Iman and her men's horses galloped for hours on end, their bodies drenched in water as a devastating rainfall ignited moments after their long journey to Havaz had begun. Though they estimated their time of travel to be around fourteen hours, coupled with the fact that they were making their way through the harsh environment during the nighttime, Iman knew that resting wasn't an option. If this man really was as dangerous as Esah claimed, then she couldn't risk letting him slip away.
Perhaps he was going to take time to rest, but Iman couldn't be certain. She had to make sure her plan meant he couldn't possibly get closer to the Inner Capital without crossing her first.
It wasn't before long that the two soldiers closest to Iman hit their horses and ordered them to speed up, soon catching up with Iman and riding beside her.
"Why exactly have you suddenly pulled all twenty of us out so urgently like this…my sweet princess," the soldier to her left asked with a concerned tone, shouting over the thunderous rainfall.
Iman didn't stop looking ahead, her face creasing as she struggled to clearly see where she was guiding her horse. "Because my father has ordered me to find someone. And twenty extra pairs of eyes is always useful…especially when you don't really know what the person you are searching for looks like."
"What? You don't even know who we are looking for? In fact, when are you going to properly brief us on what we should be keeping an eye out for, anyway?"
Iman clicked using her tongue. "Does it really matter? When have I not been able to deal with someone who tries to threaten me? You are sounding like you don't have confidence in me! Am I wrong in saying that?" Iman raised her voice, causing the soldier to shake his head. He didn't stop inquiring about the situation. The trembling in his voice, however, suggested the shake of his head was a lie.
"But…but we heard this guy is 'like you'. What exactly does that mean?"
The other soldier butted in, his voice revealing he was equally frightened. "Doesn't that mean even you have to be careful if that's true? And how is something like this even possible? Can we even help?" The soldier's bombarding questions evidently agitated Iman. Yet the soldiers still stared desperately at her, hoping her answer would satisfy their concerns.
"Where the hell did you even hear that?" Iman responded.
"Information like that gets passed around quickly, you know. Especially when it's something as important as this!" The soldier to her left instantly replied, the other nodding his head as his eyes widened.
"Well…," she scoffed, "I told you not to worry! So long as I'm here, everything will be taken care of. Just make sure you immediately tell me if you find him. Got it?!"
"Ye ma'am," they both said in unison, courage in their voices having returned.
The soldiers dropped back behind Iman, returned to the planned formation and followed her.
Besides briefing the men on the mission and vague description of who they were looking for, she didn't say a word until they reached the village.
*****
The sun began to rise over the rather large village of Havaz. Just like its name, Havaz was awfully similar to the town of Shihaz. Muddy grounds populated the area as most houses sat leaning on one another and had more gaps in their structure than not. Food scarcity was an even greater problem here, and it was at the crack of dawn that this became far too obvious. People of the town scurried around the village, trampling one another in order to reach the front of lines for stalls that sold the most basic of foods. As basic as they were, there wasn't another option for them.
Amidst the disorder which too frequently plagued the village, two men began arguing, their desire for bread descending into a rough tussling match.
"Hey!" a bald man bellowed. "That's my piece of bread. Give it back, cheap ass!"
His opponent, a man of a much larger build with spiky, short hair, howled back at him, denouncing the bald man's claims. "What are you talking about? I bought this with the money I saved up. You're just trying to steal it from me!" As he said this, he snatched the bread from the bald man's hands and delivered a thumping kick to his stomach, a kick which brought the man to his knees. The bald man held his stomach with both hands, choking as his winded body belched.
"Guess it looks like this bread was mine after all. Maybe I should stop pretending like I bought someone's food and just take it from them straight away! It would be much faster and cause far less of a commotion," he said while deviously laughing.
But just as the spiky-haired man was revelling in his deceitful success, a woman emerged from the crowd and stood on the highest point within the market, appearing terribly distressed. "They're coming. The Hakimi's men are coming! Everyone watch out and hide if you can!"
The galloping of horses began to shake the ground, plunging the spiky-haired man into a state of panic. "Th'hell are they doing round here at this time of day? I better scram before they come after me!" He threw the bread back to the bald man who struggled to bring himself from the floor. Fortunately for him, he was able to scatter just in time, managing to take the bread with him too.
Iman and her men charged into the village and halted as they neared its centre. Iman looked around, the village becoming emptier by the minute. While almost everyone in the centre of the village disappeared, those around the outskirts remained, partly because they didn't hear the warning, but also partly because they saw this as their opportunity to buy the food they had promised their families they'd bring back.
"We'll split up and look for him. He should be here by now. Make sure to check absolutely everywhere. And don't forget to tell me when you find him. I'm gonna show him what I'm all about. I can't let him think I'm weak like Esah. Dismount and disperse!" The soldiers did just that. They split up into groups of threes, surveying the area and questioning everyone they could get their hands on, intimidating and calling them liars even though they hadn't a clue what the soldiers were interrogating them about.
One group, however, was a man down. One of the soldiers from earlier stuck by Iman, still fearful that they had already failed their mission. "Ma'am, if I may?"
"Oh drop it with the 'Ma'am'. I'm no fancy lady. Just call me Iman — like everyone else does. You don't have to be all formal with me when father isn't around."
"Right," he gulped. "I just wanted to say…what if he isn't even here? Maybe he has already come by and gone! What if we are wasting our time here and he's already fast-approaching the Inner Capital?"
Iman replied, sounding serious rather than bothered this time. "If that was the case then I think we would definitely have seen him on our way here. Also, if he's looking to enter the Inner Capital from Shihaz, he can only get to it by going across the sea first, and therefore he must come through here. I'm certain he will arrive soon. Let's just hope that if he is already here, he hasn't seen us coming. But to be honest, from the way I chose to rush in here, I doubt that will be the case." The soldier had nothing left to say, so he ran off to support his team. Iman, on the other hand, berated herself, having understood the faults in her plan. "Tsk, Sadegh would've thought this through a lot better. This guy undoubtedly knows we've arrived."
Further in a corner of the village, an exchange between two men was coming to a close. A short, wrinkly old man held the stall, while an unidentifiable man wearing all-black and a large hood was in the process of passing over money so he could enjoy some of the fruit the old man offered. Upon completion of the exchange, the hooded man's head twitched as his ears caught wind of something that alarmed both him and the man running the stall.
"Move it," a random soldier shouted in the distance as he shoved someone to the floor.
As the old man blinked, the hooded man had vanished from his sight, nowhere to be seen. The old man shot up from his chair, bewildered. His eyes zipped around the nearby area, scanning closely to see if he could find the hooded man. His weakening eyesight didn't help, and so he resorted to shouting for him.
"Sir! Your change! Hey, gentleman! You forgot your change! I'd love to keep it, but I'm a modest man just trying to make a living. I don't need your pity money!"
The nearby soldiers caught a glimpse of the old man shouting as his cries grabbed their attention. Having been told to investigate and look everywhere, they immediately began marching towards the old man, a mean look struck across all of their faces.
"Eeeek," the old man exclaimed, knowing running would only make things worse.
"What are you shouting at, old man?" one of the soldiers roared.
"It better not be directed at us! Otherwise we might have to take some of those apples from you," another soldier added.
"No. I promise I wasn't talking to either of you three. I was actually looking for someone else. I was about to pass him his change, but he suddenly disappeared in a flash."
The soldiers looked amongst themselves, a slightly disturbed expression growing on each of their faces. One of them took the man by the shirt and started shouting in his face as his saliva invaded the man's face. "What did this man look like? Notice anything worth telling me about?"
The old man held up his hands as a sign of mercy, hoping that they wouldn't hurt him without a better reason. Though, a valid reason was rarely needed for Hakimi soldiers. "Ummm. Well I can only tell you one thing about him. But, first, I'd like to know why you need this information from me. Why you guys are here! Can't you go one day without hurting people?"
"That's none of your business, old man," scowled the soldier who had taken the man by the shirt.
"Screw you!"
The old man's insult called forth an extreme anger within one of the other soldiers, prompting him to draw his sword and hold it out towards the man's neck. "Just answer our questions, old man! We haven't got time for any of this crap!"
His silence angered the soldiers, resulting in the one holding him to throw him to the ground, injuring his back in the process. "Your silence is pissing me off! I know you're scared, but if you don't speak, then I might just have to make your silence permanent," he said with an overly threatening tone.
"I don't gotta tell you nothin'," the old man exclaimed in response.
"Wrong answer," the third soldier finally got himself involved. He raised his foot and kicked him on the nose, forcing his head to smash onto the floor. "I find it strange that people like you refuse to listen to their superiors. Did your parents not teach you basic manners? When you are asked to do something as easy as complying with orders, you do so!"
The soldier who had drawn his sword began to laugh, pointing at the man's broken face. "Hey, look how messed up his face is. You really gave him a good kick!" The soldiers all laughed, rather exaggeratively, in fact. They grabbed each other and almost fell to the floor, their eyes shut tight as they struggled to contain themselves.
SWOOOOSH!
The soldiers' laughs were immediately substituted with glances of worry and concern. They looked down at the ground where the old man had been sitting, but he had vanished without a trace.
"Where the heck did he go?" said one of the soldiers. "Is he magic or something?"
"Beats me. He's only some old guy selling apples."
Then a tower of crates not too far away tumbled to the floor, alarming the guards as the other two decided to draw their swords as well. The crates scattered across the floor, partially blocking the entrance to a narrow path that sat between two homes within the village.
"Hey, he must have gone that way. Let's get him!" Each guard ran as fast as they could toward what was hidden around the corner of the house, eager to catch the old man and make him pay for his defiance.
"You've made a big mistake running from us! If there's one thing I hate more than non-compliant fools it's cowards that run away!"
After swiftly maneuvering around the crates that spread across the floor, the soldiers finally found themselves at the corner of the house that hid the path they believed the man had taken. As they reached the house, they all jumped around the corner, each bearing a different form of anticipation on their faces.
But as they turned the corner, they were met with a sight neither of them expected. In fact, they were not just confused, they were thoroughly disappointed. The old man was nowhere to be seen, and someone had seemingly taken his place.
The soldiers came to a ravaging halt, all pointing their swords at the man who stood across the path from them, and one of them said, commandingly, "Who…who the hell are you?!"