The Quest for Normania #1: The Door of Andrios

42. Loyal to Myself

When Hamsa woke up, she instantly knew she wasn't where she last fell.

She sat up, feeling the rustle of leaves underneath a silk cloth that she was sitting on. She looked here and there, realised it was a hut of some sort.

'Not mine,' she told herself. 'Mine's much more neater than this... dump.'

"Yes, well, it is, I suppose," a voice spoke from behind her and she whirled around.

Beside where she lay sat a young man knitting what looked like a baby's sweater.

"I didn't have time to clean it up before I brought you in. And then, I –"

"Who are you?" she asked dangerously, searching with her hands about her body.

"If you're seeking your weapons, I'm afraid I had to disarm you," the man said, unruffled.

She frowned, froze. "Why?"

The man paused his knitting, "Why? To treat your wounds, of course."

It was at this moment that Hamsa realised something was wrapped around her abdomen. She saw him turn back to his knitting and discreetly pulled up her t-shirt; with a jolt, she realised it wasn't hers. Sure enough, there was a bandage wrapped around her abdomen with some blood on it.

"Did you... undress me?" she asked, her voice neutral. She didn't know how to react if the answer she received was in the affirmative.

The man was still unruffled. "Of course – I had to. Your dress was soaking in your own blood at the wound that man stabbed you –"

Instantly, she went on high alert: "Stab me? Man? Who was it?"

"I believe his name is Roni. Dani's brother. I was told you knew Dani."

She froze; the t-shirt fell back in place. "Dani?" she whispered, her voice hoarse. 'I'm an assassin. How the hell did I miss this?!'

"Yes. The poor man was out of his mind with fury, wanting to get revenge. You killed Dani, didn't you?"

Slowly, she nodded her head; it wasn't in her nature to tell fibs. "Y-yes, I did. It was a task I was hired to do." Her sigh that followed came out as a sorrowful hiss.

"And by whom, may I ask?"

Dani's last words haunted her mind and she didn't know whether she responded aloud or just in her mind.

"General Mihaad? The man who killed the noble euri and seized the throne from his son by force? Why would you do that?"

"I didn't help him with that. The throne, I mean."

"But aren't you helping him by doing his dirty work for him? All those people trying to raid the palace, assassinate the General... you made them all disappear, didn't you?"

She shuddered, unable to reply. "Yes," she whispered.

"Then, you've committed a sin and betrayed the people of your own country."

Her head snapped at him. "Look here, I do not belong to Marina. I come from Ankadia in Normania and that will always be my home."

A small smile etched on the man's face; she realised he was wearing a coat with the emblem of an Ahalan physician—a (description). "And yet, it was in Marina you chose to stay, rather than go back to Ankadia, to your home. Why is that, I wonder?"

She gritted her teeth, fury finding its way above all of her emotions.

But she didn't get to speak: