubt anything.”“What is it, then?”Frank sighed again and twirled his sword until it was a blur in front of him. “I am tired, Telantes.”“Physically?”“No. Emotionally, mentally, spiritually

Sophyra came back within ten minutes, and she smiled when she saw that Frank was asleep. He was sitting up, and his head had dropped onto his right shoulder. She put the bowl of soup on the chest of drawers and went to him. Carefully, she pushed and pulled him until he was lying down, and then she pulled the blanket up to his chin.“Sleep well, my love,” she whispered and kissed him softly. She picked up the bowl, left the room, and walked down the stairs. In the kitchen, she poured the soup back into the large kettle that was hanging over the fire in the huge stone fireplace. Then she moved to the basin to wash the bowl, but her hands started to shake, and she dropped it. It broke into several pieces when it hit the floor.“Sophyra, are you all right?”She turned around to see Tero in the kitchen’s doorway, leaning on his crutch. His kind words and concerned voice caused her to lose complete control, and tears began streaming down her face as she shook her head. He hobbled toward he