AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can still come with you,” she reasoned. “I’m Ankanese—”
“She doesn’t know you, Ilo,” Quil said. “But I’ll present your case. Tell me exactly what—”
“What’s so wrong with me, Quil?” Aiz snapped, weeks of pent-up anger salting her veins. “Do you think I can’t handle myself around your precious Empress?”
“Of course I don’t think that.” The furrow in his brow said otherwise. “It’s just…my aunt, she has certain expectations of me.”
“You say you want to be with me, Quil, but if you did, you’d tell your aunt about me. You’d take me with you to the capital. You’d let me meet the Empress.” Of course, he was silent. Quil had steel in his spine. Just not when it came to her.
Hoofbeats had them both turning in their saddles, and Aiz forced herself to smile as Laia approached, riding her husband’s stallion. The mirrors on her heavily embroidered Kehanni robes caught the swiftly fading light. Already, stars twinkled on the horizon.
“Ilar.” Laia held up a folded piece of parchment. “The Kehanni of Tribe Nasur awaits us. We’re to meet her at her caravan north of the city after dusk. If we hurry, we’ll make it.”
“Ama!” Ruh rode up swiftly on his pony. “Take me, too! I’m Ilar’s translator.”
Laia shook her head. “I can translate for her. Kehanni Nasur is quite old, and you, my love, are quite spirited. Another time, perhaps.”
“Kehanni Nasur likes me. She won’t mind if I come! Last time she said I was such a good tale-spinner that I must be part jinn.”
“Indeed, she did,” Laia said. “But, Ruh—”
Aiz’s own instinct prickled.He sees what others do not.Something about this story was hidden from Laia. But perhaps Ruh would be able to see it.
Yes, Mother Div said.Take him.
Aiz looked at Ruh, uneasy at Mother Div’s interest in the child.
There is reason for all that I do. Take the child.
They were only going to see a storyteller. The boy would be perfectly safe.
“I—I think Ruh should come,” Aiz said. “He can ride with me and Tregan.”
Laia looked at her son’s hopeful face and sighed. “Come along, then.”
The Nasur caravan wasn’t unlike Tribe Saif’s, though it was smaller, the wagons older, their paintings less vivid. Aiz held Ruh close as sheapproached, reminding herself that she was not Aiz, the lowly Snipe, but Ilar, an Ankanese woman fighting for her people, and a guest of Tribe Saif.
“Let me speak, if you will, Ilar,” Laia said in an undertone. “Kehanni Nasur is a traditionalist. But she is deeply learned and I’m certain she can help. Ruh—”
“Speak softly, watch, and listen,” Ruh said. “I know. Ilar taught me.”
They dismounted, and a young man picketed their horses and ushered them to the center of the encampment. The wagon waiting for them was adorned with images of desert skies and wheeling constellations in shades of gold and blue that reminded Aiz of the Kegari flag. A good omen, perhaps. It was the largest of the wagons, warmly lit, with the scent of creosote incense wafting from the door.
“Come in, come in!” The voice that boomed out of the wagon belied the tiny form lying on a cushioned bench within, tucked in a woolen blanket. The woman was so old that her face seemed more wrinkle than skin. She was small and brown, with a halo of curly white hair. Aiz had thought Laia’s Kehanni tattoos were intricate, but Kehanni Nasur’s tattoos wrapped all the way up her skinny arms.
Her wagon was packed with scrolls, books, drawings, and engravings, as well as a map of the Empire pinned to the wall behind her. The lamps that Tribe Nur was known for sparkled with every color Aiz could conceive of.
“Kehanni Nasur,” Laia said. “You honor us.”
“Laia of Serra. You and your family are very welcome, my child.” The old woman held out a bowl of pink salt with a shaking hand, and Aiz followed Laia and Ruh, putting a pinch of it on her tongue. Once they’d partaken, the Kehanni bade them sit on the bench across from her. She had laid a table with two steaming cups of tea and a large glass of magenta-colored juice.
“For you, little one.” She nodded to the juice. “Still telling stories?”
Ruh nodded and took the juice. “But not today. Today I’m here for my friend.” He looked at Aiz with pride that made her forget her earlier anger at Quil.
The Kehanni shifted her regard to Aiz. “I hear you have a story to tell.”
“Yes,” Aiz said. “But…my Sadhese. I understand more than I speak.”
