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Nehesy banged his fist on the front door of the home Imi had grown up in, venting his fury on the wood panelling.
The very thought of a man trying to hurt Imi made Nehesy’s hands itch to wrap around the bastard’s throat. Imi, who had been one of his closest childhood friends, and who had grown into a beautiful, fierce woman alone in the world, and this evil man had tried to take advantage of her.
“Yes?” a flustered, aging servant pulled open the door to Imi’s former home.
“I need to see Ludim.”
“I’m not sure –“
“You,” Nehesy cut him off, pointing at a man in his early twenties who had just entered the shadowy room through a doorway to the right. “You’re Ludim?” Nehesy pushed past the man and into the greeting room.
The servant stuttered, “Sir, if you would just –”
“I am he,” Ludim spoke in a pretentious voice that infuriated Nehesy.
Imi’s stepbrother was squat and squarely built, except for a paunch that indicated a dissident lifestyle. His skin was nearly as pale as the bleached linen fabric of his shenti. His features were also thin and sharp, like some long-beaked bird.
“You have until the count of ten to explain why you touched Imi,” Nehesy said.
“Who are you?”
“One.”
“What the-?”
“Two.” Nehesy grabbed the collar of Ludim’s robe, twisting it tight around his fist and relishing the man’s shocked squeak. “If I reach ten, I break all the bones in your face.”
“Wait, what?” Ludim put thick hands on Nehesy’s wrists. “Get out of my house!”
“Three.” Nehesy shoved Ludim against the brick wall. The man’s head didn’t hit the wall, but Nehesy could feel the vibration of Ludim’s body through his clenched fists.
“Why do you care about the runt anyway?” Ludim gasped.
“Four.” Nehesy yanked the spindly man forward, only to thrust him back against the wall again. This time his head bounced off the brick, and he squawked.
“Five.” Nehesy was starting to enjoy himself. A few more seconds of blabbering and he could hit the idiot with an easy conscience. He’d warned him, after all.
“You there! Get my mother!” Ludim gasped at the servant who’d opened the door. Out of the corner of his eye, Nehesy saw the servant hesitate. Nehesy smiled at Ludim. An ugly smile that made Ludim’s eyes widen.
“Six.”
“Okay! Alright. Just let me go.”
Nehesy shook his head once. “Seven.”
“I was doing her a favour!”
Incredulous, Nehesy shook the man by the collar. “By forcing your wretched, scrawny? I’d be doing the world a favour by getting rid of you.”
“I meant marrying her. Marrying her was a service, you see.” Ludim gave a weak grin. “She needs a husband.”
“She absolutely does not.”
“No one else wanted her. Not even the man betrothed to her since birth. And what does that tell you? There’s something wrong with her.”
Nehesy’s hands froze like stone fists around Ludim’s collar, and his heart gave a painful lurch. Is that what people thought? That he hadn’t wanted Imi because there was something wrong with her? He’d thought he was doing her a service by setting her free. But what if he’d made her life more difficult instead, leaving her somehow stigmatized?
Oblivious to Nehesy’s thoughts, Ludim gave an ugly snicker. “The girl’s a menace to herself and everyone else. Her father knew it, too, else he wouldn’t’ve left her like he did.”
“There’s nothing wrong with Imi. I should drag you down to the lake and hold you under for implying otherwise,” Nehesy growled, tightening his hold on Ludim’s collar, and taking great pleasure in the way the man’s eyes widened as he gasped for breath.
“Take your hands off my son!” a woman’s shrill voice rang out.
He loosened his hold – but kept one hand on Ludim’s collar – as he glanced over his shoulder. A well-dressed and bewigged older woman stood behind him, hands on her hips, murder in her eyes. The servant had disappeared.
“Who do you think you are?” the woman hissed. “Coming into our home like this?”
Not taking his eyes off the woman, Nehesy gave Ludim one last shove against the wall before releasing him and turning his full attention to Imi’s stepmother.
He gave her a mocking half-bow before drawing up to his full, imposing height and introducing himself. “Nehesy, merchant ship owner. Son of Akar. Cousin of Queen Merneith. My sister is Betrest, priestess of the Temple of Mehyt, and her husband is Amun, architect to the queen.”
The woman’s jaw slackened before snapping shut in a tight line. “You.” Her mouth twisted as if she’d just sucked on one of the sour, citrusy yellow fruits from the island of Crete.
“Wait, what?” Ludim’s head swiveled from his mother to Nehesy. “Nehesy? As in Imi’s former betrothed?”
Nehesy gave a derisive smile. “Ah. Good. So you’ve heard of me.”
Imi’s stepmother’s shrewd eyes narrowed to slits. “What do you want here? You haven’t bothered with my husband or his family in years.”
Nehesy waved a dismissive hand. “I know that Imi’s father wouldn’t have wanted your son,” Nehesy stabbed a finger in Ludim’s direction, “trying to mount Imi in her sleep.”
She blinked rapidly. Her mouth opened and closed. “How dare you imply my son would do such a thing? All we’ve done is take care of that ungrateful girl since her father passed. I’ve cared for her and treated her like my own daughter, you know.” Her tone reeked of false outrage. Nehesy recalled Imi saying last night that her stepmother was trying to force her to marry Ludim. For all Nehesy knew, this woman had set her son on Imi.
Which made Nehesy want to hit Ludim all over again. And punish his awful mother.
“That’s right,” Ludim piped in. “We were trying to do right by her.”
“Shut up.” Nehesy shot Ludim a deadly look, and the man fell silent. He turned to Ludim’s mother and spoke in a silky tone, “Your son just admitted he tried to assault Imi last night, so don’t waste your affrontery on me. For all your supposed care, you haven’t even asked how or where Imi is.”
The woman reared back, flushing and spluttering. “Well, I never... she’s gone to you, hasn’t she, and told you lies about us? Obviously. Or you wouldn’t be here, accusing good, innocent people of – of – filth. That ungrateful little runt -”
“Enough!” Nehesy slashed a hand through the air. “You will not speak her name again. Imi is under my protection now. If either of you come near her again, I’ll see that you regret it.”
“Get out. Get out, I say! Don’t ever come here again.” Ludim’s mother made a shoving motion with her hands, although she was still several feet away.
“Gladly. So long as you don’t give me cause to.” Nehesy threw Ludim one last, warning glance before stepping out of the shadowy hallway and into the blasting sun.