Sideshow in the Center Ring by Marian Allen

Author:Marian Allen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Per Bastet Publications LLC
Published: 2013-12-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Late the next morning I was awakened by something flopping onto my stomach. A square of cloth, tied into a bundle, full of warm rolls.

Tosun's head poked up through the hole in my sleeping bubble. "Breakfast in bed," he said. "Will you come down for tea, or do you want me to toss the pot up next?"

I shied the bundle of rolls at him. He impaled it on the claws of one hand.

"I'm coming down," I said. "Stand aside."

While I showered and dressed, I thought about what Captain Margent had said about Darryl's abuse of the slave laws. I also thought about what I could do to get through Darryl's vanity to his brain. He was headed for a good dose of trouble, but he didn't deserve the fun he was having getting there.

It obviously wasn't going to do any good to talk to him about it. He'd all but said he'd turn the dogs loose on any slave who brought an action against him. That wasn't the spirit I'd been looking to encourage.

Maybe he thought I'd been kidding. Maybe, if he saw it in black and white, in a language he could read, it would make a difference. I could key a translation of the laws Darryl was most likely to break, have the resort's Registrar verify that it was accurate, and send it to Darryl "from a wellwisher."

Maybe, if he didn't know it came from me, he'd believe it.

It wouldn't take long. It wouldn't be much trouble. It wouldn't be like I was putting myself out, or wasting time better spent doing something else.

I started out of the bedroom, then jumped back.

Tosun was leaping and whirling all around the sitting room; his right forearm was covered by his convex shield, his right hand gripped his knife, his left hand held his 12-inch skewer. He was silent and, though he came within a hair's breadth of the breakfast things, he didn't even wobble them.

"What in Jehoshaphat are you doing?" I said.

He stopped in the middle of a twirl, interrupted but not startled. Not even out of breath.

"Practicing."

"For what? Lord'a'mercy, child, I haven't seen such shines since I left Hell Alley."

"A Yolan has to keep in shape. Not 'for' anything. Dexterity, balance, strength -- these qualities of mind make one wise. Being follows action, so dexterity, balance, and strength of the body are the buds from which the spiritual qualities flower."

"Yeah? Well, my Aunt Bootsie would have told you to do your roughhousing outside."

Tosun gave a sharp-toothed grin. "My Uncle Shahtsi would tell me I should go get some fresh air and sunshine."

"Why don't you? --Take some free time after breakfast. I've got business."

When I told him what it was, he nodded. "Good idea. Make sure the Registrar notes your name as the one who gave Mem Moran warning. It'll be kept confidential unless it comes to court. If it comes to court, you'll want it on record that you made the effort."

~*~

The Registrar was a weedy-looking female, white with black patches and a pink-and-black nose.

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