'You'd think the enemy might remember what was done to them at Olossi. Not that I was there, but I've heard the story a hundred times.'
'Even if they know, what can they do?'
'I don't know. That's why I'm not a military man. I'll be ready to go at dawn.'
In the hirelings' courtyard he washed, and dressed in a rumpled jacket and trousers. He didn't need to impress with his clothing and his looks. He wasn't a rich merchant. The gold from Anji's mother was like poison that he had to shed from his system.
He set out in the heat haze, keeping to the shady side of the streets. He stopped first at one of the Lantern's temples, and afterward made his way to Mistress Bettia's compound. The elderly doorman, a slave bought out of the south years ago, recognized Keshad and admitted him to the reception hall, a cozy chamber fitted with pillows, a decorative screen depicting famous actors from recent festivals, and doors slid open to display an inner courtyard ornamented with a fishpond and flower-pots.
He sat cross-legged on a pillow, watching the courtyard shadows consume the handsome pond and plants as the sun set. The inner door slapped open, and a slave entered, a young attractive woman carrying a tray with a pot and two tiny ceramic cups. A debt mark branded her face by her left eye; she was wearing a taloos so thinly woven that her body was half visible beneath, the kind of thing unpleasant masters made their massage girls wear when helping bored customers. She did not look at him, her face flushed with shame.
Mistress Bettia knew he and Nasia had been slaves together in
Master Feden's household and it was almost certain she knew they had once been lovers. It was possible Nasia had even confessed to her mistress, or to one of the other household slaves, that she had cherished the hope that Keshad meant to buy her free, but of course he had ruthlessly abandoned her when he had a chance to free his sister from Ushara's temple.
Mistress Bettia entered the room, called for tea to be poured, and dimissed the slave.
'Whew! Such heat!' she said by way of opening the conversation, fanning her sweaty face. 'You were gone a long time, Master Keshad. People thought you were dead.'
Tm not dead. I see you still have the slave you received from Master Feden.'
'Nasia?' Her smile oozed a false surprise. 'Not much use to me, I tell you. The Sirniakan couch I traded for her was of more use to me.'
'How much?' he asked.
'How much?' Her trembling hand, lifting the cup, betrayed her greed. She licked her lips before she sipped. 'Ten cheyt.'
'That's the price for a good riding horse.'
She laughed unkindly, setting down the cup. 'You've not been in Olossi for some months, have you? A good riding horse costs five times that now that the army has requisitioned so many. I daresay you cannot purchase a riding horse in this city for any price.'
Abruptly he was bored with haggling. 'Ten cheyt it is. Sapanasu's clerks inform me that the going rate for Sirniakan dinns is four per cheyt. Here's your price.'
He counted out forty gold dinns onto the tray and rose. 'I'll wait outside. Send her and the bill of sale to me.'
He walked out before she could find her voice. Out on the street, the doorman examined him with an odd expression, more frown than smile. Folk passed, making haste to get home as the light dwindled. Spiced meat was being roasted, and he licked his lips rather as Bettia had done, thinking she had caught the flavor of his weakness.
It was full dark before Nasia cautiously stepped onto the street. She handed him a hastily written bill of sale and moved out of the aura of the lamplight, hiding herself.
'I'm sorry about the pregnancy you carried and lost,' he said in a low voice. He handed her ten dinns.
'I don't want your coin!'
'Shut up and just take it! This is your seed coin. You can start your own business, make a new life.'
He could not see her expression in the darkness, but her voice was bitter. T don't know how. I've been a slave since I was eight.'
'Get yourself a Qin husband, then. After riding and training all day, they'd probably like a good strong pair of hands to massage their sore buttocks.'
'An outlander?'
'They're all right. They're decent, honest men.'
'That's more than I can say for you!'
'Say what you want about me, Nasia. I can't make amends for what can't be changed. Come at dawn to the Qin compound and you'll get your manumission, sealed and clear. You're free. What you make of it is up to you.'
He tucked the bill of sale into his sleeve and walked off, not looking back. He walked to the night market and ate at a slip-fry stand, savoring the familiar spices and the inconsequential chatter. Then he made his way to Master Calon's compound, a new place rather higher on the hill in deference to Calon's newly elevated status in the city.
Master Calon received him not in his reception hall but in his private audience chamber, floridly decorated with layers of screens and paintings as if he felt obliged to display every ornament he owned. The effect made Kesh blink, even as lamplight softened the mismatched colors. Two expensive Sirniakan couches graced the chamber. Kesh sat on a pillow as Calon chuckled.
'Had enough of the empire, have you?'
'I have. Did you ever get a full accounting of my travels?'
'I wouldn't know. Together with Olossi's council and the Hieros, I met with Captain Anji before he left. I hear a rumor that a woman of exalted status resides in Astafero now, presumed to be his mother.'
'It's true. A Qin princess, and formerly wife to the Sirniakan emperor, now deceased, the one who fathered Captain Anji.'
Galon nodded thoughtfully. His grandfather had left the Sirniakan Empire as a young man and settled in Olossi, marrying into a local clan, but Calon's ancestry was still apparent in his prominent nose and the texture of his hair. He had the handsome coloring of the Hundred folk but his features weren't truly local. You could never look at him and not know he had ancestors who came from somewhere else.
'I'll make you a trade,' said Kesh. 'Sell back to me those two sisters I sold you, and I'll give you the same report I gave to Captain Anji, not a word left out. Name a fair price. I won't bargain.'
'You're already bargaining,' said Calon. 'And it's a cursed hard bargain you're driving, too. I'd give a lot to have that information. But I sold away the younger sister to pay for the elder's training.'
'Who bought her?'
Calon rang his bell, and a factor hurried in, a hireling by the look of him, eager to show he was doing a good job. 'Bring my red book.'
The book was brought. As he scanned the accounts, he spoke. 'The older sister was coming along very well, with a pretty voice and a quick tongue. But her manner isn't fetching. She frowns and cries-'
'Did it ever occur to you she might miss her sister?'
Calon glanced up at him, mouth twisting as if he did not know whether to laugh or scold, then touched a line on the ledger. 'Mountain Azalea clan. They run a lumber business.'
Kesh rose. 'I know where they are. Wait up for me, if you will, Master Calon. I'll return.'
It was more difficult t,o get into Mountain Azalea's clan compound after dark, but in the end he shamelessly traded on Mai's name and wedged a foot between doors. An irritated older woman was sent out to interview him in the entrance courtyard, although he could see onto the porch of the reception hall that a lamp burned within, behind rice-paper screens.
'What do you want? Master Keshad, is it?'
'Yes. I'm recently returned from a trading expedition to the south, where I discovered some unexpected- Aui! Never mind that. I've just been to see Master Calon about the slave girls I sold him last year, and I understand he sold you the younger sister. How is the girl working out?'
She watched him as if he were a snake about to strike. 'Why do you want to know?'
'It's nothing, I am sure. The trouble in Mariha… for sure it's most likely because of the tremendous heat down
