To the Towers of Tulandan by Bradley Beaulieu

Author:Bradley Beaulieu
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781939649157
Publisher: Quillings Literary
Published: 2015-01-29T05:00:00+00:00

Khadija walked through a dark tunnel holding a siraj to light her way. She came to a room where several simple beds lay, only one of which was occupied, by Ashan. A Maharraht woman in a plain blue dress sat on a stool next to him spreading a salve over his stomach and chest. His arms were bound in white bandages. When she was done applying the salve, she wrapped more bandages around Ashan’s torso. He grimaced, and yet, even with pain clearly on his face, there was also mirth. Here was a man always prepared to smile, whereas Khadija felt her mouth was set in a perpetual frown.

How Khadija wished she could be like him, but her anger was so tightly wound she’d never managed to unravel it. Not that I’ve ever tried. And she doubted she ever would. Her anger was a source of power, a source of drive. It was what kept her by Soroush’s side, working for the good of the Maharraht.

If she were ever to look too closely in her heart…

When the woman nodded to Ashan and left, Khadija sat down on the stool. “You asked me to come?”

Ashan chuckled. “Direct and to the point.”

“Just get on with it, Ashan.”

“Fair enough. Why did Soroush bring you here? Why have you come to Rhavanki?”

“I told you. He felt this place would open paths we could use to speak with Nasim.”

“And so it has.” He paused, looking more deeply into her eyes. “But there were more reasons for Soroush to bring Nasim here, weren’t there?” Although Khadija stiffened at these words, she forced herself to relax lest Ashan notice. But he’d always been an insufferably observant man. There was a cold satisfaction in his eyes when he spoke again. “You felt the hezhan. I’m sure you felt the others as well. There were dozens of them, Khadija, perhaps more. Why would that be? And why here?”

“I merely do as I’m bid.”

“As your sister did?”

Khadija’s head jerked back. “I told you not to speak of my sister.”

“You do not owe her this, Khadija. The Maharraht may fight, but you don’t need to follow them. Mirilah’s voice will still be silenced, and you’ll be the poorer for it. The world will be the poorer.”

“Mirilah may have been the reason I came to the Maharraht, but she’s not the reason I stay. I am my own woman, Ashan.”

“And yet you merely—how did you put it?—do as you are bid…”

“Soroush is wise. He sees many paths ahead that I cannot.”

“You’ve chosen not to. You’re not speaking to some fool you’ve never met, Khadija. I was your kuadim. Do you expect me to believe you’ve stopped questioning the world around you? Perhaps you’ve managed to shackle your own mind so, but believe me, Soroush has not. You saw his face as well as I did. What happened with Nasim was something he’d been waiting for since the moment Nasim arrived. He’s using the boy. I’ve known that since I came to this island.

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