Horses pulling a caged chariot came charging into the courtyard.
A pit opened in Ren’s stomach. After several moments of confusion, she knew what was about to happen. She recognized that chariot, understood the desperation that fueled Nobu’s words.
She understand just who the three dark figures in the dark robes and masks were that stood beside the chariot when it came to a stop.
The Yojin.
She'd know the special unit assigned to patrol Iskawan anywhere.
The last time she had seen them, they had helped rip the man who was her heart away from her. They had torn him from her body, and sent him away.
That day, back in Anpu, she had lost everything….
"Vile, filthy man. You put your hands on my sister? You defy your promise as a soldier? How dare you even look at her!" Azuma hollered as he stood in front of Rakesh, his face contorted in rage.
Rakesh said nothing, just stared blankly ahead. It was as if he didn't see Azuma or hear the insults and shocked whispers shock rippling through the Nari court.
"It’s death for you," Azuma hissed.
Ren’s father Danjuro sat on the throne not far away, his lips tugged into a deep frown.
Bramen Qin stepped up next to Rakesh, regarding him through mere slits of eyes. "The injustice you have done is unforgivable. You have broken your oath to serve the clan and have tried to take what is not yours. What do you have to say for yourself before you are killed for your actions?"
Rakesh kept his shoulders back as he stood tall and proud.
"Forgive me, my Saten, but I have no regret for the decisions I have made. If love is a sin, then I will die in the name of it. I do not regret any moment I shared with Ren, nor any of my decisions. I love her, and I will not take that back or pretend it is not true."
Azuma sneered. "You’re not even apologetic."
Bramen put his hands behind his back before he turned to face the Nari court gathered in the room. "You have heard the man’s confession. Death it is."
"No!" Ren cried.
"Ren," her father murmured. "Silence."
"Father, please!"
Ren jumped out of her chair and ran up to the throne. She threw herself at her father’s knees with a sob. Tears bubbled out of her eyes, dribbling down her cheeks.
"Ren – "
"Please don't do this. I love him. You cannot punish us for love! Not for love. Please, Father. I will do anything you ask. But don't kill him. Please, don't kill him. How will I live?"
Bramen turned away so he did not have to view Ren’s tears. He knew her own father had a hard time meeting her gaze.
In desperation, Ren buried her face atop her father’s knee. As she wrapped her arms around his leg, she felt his fingers gently stroke her hair.
Then her father lifted her face so she could see him. He put a finger under her chin. "Ren, do you truly care this much for him?"
"With all my heart."
Danjuro swallowed, glancing behind Ren at someone in silent command. Someone padded up to the throne, reached out to Ren.
"Ren," Yuna whispered. "Come, Ren. With me over here. Let them do their work."
"No."
Ren tried to shove Yuna away, but her sister wouldn’t be set aside. Yuna knelt down next to her, put an arm around Ren's shoulders, holding her firm to her side.
Danjuro, ruler of the Naris, stood and stared hard at Rakesh. The man hadn't moved – hadn't even twitched – in the face of Azuma's vile put-downs.
"For the sake of my daughter, I will spare this man’s life," Danjuro announced.
Whispers expressing astonishment moved through the court. Ren gasped, catching her next cry and holding it in.
"This man may live, but for breaking his oath, for touching my daughter without permission, the prisoner is sentenced to life in Iskawan."
Ren’s knees gave out. No! That's not what she had meant. Not what she had wanted.
The expressions of the spectator’s faces – even that on Bramen's – seemed to relax. As if all here approved of the punishment Ren’s father was meting out.
Yet Rakesh’s sentence was far worse than the silence of the grave, Ren thought. The punishment doomed him to exile. To darkness. To an unforgiving world without happiness, without peace.
It was a punishment as good as death, if not worse.
"Father!" Ren shrieked. "No!"
"Ren," Yuna whispered. "Calm yourself, please."
"Take him," her father commanded three Nari soldiers. "Get him out of here. Send for the Yojin."
"NO!"
The soldiers flanked Rakesh, grabbing him by the arms. Rakesh offered no resistance.
Ren lunged, desperate to touch her love one more time. To see his face, to look into his eyes. Yuna grabbed Ren’s arm; Azuma, her shoulder. The two held her firmly in place.
"NO!" Ren protested.
"Ren, calm yourself," Yuna murmured. "This is only making it worse."
"Rakesh!" she screamed. "I love you. I love you!"
The Nari soldiers whisked Rakesh toward the door, pulling him farther away from his beloved. They stopped momentarily at the door, where he turned around to face Ren one last time.
She pulled against Azuma and Yuna, willing to go to the darkness of Iskawan just to be with her love.
"Ren," he called in a soft voice, the words carrying through the silence of the room, "I'll be yours forever."
With that, the soldiers pulled him away – and he was gone.
Ren fell to her knees and heaved a sob. She wrenched her arms from her siblings, and looked to her parents, but they stared ahead with blank, expressionless faces. She cast about the rest of the room, seeking mercy but finding none. Everyone stared at her with a mixture of steep disapproval, or even pity, but no mercy.
No one understood.
Ren buried her face in her hands and lost herself to wave after wave of pain.
"My Nishu Ren?"
The sound of her handmaid, Naho, speaking in a gentle voice broke through Ren’s reverie. She blinked slowly, realizing she had fallen completely into the spell of her memories once again. Only this time, she'd remembered his final words.
How had that happened? How had she forgotten his promise to be hers forever?
Her heart ached. She pressed her hand to it, feeling the trickle of a tear as it traced down her cheek.
Why now? Why did she suddenly feel this deep, aching chasm, this yearning emptiness, right now?
Everything somehow felt…different. As if the air had shifted. As if the world had suddenly plunged into darkness.
Her heart yearned anew, pain and agony surging through it again and again.
"Nishu Ren?"
With a start, she looked at her servant standing behind her. Naho with her softly red hair tied into a tight bun at the back of her head. So familiar. So loving.
"My Nishu," Naho murmured, "please sit down. You are so pale."
Naho put a firm hand around Ren’s elbow and steered Ren back to her bed, where she sat down on the edge. Pain had her entire body in its grip. The loneliness she felt was crushing.
“Naho, a question?”
“Anything, my Nishu.”
“Iskawan,” Ren whispered. “Why would he go there? Why not a normal prison within the Empire?” Her jaw trembled. “Why not just kill him.”
“They send the greatest of sinners to Iskawan. It’s . . . the tradition of the Empire. If they were to be killed or housed in prisons within the borders, their impure souls would spread into the air and corrupt everyone.”
Ren’s brow furrowed. He was not evil or impure! Naho hesitated, but Ren met her gaze.
“Continue,” Ren whispered.
“When they die within Iskawan, their corrupted souls are swallowed by the eternal darkness and pose no threat or harm. It’s to protect everyone.”
“They why feed them? A monthly delivery of food and supplies goes to them, does it not? If they are so vile,” she spat, “why sustain them?”