I couldn't even take a nap. Aristunn knocked on the door half an hour later. I stood up and looked at myself with my makeup mirror. I should have bloodshot eyes and bags under my eyes but my body was always consuming magic to restore itself to 'a pristine state' as Tarhun put it. I only had the dampness of the pillow to show for all my weeping. I fixed my clothes, brushed my hair. My happiness at having a date tonight was tarnished by the cruel actions I lied to myself about being necessary. I renewed my vows to keep the children safe.

"What is going on, Aristunn?"

Once I got out of the room, I discovered that the heavy door was muffling the sound of an argument downstairs.

"Some former partners of Hama-Tula barged in when we tossed the widows outside and are not arguing with Nanna. Your presence is required, I'm afraid. Take your sword."

I took some time to read his eyes. Aristunn was both troubled and tired.

"Once I'm done with that, you are to retire to your quarters and stay in bed until tomorrow morning. You can leave bed only to eat or take care of your body but otherwise, you are to rest. That's an order."

He'd spent the night awake watching my door. The eunuch chuckled and bowed.

"I overstepped my bounds, mistress. I accept my punishment."

We went downstairs. A trio of merchants with their colorful long togas and well-groomed beards were spit-shouting at Nanna. I rested my hand on the sword hilt and shouted from the last couple of steps of the stairs.

"Who dares barge into my house uninvited and harass my people? Who are these that don't show the least amount of proper decorum?"

I cringed at my choice of words but I wanted to sound imposing. They stopped and all eyes fell on me. I saw about seven or eight guards behind them and all my eunuchs glaring at each other. Behind me, Aristunn stomped the step behind me as if to drive my point harder.

"There she is! The little wench that things she can usurp our money! This all belongs to us! We are collecting the debt Hama-Tula owes us now!"

I recognize the slave merchant that was hawking the scantily-clad girls in the caravanserai. I could only assume the other two were in the same kind of business as Hama-Tula. Probably the only reason they didn't assault Nanna was the fear of witchcraft. And now that my GoPro was back in my storage, I decided to make use of it. I summoned the camera and immediately turned it on to record video.

"Aristunn. I will entrust this to you. Look at this square here, it will show you a painting of what is going on. Keep this pointed at whoever is taking and try to get the whole scene. Don't let your hands tremble and don't let this object out of your hands. Stay behind whatever happens and don't utter a single word all the time. I'm going downstairs to settle this."

Greed.

Greed was Hama-Tula's ruin. And greed would be the ruin of this trio of slave merchants. I slowly descended the last few steps, turned around and faced the camera. A smile for the crowd.

"If you have debts owed by the house of Hama-Tula, then, by all means, go after them to collect. I have no relation whatsoever with them, as I know Nanna here explained to you in excruciating details. You are trespassing in my house and raising false accusations. I could have you flogged for this transgression. Begone or I'll have to bother the magistrate again."

They frowned and the tension started to rise. I knew a fight was about to break when the guards on both sides moved their hands closer to their weapons. My threats fell on deaf ears as they looked at me as if they were preparing to shoot an arrow at a deer.

"Silly girl. This is Hama-Tula's place. I know his sons and daughters are still here. Your little ploy of throwing the mothers out won't work if you can't get the contracts to the courthouse to get them notarized. All we have to do is to take you and these guards out."

I sighed. "Did you come here to kill me then? Kill me and obtain all I have?"

My goal was to avoid a bloodbath. Desperate, my mind was running through several scenarios. Use sodium? I'd have to get water and it could burn the whole house down. They didn't respect me enough to allow a negotiation as they had the upper hand. So I gritted my teeth and was about to go with a stupid plan when I remembered to use the tablet. To my dismay, the most vocal and aggressive of the merchants was not a believer. The other two and the guards were, so once I dealt with that one I could solve the problem.

Because I had friends on the other side.

Stupid plan it was then.

"In my land, there's a legend. It is called Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is said that at the court of the noblest King the land has ever seen only fair and just knights sat. One day the Green Knight came and challenged them. If one of them exchanged blows with him, he'd bestow the brave knight that took the challenge a mighty gift. He would even let the other party deliver the first blow without defending himself. Eager to prove himself, the youngest knight took the challenge and beheaded the Green Knight.

"I offer you the same challenge. We shall exchange blows. You can strike me once. I won't dodge, parry, block, or otherwise defend myself. After you deal your blow, if I can, I will deliver mine. The same rules apply. Everyone here will be witnesses under Tarhun. I also do not wish any divine punishment against you. If you win, everything I own will belong to you three. If I win, then the inverse happens."

He chortled holding his belly. I could see the contempt, greed, and disdain in his eyes. On the corner of my sight, Nanna was with both eyebrows raised and eyes wide open. She had a corner of her mouth raised and soon opened a wide grin. He looked at the other two and they nodded.

"Your funeral, girl," She sneered at me. I knew Nanna was just going along. I winked at her and she cackled.

"Ha. You are a fool to trust this witch. She only looks after herself. If you are so eager to die, girl, I'll give you a clean death. You could be a queen if you married the prince. Hama-Tula had your interest in heart, you both would profit from it but you had to get him killed. Come, your wager is fair. I'll deal you a blow right now and here."

I raised a hand. "Wait. We should not soil the carpet with bloodstains. Let's go to the lawn."

He looked around like a realtor on open house day. "You are right. I don't want to tarnish my new property. Outside!"

I removed my linen dress and stood with only my shirt-and-skirt outfit I wore underneath to avoid the itchy fabric. I waved for Aristunn to follow but I got cold feet once we went outside. I had no doubt that guy would go for a deathblow. And what was I doing? Trusting Tarhun that I would only get half-dead? That his boons would work as advertised? I poked my eyeball with my fingernail. I felt the poke but it didn't hurt. Not even bothered me. It felt as if I was gently pressing on my palm to test if a steak was medium-rare.

But it was a golden opportunity to test them. If I could just manipulate the outcome a bit, it would be perfect. I had no doubt there would come a moment when I would have to fight. I needed to know if I could take a deathblow. Maybe part of me wanted to die. Maybe another part thought this was just a dream and dying would make me wake up.

I looked around. Aristunn was holding the GoPro and the merchants were already on the lawn. The slaver had a shortsword.

"May I ask you to be so kind as to not disfigure my corpse? Could you be merciful and deliver just a stab to the heart?" I asked him.

"Bah. It is a waste to kill such a beauty, but I shall do as you ask."

I moved to a spot on the grass and spoke what could very well be my last words. "All of you are witnesses of what is going to happen under Tarhun's name. His divine wrath will fall on any that disrespects our duel."

"Enough talking." He had a long and thin dagger now.

He ran forward and I closed my eyes as he stabbed me in the chest. I felt the dagger stab and for a brief moment, there was no pain. Then my world burned. I pushed him away and fell on my back. One of the guards shouted something but I didn't understand. My vision was blacking out, my body hit the grass, but it felt as if I was still falling. Forever. I could feel a damp warmth spread over my chest. I tried to breathe but only wheezing happened. It came from my chest. The bastard had pierced a lung.

A thousand ants crawled over the wound. I shook and my limbs moved on their own. I felt cold spread from the tip of my fingers and toes and climb up my limbs and into my core. The crawling became a faint sensation and I was about to faint.

Then I felt as if hot iron ran through my veins, spreading warmth back. The ants crawled all over me once more as blood returned to my limbs. I opened my mouth and dragged as much air as I could as fast as possible. I felt a lump climb and turned on my side and then on all fours, hacking and coughing until a big blood clot came out like a cat spits a furball.

I moved one knee under me and propped myself standing up. I wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my blouse and the white fabric became pink-red. I stood up and looked down. A huge pool of blood gathered underneath where I lied. I had no idea how long it took but I could see Aristunn still holding the GoPro. With uneasy hands, I unsheathed my sword. Holding it in both hands, I looked at the terrified merchant.

If I had to kill, this scum that dealt in human lives wasn't a bad start. Fortunately, I hadn't.

"Now, I didn't tell you how the story ended, did I? What happened between the Green Knight and Sir Gawain, the youngest Knight of the greatest King. You see, the Green Knight had a powerful backer and couldn't really die. He picked up his head and his weapon after the beheading. Then, what did he do?"

The merchant tried to back off but he was blocked by his own guards. "No! Nothing living should survive that. I stabbed your heart! We all saw the blood flowing freely from the wound. Your clothes are ruined! You are not human! Get away from me! Keep her away from me! Guards! Wretched slaves, protect your master!"

His guards were divided. On one side they had to obey him or face punishment. On the other side, they knew what happened to those that attacked me. But I had just the incentive to tip them over one side or the other.

"According to our wager, everything you own belongs to me. Your slaves and guards also. They are all mine and these guards now should protect me and my interests for their new mistress. Now be a brave man and let me finish. I have to win our wager after all."

The guards exchanged glances and all of them nodded at each other. They pushed the slave merchant forward.

He fell on his knees. "Please! Spare me! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

I didn't approach. I was too disgusted to even kill him. And there was the off-chance he had some sort of surprise for me. Like a hidden knife. The pain from the stab was gone but I still remembered it. Fivefold better memory, that's what I call a double-edged boon.

"Do you surrender then? Do you agree that you lost our wager? Say it clearly!"

"I surrender! I yield! You win! You win!"

So it was time to go. I pointed at the merchants, "Guards! Seize these invaders and put them in irons. I already had an appointment at the courthouse, I can surely deal with two business in one visit."

To my surprise, the six guards they brought captured their former masters. Now that I took a good look at them under sunlight, I could see they had the same crest in their armor. So they all belonged to Hama-Tula's partner.

I ignored them for the moment and approached Aristunn. I was uneasy by leaving the GoPro for so long in his hands.

"GoPro, stop recording!" I gave the command in English. "GoPro shut down."

I gently took the camera from his hands and stored it. After retrieving my camera, I entered an empty room in the house and Decomposed the heck out of everything on my body. Blood, sweat, dirt, grass, clothes. Even my sneakers. I just ran through the entire periodic table and forced the atoms away. In the end, I was naked, dry, but clean. There was a scar where the dagger stabbed me. I put on another set of clothes and hiking boots. It was time to go to the courthouse.

I still wasn't used to the attention. I took five eunuchs from my own group and five from the slaver. Nanna didn't want to come. We were dragging the thirteen slaves and the three merchants chained on their feet along to the courthouse. We spent thrice as much to reach the building and had to check our weapons at the entrance.

I brought the set of slaves in and paid for the court chirurgeon to remove their tattoos and draft the documents. One silver shekel for each slave in taxes and fees. But once the money left my hands they were no longer my problem. I also notarized the contracts of the kids. They were no longer heirs to Hama-Tula's debt.

All I had to do now was to wait for my turn to present my case against the three merchants. While I waited, I moved the video from the camera to my iPad via Bluetooth. Our turn came and I entered the office. It wasn't the same place where I got the documents for Hama-Tula's estate. This place seemed like a tribune or amphitheater, with an open floor and a ring of large steps where an audience could sit.

After I explained the situation, the magistrate asked the merchants for their version. The slave guards didn't have a voice. The magistrate's room had five guards with tabards, two at the door, one behind the magistrate and one on either side. My guess is that he requested guards because he sensed trouble.

And maybe he was right because all hell broke loose. The three started to invent tall tales, call me names, and how I paid off their own guards to betray them. They called a ton of laws and I decided to see if I could buy a copy of their legal code. I just waited for my turn to reply.

"Those are heavy accusations, miss Rinaldi," The magistrate told me with a neutral tone. He was very professional, I had to admit. That was why I was putting all my chips on his table. "And without proof or witnesses, I'll have to agree with them. There's no way you would be stabbed and just stand up before me without a blemish in you. I will not defend anyone who is a good escape artist and swimmer to destroy the merchant community."

"I have proof," I replied to him. "I can show you their shame."

He looked surprised. The three merchants, sure of their win but wary of my tricks scoffed and talked at the same time, trying to convince the magistrate to deliver his ruling without seeing my 'fake proof'. And the magistrate shifted from surprise to irritation. They managed to get under his skin.

"Silence!" He shouted. "Or I'll have your tongues cut off for contempt!"

Hooray for Lex Talionis! Hear! Hear! ... Not.

They shut up. The magistrate glared at me. I summoned the iPad and after setting the volume to max, I played the video, holding the device to face him. Once it reached the wager one of the merchants jumped to grab the iPad and I immediately stored it. He crashed over me, sending both of us to the ground. I yelped from the pain. He punched me in the face and I kicked his balls. He flinched and I crawled out from under him.

Then one of the courthouse guards stabbed the merchant in the shoulder with a thin shortsword. I lifted my hands. "I'm good! I'm good!"

"Stand, miss. No harm will come if you don't break our rules," The magistrate had a hand raised to stop the guards from attacking me. "Show me the rest of your evidence again."

So I did. I summoned the iPad and the video resumed on its own right where it stopped. I got to see how long I stayed on the ground. Three minutes. I instinctively put my hand in the dress and ran a finger over where I was stabbed. The scar was gone. I stopped the video when I saw myself moving toward the camera. No need to show that.

"There you go, Magistrate," I told him. "I await your ruling."

Time seemed to stop as he pondered. The three merchants, one of them with a limp arm wrapped in bandages, were warily eyeing the courthouse guards.

"You died," The magistrate pondered. It wasn't a question.

I shook my head. "Not today," I gave him a mischievous grin.

He raised an eyebrow, "At the river?"

Another head shake. "Speaking of the river, did you know there's a tentacle monster that lives under the pier and attacks those that are thrown inside? Can I kill it?"

He didn't take my laid back stance very well. "If there is a monster, then yes. I expect you to bring proof of this monster's existence though. Is there anything relevant you wish to add?" He asked, clearly irritated.

"Yes. I have these contracts showing that Banunu and Rubati sold me their children this morning. They are already notarized. The two women and their dowries are the only things that are left of Hama-Tula's estate. These merchants claim that I owe something Hama-Tula owed them is void. I'd like an official ruling on it. The two cases are related."

The magistrate slammed the desk. "Then it is settled. All properties and assets owned by these three are now missing Rinaldi's property. And you three are guilty of perjury..."

The merchants didn't take their sentence quiet. The three kicked up a fuss but the guards were already ready when the magistrate spoke 'perjury'. One of them drew a dagger that looked like a letter opener and jumped for my eye. It was too fast to Decompose the weapon. I saw the tip of the weapon come straight and dodged. It opened a gash on my temple that scraped my skull and sent me on my side.

There wasn't a chance for a second blow. All three merchants were stabbed to death by the guards. I was in pain. My head was ringing. I was bleeding almost as much as when my heart was stabbed. Getting hurt sucked. I heard the merchant's bodies being dragged and one of the guards gently pressed a rag to my wound and helped me back on my feet. I doubted that rag was clean but my skin was already closing.

"You are quite the troublemaker, miss Rinaldi," The magistrate told me. I could almost swear he had a sense of humor.

"More like trouble magnet." I was surprised they had a word for a magnet. Then I remembered some ores are naturally magnetic. "I swear I they come for me and not the other way around."

"Do you have any idea what you did wrong regarding this dispute with these men?"

"That I didn't kill them when they invaded my house? I'd lose too many guards," I answered pressing the rag against my temple. It helped with the migraine.

"No. You didn't get the terms of the wager in writing. That way they thought they could run their mouths and tell any kind of lie. I got this close to condemning you for perjury. If you didn't have the god's mirror to show the truth, you'd be dead now."

God's Mirror? That's what we'll call the iPad now? I don't think so. "That's a tool from my land, not god's mirror. It has an eye that can show what it sees among other things."

"Well, this case is settled. Come, I'll have to draft the papers for your new possessions."

I jumped over a pool of blood I had no idea whose blood was. Maybe mine. I don't know. All I knew was that my wonderful date day was this close to being ruined.

After pulling a ton of records and writing a lot of documents, I left with my dry duffel filled with scrolls. Ironically, I owned almost all the slave trade in town. Before parting with the magistrate, I had to ask.

"See you at the party tonight?"

He looked surprise, "Abil-Kisu invited you? I thought he disliked slave merchants."

"I have a date with captain Brandon." They didn't have a word for date. What I really said was 'I'll be escorting captain Brandon' but it was a date and escort regarding a female with a male meant another thing in English.

Outside the courtyard, I ordered my retinue of guards to form a box around me and we hurried back. I had to get ready for the party.

Woe to whatever else dared to disturb my date night.