The Silent City by Ginn Hale

Author:Ginn Hale [Hale, Ginn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blind Eye Books

Chapter Eighty-Four

John glanced down at Lyyn’s body. His eyes were wide and fixed on some distant point in the pale sky. His throat gaped open like a gory mouth. Dark blood pooled around his head, melting through the snow. John expected to feel sick, but he didn’t. He was growing used to the sight of dead bodies.

He stepped closer to Ravishan. The three priests stood exactly where they had when Lyyn had fallen. All three of them watched Ravishan as if they couldn’t tear their eyes from him.

“Are we going to have to fight our way out of here?” Ravishan whispered.

“Not yet,” John replied. He raised his hands and made the Payshmura sign of peace.

Very slowly, Giryyn returned the hand sign.

“Ji sent word that you were in trouble, Jahn.” Giryyn hardly raised his voice, but it carried easily through the silence.

“Yes, I was. Thank you for coming,” John replied.

Though Giryyn spoke to him, John noted that all three of the priests kept their eyes on Ravishan, who returned their wary gazes with an expression of defiance.

“This is Ravishan,” John said. “He has come as a friend to the Fai’daum.”

For several moments there was utter silence. A thin cold wind blew through the bare branches of the trees and stirred the snow on the ground. John shuddered.

“Will you come with us to the chapel?” Giryyn spoke calmly and evenly. His gaze never left Ravishan. “Ji will join us there.”

John started forward but Ravishan didn’t move. Glancing back, he saw Ravishan eyeing the priests with suspicion that bordered on open hostility.

“Can you trust them?” Ravishan whispered.

John wasn’t sure, but the last thing he wanted was more fighting. Clearly, the priests were waiting for some sign of Ravishan’s friendly intentions.

“I don’t think they’ll try anything,” John said.

“I’ve murdered one of their men.”

“Yes, but Lyyn was breaking two major Fai’daum laws. I think you’ll be safe, especially if Ji speaks for you.”

“Will she?”

“Absolutely.”

“Even now?”

“Yes,” John said firmly. “Look, I need to get out of the cold. The chapel is close.”

Ravishan nodded. He unbuttoned his coat and draped it over John’s bare shoulders, then walked with John past the priests into the chapel. Inside, the fire radiated heat and cast golden light across the stone floor and wooden walls. The statue of Parfir smiled down with vacant benevolence. John stopped in front of the fire and warmed his hands. Ravishan stayed close. His skin looked tawny in the warm light.

The three priests followed John and Ravishan inside. Giryyn spoke briefly with the other two priests at the door. Daru and Lam withdrew to the backrooms. Giryyn approached the fireplace where John and Ravishan stood. He moved slowly and fluidly, as if he were approaching a wild animal.

Ravishan watched him. There was a hardness in his expression that seemed to warrant Giryyn’s caution. John suddenly realized that Ravishan’s tension was fueled as much by Giryyn’s robes as it was by the thought that he was a Fai’daum—perhaps more so. The austere figure Giryyn presented was one Ravishan instinctively associated with brutal punishment.

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