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"There wasn't exactly time. I was more concerned about getting us to safety after Hasina tried to fucking murder us!" Khan exclaimed, losing his patience.
Sargon muttered under his breath and picked up his movements again. "That is yet another thing we need to sort out. She's lying to everyone to legitimize her claim. We need to prove you are alive."
"Do we, though? Perhaps it would be better to leave her on the throne."
Sargon's staff swiped down, taking out Khan's legs and sending him to the wet grass. "Why are you acting like this? She killed your father and stole your throne! And you are going to let her get away with it?"
Khan glared up at his grandfather. "Have you ever once considered that I don't want the throne? That I haveneverwanted it? Ankhara would be better off under the rule of someone like them. Hasina is born and bred Ankharian."
"And she would kill anyone who would stand in her way! Stop thinking about yourself and think about the people there. Do you truly believe in your heart that Hasina will act in their best interests?"
Khan wanted to hate Sargon at that moment but couldn't because he was right. "No, but I wonder if I would be as bad for them, just in a different way."
Sargon held out a hand, and Khan let him haul him to his feet. Sargon's hand gripped the back of Khan's neck tightly. "Don't you understand that you are their best chance because you won't abuse the power you're given? You don't want it, which is why you will be a good pharaoh. You will have the power to shape the rule of the city in any way you choose."
Khan's throat tightened. He tried to fight the tears that he'd refused to let fall since the night they were attacked and failed. "I don't know what to do about any of it, Sargon. Don't you see that?"
Sargon saw the tears on Khan's cheeks and pulled him into a hug. "My sweet boy, it'll be okay. We will figure it out."
Khan only cried harder for the father he couldn't love, the city he had tried to be good for, and the sister who hated him. He had gone to Ankhara full of hope and felt like he had failed at every turn.
Sargon just held him until he was done like he had since he was a little boy. Khan wiped at his cheeks. "I fucked everything up, Grandfather."
"Now, that's not true. This is Hasina's doing, and we aren't going to let her win. I'm expecting some reports from our spies in the city," Sargon said, switching to his council leader persona. "When we get them, we will know how the city stands, then make a plan. In the meantime, you heal and rest and get to a place you can think straight again. Deal?"
Khan hugged Sargon again. "Deal."
Thirty
Fen woke to Rabbu breathing heavily into her ear. She stared about the room, disorientated by the afternoon sun and her new surroundings.
Atrahasis was so different from Ankhara. It wasn't as hot, and everything smelled so green. She understood now why Khan's magic felt the way it did.
Instead of the stone favored in Ankhara, Sargon's home was made of dark wooden floors and furniture. The mats on the floor were all in rich colors of blues, reds, purples, and browns. Beautiful paintings of unknown stories hung on the walls, and Fen wondered if Khan had painted them.
The only thing that was the same was the shelves of books Khan had everywhere.
Fen rubbed the rest of the sleep from her eyes and rolled to pat Rabbu.
"You're not nearly as scary as you look," she murmured. The shedu rubbed against her and huffed.
Fen sat up, reached for her golden collar…and found it gone. Only her necklace from Sargon was there. Confused, she slipped the chain over her head. Sargon had said there weren't any slaves allowed in the city, so maybe he'd taken it?
Fen was washing up when there was a knock at her door, and Khan stuck his head in.
"Hey, I was coming to check on you," he said, giving the shedu a pat.
"Rabbu decided it was time for me to get up. I don't… Wait, I can understand you without my collar!" She touched her necklace, and Khan looked bashful.
"I took your necklaces and put the translating chip into the new one. I don't want you having to wear any signs of your slavery," he said, coming closer. He turned the pendant and showed her how he had fitted the chip into the device.
"Thank you. That was thoughtful of you," Fen replied. He straightened the necklace's chain, his fingers brushing against her skin. She struggled to unstick her tongue. "I-I was going to see if I could get someone to check on my stitches? I wanted to make sure none of them pulled on the ride yesterday?"
"I can help you with that. Let me get some fresh bandages and some of the ointment Shala sent." Khan disappeared back into his rooms before Fen could object. Not that she wanted to. They still hadn't spoken about the night of the attack, and she didn't want to make things more complicated by asking.
You can't run from it forever, her conscious pricked her.
Khan returned and offered her a blue and burgundy robe. "Here, you can use this if you like."
