Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson Page B

laborer followed him, and then a white-coat servant girl. Her cry of discovery, quickly muffled, drew other people. Vendors abandoned their pushcarts; porters dropped crates and bales. Beggar children squirmed into the fray, skinny elbows and knees jabbing for position.
    The approaching oxcart drivers cracked their whips in warning, but the townsfolk refused to yield the way. None wanted to lose the chance of finding whatever the jeweler's daughter had offered the soldier. Rumors crackled like flame up and down the street. More people came, pushing and shoving, even if they didn't know exactly what they were seeking. As the street filled with struggling bodies, the prince's procession ground to a halt.
    Her cheek aching, Diribani held tightly to her stepmother and Gulrang. The three of them were almost trampled before they found shelter between the handles of a pushcart full of yellow melons. The ripe scent filled Diribani's head as she watched the crowd's mood change from hope to something darker.
    In the middle of the street, a fat man accused another of stepping on his hand, and was kicked in the knee for his trouble. His two friends, both white-coats, jumped on the kicker, and all three disappeared under a pile of cursing, shouting men.
    64
    By the time the first of the overseers had worked his way from behind the oxcarts to find out what was blocking the procession, the prince's company of soldiers had returned. They waded into the crowd, knocking quarrelers apart with the flats of their swords. Howls of anger turned to cries of pain. The governor's man whistled for reinforcements.
    Pinched between two groups of armed men, the townsfolk were herded out of the street and up against the building walls. Like swimmers emerging from deep water, they shook their heads, adjusted torn clothing, complained to their neighbors about the authorities' rough treatment. The drivers' whips cracked again. The oxcarts began to roll.
    Diribani shuddered with relief. Next to her, she heard Gulrang's hard, fast breathing.
    "We are going home this instant," Ma Hiral said.
    Diribani nodded agreement. She draped the free end of her dress wrap over her face to hide the bruise forming. Her skin felt stretched and hot, her insides hollow. Crabwise, she edged out from between the pushcart's handles and helped Ma Hiral to do the same.
    "That's her, in the pink dress," a voice shouted. "That's the one you want, the troublemaker who started the riot."
    Before the voice finished speaking, Gulrang had ducked under the cart. On hands and knees, the servant girl crawled out of sight. With people pressing all around them, Diribani and Ma Hiral were trapped against the cart's wooden sides. Diribani glanced over her shoulder, but the melons were piled too high for them to climb over the cart and escape.
    "This girl?" The closest overseer fingered his coat's yellow ties. Doubtfully, he eyed Diribani down the length of his long nose.
    65
    "She's a respectable merchant's daughter," Ma Hiral shrilled. "Who accuses her?"
    "I do." Gold-trim pushed forward, his face flushed with anger. Clumps of mud--and worse, judging from the smell of fresh dung that accompanied him--spotted his coat. Diribani jerked her head back, but she couldn't evade the hand that pushed her makeshift veil aside. "See?" Roughly, the soldier grabbed her chin and turned her head so the governor's man could view her battered face. "Marked the slut myself."
    "And I cry justice for it," Ma Hiral quavered, while Diribani bit her tongue so she wouldn't be tempted to answer the soldier's insult. "For shame, striking a girl for the crime of offering flowers."
    "You hit her for that?" The governor's man didn't sound happy.
    Ma Hiral pressed her advantage. "Her father called on the fort many a time; ask Governor Alwar or his lady wife. There wasn't a more respected merchant in Gurath than Trader Javerikh."
    "Javerikh the gem dealer? That Javerikh?" The overseer sounded even less enthusiastic about