CHAPTER FOUR
Zayn lay with his head down on his desk, thinking about Nikole and what happened to her. The feeling he’d had while he watched her vanish… Derrik had been so close and within his grasp and now, gone. He needed to find her; he needed to bring her home. He couldn’t lose another person he loved. He had promised to protect her, always. His mind was racing, thinking of all the different things that could be happening to her, the torture, and the possibility of them killing her. He felt the urge to drown himself in whisky. Grabbing up the flask he kept in his desk drawer, he lifted it to his lips, the metal cool against his hot skin. Nikole had given him this flask as a gift, shortly after they moved to Colorado. He knew this because they were on the slopes learning how to ski. She' handed it to him right before she pushed him down a hill backwards on skis. He couldn’t help remembering. She had even had it engraved for him. Written on the front it said, “Akhs, A Girl’s Best Friend.” He ran his fingers over the inscription as he read the scribbled words. Feeling the tears well up, he closed his eyes, trying to hold them in, and thought back to the day she was born.
“Ikram, you have to push! The baby is almost here, just one more push!” The midwife said to his omm. He could hear her, she was screaming and cursing. The words coming out of her mouth were words he had never heard from her before. His baba was running around frantic, yelling at all the servants.
“What is Zayn doing in here? This is no place for the boy. Take him away.”
“No, I’m 115 years old; I can be here! I want to be here to see the birth. Plus, my omm could die!” Refusing to be removed he stood off in the distance, keeping steady watching over her. He’d only heard about childbirth, never witnessed it on his own. Most women died, it was rare that any life, let alone omm and child survive. It was during that thought that he heard it, the piercing sound of a baby crying, then someone saying, “It’s a girl!” He watched them place the baby in his omm’s arms. He saw the tears running down his omm’s face.
Slowly and with caution, he walked to his omm’s bedside, looking down at the little creature, covered in blood and utterly disgusting.
“Meet your okht Nikole.” He couldn’t help but feel his body warm at the sight of her, the soft pink skin, and the noises she was making, what this now meant for him. He turned to his baba and knelt before him; he spoke the words passed down from Warrior to Warrior. “I pledge my allegiance to thee, for this child will be protected, with mine own blood and life. No harm shall come to her and no enemy shall covet her. With this I so swear.” Kissing his abb’s ring sealing the oath he pledged to his okht. He meant every word; no harm would come to her.
He felt his omm’s eyes looking upon him while he was kneeling on the ground. As he looked over to her she extended her hand and grasped his. Zayn slowly squeezed it, not sure of how to act around a babe. “Congratulations Omm, she is perfect.”
“Come Zayn, hold her. She has your special eyes, I can tell.” He was confused because they were still brown; no color had set in yet. How did she know she had his eyes? He felt his heart start to race when his abb, King Tamman, placed his hand on Zayn’s shoulder. “Give her to Zayn; let him hold his little okht.” His omm looked up at him. Those beautiful green eyes sparkled as she handed Nikole over. Nervously cradling her in his arms, he ran his index finger over her cheek. “Hello Nikole, I’m Zayn, your big akh. I’ll keep you safe. Always.”
Opening his eyes, he pushed away from the desk. Glancing at the flask, he put it away. He didn’t need to drink. He needed to kill. Picking up the phone, he buzzed Nasir. “I need you, now.” He hung up only to find himself pacing. Everything in this office reminded him of her. Along the wall, their two swords were mounted, their tips touching in the shape of a “V” for victory. He took Nikole's off the wall, palming the handle. She had it commissioned with shades of violet woven into the golden handle. She wanted everyone to know whose sword it was and who would wield death when she gave the final blow. Hearing the door to his office open and putting the sword back on its mount, he turned to look at Nasir.
“Do you have any progress on locating this Dominic guy or where Derrik has taken her? Every minute we sit at home we are risking her life. We need to get her and bring her back.” Zayn went back to his desk, reclaiming his seat while Nasir sat.
“No Zayn, there has been no movement that we can tell. I didn’t know mercenaries could teleport. I thought that trait was only in the royal blood line.”
Zayn’s eyes widen at that realization. “Haydar must have had kids. That means she is being held by a fucking eben amty! Who knows what lies Haydar has fed his people over the last how many centuries?”
“Fifteen Sire.”
“Shut up, you’re not helping me! She has been gone for twenty-four hours, Nasir. How are we supposed to make light at a time like this? Prepare the troops; we are going to cover every inch of Colorado. We know they couldn’t have gotten too far; teleporting gives them a 100 mile head start, maximum. We can’t let her suffer; she needs to be home.”
“Sire, if I may…”
Zayn’s eyes start to flash to the eerie yellow. “What, Nasir?!”
“Nikole is a warrior; we both know this. Whatever is happening, she can defend herself. She isn’t helpless.”
“I don’t care if she can best every one of my fucking soldiers; she is my OKHT and NEVER should have been taken! GET HER BACK NOW!”
Nasir rose, bowing his head. “Yes, Sire.” He left Zayn scowling, his own temper frayed.
He travelled the hallway slowly, uneasy about all of the confusion that just happened. He had worked for this family for over a millennium. How could Zayn treat him like that? He helped raise him, like his own ebn’! He could feel the anger boiling inside. His oath had been broken and the Princess was harmed. He walked into the library, Nikole’s favorite room. There were hundreds of books scattered around. None in order, books opened to certain pages, pencils and paper lay at every desk, notes scribbled down on hundreds of sheets of paper. He turned around, punching the wall, the plaster crumbling. A picture hit him in the head, a sketch she had done of the two of them shortly after her 300th birthday. He saw the lock of hair sealed in the glass frame. He took it, placed his palm on the glass frame, closed his eyes, and remembered a different time.
“Nikole, come back! You can’t run and fight like that. You have to have precision. See, look, when you take the sword you have to grip it firm. Like this. There you go, now slowly start to move your arm and hips simultaneously to get the full motion.” Nasir watched her learning the lines of cut.
“Like this, Amm Nasir?” Her body was fluid, taking the sword over her right shoulder and slicing through the air down to her left, her hips moving in rhythm to her strokes. Over her left shoulder and down to the right side, back and forth, she perfected the first two lines.
“That’s it, Nikole. Now remember, when you are fighting you never charge with your sword while running. You always maintain firm footing. That’s it. Now let’s try some exercises.” Together they repeated the lines of cut, this time towards each other, their swords clanging at each hit.
“Okay, okay I get it now; I can handle this on my own.”
Nasir stepped back laughing, to himself. He signalled one of his men to come and face her. Watching as the guard tried to keep up, Nikole ran circles around him. Too bad she hasn’t used the sword once. Out of blue the clang of the weapons chimed and followed by a small squeal. “What happened, Nikole?” He walked over to her, placing his hand on her shoulder.
“He sliced my hair off! Look!!”
A strand of her beautiful brown hair is lay on the grass. Nasir looked to his man, “She wasn’t protecting her head, and I just wanted her to see how close I could get.” Nasir motioned the man away, leaning over and picking up the hair. “Here Nikole, keep this so you always remember to protect your head; it’s very valuable. You never want to let your guard down. Now come on, let’s get dinner. All this fighting has me hungry.??
?
Nasir let out a deep sigh. Nikole was like a bent to him, and now she was missing. He replaced the framed sketch and strand of hair on the table for safekeeping and returned to his walk down the hall to go speak to his men.