"Wait! Don't--!"
But the woman was already gone, leaving Sahar alone once more. It was only then, when she was no longer in immediate danger, that the stress welled up within her and, along with it, tears.
It was her own sobbing that woke her up, and she hugged her pillow tightly to her chest and buried her face into it, her tears soaking into the silk. The threat of hurting her, or killing children, had been bad enough. But to threaten Nasrin now, too?
All her life, she had always run to Nasrin when she was in trouble, or scared, or needed help, and Nasrin had a way of making all those troubles just...vanish. For better or for worse. But there was no way she could tell her about this, not without making her more of a target, not without getting her killed.
For the first time in her life, she was alone with her problems.
And she had no idea what to do about it.