The Obsidian Temple (14 page)

“I'm not sure how I feel about Ashraf,” Sulis admitted. “I'm attracted, and I like being around him. I like that he likes me so much. But I don't like feeling we're forced to be together.”

Grandmother laughed. “A stubborn Hasifel woman to the core,” she said. She put a hand on Sulis's arm. “But what will it hurt if you give in? That's all I'm saying. Stop resisting, stop rejecting, and see what happens.”

Sulis reached out and drew her grandmother close, and they hugged. “Okay,” Sulis muttered in her shoulder. “I'll give it a try.”

They avoided each other's moist eyes as they pulled apart and walked side by side to the eating hall.

Ashraf and Palou were sitting together, and they sported identical grins when the two women sat across from them.

“Work things out?” Palou asked.

“Yes,” Grandmother said, a touch of acid in her voice. “Just like you've been nagging me to.”

Sulis hid her smile, liking Palou a little more since his grin didn't fade at all.

“Where's your
feli
?” Sulis asked, glancing around. Djinn was missing as well though she could feel his drowsiness. He was probably napping on her bed.

Palou smiled. “I don't know. She was restless today, so I expect the kits are near to being born. I can't feel her the way you do Djinn, but I'm sure she's searching for a suitable nesting site.”

Sulis glanced over at Ava, who was staring down at her plate, her shoulders drooping.

“Are you giving away the kits?” Ava asked. She didn't sound hopeful.

Palou shook his head. “In my experience, the kits tend to be wild. They'll stay with their mother about a year and a half but then return to the desert and either become solitary or join a group there. Sorry, Ava. Maybe we can get a small cat for you.”

“Not a Frubian Flamepoint,” Sulis said with a laugh, trying to cheer Ava up. “Kadar is plagued with one in Illian, and it's more trouble than company.”

Ava gave her a wistful smile. “Anything would be nice. I'd even settle for a puppy if I could get any to come to me. At least I'll get to see the
feli
kittens grow up if they're born around here. I bet they're adorable.”

Sulis let Ashraf take her hand as they walked back to the house, Ava trailing behind. When they got to the front garden, Ashraf lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. She blushed but didn't pull away, and he smiled, almost shyly.

“I have training now,” he said. “But maybe we can take a walk later, around dusk?”

Sulis nodded, and he dropped her hand. She stood and watched him as he walked toward the training yard, her heart beating loudly.

“You shouldn't give your heart to him,” Ava said. Her face was sad. “He could leave and never come back. He's training as a warrior. Someone will kill him, and you'll be all alone. You can't trust anyone to stay.”

Before Sulis could reach out to her, Ava bolted into the house, wiping tears. Sulis walked after her, saddened by the girl's distress.

“Oh!” Sulis heard Ava exclaim from their bedroom, and Sulis ran up the stairs.

She halted at the sight of a spotted
feli
in the middle of her rumpled, tangled bed. The covers were tangled, rearranged in a circular nest and little eeping sounds came from the middle of the nest. The mother was curled up and had her body blocking any view of the babies she was hiding. Djinn sat beside the bed, tail waving gently as he washed the top of the mother's head. Both seemed extremely proud of themselves.

“Not in the middle of my bed,” Sulis wailed, and Ava collapsed on her own bed, laughing, all girl again.

Anchee ducked his head in her room and grinned at the rumpled bed and
feli
. “Looks like you'll be sleeping on a bedroll until mama decides to move her kits,” he said with a laugh. He approached the bed. “I wonder how many there are.”

The mother and Djinn both snarled as he got within viewing range, and he stepped back quickly. “I don't think we'll be able to tell until she's ready to show us,” he said. “You ladies might want to move to another room until she's feeling less protective.”

“She doesn't seem to mind me,” Ava said, watching the now-­purring
feli
. “And Djinn trusts me. I'll stay. Maybe that'll get the kittens used to ­people.”

“I'll take the bedroll in the next room, where Grandmother was staying,” Sulis said, shaking her head. Grandmother had moved to another guesthouse with Palou after the Guardian started training with them. Sulis suspected it was because she had more privacy to spend time with Palou without her granddaughter commenting.

Sulis beat out her old bedroll and transferred her meager belongings to the new bedroom, mourning the loss of the comfortable down pad the kittens were now nesting in. She remembered Ava's sadness earlier and glanced back into the bedroom. Ava was now contentedly asleep in her bed, an arm around Djinn snuggled beside her. Sulis shrugged. Maybe it was just tiredness making Ava act a bit odd. They'd been pushing themselves hard the past few months to learn everything. The girl just needed to rest. Sulis grinned as mewing came from her bed. If anything could cheer Ava up, it would be a bed full of fluffy
feli
kittens.

 

Chapter 13

SEVERIN
PACED THE
salesroom.

“The mood is getting uglier out there,” he told Kadar, who nodded and continued laying out the silks for the sales event in two days. “And the Voices are doing nothing. No negotiation, no word of concessions, nothing.”

“They're attempting to wait the Forsaken out,” Nabil said. “It's good tactics, and with the towns­people still helping out at the Temple, they aren't desperate yet. We just need to hold tight.”

“We haven't been able to get any more families out,” Severin told them. “No passes are being given to Forsaken, and every caravan is being searched. We've had a ­couple of families seized as they were trying to escape. One knows where they've been taken to now.” He caught Kadar's glance and lifted his hands defensively. “I know, you warned us to get everyone unnecessary out before we started. But this was the right time.” He paused and ran a hand through his hair. “Voras has soldiers along the perimeter of the town. They've threatened to kill any Forsaken who try to escape without a pass.”

“How are the supplies holding out?” Nabil asked.

Severin nodded. “Good. We could last several months if needed. My group of Forsaken have been able to put pressure on the ones guarding the supplies to keep them honest. They know if they try to betray us, we'll be waiting for them instead of jail.”

Nabil and Kadar exchanged glances behind Severin's back. Kadar supposed there needed to be someone ruthless in charge of the resistance. But Kadar wondered how different they were than Voras's men if they had to threaten and injure Forsaken to get what they wanted. He shook his head. Farrah would say “the needs of many trump the needs of few.”

“There have been attacks on Forsaken going to work for merchants,” Nabil offered. “Not up here, this close to the Temple, but down closer to the shanties. Several Forsaken who used to be maids and cleaners for the higher class were shaken up, with some broken bones. They said it was by first-­circle teens who were angry they'd work for lowly merchants and not come back to the upper-­class families.”

“I thought your guards were protecting against that sort of thing,” Kadar said.

Severin turned back to them and shook his head. “I tried to get them to. The first ­couple of weeks they were willing to stop ­people coming into shanties. But now my brother says they are spread too thin to protect the Forsaken. The Templar has been sending soldiers to patrol the streets around the district, and they outrank my guards. Unfortunately, some Forsaken youths decided to throw bottles and other debris at the soldiers from cover. I put an end to it—­we agreed to stop the skirmishes until the walkout is over. But now many of the soldiers are furious, and that could work against us.”

Kadar looked down at the silks he was folding. It was Severin's fault the Forsaken thought it was okay to engage the soldiers. He'd had his group skirmishing with the soldiers for months to detract attention from their theft of the food from the Temple warehouses. It wasn't surprising that a bunch of children would want to imitate his gang.

“That's bad,” Nabil said, his tone worried. “They never thought of Forsaken as much more than vermin to begin with. If the Forsaken challenge them, things could get violent.”

Severin shook his head. “We just need hold steady until the Voices decide to act. I'm wondering if the delay is because of the Tribune's illness. His replacement doesn't have the authority to act yet, but he's too sick to make decisions.”

“The Tribune is sick?” Kadar asked. “Will he recover?”

Severin shook his head. “This is hushed up, but he's dying. The Templar told my father that Parasu chose a new pledge as his replacement.”

Kadar looked up at that. “Someone from Sulis's pledge class?”

Severin grinned and nodded. “Yeah, a pledge named Jonas. I guess they're only going to title him Parasu's Voice, rather than the Tribune.”

“Can we use the confusion to our advantage?” Nabil asked.

“I don't see how,” Severin said. “In fact, it could hurt us, as the Tribune needs to lead the committee to change laws for the Forsaken. If Parasu's temple is waiting for the leadership change, nothing will move quickly. The Festival of the Founding is in a ­couple of months. They'll need Forsaken labor for that—­but I want things resolved long before then.”

There was a noise at the door to the supply room, and the men fell silent as Kadar's cousin Simon ran in with a braided leather belt. Kadar examined it, admiring Sanuri's tight weave, before handing it to Severin. Severin had used his worn belt as an excuse to come speak with Kadar and Nabil.

Severin gave the belt a glance and nodded in satisfaction. “You've got an excellent braider,” he said. “Was it one of the Forsaken you hired?”

Kadar shook his head. “No, just a new girl.” He didn't trust the man enough to explain Sanuri to him. “We've got everyone working hard for the sale the day after next.”

“My mother is looking forward to getting her hands on some of your new silks,” Severin said. “Once Afenbach can find someone to sew them. She is quite miffed about the Forsaken leaving. Doesn't get all the little luxuries she's used to having.” He snorted derisively.

Kadar glanced outside at the sun and realized the shadows had started creeping in. He sighed. “It's getting late. I was planning on dropping off some treats at Farrah's, but I don't think I'll make it.”

“I'm heading in that direction,” Severin said. “I can stop by, make sure everything is in order, and drop off what you've got. I'll stop in later this week, after the sale, to let you know if anything's changed.”

Kadar nodded in appreciation and handed Severin a basket. The dark-­haired man saluted them once, then departed.

“I wouldn't trust him, Kadar,” Nabil said seriously.

Kadar looked sharply over at him. “Do you know something I don't?” he asked.

Nabil shook his head. “No. There's just something about him that grates on me. I know Farrah says she has him under control, but he doesn't seem like a man who can be leashed. He doesn't want to be the second most important person in the room. I still don't get why he's a part of this, but I feel like he wants to best you in some way.”

“Little does he know, I'm not competing,” Kadar said with a laugh. Then he became serious and turned to the other man. “But seriously, Nabil. If you see or hear something about him, I want to know about it. Whether I'll like what you say or not.”

Nabil nodded, a quick jerk of his head. As he watched the guard walk back toward the break room, Kadar felt reassured that someone was watching out for him.

Later that evening, Kadar sat in the main room of the house with everyone silently but furiously working around them. Kadar was mending tack with his cousins. Two of the seamstresses staying with them were finishing up the ready-­made robes and teasing Sanuri, who sat on the floor with Amber on her lap. Her hands were flying over a tiny intricate silk braid the seamstresses would later sew around the edges of the garment. Sanuri smiled shyly at the women.

Kadar was amazed at the change a few months had brought to the girl. Her cheeks had filled out, and she no longer ate like a wild animal. Though she didn't speak much, she made more sense when she did. She liked being at the edges of a crowd, watching everything with her big green eyes. Dana had the girl learning to read and write, and taught her how to eat politely and be in company, and she picked it up much more quickly than Kadar would have imagined. Whatever was wrong with her, it wasn't lack of intelligence. Amber spent much of her time with the girl, and Sanuri seldom panicked and receded into herself when the cat was with her.

She had an almost magical touch with Datura, who scooted around in the middle of the gathering, picking up braided toys Sanuri made for her and drooling on them as she cooed. If Datura was fussy and Kadar couldn't see what was wrong, Sanuri could touch the baby and tell him “tooth hurts” or “bellyache.” Sanuri didn't seem to be able to actually heal Datura, but her presence soothed the girl, and she was Datura's favorite playmate.

Kadar studied Sanuri. Occasionally, the girl's eyes would glaze over, and she'd say things in a voice that wasn't her own. She would speak in a low voice, mumbling, but usually what Kadar heard was related to the Temple, sometimes even to specific deities. The past ­couple of weeks she'd been doing that more often than usual. And much of what she said had been about “acceptable replacements” and mentions of “served me well.” It hadn't made sense until Severin told him about Parasu's Voice and his replacement.

Was the girl somehow listening in on the conferences at the Temple? Was she eavesdropping on Temple business? If so, could they use that for the resistance?

Kadar shook his head and returned to the bridle he was mending. Grandmother said Sanuri was important to his ­people, and he was charged by the One with protecting her. He wouldn't bring Sanuri into something she couldn't comprehend. Asking her questions about the voices in her head would just upset her. But he would be listening very carefully to her from now on, picking what information he could out of her ramblings. And the next time he spoke to Sulis, he'd have to ask if there was a possibility the girl could hear the Voices.

KADAR AND
AUNT
Raella were arguing prices on the new ready-­mades the next day, before heading to the salesroom. Datura was playing and cooing at their feet.

Uncle Tarik came back from a delivery to the south of the city, his face ashen.

“Damned fools,” he said breathlessly when they stared at him. “Some first-­circle teens were in the shanties taunting Forsaken boys, and a fight broke out. When Voras's soldiers waded in, a group of Forsaken men and teens pelted them with eggs and rotted produce and trash. It ended being a riot. At least four of the Forsaken boys are dead. Two of the first-­circle teens and two soldiers are badly injured. Who knows how many Forsaken were hurt.” He shook his head and sat down as Kadar poured him some spirits. He tossed it back. “They won't allow in healers for them, though. There were more soldiers there than I've ever seen. Now they've got the Forsaken pinned in their houses and aren't allowing anyone in and out of those neighborhoods until everything has calmed down.”

“Should we delay the sale tomorrow?” Aunt Raella asked, worriedly. “Maybe we should shut down for a few days.”

Uncle Tarik shook his head. “Then they would think we were sympathetic toward the Forsaken. No, it's business as usual. The best thing we can do is pretend we know nothing about it.”

Kadar's stomach clenched in knots as he thought about Farrah stuck in her house with three families, waiting in fear to see what happened next. He scooped Datura up and held her close, burying his face in her soft downy hair as she squirmed to be put down.

Aunt Raella put an arm around his shoulders. “I'm sure Farrah's okay, Kadar. She's a smart woman; I know, I trained her when she first came here. She'll keep everyone safe inside.” He shook his head, not comforted, and her voice sharpened slightly. “This was her choice, Kadar. She could have hid out here when you asked her to. She knows the danger and chose to stay.”

Kadar took a deep breath and let Datura down before she started squalling at him. He took a deep breath.

“I still say the long tunic with the braiding should be double the price,” he said, pulling the garment in front of him and stilling his shaking hands.

Aunt Raella nodded and sat down, going along with his attempt to be normal. They headed to the hall and spent the rest of the morning and into the afternoon haggling on small, meaningless details, so Kadar could distract himself.

Just before the dinner a messenger boy ran in, calling for Kadar. Kadar took the message and tipped the boy. The crowd of family and Forsaken watched as he opened the message.

Kadar,

Severin told me he could get this to you. We are fine, me and all the families with me. They are leaving us alone, and focusing more on the tent and shanty camps where the violence came from. We aren't permitted to leave the house, but that is somewhat for our protection, as many of the towns­people are furious about the injuries. I expect they'll relent in a day or so, when they're satisfied they got all the criminals. If you can find a space on your floor for your Forsaken workers, you will need to. They aren't letting anyone back in. Let them know their families are fine. Severin is helping with the investigation, so he was able to reach me. If you need to tell me anything, send it through Severin, and he will reach me if he can.

Farrah

Kadar let out a sigh of relief.

“They're fine,” Kadar said, to the smiles of his family. “Farrah says they're mostly focusing on the beggars in the shanty camps rather than the Forsaken in her neighborhood.” He looked over at the Forsaken, who sat in a clump. “She says your families are fine, but you'll have to stay here until they let ­people in and out again.”

One seamstress burst into tears of relief as the others comforted her, and Kadar realized they'd probably been even more worried than he was, with their entire families trapped and still at risk.

“I'll help find spaces for everyone,” Dana said. “We've got room in the nursery and my room if Kadar will take Datura and Sanuri in his room.”

It was a sleepless night to rise just at daybreak for the big sale. Their cook had outdone himself with rashers of bacon, baked egg pie, and sweet rolls.

“This is a big day,” he scolded as Kadar picked at his food. “You'll be hopping all day and need to eat well.”

The food settled heavily in his stomach as the family and their Forsaken sales­people took their places in the sales hall.