Warmaidens by Kelly Coon

Author:Kelly Coon [Coon, Kelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2020-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

THE YOUNG WOMEN were linked together like cattle headed to slaughter. Hands tied in front of them. Dried reed ropes around their waists leading from one to another to another. Some of them looked like little girls who were barely of age.

We were inside the Libbu, next to the old well. Dagan sat by my side, a cracked pot with a few shekels in the bottom at his filthy feet. He’d rubbed sheep dung into his garments to complete his disguise, and the stench coming from him was close to unbearable. Guardsmen swarmed around us like plated beetles, their faces watchful. Looking for us? From time to time, they pulled big men around and stared them hard in the eyes, then shoved them away.

We must be careful.

I gritted my teeth. All of my choices had consequences. My abum had once taught me that. When you acted as a healer, administering a dosage with good intent, there were always risks. Side effects, he’d called them. And one of the side effects of Iltani’s recklessness was my having to come and rescue her from her fate.

But it was impossible to be angry at her. She’d been stolen, and that wasn’t her fault.

Angst welled up in my throat as the young brides walked past me, a make-believe beggar in filthy scarves. Nanaea had bound some of my fingers back with rags as if the digits were missing, and she’d painted my face to look haggard, old, and—completely unassuming.

But underneath my robes, stowed in my healing satchel, was a poison of monkshood and belladonna that would deliver someone to the Boatman in seconds. Earlier in the day, Dagan had met a guardsmen who was less than loyal to Uruku to arrange safe passage into the Palace to deliver the tincture. For enough coins, he told Dagan he was willing to look the other way. Dagan had also met with Ensi Puzu, who claimed that he and four other ensis would support Arwia’s rule, which meant we only needed to convince two more men to make it a majority. Ensi Puzu said he’d bring the ensis most likely to listen to us to Laraak later this evening so we could convince them.

Everything seemed to be falling into place. And as soon as I watched the bridal gifting to make sure Yashub made good on his bargain with us, I would take Uruku out if it was the last thing I did.

Their hair swept up and away from their slender necks, the girls in the gifting kept their eyes down at their dirty feet. Hordes of wealthy men, with thick, beaded necklaces around their throats, threw elbows and shoved one another for a better view of the girls paraded past their greedy eyes.

My insides felt as if they’d been boiled in oil as they trailed past me. When Iltani walked by, red rouge caked over her freckles, lips smeared with gold, I reached out and grabbed her foot to try to tell her it would be all right, but she was not in her head.

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