Black Kath's Daughter

by Richard Parks

  Marta heard the sarcasm in the bird's tone, and she did not protest. If anything, she was grateful. "Anywhere I can," Marta said. "Everywhere I can. One other thing, Bone Tapper, and I want you to pay close attention to what I say."

  "Yes?"

  Marta worked a change, and Bone Tapper was a hob again. "We have no spade, so you're going to help me carry Laras to Sendale and raise a cairn for him. If you try to slip back there later, or if you so much as glance at Laras with thoughts of a fuller belly, I will turn you into a garden slug and leave you to get home on your own. Do you understand me?"

  "You needn't worry," Bone Tapper said, sounding the very soul and voice of wounded virtue. "Despite what you may think, I'm pickier about my food than that."

  Together they returned to drape Laras's body across the saddle and then carried it across the Longbone, and there in the shadow of the standing tower together Marta and Bone Tapper buried him.

  It was not until the cairn was finished that Marta let herself feel the full impact of what she had done, and the tears came. Marta knew Bone Tapper was watching her but she didn't care. Nor did she fight the tears this time, for they were not, as she had once thought, an enemy. She wept for herself and what she had done, for Laras and what he might have been, and for one last bad choice on both their parts, neither of which could be undone. It was only when there were no more tears to shed for Laras or herself that Marta climbed into the saddle and began the journey home.

  EPILOGUE

  Marta dropped a gold coin in Amaet's basin.

  "I am here, Amaet. I have paid for my question. You will answer me." Marta crossed her arms as if daring the Power to say otherwise.

  There was a flicker in the air above the basin, and Amaet was there. After a fashion. There was no bright flash of pure white, no radiant Amaet hovering there and smiling at Marta with that infuriating smile that Marta had come to loathe. Amaet was no more than a shadow, hardly as substantial as a ghost. Marta frowned, but she kept silent. The shadow that was Amaet did smile then.

  YOU WON'T ASK WHY I APPEAR THIS WAY. YOU'RE WISE NOT TO WASTE YOUR QUESTION ON TRIVIAL THINGS.

  “I'll decide for myself what is trivial, Amaet," Marta said. "And whether you tell me the truth that I've paid for."

  SUCH AN ANGRY LITTLE THING YOU ARE. IT DOES NOT SUIT YOU. AND WRONG, TOO. YOU PAY FOR A QUESTION. WHETHER YOU CAN BELIEVE THE ANSWER IS UP TO YOU. IT ALWAYS WAS AND ALWAYS WILL BE.

  Marta dismissed that. "Why did you send that poor fool Laras after me? If you’d wanted me dead, I would be dead.”

  QUITE RIGHT, BLACK KATH'S DAUGHTER. IF YOU BELIEVE OTHERWISE YOU'RE MORE THE FOOL THAN LARAS.

  "Then why?"

  THERE ARE MANY QUESTIONS WRAPPED UP IN THAT ONE. SINCE YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH, I WILL INVOKE THE SECOND LAW AND GIVE YOU SOME OF WHAT YOU'VE ASKED. INCLUDING THE QUESTION YOU WILL NOT ASK: I LOOK THIS WAY BECAUSE MY ATTENTION IS NOT WITHOUT LIMITS, MARTA. RIGHT NOW YOU ONLY HAVE A VERY SMALL PIECE OF IT.

  "I'm grateful for the explanation, since I was curious. Yet that isn't what I asked. I want to know about Laras. The man I killed.”

  ONE DEATH. IT'LL GET EASIER. YOU'LL SEE.

  Marta clenched her fists, then slowly opened them out again. She took a deep, shuddering breath of the clear, cold mountain air. "Tell me," she said.

  Amaet smiled. NO.

  "Will you tell me why?"

  BECAUSE WHAT WEAPONS I USE AND HOW I CHOOSE TO HONE THEM IS ENTIRELY UP TO ME. THAT'S THE REAL ANSWER, BLACK KATH'S DAUGHTER. MAKE OF IT WHAT YOU CAN.

  Marta frowned. "Weapons? Are you at war?"

  Amaet smiled at her. YOU'RE FINDING A GREAT DEAL OF MEANING IN ONE WORD.

  "I would not think you would be careless with your words, Amaet. Words have power, too."

  YOU WHO UNDERSTAND SO LITTLE SHOULD NOT PRETEND TO UNDERSTAND MORE. YET I WILL SAY, AFTER SUCH A SLOW BEGINNING, YOU HAVE PROGRESSED WELL. THREE LAWS? TO CELEBRATE, THERE IS ONE THING I WILL TELL YOU. CALL IT FAIR WARNING.

  "What is that, Amaet?"

  FROM NOW ON, THE ARROW PATH WILL ONLY GET HARDER.

  Amaet's presence, slight though it had been, was gone.

  Marta smiled a grim smile. You may not realize this now, Amaet, but that goes for both of us.

  Marta was alone. Later she would rejoin Bone Tapper and the rest of the world below Mount Karsanmon and resume her search for the Seven, but not just yet. Perhaps it was only coincidence, but when the Priestess of Amaet next entered the Sanctuary of the Karsanmon Shrine she found the lovely new gilded statue of the Goddess Amaet smashed into pieces beyond counting.

  Aleeta sighed. "Blazes. Not again!"

  The End

  About the Author

  Richard Parks has been writing and publishing fantasy and science fiction longer than he cares to remember…or probably can remember. His work has appeared in Asimov’s SF, Realms of Fantasy, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, and several “Year’s Best” anthologies. His first collection, The Ogre’s Wife, was a World Fantasy Award Finalist in 2002 and his work has also been a nominee for the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature. He blogs at “Den of Ego and Iniquity Annex #3”, also known as: www.richard-parks.com

  Personal Note: “With or without a traditional publisher (I’ve gone both ways), it’s hard for any writer to develop a readership in these days of fractured genres. If you enjoyed BKD, I would appreciate it if you would consider reviewing the book at Amazon, B&N, or the venue of your choice. Word of mouth and reader endorsements are simply the best advertising there is.”