The Fire Seer by Amy Raby

Author:Amy Raby
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Historical Romance, Magic, Seer, Paranormal Romance, Love Story, Romance, Historical Paranormal Romance, Fantasy Romance, Seers, Mages, Mage, Paranormal Historical Romance
Publisher: Amy Raby
Published: 2014-08-24T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24: Hrappa

Taya would never admit it, but Mandir had been right to make her rest through the heat of the afternoon. He’d escorted her to her guesthouse and then, instead of harassing her as she’d expected, left her entirely alone. She ate lunch and slept for three full hours, an appalling amount when they had so much work to do, and yet she felt much better when she awoke. Maybe that harrowing trip through the river had taken more out of her than she’d realized.

In the evening, Mandir came by with the horses, and they rode out to the farmers’ district a second time. This time the farmers were home. Mandir hung back and allowed her to do the talking, since she knew farmers and he didn’t. She cast her eye at him a number of times during these meetings, curious what he was thinking. From some of the comments he’d made at Mohenjo, she knew he thought of peasant farmers as nasty, unwashed creatures who wallowed in dirt. But the reality was that most farmers’ homes, though small, were clean and sweet-smelling, and the farmers themselves always visited the baths after coming in from the fields. Peasant farmers might not be wealthy, but they were as civilized as anyone else in the valley.

The first two families dodged their questions about Bodhan. Though Mandir’s eyes darkened at their evasions, Taya was inclined to leave them be rather than threaten them or otherwise try to force the information out of them. Eventually, she hoped, she would find someone willing to talk.

Now, in the third house on their list, she spoke to the matriarch, who sullenly presented her four children to Taya and Mandir. None were over the age of ten. “Is this your entire family?” asked Taya.

“And Daradi,” she said. “He’s at the market.”

“Daradi is your husband?”

The woman nodded.

The jackal wasn’t here, then, and neither was the witness. Not that Taya expected to simply stumble upon either of them, but she’d hoped. “I understand you lost control of your land in a court case to Bodhan isu Kasirum. Is that correct?”

“What business is it of yours?”

Taya swallowed. She hadn’t expected resistance to her questions. “We think the facts of those cases might be related to the recent murders.”

“We have nothing to do with any jackal,” said the farmer woman. “Go back to your temple, Coalition dog.”

Mandir leapt forward and grabbed the woman by the arm. “Apologize,” he demanded.

“Mandir—” began Taya.

He raised a hand to silence her and spoke again to the farmer woman. “Apologize to my partner.”

“I am sorry,” choked out the frightened woman.

Mandir released her. “Tell us about Bodhan and the loans.”

“It was a bad year, when the Lioness did not flood. We had no crop. We had to borrow money.”

“Did you not have food in storage?” asked Taya.

“Not enough,” said the farmer woman. “And our bananas no longer produce well.”

Probably because they were blighted. She’d look at them later. “So you borrowed money from Bodhan.”

The farmer woman aimed a frightened glance at Mandir and nodded.

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