(eng) Lynn Flewelling - Tamir Triad 01 by The Bone Doll's Twin

Author:The Bone Doll's Twin [Twin, The Bone Doll's]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

Iya dressed as a merchant to enter the city. She hadn’t worn an amulet since that night in Sylara and wanted no undue attention now. She was soon glad of her decision.

A few miles out from Ero, she came upon a gibbet by the side of the road. The body of a naked man still hung there, swinging gently in the wind that blew in from the sea. The face was too black and swollen to make out, but as she came closer she could see that in life he’d been young and well fed, not a laborer.

She reined in. A large “T” for “traitor” was branded into the center of the dead man’s chest. Uneasy memories of Agnalain stirred in her heart. This road had once been lined with such sights as this. She was about to ride on when the wind caught the body again and swung it around so she caught a glimpse of his palms. The center of each was covered with a circle of black tracery.

This poor fellow had been a novice at the Temple of Illior.

Wizards and priests, she thought bitterly. The Harriers hunt the children of Illior at the gates of the capital itself and hang them out like a farmer would a dead crow.

She made a blessing sign and whispered a prayer for the young priest’s spirit, but as she rode on she was haunted by Brother’s parting words to her.

You will not enter.

She steeled herself as she approached the guards at the gate, waiting for some challenge or outcry, but none came.

She took a room in a modest inn near the upper market and spent the next few days listening in high places and low, trying to gauge the mood of the people. She was careful to avoid anyone who might recognize her, nobles and wizards alike.

Prince Korin and his Companions were a common sight around the city, galloping about with their guards and squires. Korin was a fine, strong lad of thirteen now, the image of his father with his ruddy dark coloring and laughing eyes. Iya felt a pang of regret the first time she watched him ride past; if Tobin was who he appeared to be, and if a better ruler sat upon the throne, he’d have soon been of age to claim his place in this happy band, not hidden away with a landless knight’s unwanted brat as his only companion. With a sigh, she put such thoughts aside and resolved to concentrate on what she’d come here to do.

Years of intermittent drought and sickness had left their mark even here. The warren of tenements that ringed the city was less crowded now. Many doors were still nailed shut and bore the lead circles used to mark plague houses, remnants of the previous summer’s outbreak. One house in Sheepshead Street had been burned; the epithet “Plague Bringer” was still scrawled on one charred wall.

In the wealthier wards up the hill such reminders were usually taken down

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