Part 39 (2/2)
”It's all right. It's not every day a kitchen slave gets a visit from the Son of Zhe.” When she received no answering smile, she said, ”Why don't you ask the Pajhit? He'll be able to tell you more.”
Keirith's eyes flashed. The bewildered expression vanished. ”If he tells me the truth.”
So he did believe the Pajhit had betrayed him. They must have grown close during the last half-moon.
”You can't believe anything they tell you. I should know.” Her voice trembled with genuine emotion. What an innocent she had been. Even more innocent than poor Keirith.
”I wanted to see you,” Keirith said. ”After we talked. I didn't mean to . . . to abandon you.”
”You didn't.” She touched his arm and felt him tremble. ”I never blamed you.” Another quick glance at the kitchen. Another bite of the lip. But this time, she was surprised to feel shame at her blatant manipulation.
Don't be a fool.
”You've only to send for me and I'll come. Even if it does mean a beating.”
She kissed him lightly on the cheek and hurried back to the kitchen. The stupid pot girls whispered and giggled, but the Master regarded her thoughtfully. She had already returned to slicing up the kugi when she felt him beside her.
”Things are well in hand here. You may return to your chamber.”
”Thank you, Master.” Flas.h.i.+ng a smile of grat.i.tude, she reached for a discarded cloth. She swept the small paring knife under it and wiped her hands. ”You are very kind to this slave.” She dropped the cloth on the table. Her right hand remained hidden in the folds of her gown, the knife a hard, comforting presence against her thigh. As she sidled past the Master, she allowed her arm to brush lightly against his. Like a pig, he grunted with pleasure.
All men were the same. They wanted a warm body in their beds and a warm sheath for their c.o.c.ks. Except Keirith.
She wished now that he'd never revealed what had happened to him on that s.h.i.+p. She didn't want to be drawn into his pain. She didn't want to feel sympathy for him. She frowned, recalling his horror at learning the truth about The Shedding and that nonsense about a willing sacrifice. Willing or not, you were still dead. And she doubted Paradise awaited you afterward.
Despite all the betrayals, he still believed he could understand these people-and worse, trust them. Poor, stupid boy. They'd break his heart if they didn't kill him first.
Chapter 32.
PILOZHAT s.h.i.+MMERED IN the afternoon sunlight. Darak eyed the palace where they would perform, wondering how he would ever find Keirith in such a huge place. They were camped in the parched fields to the west of the city, along with hundreds of others too poor or too thrifty to pay for lodging during the festival. All morning, people had streamed into Pilozhat, leaving friends behind to guard their possessions.
”They'll get their turn,” Urkiat had a.s.sured him. ”The inns and pleasure houses will be open all night.”
During the heat of the day, those in the fields sought a patch of shade, some under carts, some in the lee of boulders, others simply shoving two sticks in the ground and draping a cloth over them. Now that the afternoon was waning, they were beginning to stir.
None of the players had ever witnessed the Midsummer rite. So while Hakkon accompanied Olinio to the palace to make final arrangements for the Zheron's entertainment, he and Urkiat wandered from camp to camp, hoping to gather information while they advertised the players' public performances. Darak listened eagerly as Urkiat translated the accounts of those who had seen the rite before.
”A hundred men,” a.s.serted one man. ”I counted.”
”Did you see the Pajhit cut their hearts out?”
”Sure as I see you. Got there two days before to stake out my place. And there was already a crowd, let me tell you. I was too far back to have any blood splatter on me, though.”
Darak's stomach roiled when Urkiat translated. Judging from the expressions of those listening, they sympathized with the speaker's misfortune.
”I'm too old to be sitting in the sun for six days,” he continued. ”And if you want to feel the hot blood on your face, that's what it means. But don't worry. There's plenty to be had after.”
”Be sure and bring your own cloths,” another man interjected. ”Or jars if you're looking to carry home enough to sprinkle on your fields and livestock.”
”I thought the priests sold those at the temple,” a young man said.
”And charge a year's income for them.”
”But they're blessed.”
”So they say.” The first expert shrugged. ”It's the blood that's sacred, not the jar you put it in.”
”My wife screeched like a gull when I bought one last year,” another man confirmed with a rueful grin. ”So this year, I packed two-and didn't I leave home with her screeching at me that I should have brought more?”
Urkiat said something that provoked a lively discussion. Only later, as they were walking away, did he explain. ”One man claimed the captives were held in a separate compound. There.”
”That building nestled in the slope of the hill?”
”Nay, that's the temple of the G.o.d with Two Faces. See that section of the palace that juts out? That's it. They march the captives to the temple of Heart of Sky. You can't see it from here.”
”Could we free Keirith during the procession?”
”Too many guards. And the captives are roped together.”
”How reliable is the information?”
”Everyone who'd seen the sacrifice agreed about the procession. And the guards.”
”So we'll have to get him out of the compound.” When Urkiat remained silent, Darak gave him a sharp look. ”What?”
”Look at those walls. And there are guards inside. You can't just walk in, s.n.a.t.c.h Keirith out from under their noses, and walk out again.”
Darak's hand went to his bag of charms where the token from the Supplicant lay. ”I might.”
”There's something else. I asked whether the captives ever tried to escape. And the man laughed. He said they all stood in line, meek as lambs, waiting to climb the steps to the altar. He took it as a sign that they were glad to offer their lives to the sun G.o.d.”
”More likely they're drugged.”
”And that will make it even harder to free Keirith. If he doesn't want to come-”
”Of course he'll want to come!”
”I mean if he doesn't understand what's happening.” Urkiat shrugged helplessly. ”I don't know. It just seems so impossible.”
”You expect me to give up now? After coming all this way?”
”Nay. But-”
”Good. First thing we need to do is get a look at the place where they're holding Keirith. If I can get inside-”
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