---Nadir's POV---

Walking through familiar halls, rooms that have echoed my screams of agony, was an unsettling feeling. However I knew I was here as a free man, and I would leave as a free man as well.

The same couldn't be said about Mercer, who's breathing was audible even from beyond the closed door of his private room.

All of his grandeur and splendor had already been slowly withered away. Probably with the lie of needing to pay for Mercer's cure. And I was quite certain that Ishtar would give a mournful performance once I left, announcing to everyone that Mercer could not be saved.

Pressing my palm to the door, I slowly pushed it open. Letting my eyes roam through a familiar room of a formerly powerful man, now reduced to a living corpse.

Mercer was propped up against his pillows to be able to sit upright. Wheezing with each breath, unable to stabilize himself as he simply laid there, awaiting death.

His body, which he had kept in tiptop condition during his prime, had wasted away. Muscles had atrophied almost completely, allowing us to see veins and bones quite easily.

No longer was Mercer the powerful master with the world at his feet. Instead, he was a feeble, ailing man who had only retained his intelligence.

That was something I could see as his gaze clashed with mine and held. And then I saw recognition.

And fear.

Realization was clear to see as his eyes flashed between myself and Ishtar. His mouth was ajar yet all he could produce was a weak gurgle, as if he was trying but failing to speak.

Honestly, there was not a hint of joy in my body, seeing Mercer vulnerable like this. Part of me had longed for that satisfaction of finally seeing Mercer at my mercy, to be able to slay him where he stood.

Instead, I felt nothing but pity. Mercer could've been such a great man, could've used his power and riches to better other people's lives.

So many slaves could've been freed. So many lives could've been changed for the better.

Mercer could've easily used his wealth to hunt down slavers, to free slaves from their shackles and heal their wounds.

After all, the master he abducted me from did the same. Used his wealth to help people, be it young or old, healthy or sick, rich or poor.

Yet Mercer saw himself elevated above most people. Even fellow Sheiks were deemed beneath him, as his egocentric way of thinking could only imagine one ruler of these lands.

Himself.

"Allah Yerhamo, Mercer." I greeted, seeing his eyes widen and shift from person to person. "Because you won't find mercy among any of your former slaves."

The man trembled on his deathbed as all hope fled his body. I walked around the bed and sat down beside him, looking down on my former master.

"You must've heard about my former masters dying one by one. Panicked and knew this meant something that linked them all was hunting them down." I motioned to the former slaves gathered around the room. "Your many spies and slaves would've filled in the blanks and informed you that I was still alive and well."

I chuckled, though the sound was void of any humor. "Did it never bother you how I got out of the desert you abandoned me in? How I survived a stab wound to the ribs while bound, gagged and weakened in the unforgivable climate of my sandy grave?"

Mercer made another gurgle sound, eyes darting to the door when it opened before there was a fragment of hope in his eyes when Ishtar appeared.

"Ish....ishh...." He swallowed thickly, fear in his gaze as they flitted from Ishtar to myself and Carson's crew. I snorted, shaking my head.

"You really think I'd stoop so low as to hurt an innocent person, man or woman, just to hurt you?" I scoffed. Ishtar sat on the opposite end of me, looking past her nose at Mercer.

"My dear husband-to-be... I would've thought you were smarter. Or did you not do a thorough background check on all of your slaves? Otherwise you would've easily seen a connection."

Ishtar pointed to herself as she continued, "Did you really think you could enslave one of our tribe? Kidnap her siblings and have them defiled and murdered?" She sneered, rage sparking in her eyes while Mercer laid there motionlessly.

I could see the truth slowly dawning on him, could see the doom manifesting and settling in. Mercer was smart enough to know he was never going to leave this room alive.

"When you abandoned me in the desert, left me to rot and die at the mercy of the elements and vultures, I was found by Ishtar's tribe." I revealed, sighing softly as I looked down at the man who had once owned me.

Who had once held my life, and the lives of countless others, in the palm of his hand. Only now, the roles were reversed. And I would show him the same mercy he had bestowed upon everyone in his care.

None.

Mercer was smart enough to connect the dots, to hear the unspoken information.

I was rescued by the same tribe whom he abducted and killed from. The same tribe Ishtar hailed from.

The same tribe that was out for Mercer's blood.

"Honestly, you are lucky that Nadir was the one who decided upon your death." Ishtar sneered down at Mercer, pushing off the bed with disgust, as she could no longer stand to uphold the fake image of her being Mercer's beloved, doting wife. "My father and the Elders of the tribe wanted you brought to justice before them. Punished by their own hands."

Indeed. Murder was a highly punishable offense among the practicing Muslims. As far as I knew, there was only one punishment worthy of spilling the precious blood of a fellow human being.

Death.

Perhaps I did offer Mercer some form of mercy. Death by stoning or death by poison.... At least through poison, he could die in the comforts of his own home and bed.

Then again, this was a slow, drawn out death. Not a quick and swift death of a beheading, or a quicker death by stoning. Depending on the aim of the people, even stoning could be quite quick.

However, the poison coursing through his body was meant to be slow acting, prolonging Mercer's suffering until he passed. And while part of me wanted to see him suffer more, to spend countless of nights terrified of the shadows and haunted by his past actions, I also couldn't stand the sight of him.

I refused to lower myself to his level. No matter how vile of a man he was, how many people he had used and abused...

Tormenting him and taking pleasure in watching him squirm, made me no better than Mercer himself. So with a sigh, I produced the small orb in my hand, showing it to Mercer.

"If you bite down on this," I stated, feeling Carson's eyes on me as I spoke. "You will die almost instantly. I cannot say if it's painless, as those who've taken it are no longer with us to speak of their experiences."

My gaze held Mercer's as I shook my head slightly. "Honestly, you don't deserve this. You deserve to suffer for what you've done, for the people you've tortured, the people you've murdered. But I refuse to turn into you simply so you can experience first hand what you brought upon others."

Holding the bead up so he could look at it, I finished "You decide your own fate Mercer. Death by the poison that is eating away at your body and mind, or death right now. Whatever your choice, you are not leaving this room with your life. So choose."

Everyone waited in silence as Mercer's eyes darted around, desperate for a way out. This is why I had started with Mercer yet saved him for last at the same time.

All of his escape routes had been slowly but surely cut off. The people that formerly worshipped him had read Mercer's letters by now, read the confession of all his sins. Most, if not all of them were disgusted with him.

The men under his care had been slaughtered by Mercer's own hand and the new guards have come to find out about Mercer's dark past.

Everyone in this city knew whom Mercer was. A heartless, cruel tyrant who tortured and maimed those weaker than himself in order to prove he was a powerful man.

Slowly, Mercer's eyes narrowed and his jaw moved, as if chewing on his cheek in thought. Yet I knew there was no escape, no way out of this situation for him.

Nobody was coming to save Mercer from a Fate he designed.

And that realization made Mercer tremble as finally, he slowly opened his mouth. Silently begging for release from the poison that made him squirm and suffer in silence.

Pressing the orb between his teeth, I held my hand over his mouth, already anticipating his weak attempt to bite down and spit the poison at my face.

Instead, Mercer failed at producing any spittle, couldn't even open his mouth after I held it shut. There was a brief moment of panic, of hatred in his eyes before we could all see the poison take over.

His breathing, which had already been labored, grew harsher, stifled. Fingers clawing at the bedding, clutching the fabric of his bed covers between his nails.

And then he stopped. A last few agonal gasps before Mercer laid there unmoving. The last of my masters, finally sent off to their rightful place in Hell.

I doublechecked to see if Mercer had a pulse, but his void gaze and unmoving chest was more than enough proof that he had passed on.

"It's done." I murmured, making sure to clean my hand and remove any trace of poison from it. A weight slipped from my shoulders as my words echoed through the room.

A finality to them, that showed it was finally over. These former masters, monsters clad in human flesh, were no more.

I am free.