I woke up with Arwia knocking on the door. I changed out of my nightgown and stored my things, leaving just one silver coin and a few coppers in a money pouch on my belt. I also kept another pouch with two gold tied to my bra, underneath the shirt I was wearing underneath the linen dress. I placed the longsword on my waist and opened the door.

"Good morning, Arwia. What is it?"

"Good morning, miss," She replied without energy. She seemed concerned about something. "There's a man downstairs demanding to talk to you."

"Well, let's go and see what he wants."

I wasn't afraid of whoever that was. I knew they wouldn't try anything too aggressive after what happened at the caravanserai. Downstairs I found one of Hama-Tula's bodyguards. He was tall and wiry, muscular but without the bulk.

"Aren't you one of Hama-Tula's guards? What does your master want from me?" I asked him.

He scratched his head. "I know you are angry, miss. My master wanted you to come to the caravanserai to talk. Just that."

"Your breakfast is ready, miss. Please eat before you leave."

I saw bread, cheese and grilled sausage with a cup of fresh milk. But my attention was with the guard. It smelled like a trap. But why the caravanserai? He thoroughly lost yesterday. The only things there were Penny and Nanna. I knew Penny was fine through our bond. Maybe it was time to get her out. But I needed to go. They could be threatening Nanna.

"Arwia, could you please get me some salt? A big rock, if possible."

"Right away, miss Sandra." The maid ran to the kitchen.

I sat and ate my breakfast. Arwia returned and I took a chunk of rock salt from her. I checked the resonance and it was sodium chloride with a lot of impurities like iodine, magnesium, and calcium salts.

"Lead the way. I bet he told you to make sure I showed up, right?"

He sighed. It was obvious he was loathing each part of this job. "Indeed, milady. Please, this way."

I had nothing in the inn room. I also didn't pay for another day. I thought of renewing my stay but the inn was pretty much empty. They made ends meet by functioning as a tavern at night. I didn't know what the day had in store for me so I went along with the guard. I was so worried I forgot to say goodbye to Arwia.

On my way, I focused on the piece of salt. I started to extract chlorine gas from it, slowly. I also expelled magnesium chloride and chunks of solid iodine that fell on the street behind me.

We reached the caravanserai and the place was grim. Quiet. I kept working on the ever-smaller chunk of salt in my hand. The usual blurb and hollering from the merchants drowned to whispers. They saw me and quieted down even more. I looked in the direction of Nanna's tent and my heart froze.

It was broken.

I ran there, leaving the guard to catch up behind me. I reached the place and saw a band of twenty-something thugs, the same group from the road and yesterday, gathered around. Two of them were holding Nanna.

"Look who came! The prize girl herself. Welcome miss. Are you here to see this witch?"

Nanna had a black eye. My blood was boiling with rage. I doubted I could win against one of these thugs, much less a score of them.

"What do you want?" I asked them.

"You. Come with us peacefully and we will let the witch go. Cause any trouble and she is dead. That old hag caused us enough grief already."

Nanna was my friend. How could they hurt her? I put my hand in my pocket and used the tablet. Only half of the thugs worshipped Tarhun. Nanna was silent and I could see a trickle of blood on the corner of her mouth. The bastards beat her.

"Who hired you and how much did he pay?"

Maybe. If a fight was impossible, maybe I could buy them.

"Hama-Tula wants you, girl. You should rejoice, you are going to be a real princess. And don't worry about money. We are doing this for free."

He licked his lips. I was creeped out but I needed to get Nanna out of that mess. I owed her that much.

"Do you promise on Tarhun's name you'll let Nanna go? Let her go and don't stop her?"

He opened his arms. "Of course. None of us want to end like Gram-Tossu you fried yesterday. Come with us and the old lady is free to go."

I pointed at Nanna. "Let me talk to her."

They released Nanna and the old lady crumpled on the dirt. I went and knelt next to her. Only then she whispered. "Foolish girl. This old lady has just a few years left on her. You are throwing your entire life away. Run before it is too late."

I looked around me. It was too late. They closed the circle around me. If one of the non-believers attacked me, they would learn the extent of my protection. And then I'd have to fight half of them.

"Your tent, Nanna. They destroyed everything. Did they steal your valuables?"

"No. I knew they would come and gave everything to a friend for safekeeping. I doubt I can get it back though."

I put a hand in my dress' collar and fished the pouch with the two gold. "Take this and leave town. Go away for a while and we'll surely meet again in the future. Can you move?"

"You are a fool, Sandra. A sweet, kind fool. I'll take what I'm given. And yes, once I'm out of their sight, they'll never catch me," She whispered in my ear.

Nanna stood up and walked. The thugs opened up their encirclement and let her go unchallenged. I watched Nanna go until she left the caravanserai. The leader of the thugs spoke.

"That sword. Hand it over. You won't need it where you are going."

I didn't surrender my mostly decorative weapon. "No. I'm keeping it. Come on, take me to Hama-Tula."

We left the caravanserai, me surrounded by so many thugs I couldn't see around me. I wasn't too short but compared to the average physical build of a successful thug, I might as well be a child.

While I finished purifying my chunk of pure sodium, we went through the streets and reached a section of the northwestern town where fenced estates were the norm. The housing of the elite. Rich merchants, nobles. Hama-Tula.

The crowd of thugs parted once we entered a very posh estate surrounded by a two-meter tall bramble fence and stopped in front of a large house. It resembled a mix between the caravanserai and roman architecture. And I saw him. Hama-Tula. I slid the sodium into my dress pocket.

"How sweet of you to come to visit me, miss. I didn't catch your name. How are you called."

I never felt like killing someone. But this Hama-Tula guy, he kinda deserved it. All I could ask was to hear him monologue and then escape like Sir Sean Connery when he portrayed the best spy ever. I hadn't a hundredth of his confidence though.

"My name is Sandra. The same name of your ruin. It is not too late, Hama-Tula. Let me go and forget about me."

Talking back to him was the wrong choice, apparently. The man burst out in anger and shouted. "Shut up, woman. I'm going to make you a princess! You will be the perfect gift for Prince Marduk-Sapik-Ziarat. It is up to you to be selected as the first concubine of his harem. And I intend to drive some manners into that thick skull of yours. Now, take her to the slave pens. Put her in a separate cell."

Slave pens. Since he broke protocol by not monologuing, I was going to make my stand right there. I started to draw my sword. All the thugs did the same. Soon I was surrounded by a swarm of swords, scimitars, daggers, maces, and axes. I swallowed my saliva and steeled myself. It was going to hurt. The silver lining was that the thugs were all armed with metal weapons. I could do something about them.

"I dare you to come and touch me. C'mon. I'm not going down without a fight."

The longsword was somewhat heavy for me to hold in one hand even though it was well-balanced.

"Stop it, woman. If I let them cut your skin, you will be worthless to the prince! I cannot let you get hurt!" Hama-Tula seemed desperate. "Drop your weapons, morons. That woman must not have a single scar on her body."

He was really out of his mind. I heard weapons being stowed around me. The fact he needed to catch me without open wounds was a big plus in this upcoming fight. I could hurt them as much as I wanted while they had to take it easy to avoid damaging the merchandise.

I held the longsword in two hands and swung it around. A full spin. The thugs backed off. I could go for Hama-Tula I was sure if he went down I'd be free, but I needed them to start it.

"What are you waiting for? Come and get me." The thugs were obviously hesitating. Their task was to bring me here and they were done with it. I turned around to face the leader. "Why do you guys owe Hama-Tula so much? Don't you know he's dead broke? You already did your task, you brought me here. There's no need to get yourselves fried because you incurred divine wrath. Especially those that are heathens that don't believe in Tarhun, your punishment will be twice as hard."

I moved forward and lunged at one of the heathens. He drew a dagger in a hurry and parried my stab easily. I put my hand on his chest over his heart and Decomposed the heck out of his armor. The metal flowed down and became solid again after it went out of my influence. It locked the scales around his belly, becoming a lump of useless metal.

"Bitch! This armor was expensive!" He came to stab me. I opened up my guard and watched where his dagger was coming to.

"No! Stop him!" Hama-Tula shouted.

I focused Decompose on where the dagger would hit. Over my heart. The iron in the dagger flowed away from me and down, creating spokes of metal in a splash-like pattern I felt the hilt of the weapon hit my breast. My right hand wasn't idle though. I hit his temple with the cross-guard of the sword. He went back and fell down.

"He wasn't struck by lightning!" Some of them noticed. A braver one came with his ax sideways. I checked and he was a believer.

*KRAKOW*

I wasn't blinded by the lightning. It just registered in my sight as a white column. The thug and four others around him fell to the ground, electrocuted. Even I felt the tingle of electricity.

"Lightning will strike those that attack me first. Not those I attack," I half-lied. With a cursory glance, I checked my odds. Six out of twenty-something were out. Four of them were non-believers.

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I told the leader. "Leave. Your job is done. Hama-Tula's greed will be the doom of your gang. Take your men and go."

"Fools! The Prince will shower us with riches if we deliver this woman to him!" Hama-Tula countered my proposal. "She has the strongest magic ever, you heard the sorcerer."

"Yeah. And I can melt metal. Do you want to find out what I can do with blood? You better not try me."

I reached in my pocket and pulled a small pellet of the pliable metal. Once I was done with the non-believers, this fight was as good as won.

"Bo-boss, it is better if we leave. We can't spend the Prince's bounty if we are dead." One of the thug lieutenants said.

I smelled urine and noticed some of the thugs struck by lightning soiled themselves.

"I warned you, I shouted."

I tossed the sodium on the urine pool. It skidded and hit the wet dirt, sending sparks everywhere and raising some smoke. Then as the sodium melted flames erupted and it exploded. It was a firecracker's worth but it was enough to surprise them. The rest of the sodium pellet shot up and away, landing somewhere on the lawn.

"Run away if you value your lives!" I pulled another piece of sodium.

"Grab her arm! She can't use magic if her hands are bound, morons!" Hama-Tula shouted.

I still had sharp metal in my hand. Armed with might, magic, and divine wrath as a looming threat, the thugs' morale broke and they ran for it. They left their comrades behind and just ran out of Hama-Tula's estate.

I turned to face my opponent. "I'm here, Hama-Tula. And you can't touch me. What are you going to do? I have no interest in that prince of yours. You can tell him to go fetch his wives on the other side of the continent for all I care."

He turned to one of his bodyguards. "Aristunn, seize her! It is an order!"

"I can't, sir. I'll be struck down by Tarhun. And my job is to protect you and your family. If she attacks or uses her magic against us, I'll act. Otherwise, find another way."

Hama-Tula punched the man. "You useless slave! If I tell you to die for me, you die! Go and get the woman!"

Hama-Tula was the problem. I had to knock him out but the bodyguards would fight back if I did. Or I could just walk away.

"Then I'm going too. Have a nice day, Hama-Tula. Here's hoping we don't see each other again. Bye-bye!"

I turned around and walked away. I wish I did it in slow motion but neither I didn't run even though my heart implored me to get away from there fast.

"Close the gates!" He shouted behind me.

The gate guards would close the gate before I reached the place at my current speed so I didn't bother to run. I always could make a hole in the gate. And as expected, the wooden doors were closed when I reached them.

I pointed at the gate and talked to the guards, "Open the gate!"

They didn't. I started to channel Di Caprio. I wasn't escorting Kate Winslett out of a sinking ship but the rage was the same.

"Open the gate right now!" I shouted.

"Seize that girl!" Hama-Tula shouted from where he was. I glanced behind me. He didn't move, the lazy bastard.

"Miss, could you not cause us trouble?" One of the gate guards asked.

I placed my fists on my hips and stared at him, "Why don't you volunteer to become the first concubine of price whats-his-pants? Then I won't cause trouble."

He chuckled. "I just don't want to get either whipped or zapped."

"I get you, bro. Now, it is in your master's best interest if you open this gate. Otherwise, I'll have to destroy it. I'll go crazy here, I am warning you!"

Then a man's voice boomed from outside, "Open the gate! That's an order!"

Oh, nice. I added my own voice to the chorus. "Open the gate! That's a nice request before I start throwing fireballs around."

"Hey, Sandra, you in there? I brought help!" Nanna's hoarse voice sounded like a choir of angels.

"I'm fine Nanna! How are you? You brought help, how wonderful! Did you see the band of thugs I sent running?"

"The guards arrested them!" She cackled. "Everything is fine, now you Hama-Tula men, I know you can hear me. Open this gate before I curse you!"

I felt pity for the guard. He looked at me with the worst 'I hate my job, I'm gonna burn this mother down!' face I've ever seen. Worse than Jack Black.

"You heard the witch guys. Open up," I told them. Then I raised my voice. "I bet there's some town official or the guard captain on the other side. As I told you, it is Hama-Tula's best interest to not keep them out!"

The same male voice from before shouted from outside, "It's the magistrate! Open up or I'll tell the guard to break down the gate!"

I turned and gesticulated to Hama-Tula. "The magistrate!" The greasy merchant was still on the same spot, a bit paler.

"Open the gate!" He shouted.

I chuckled. "See? It wasn't that hard."

The guard groaned and hit his coworker on the shoulder. They both removed the hardwood bar keeping the gate shut and opened it. There was a crowd outside. I could see Nanna along with a strong guy that should be close to two meters, covered in soot from head to toe and wearing a thick leather apron. He had a cross pein hammer on his shoulder. Couldn't be more stereotypical. Next to him a greek god. No seriously, the guy had flowing golden hair, a chin I'd love to measure, pecs I could play taiko drums on and I was sure behind his chain maille there were six-pack abs. I forced myself to not drool because the guy in front was not looking very friendly to me.

He was short, had a triangular face and a long, braided beard. With a waxed mustache and a toga that although was fancy could still be drab, this one should be the magister. He glanced at me from head to toe and I knew I was found wanting.

He entered and strode straight to Hama-Tula.

"Hama-Tula. What are you up to this time? I have accusations of wanton destruction of private property, kidnapping, and the organization of a private army. I'll have to report this to the Ensi, I'm afraid."

We went behind him. "Yeah, he kidnapped me. And he wanted to hand me over to some prince. He has no right over me."

Hama-Tula wasn't going to take it silently. "This woman entered my house, burned my lawn, beat up my guests. Arrest her!" He haughtily said, pointing at the dead and unconscious thugs on the ground.

The magistrate glanced at me and scoffed. "Captain Brandon Al-Amir, arrest this woman on charges of trespassing and murder. Farewell, Hama-Tula!"

The hunky blonde came to grab me but the smith and Nanna held him back. "Brandon, wait," The smith said with a voice that felt like it came from the depths of Khazad-Dum.

"Yeah. Why arrest me when Hama-Tula was the one that did all that! I demand Justice!" I told the magistrate. "I demand a fair trial!"

That last part was spoken before my wits reminded me that, like Judy Garland, I wasn't in Kansas anymore.

"A fair trial?" The magistrate asked. "And does the young foreigner lady knows what is a fair trial in these parts?"

I glanced over my shoulder at Nanna. She just shook her head. Now that I started it, I had to go on with the farce.

"Yes! I want a fair trial to prove that Hama-Tula is in the wrong and I am innocent. All I did was in self-defense."

Nanna did the universal sign of 'you screwed up'. She put her hand covering her face. The blacksmith grimaced and my Norse god clapped my shoulder. I almost made a weird sound.

"Then a trial it will be. Captain Brandon, let's take her to the river."

I froze. The... river? What about a jury of my peers, witnesses, or even a gavel? No? I felt Brandon's hand grasp me tighter, like totally no escape.

Hama-Tula was frowning but there was a sinister light in his eyes. Like, you ruined my plans but I am going to have the last laugh. At least he wasn't nibbling on his pinkie.

Without much of a choice, The group went on their way with Brandon escorting me. We went out of town through the western gate, gathering a big crowd. From the jeering of the peanut gallery, it sounded like an execution. Given that the guard captain was holding me like I was a convict, I added two and two and felt like running away.

We walked for an hour and reached a river. It was large, about six to eight meters from shore to shore. The current was strong upstream but the place we were at had a bend. A wooden pier went about three meters into the river.

The magistrate spoke. "We are here to adjudicate a dispute between miss Sandra and the honorable merchant Hama-Tula," He said in the most biased speech I've heard since the last presidential election. "The woman demanded a trial and we are here to put her bare before the gods for that reason. Strip her of her clothes!"

The crowd cheered and hooted. Brandon reached for my dress and while I wouldn't mind him undressing me, I'd love to have a more private place. I found Nanna and she just shook her head, mouthing "silly girl," and shaking her head. I stored all my clothes and shoes underneath the dress. No need to let them take that from me. The silent and stoic guard captain removed my belt, scabbard and pulled my dress. I had to let him take it out or he'd rip it from me.

It was not the time to be squeamish or prude. I just imagined it was some out-of-body experience. And there I was, naked. They took some hemp rope and Brendan started to bind me. But not the turtle shell knot. More like the heroine-on-railroad kind of wrap with several loops of rope around me from my knees to my shoulders. At least it covered my lady bits. Then, to add insult to injury, they tied a rock to the stone.

"Toss her in! Toss her in! Toss her in!" The crowd started to shout.

"Wait! Wait! Magistrate!" I called him. "Make Hama-Tula check the rope and knots! He must attest that the rope is well bound. I don't want any doubt falling on our noble and stoic guard captain that he made it easy for me!"

Of course, I had a plan. It was rather obvious given my set of talents. The magistrate pondered for a moment and called Hama-Tula.

"Honorable merchant Hama-Tula, please check the rope bindings and knots."

The merchant came and tugged some loops of rope. It was really tight, I knew it better than anyone. But he wasn't satisfied as he took more rope and wrapped another set of ropes around me, tying another rock.

"Everything is fine. Let the river decide the fate of this woman!" Hama-Tula raised his hands like a politician in a rally. The crowd was delirious and bloodthirsty.

I remembered one important thing. "Brandon, there's a chunk of metal in my dress' pocket. Whatever happens, DON'T LET IT GET WET!" I told him and shouted at the end."

He finally spoke. "I'll keep that in mind. Don't worry and I hope you have your fair trial." He clutched the folded dress under his arm. Even his voice was sexy. I was in love.

"Oh, thank you. So, how does this work? How long do I have to stay in there?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Crazy woman, don't you know? You have to get out. If you stay in the river, you were found guilty and all you own will become the property of Hama-Tula. I'll repeat. You have to get out."

That made a lot of sense, given that Hama-Tula even tied more rocks to my rope. "What if I get out?"

"Then you are innocent of any crimes. And we throw Hama-Tula in the river next to see if he was guilty," He said. I moved my head as if to ask 'what else' and he continued, "If he is guilty, everything he owns becomes your property."

"And what if both of us get out of the river?"

He gave me a 'seriously?' glare. He was the kind of stuck up guy Theresa would love to tease until he broke. And I totally understand her. I also wanted to tease him.

"Then both are innocent and this was a huge waste of time. I don't like to waste time," He replied and ended with a period mark that showed he'd spent his whole allotment of words for a day.

"Okay. I'm ready. I'll be back soon, Captain!" I told Brandon. Then I turned to the magistrate, "Honored Magistrate, I'm ready for my trial."

The magistrate waved his hand and pointed at me. "Good. Throw her in!"

Three guys from the crowd picked me up with two others holding the rocks. They walked over the pier and then started to swing me and the rocks. On a count of two, they tossed me. I missed my window to breathe because I thought they would go on three. Dammit.

I plunged into the cold water and the rope tightened even more. I wasted no time. Decompose on max, move all carbon away from me. The place I was thrown in was deep. the water was murky and full of aquatic plants. The ropes weakened and snapped. I wriggled free and Decomposed the rest of them.

I was about to swim back to the surface when I felt a tentacle wrap around my ankle. My lungs were burning. I summoned the survival knife and slashed at the tentacle, cutting my own skin in the clumsy struggle. The tentacle released me and I felt something stir in the water. I stored the knife and released a bubble. It was important to make sure which way was up. I swam after the bubble and finally saw sunlight filtering in the water. I kept kicking water and soon broke the surface a bit downriver from the pier.

I gasped for air and fought to avoid getting caught in the current that ran out of the bend. Once my mind cleared from the oxygen deprivation, I swam back to the shore. Someone from the crowd threw a cloak at me as I was about to reach the gravelly shore. I tested the depth and managed to get a foothold. I wrapped myself with the cloak and walked out of the water. I found the person that threw me the cloak and bowed my head.

"I made it!" I shouted.

The crowd brought the house down. They cheered and shouted. I stared in Hama-Tula's direction. He was looking for a way to escape but I trusted Brandon to get him. And get him he did. The magistrate clapped his hand over his head until the crowd died down.

"Silence! This is a sacred trial before the gods! Miss Sandra was deemed innocent by the gods! Not it is Hama-Tula's turn! Undress him!"

Hama-Tula wasn't a decent man. He tried to evade Brandon's grasp and fought to keep his clothes. The smith whose name I didn't know yet helped the guard captain and soon two other men came and removed all of his clothes and jewels. They started to wrap the merchant as he shouted and squirmed. I kept there, silently watching. I felt no satisfaction, no joy in knowing what fate awaited the merchant. I felt a weight, a burden.

He brought this on himself. If only he kept his greedy mitts out of my oven. If only he could see me as a person and not some sex merchandise. But he was beyond hope in that regard. Given a whole lifetime, I doubted Hama-Tula would remove the scales from his eyes. I moved around until I found Nana. The old witch hugged me and I felt like crying.

They finished wrapping Ham-a-Tula and tied the rock to the tip of the rope. The man was screaming so much they bound a loop of rope around his neck and in his mouth. The magistrate looked at me.

"Do you want to check the ropes?"

I shook my head. "Do we need to--" Nanna's hand over my mouth interrupted me.

"Let it go. He dug his own fate," The witch whispered to me. "You did what you had to. You gave him plenty of chances to back off. Now it is between him and the gods."

I nodded. I had to trust someone in this world, and Nanna never led me astray. I reached a hand out of the cloak and grabbed her hand. I kept my eyes peeled as the men carried a screaming Hama-Tula into the pier and tossed him down. The water bubbled, stirred. Whatever lived down there would have the feast I denied it. Truly enough, soon the water of the river ran red. A large bubble of air denounced watery lungs. I forced the water away from me with Decompose, drying myself.

Only then I closed my eyes and let the tears I was holding back run freely. Everything I told him, every warning came back and felt like a prophecy. Even Shylock got away without losing everything. But the cruelty of the punishment reminded me that this was the land of Lex Talionis.

An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. They came to this world from the land Hammurabi once ruled and brought his code of laws with them. Unchanged for centuries. Stagnated.