The Court Of Stars (The Commonwealth Quartet Book 1) by Malcolm Schmitz

Author:Malcolm Schmitz [Schmitz, Malcolm]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-10-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

The bazaar stretched forth as far as Christian's eye could see, red and gold and green in the midsummer sun. Flags fluttered in the faint breeze, and scents of smoke and incense and cooking meat assaulted his nose.

People surrounded him, a vast throng, in every size and shape and colour imaginable. They wore long loose robes, or strange wrapped garments, mostly in shades of white and beige and sky blue. They called to each other in tongues Christian didn't understand-the language of Jihrat, the language of Baphatha-and laughed and joked and fought, as people did.

A few of the merchants he passed tried to shove their wares at him, thinking, probably, if they were close enough to his face, he'd see how marvelous they were. They were cheap things: crude little statuettes of some god or another, jewelry, trinkets made of gold or feathers or clay or plain dirt. Christian ignored them, and passed on, looking for a water-seller.

Dust hung in the air from the path through the bazaar, kicked up by a thousand feet. Christian coughed, and wrapped the threadbare brown cloak around his shoulders. He pulled his hood down over his eyes to block out the blinding sun.

He should have taken the crewman's offer of a bandana. It would have been useful as a face mask.

Sara had suggested he go incognito, for his own safety. A foreign lord could fetch a kidnapper a large ransom. But because of the Solari, Christian had no family or friends left. There was no one who could pay to rescue him. If he were caught, he was doomed to a lifetime of slavery.

Christian had decided that it would be best to avoid the problem altogether, and had borrowed some clothes from Mack, the ship's cook. They fit badly, and reeked of garlic, but they'd have to do. He was pretending, as best as he could, to be a sailor, dressed in the drab clothes of a peasant.

He heard strange noises not too far behind him. They ssounded more like a Solari ship than the middle of a bazaar. He heard a crackle of static, and the sound of air rushing through pipes.

Christian turned, hesitantly, and was greeted with an awful sight.

There were three figures cutting through the crowd, as a knife cut through greenery. One of them was human-shaped, but he glowed with pearly light. He was flanked by two stubby, goblin-like figures, in dark blue armor.

Some people in the crowd bowed. Others crossed themselves, or clapped, or cheered and shouted for joy. Christian's heart stopped.

They were here. The Solari were here.

It shouldn't have made him this frightened. After all, that meant that Miriet had been right, and they were one step closer to Linna and Mercadier.

But the mere sight of them made his soul quake. He crossed himself, and knelt, trying to blend into the crowd.

He heard a brief conversation in the Solari tongue, and the click of a gun poised to fire. Christian lept to his feet and ran, bursting through the crowd.

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.