Dark Sea's End (Beyond Ash and Sand Book 1) by Richard Nell

Author:Richard Nell [Nell, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Richard Nell
Published: 2021-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

The guards no longer touched Zaya at all. They led her back to the women's quarters with something approaching deference, eyes downcast and gesturing her on more like the men of her homeland. It seemed 'royal concubine' was something rather more complicated and useful than 'slave', but this brought her little comfort.

The other women welcomed her with words she didn't understand. They perfumed her with incense and offered her a sweet alcohol much like the islander's rum. The kindness and pageantry surprised her, but their smiles were different than before. When Zaya had been just a slave singing for their amusement, they had laughed and embraced her without reservation. Their smiles were full and unguarded, their joy in her singing much like that of the children. Now, though, their eyes were cautious. One in particular stayed at the edge of the gathering, and the others quieted when she finally approached.

"Sister," she said, leaning forward so close their cheeks touched. When she withdrew, Zaya bowed and repeated it as best she could, and the woman turned and walked away without another word. The others followed, and Zaya was left alone as if she had gained some disease that might spread to any too close, her mere presence a corruption to their beautiful home. She understood then that she had just met Yacat's wife.

The servants settled her into her own room, complete with a wardrobe of mostly too-small clothes, a copper tub for washing, several instruments with strings or tubes, a plush raised bed draped with sheets and blankets, and many boxes filled with jewelry and fabrics. She was given her own personal servant, and understood she could roam the palace more or less freely—with an armed escort, of course.

As soon as she was able, she dismissed her servant, hid her book of words beneath her bed, and knelt with her head down.

"Hear my vow," she whispered to Edda, Goddess of words, her hands at her lips, "I will be free of this place. I will make the name Zaya, daughter of Juchi, worthy of remembrance, or I will burn in the mountain forever." She prayed too to the Mother, to watch over her parents and siblings in the Ascom, and over Chang and the crew of the Prince; she prayed to Nanot, Goddess of law, to bring her justice for the misdeeds against her. And before she rose, with a final thought to the god of the mountain, the god of chaos and sire to men like the shaman, in case all else failed, she prayed to Noss.

When she was finished she opened the book, and practiced. Ruka had spelled the words as they sounded with the islander's alphabet, because their own people used symbols, or runes, to represent words, and it was almost useless just for sounds. She had learned the island tongue as a girl and knew it well, so she whispered the sounds over and over, trying to learn most of the words in basic questions or answers she expected to need.

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.