Shinn, Sharon - Samaria 01 - Archangel by Shinn Sharon

Author:Shinn, Sharon [Shinn, Sharon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-04-11T02:45:33+00:00

Archangelby

The big one scowled. "I like to watch the horses," he said defiantly. "A horse is a Jansai's life. Better than a woman. A horse will get you everything you need." His comrades supported this speech with a couple of heartfelt "yeahs" and some emphatic nods.

Matthew nodded. "Sure, now. A horse is a good thing. Take you across the mountain, take you across the desert. Of course, if you're always too poor to own your own horses, won't do you much good to love them."

"Who says I'm too poor?"

"Well, you're sitting here watching another man's beasts, now, aren't you?"

"Now I am, maybe. But I get paid for it. Paid plenty. I'll buy my own horse any day now, and then I'll pay some kid to look after him."

"Is that right, now? And how much do you think a horse costs, mikele?" Matthew asked, using the Edori term for young boy.

The mikele scowled even more darkly. "I don't know. Not so much."

"A hundred gold pieces, I'm thinking. Maybe more. How many gold pieces do you have saved up? Is it five? Is it one?

Are your kind masters paying you in gold, after all, or is it perhaps silver? Maybe they're paying you in food and gear—"

Rachel had just begun to relax into the familiar, persuasive cadence of Matthew's argument for education when rough voices behind them abruptly interrupted.

"Hey, what's that damned Edori doing here? Chit, Brido, get away from the filthy Edori—"

The boys scrambled back toward the corral as Rachel and Matthew whirled around to see who had spoken. Two good-sized Jansai males were approaching them on the run, snarls on their faces and sharp-edged weapons coming to life in their hands. Involuntarily, Rachel stiffened at the sight of those long-handled knives threaded through with sinuous leather straps. She remembered those well enough But she would not give in to fear or panic. She made herself step ahead of Matthew, and haughtily stared down the half-naked Jansai. "We've come from the Eyrie to inspect conditions at your camp, and we'd appreciate a little civility," she said in an icy voice. "You are only here on sufferance, after all."

The tone surprised them; so did the clothes, the face, the whole package. Not the troublesome merchant's wife they had expected. They came to a halt a few yards away and inspected her, some of the menace dying away from their lean faces and bunched muscles.

"Pardon, mistress," said one, suddenly flashing her that wide white smile that she also very clearly remembered. "We don't like strangers meddling in our campgrounds."

"We weren't meddling," she said very coldly.

The second Jansai jerked his knife-hand at Matthew. "Who's he? Edori stay out of our camps."

"He's with me. For protection."

This second man was less easily cowed by a tone of voice. He stared back at her insolently. "And who are you?"

CHAPTER TWELVE

139

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