Featured Review on this writing by Robert Helliger

For ages, Greater Dyli has forced its women to be subservient to men. They do their bidding daily and are expected to go about their lives as second-class citizens. At least during the day. By night, whilst men sleep, women are able to do as they please. They may converse freely. Run their own shops and stalls. They may even fight.

In this restricted society rises Ashallah, a soldier of the female-driven army known as the midnight warriors. By night, she protects her motherland alongside her fellow females. By day, she is expected to act as any other woman in a veil. As any dutiful soldier, she complies. That is until tragedy strikes her family.

Alone and without honor, Ashallah goes on the run. While fleeing, she partners with two mysterious strangers – hybrid offspring of the jinn – who illuminate a forgotten part of her past that sheds light on her destiny.

Table of Contents

Prologue

I hate the sun. And the flock of birds that fly across it. I loathe the sea, the fish, and the trident. I despise the cedar and t... Read Chapter

Chapter 1

Drops rolled down the length of her spine. Ashallah saw tiny bumps of flesh quiver in their wake. She shivers, she realized. If only I co... Read Chapter

Chapter 2

Her skin began to itch. She wanted desperately to scratch, to dry herself, to stretch and rest. She resisted her urges. As she always... Read Chapter

Chapter 3

Wisps of smoke danced with one another as they rose and faded. Three floated toward Ashallah, disbanding as they drew closer, leaving o... Read Chapter

Chapter 4

Ashallah’s skin tingled as she left the house of pleasure. The night air had cooled considerably since she had entered. That, along w... Read Chapter

Chapter 5

“Let go of me! I mean it!” Her grip persisted. “Hands off!” Her fingers dug deeper. “Stop it!” She contin... Read Chapter

Chapter 6

The night breeze still held the heat of the day. As was common. Still, this one was different. For it had a scent. A sweet, smoky one. ... Read Chapter

Chapter 7

I hate this. The sun was up. All of her sisters-in-arms wore veils. Not due to their adoration for tradition, which all of them despi... Read Chapter

Chapter 8

“Ommah! Ommah!” Ashallah stormed out of her mother’s room back into the receiving area. “Where are you?” She knew h... Read Chapter

Chapter 9

Spit and spoiled fruit slapped Ashallah across her face. She turned. The other cheek soon met the same fate. She shook her head. “I... Read Chapter

Chapter 10

She had never seen snow before. She had only heard of it. The northern territories, where the air was cooler, saw snow once in a red ... Read Chapter

Chapter 11

Ashallah believed she knew all the dark corners and crevasses of Yasem. Knowledge of hidden areas and concealed spaces was an integral ... Read Chapter

Chapter 12

“Asha.” Ashallah raised her brow yet her eyes remained closed. She grinned. “Asha.” She opened her eyes. Above, the s... Read Chapter

Chapter 13

It was the hour of women. Ashallah’s body always knew the time when she was able to cast aside her niqab and stroll the streets of Ya... Read Chapter

Chapter 14

Rahim looked so young. He stood shoulder to shoulder with others like him. Line upon line of turquoise. Many had the sapphire-colored... Read Chapter

Chapter 15

Ashallah sat all alone. Her legs dangled over the cliff edge. She looked down and saw darkness, where the caverns descended into some... Read Chapter

Chapter 16

Ashallah’s hunger had never been more ravenous. Her past missions had often required her to go days without food or water. Afterwar... Read Chapter

Chapter 17

The bazaar teemed with desperate faces, those of men and women who craned to see the janissary and his entourage of local magistrates a... Read Chapter

Chapter 18

The cold splashed Ashallah’s face, sending streams down her neck to her back and chest. Over and again, she threw water on herself un... Read Chapter

Chapter 19

“That was quick,” Ashallah said to herself. The doors of the East Gate laid open, allowing Ashallah to catch a glimpse of the fun... Read Chapter

Chapter 20

The burning struck her senses first. Harsh and bitter, like ashes in her nose and mouth. Overwhelmed, Ashallah’s eyes fluttered open ... Read Chapter

Chapter 21

Their reconnaissance of the dungeon had been fruitless along with their search of Yaromir’s alcove. Along with the Palace of the Conc... Read Chapter

Chapter 22

Her head throbbed. She reached back, her hand seeming heavier. Only when she heard the clank of links did she remember her bondage. ... Read Chapter

Chapter 23

Ashallah had always prided herself on the battles in which she prevailed and escaped unscathed, uncut. Some of those engagements that r... Read Chapter

Chapter 24

The Grand Sultan had done the impossible. Within months, a sleepy port town had grown into a metropolis. Dust that had once moved fre... Read Chapter

Chapter 25

I am midnight. I am midnight. I am not this. Three days earlier, Ashallah had welcomed the shade. It first came over her as her p... Read Chapter

Chapter 26

The sun had never been brighter. It hung directly overhead. Whatever the event, those who had organized it on the Sultan’s behalf h... Read Chapter

Chapter 27

“I am sorry. For treating you as I did. For striking your face. For the thrusting myself into you, even when I felt you resist. For m... Read Chapter

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Cover

Midnight

Midnight is the tale of a female assassin - bred to hunt only at night - who, in order to avenge her family, must take on the most dangerous target of her life: the sultan.


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