5: The Holy Road by Ginn Hale

Author:Ginn Hale [Hale, Ginn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blind Eye Books
Published: 2011-07-12T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Forty-Eight

They departed from Vundomu the next day, and after six more days of train travel, the trio finally reached Nurjima. The sun was just setting. Common men and women greeted their friends and relatives at the station. Work crews unloaded goods and animals. A party of Bousim rashan’im had arrived and one man waved through the crowd at Alidas. John found it odd, particularly after the huge display at Vundomu, that no one came to greet Ravishan. Not even a single lowly ushvun awaited his arrival.

Noting this, Alidas drew a simple map of the streets to take to reach the Black Tower. He assured them that the Black Tower could be seen from any point in the city, so they couldn’t get too lost. But it was a long walk, so he suggested that they really ought to take a carriage. When Ravishan asked if carriage drivers preferred blessed stones or wooden coins as pay, Alidas seemed deeply concerned.

“Prayer stones won’t get you anything in Nurjima,” Alidas said. “Don’t you have any money?”

“None,” John said, so that Ravishan would not have to.

“Here, take this. It isn’t much, but it will get you to the Black Tower.” Alidas offered John his coin purse.

“We can’t take your money,” John objected, but Alidas simply thrust the leather purse into his hand.

“It’s the least I can do. And I’ll have pay waiting for me at the Bousim barrack. Please take it as my offering to your pilgrimage.”

“Thank you,” Ravishan said. “Bless you.”

“It was an honor meeting you—both of you.” He hefted his pack up onto his shoulder as two rashan’im in Bousim green came striding up. Noting their approach, he said, “Here’s my escort.”

John and Ravishan both wished him well. None of them spoke of meeting again. Alidas departed with his fellow rashan’im.

John hired a battered brown carriage, drawn by two surprisingly plump tahldi. The driver looked like he shared living quarters with his animals, but the interior of the carriage was clean, if cramped.

They rode through the winding twilit streets, now and then glimpsing streetlamps and catching snatches of wild music. John felt the Black Tower long before he saw it. His empty stomach tightened. When they stepped out of the carriage, John looked past the massive stone wall that surrounded the grounds up to the black, corded height of the tower. He felt a familiar repulsion, which he suppressed immediately.

Instead, he and Ravishan walked side by side to the massive, wrought iron gates of the entry. There, two ushvun’im, who had apparently been waiting for Ravishan to arrive, informed them that the Usho and several of his highest-ranking ushman’im had contracted some kind of sickness. Fai’daum witchcraft was suspected. The ushman’im throughout Nurjima were performing intense rituals of cleansing and healing as well as exorcisms. Whatever the cause, no one wanted to run the risk of exposing the future Kahlil to the illness.

The men explained that the Usho’s greatest wish was for the Kahlil to remain in good health. They apologized profusely, bowing so low and for so long that their faces went red.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.