met. A huge
mess had been left there. Somebody had lost her temper and had worked out her
anger by tearing the place up.
Barundandi told us, “Expect to work very hard today, Minh Subredil. Few workers
showed up this morning.” He sounded bitter. He would not garner much kickback
because of the raid. It did not occur to him to be thankful he was still alive.
“Is she all right?” He meant me. Sawa. I was still doing a credible job of
shaking.
“She will manage as long as I stay close. It would not be good to put her
anyplace where she cannot see me today.”
Barundandi grunted. “So be it. There’s work enough here. Just don’t get in
anybody’s way.”
Minh Subredil bowed slightly. She was good at being unobtrusive. She seated me
at a wide table about a dozen feet long, piled up lamps and candlesticks and
whatnot that had gotten thrown around. I invoked Sawa’s narrow focus and went to
work cleaning them. Subredil began cleaning floors and furniture.
People came and went, many of them important. None of them noticed us except the
Inspector-General of the Records, Chandra Gokhale, who kicked Subredil irritably
because she was scrubbing the floor where he wanted to walk.
Subredil got back onto her knees, bowing and begging pardon. Gokhale ignored
her. She began cleaning up spilled water, showing no emotion whatsoever. Minh
Subredil took that sort of thing. But I suspect Ky Sahra had just formed a
definite opinion about which of our enemies should follow Willow Swan into
captivity.
The Radisha appeared. The 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
mess had been left there. Somebody had lost her temper and had worked out her
anger by tearing the place up.
Barundandi told us, “Expect to work very hard today, Minh Subredil. Few workers
showed up this morning.” He sounded bitter. He would not garner much kickback
because of the raid. It did not occur to him to be thankful he was still alive.
“Is she all right?” He meant me. Sawa. I was still doing a credible job of
shaking.
“She will manage as long as I stay close. It would not be good to put her
anyplace where she cannot see me today.”
Barundandi grunted. “So be it. There’s work enough here. Just don’t get in
anybody’s way.”
Minh Subredil bowed slightly. She was good at being unobtrusive. She seated me
at a wide table about a dozen feet long, piled up lamps and candlesticks and
whatnot that had gotten thrown around. I invoked Sawa’s narrow focus and went to
work cleaning them. Subredil began cleaning floors and furniture.
People came and went, many of them important. None of them noticed us except the
Inspector-General of the Records, Chandra Gokhale, who kicked Subredil irritably
because she was scrubbing the floor where he wanted to walk.
Subredil got back onto her knees, bowing and begging pardon. Gokhale ignored
her. She began cleaning up spilled water, showing no emotion whatsoever. Minh
Subredil took that sort of thing. But I suspect Ky Sahra had just formed a
definite opinion about which of our enemies should follow Willow Swan into
captivity.
The Radisha appeared. The 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
Similar Books
