Comes the Dragon by Rachel Starr Thomson

Author:Rachel Starr Thomson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: adventure, god, fantasy, prophet, historical fantasy, rachel starr thomson, abaddons eve, prophet trilogy
Publisher: Rachel Starr Thomson

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Amon’s look at Flora when she entered his tent again was one of disapproval. She glanced down and slapped the worst of the sand from her dress.

“Is that how you take care of my gifts?” he said. “You are covered in dust.”

“We are in the desert, Amon,” Flora said. “Everything is covered in dust.”

She sat. He narrowed his kohl-lined eyes, neither touching the food spread before them nor inviting her to do so. Accordingly, she reached for the biggest fig on the table and took a bite, holding his gaze.

“I told you I wanted you to maintain a distinction between yourself and the slaves. Station matters.”

“I did maintain a difference. I strutted around in this dress all day.”

“I am told you spent your afternoon sitting on a rock outside your tent.”

“I did.”

He closed his eyes for a brief moment. “I suppose you had some reason for this display?”

“The tent is not to my liking.”

He smiled thinly. “You remained in it all last week, when it was nothing but an empty cell with a mat. Today I had it outfitted with every luxury for you.”

“Hardly every luxury,” she said with a small laugh. He did not crack a smile. She cleared her throat. “You had it outfitted beautifully. I could not ask for better, considering that we are on caravan and your resources are limited.”

That seemed to placate him a little, but he frowned and said, “Then why do you say it is not to your liking?”

“The tent itself is the problem,” she said. “I remained in it last week, yes, for you would not let me out. But I will not spend one moment of my own choice under the gaze of Kimash. Why did you place me there, Amon? Under the image of a creature I detest?”

At that, Amon raised a wine goblet and took a long, deliberate sip. When he set it back down, he fixed his eyes on hers and said, “That god has claims on you. You were born into his people.”

“But I left them,” she said. “As you well know. I was a child when I disavowed the worship of Kimash and turned to the Great God. You are an attentive man, Amon. I do not think it is an accident that you have made of my tent a shrine to the god I rejected.”

He took another drink. She waited for an answer.

“To many, the gods are a convenience,” he said at last. “To be worshipped or tossed aside depending on the expediency of the moment. Many, I think, do not even believe in them. Not in any way that deserves to be called belief.”

“But I am not one of those,” Flora said.

Amon nodded. “You intrigue me. I told you as much before. I have never seen a worshipper of the Great God so ardent as you, and yet he can have no real claims on you. Certainly not the claims of blood. Your kind are not even allowed in his temple.”

Flora chose not to answer that.

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