Gravemaidens by Kelly Coon

Author:Kelly Coon [Coon, Kelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2019-10-28T18:30:00+00:00

I NEEDED SPACE to think, and the solace of my chambers would work perfectly with the girls gone to deliver coins to my neighbors. Looking over my shoulder to ensure no one had followed, I opened the door.

But no quiet was to be had. The room was filled with laughter and the scent of perfumed oils. Nanaea stood, combing through her long curls, while Simti sat on Nanaea’s downy pallet, nibbling cherries.

“There’s our lovely A-zu.” Simti picked up a few more cherries from an oval platter on the bed, overflowing with cucumbers, dried apricots, melons, cherries, and cheeses, and popped two into her mouth. She held the platter out to me as I walked in and dropped my healing satchel on my pallet. “Want some?”

“What in the name of Enlil are you doing back here so soon?”

“Oh, hello. Nice to see you, too.” Simti popped her eyes out at me.

“Sorry. That’s not what I meant.” I softly nudged her in the foot, and she smiled, her teeth stained with cherry juice.

Nanaea piped up: “We were finished early. The coffers weren’t as full as we’d thought they’d be, so it didn’t take long to distribute.” She took a cask from one of the tables arrayed with pots of face paint and beauty tonics and drizzled some rose-scented oil onto the palm of her hand. Setting the cask down, she rubbed her hands together and then smoothed them down her curls. “But the exciting news is that they are setting up for a Sacred Maidens bazaar on the morrow.”

Huna, rosy and damp from a bath, lay swathed in linens on her pallet, popping grapes into her open mouth. She snorted. “You mean visiting the dirty huts of your neighbors wasn’t exciting enough?”

“Oh, Huna, why don’t you just silence yourself?” Nanaea pursed her lips in disgust.

Huna rolled her eyes so far into the back of her head, only the whites were visible.

Ignoring Huna, I turned to Nanaea. “What’s this about a bazaar?” Sinking down onto my pallet, I bent to loosen my sandals, my joints aching, my head fuzzy. Likely being sleepless and nearly poisoned to death meant my body needed time to recover. Time I didn’t have.

“Vendors are coming from all over the city to showcase their wares. I heard that the weaver will be selling tunics with our likenesses, and there will be jewelry makers and face painters and different foods and special brew from the Palace. I’m so excited!”

“That sounds wonderful, Nanaea. And I am glad to see you. But I came here to think. I have a problem I need to solve.” I sank back into my pillows, then sprang to my feet when the last part of Nanaea’s sentence settled into my brain.

Special brew from the Palace.

Poison.

And Simti is eating the food.

I leaped across my pallet and smacked the cherries from her hand.

“What in the name of Alani do you think you’re doing?” Simti cried, her mouth stuffed.

“Spit them out!” I demanded. “Spit all of them

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