Chapter 683: Arrival

Mina was originally made uncomfortable by Nael's confession, but she was able to ignore it as the ramblings of a man who did not know how to care about someone in a strictly platonic manner. Just days after pouring out his heart to her, and promising he would change, Nael was already cuddling up to someone else, and when he took the woman back to his suite, he tried to do so in secret. It was enough to tell Mina that what he had with her was an emotional attraction, and she didn't actually have a problem with that.

On a positive note, Leal and Majha had already purchased a commercial fishing liner and were in the process of trying to find men with the experience to use it before bringing it back to Bal for registration. The men hired would only need to sell their catch to a prearranged buyer, pay the appropriate taxes, and Ela's Fish Market account would begin to grow. Originally, Mina had chosen the name of the establishment by taking the like letters between the brother's names, but was later told that it was also an acknowledgement to their mother, whose name was Naeleal.

At just thirteen, Naeleal was sold by her father because she was unable to find steady employment after her mother died. She was meant to serve as a house cleaner for their then eighteen-year-old father, but he had taken her 'duties' too far. According to Leal, their father became possessive over their mother in an unhealthy way, finding enjoyment in the fact that she did not want to be with him, but had no education, no money to leave, and nowhere else to go.

Naeleal gave birth to Nael at fourteen, but he was already the fourth child of the man who impregnated her, and when she had Leal, he was child number ten. With that in mind, Mina wanted to make sure they hired an all-female staff to help support underprivileged women in the country. If giving young women a decent wage and stable employment could mean the difference between becoming a parent at fourteen and going to school, Mina wanted to do it, and both men were on board with her decision.

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Helping Leal set up the storefront to make everything in Bal legit made Mina think about Mills. She wondered if a similar fate had not awaited the woman if she and her brother were not born with an expression of a recessive gene. She found herself wanting to visit Sani, which was only a six-hour boat ride away, but Nael did not want to 'waste fuel.' Taking matters into her own hands, Ami asked Majha to arrange the trip for her, bringing Huck and a bunch of Majha's men along for the trip, so she was safe. Mina did not tell either brother where she would be, but since they had gotten her a phone, they could call her if they needed her.

The journey was smooth, comfortable even, but as soon as Mina stepped off the vessel, she could see poverty everywhere she looked. Her eyes narrowed in on a young woman and a boy who were being followed and jeered at by three men. Without really thinking, she began to trail the trio, telling Huck to make sure no one snuck up behind them, even though she already knew Majha's men were already doing the same thing. Mina did not want to see Huck get hurt for her; he was not allowed a gun, but that was something she would seek to change.

The sun was beginning to set, and the further they walked the darker it became. Before Mina knew it, they were on the outskirts of the slums where the three men finally made their move on the woman. One of them snatched the boy, holding him by the neck and telling the woman that he would die unless she followed directions, and that was all Mina needed to act. Without hesitation she shot one of the men in the knee, and he fell to the ground wailing in pain. With her gun trained on the man holding the child, she gestured for him to release the boy, and with true fear in his eyes he did. The woman was also released, and she fled to Mina's side, checking the child for injuries as she shielded his view.

"We can't repay you ," the woman said, and Mina shrugged before handing the woman the gun she was holding. The small boy's back was to the scene, but Mina still asked him to cover his eyes.

"What is your name?" Mina questioned, ignoring the woman's statement about being repaid; she had the situation at hand to offer, which was good enough.

"Ivy," the woman whispered.

"You have a choice to make Ivy."

"What do you mean 'choice'?"

"Do those men live or die?"

"Ami…" Huck said in a warning tone, and Mina nodded her head at him. She had also seen the people coming out of the shadows, wanting to see who was screaming so loudly, but she knew from Mills that the police would never come, and apparently, so did the other men who were with her, because they just quietly watched the scene play out.

"They are… Those men are bad people," Ivy replied.

"Then it sounds like you've already made a decision." One of the men tried to run, but Mina snatched her gun back from the woman and shot him. Some of the people who had gathered started to leave, but Ivy stayed put, staring at the gun as Mina held it out to her again.

"I've never used a gun before." Mina stood behind the woman, lining the weapon up in the proper way, and when she was confident the shot would hit its target, she instructed the woman to pull the trigger.

Sadly, the bullet hit the man's abdomen, so he joined the other wailing man on the ground, but Mina instructed Ivy to 'finish' what she started, and she was surprised when the woman actually left her side.

"For my parents" the woman said, shooting one man in the heart. "And for my sister." Ivy walked to the man who was trying to crawl away, pressed her foot onto his injured knee, and shot him in the back of the head. She retreated from the scene, vomiting as the reality of what she had done overtook her senses, and Mina used the woman as a bridge to the others in the area.

"Bring me all the people who hurt women and children," she shouted, and she could hear the whispers of uncertainty around her.

"Why should we help you?" One woman replied.

"You just sentenced her and that boy to death. Those men had friends." Mina rolled her eyes at the statement, and without being asked or told, Huck began to pour fluid on the bodies of the men on the ground, tossing matches onto them as he pulled Ivy back to Mina's side.

"I have to leave now, but I will be back. You can take your time to decide what you want."

"What about me?" Ivy said in concern. "My nephew and I will be killed; take us with you."

"Can you do that again?" Mina asked, pointing to the bodies that were now ablaze. The putrid smell of burnt flesh was beginning to permeate the air, and many witnesses were fleeing it.

"If I have to," Ivy replied, and Mina gestured for the woman to follow her.

"What do we call you?" An old man questioned. "When they want to know who is responsible for this, what do we tell them?" Mina thought long and hard before answering; she had every intention of coming back, however she planned to bring more people with her.

"Tell them that their Judge has arrived." With those words, Mina walked away, with Ivy scurrying behind her.

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Nael did not know what to think of the story Ami was telling him. She had gone to Sani on her own, she had killed a man, contributed to the deaths of two others and returned with a woman and a child. He didn't know whether to be proud of her or scared for her, and he did not miss the fact that she had chosen to wear the all black mask Shani made her, instead of the pretty one he had designed. Ami had gone out with the intention of being feared, which was unlike her.

"I couldn't just leave them after causing trouble for them."

"Yes, you could have," Nael replied. "And you aren't going back to that place. You'll be shot on sight."

"I am going back. We need that Country to grow." Nael's heart started to race with Ami's use of the word we. He knew she meant it in a business sense, but to him, the fact that she was considering them a 'we' meant that he was not completely pushed into the woman's friendzone.

"Fine, but she can't stay here. She's young, helpless, pretty, and already has a kid to look after; we won't be able to protect her." Mina felt a sting from Nael's words. When she first boarded, the fact that she was young and helpless never crossed his mind, and she knew it was because of her appearance.

"Majha has already agreed to keep them safe until I return," Mina added, seeing that Nael was trying to use Ivy against her. They were still waiting for Leal to get back with their new boat before making a final decision, and when the man arrived, he did so wearing a disappointed expression.

"What am I hearing about you becoming an executioner?" The man questioned before his eyes fell on Ivy who held her sleeping nephew on her lap. "You are?" Leal asked, and Mina explained that the woman only spoke Sani. Leal repeated his question in her language and Ivy's eyes lit up. She was clearly worried about not being able to understand the Panglish conversation that was happening around her. "Who is she?" Mina responded to Leal in Sani so Ivy could understand.

"It's just her and her nephew left," Mina said, switching to Panglish again.

"What about her husband?" Leal asked, knowing that women in Sani typically married young.

"She was engaged but the man called off the engagement after her family was attacked."

"Good," Leal said. "I mean… No one would want to be married to a coward." Mina and Nael rolled their eyes at the man's botched explanation. It was clear he was physically attracted to Ivy. She was a beautiful woman with sandy brown hair that made her brown eyes appear strickingr; so it did not surprise Mina that she had been targeted by the men, but the woman claimed that she had never been physically assaulted in the past because her brother used to walk her to and from work, but he had been recently jailed.

"How old are you?" Leal asked, and when the woman told him she was only nineteen, Leal's expression revealed his annoyance, making Mina and Nael laugh loudly. "What?" The man asked in confusion, but Mina and Nael could not stop laughing, and every time they made eye contact, they started to laugh again. "What?!" Leal asked again, this time more aggressively startling the sleeping child awake. Once again, his expression revealed his emotions, and Mina had to dab at the tears spilling from her eyes as the man stuck his middle finger up at them.

"I have a ring in my room if you need it." Leal's face turned red, and the confused expression on Ivy's face made everything much more hilarious to them.

"Will the two of you shut up and get serious? Where is she going to stay?"

"Here," Nael lied, and Leal's eyes lit up for one second before he realized his brother was joking.

"That wasn't funny," Leal growled.