Protector was with her. They settled
into their places. Jaul Barundandi appeared soon afterward, meaning
to get us out of there. Sawa seemed to notice nothing. Her focus on
a candlestick was too narrow. A tall Shadar captain bustled in. He
announced, “Your Highness, the preliminary tally shows
ninety-eight dead and one hundred twenty-six injured. Some of those
will die from their wounds. Minister Swan hasn’t been found
but many of the bodies are burned too badly to identify. Many that
were hit by fireballs caught fire and burned like greasy
torches.” The captain had trouble remaining calm. He was
young. Chances were good he had not seen the consequences of battle
before.
I kept working hard to shove myself way down deep into
character. I had not been this close to Soulcatcher since she held
me prisoner outside Kiaulune fifteen years ago. Those were not
happy memories. I prayed she did not remember me.
I went all the way down into my safe place. I had not been there
since my captivity. The hinges on the door were rusty. But I got
inside and got comfortable while remaining Sawa. I had just enough
attention left to catch most of what was happening around me. The
Protector suddenly asked, “Who are these women?”
Barundandi fawned. “Pardon, Great Ones. Pardon. My fault.
I did not know the chamber was to be used.”
“Answer the question, Housekeeper,” the Radisha
ordered.
“Certainly, Great One.” Barundandi kowtowed halfway
to the floor. “The woman scrubbing is Minh Subredil, a widow.
The other is her idiot sister-in-law, Sawa. They are outside staff
employed as part of the Protector’s charity
program.”
Soulcatcher said, “I feel I have seen one or both of them
before.”
Barundandi bowed deeply again. The attention frightened him.
“Minh Subredil has worked here for many years, Protector.
Sawa accompanies her when her mind is clear enough for her to
accomplish repetitive tasks.”
I felt him trying to decide whether or not to volunteer the news
that we had witnessed the morning’s attack from up close. I
clung to my safe place so hard that I did not catch what happened
during the next few minutes.
Barundandi chose not to volunteer us for questioning. Perhaps he
reasoned that too intensive an attention paid to us might expose
the fact that he was charging us half our feeble salaries for the
right to work our hands into raw, aching crabs.
The Radisha finally told him, “Go away, Housekeeper. Let
them work. The fate of the empire will not be decided here
today.”
And Soulcatcher waved a gloved hand, shooing Barundandi out, but
then halted him to demand, “What is that the woman has on the
floor beside her?” Meaning Subredil, of course, since I was
seated at the table.
“Uh? Oh. A Ghanghesha, Great One. The woman never goes
anywhere without it. It’s an obsession with her.
It—”
“Go away now.”
So it was that Sahra, at least, sat in on almost two hours of
the innermost powers’ responses to our assault.
After a while I came forward again, enough to follow most of it.
Couriers came and went. A picture of generally upright behavior by
the army and people took shape. Which was to be expected. Neither
had any real reason to rise up right now. Which was nothing but
good news to the Radisha.
Positive intelligence just made the Protector more suspicious,
though. The old cynic.
“No prisoners taken,” she said. “No corpses
left behind. Quite possibly no serious casualties suffered. Nor any
great risks endured, if you examine it closely. They fled as soon
as there was a chance someone would hit back. What were they up to?
What was their real purpose?”
Reasonably, Chandra Gokhale pointed out, “The attack
appears to have been sustained with exceptional ferocity till you
yourself appeared on the battlements. Only then did they
run.”
The Shadar captain volunteered, “Several survivors and
witnesses report that the bandits argued amongst themselves about
your presence, Protector.
into their places. Jaul Barundandi appeared soon afterward, meaning
to get us out of there. Sawa seemed to notice nothing. Her focus on
a candlestick was too narrow. A tall Shadar captain bustled in. He
announced, “Your Highness, the preliminary tally shows
ninety-eight dead and one hundred twenty-six injured. Some of those
will die from their wounds. Minister Swan hasn’t been found
but many of the bodies are burned too badly to identify. Many that
were hit by fireballs caught fire and burned like greasy
torches.” The captain had trouble remaining calm. He was
young. Chances were good he had not seen the consequences of battle
before.
I kept working hard to shove myself way down deep into
character. I had not been this close to Soulcatcher since she held
me prisoner outside Kiaulune fifteen years ago. Those were not
happy memories. I prayed she did not remember me.
I went all the way down into my safe place. I had not been there
since my captivity. The hinges on the door were rusty. But I got
inside and got comfortable while remaining Sawa. I had just enough
attention left to catch most of what was happening around me. The
Protector suddenly asked, “Who are these women?”
Barundandi fawned. “Pardon, Great Ones. Pardon. My fault.
I did not know the chamber was to be used.”
“Answer the question, Housekeeper,” the Radisha
ordered.
“Certainly, Great One.” Barundandi kowtowed halfway
to the floor. “The woman scrubbing is Minh Subredil, a widow.
The other is her idiot sister-in-law, Sawa. They are outside staff
employed as part of the Protector’s charity
program.”
Soulcatcher said, “I feel I have seen one or both of them
before.”
Barundandi bowed deeply again. The attention frightened him.
“Minh Subredil has worked here for many years, Protector.
Sawa accompanies her when her mind is clear enough for her to
accomplish repetitive tasks.”
I felt him trying to decide whether or not to volunteer the news
that we had witnessed the morning’s attack from up close. I
clung to my safe place so hard that I did not catch what happened
during the next few minutes.
Barundandi chose not to volunteer us for questioning. Perhaps he
reasoned that too intensive an attention paid to us might expose
the fact that he was charging us half our feeble salaries for the
right to work our hands into raw, aching crabs.
The Radisha finally told him, “Go away, Housekeeper. Let
them work. The fate of the empire will not be decided here
today.”
And Soulcatcher waved a gloved hand, shooing Barundandi out, but
then halted him to demand, “What is that the woman has on the
floor beside her?” Meaning Subredil, of course, since I was
seated at the table.
“Uh? Oh. A Ghanghesha, Great One. The woman never goes
anywhere without it. It’s an obsession with her.
It—”
“Go away now.”
So it was that Sahra, at least, sat in on almost two hours of
the innermost powers’ responses to our assault.
After a while I came forward again, enough to follow most of it.
Couriers came and went. A picture of generally upright behavior by
the army and people took shape. Which was to be expected. Neither
had any real reason to rise up right now. Which was nothing but
good news to the Radisha.
Positive intelligence just made the Protector more suspicious,
though. The old cynic.
“No prisoners taken,” she said. “No corpses
left behind. Quite possibly no serious casualties suffered. Nor any
great risks endured, if you examine it closely. They fled as soon
as there was a chance someone would hit back. What were they up to?
What was their real purpose?”
Reasonably, Chandra Gokhale pointed out, “The attack
appears to have been sustained with exceptional ferocity till you
yourself appeared on the battlements. Only then did they
run.”
The Shadar captain volunteered, “Several survivors and
witnesses report that the bandits argued amongst themselves about
your presence, Protector.
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