by Dana Davis
So, you’re here, you puss ridden, son of a stinger bush. Anger welled and quickly turned to determination. She realized Predula’s hand rested on her knee, and she offered the short body-healer a nod. “I’m good now.”
Predula studied her a heartbeat longer then patted her knee and removed her hand. She turned to Xiath, Elder Finlor and others who had gathered. “Is there any way around that hamlet?”
That’s right. This was the hamlet they’d been warned about. I must have slept longer than I thought.
A stout man stepped forward. Bel’keive’s uncle. He wore two Hunter nose rings. He’d taken the one from the dead Hunter and plunged it next to his own during the pyre ceremony. “Rul’keive and I traveled through there several seasons ago.” Briar’s Pass is our only way through, unless we take the forest. It’s very dense. We would have to leave the wagon’s behind, as well as the horses.”
Elder Finlor grunted. Those tiny, rodent-like eyes bounced between the kin. The stout man had become quest leader since Siri’s preoccupation with Croferituus. “We have prisoners. We need our supplies. Maesa is in no shape to sit a saddle for that distance, let alone walk. And I won’t have us split up. Not with all this unbalanced weather and the Energy void. Even the ground is unstable in some parts.” He focused on Kal. “What do you hear?”
The listener trotted up to him, her hood pulled all the way up so Cass couldn’t see her face. “Mostly thoughts about whores and wine. Someone is contemplating murder. And there are several who don’t want to be found.” She pushed her hood back and turned toward Finlor. That small nose was wrinkled as though it had smelled something awful, and she gave the Elder a pained look.
All right. Wall them out. I don’t expect you to sift through that many minds. But we might need you later. Are you all right to listen on occasion?”
Kal cocked her braid-wrapped head, all pain gone from her face now, and she nodded. “Yes, Elder. As long as I don’t have to keep it up for any length.”
Like all new-oathed, the girl’s mind wasn’t completely trained, yet.
“Very well.” Finlor glanced at the others. “Keep the unification crystals close. You new-oathed and younglings remember how to use them?”
“Yes, Elder,” Cass said, along with the others.
That was something she wasn’t about to forget. Her Energy seemed slight compared to most, especially Haranda’s sparking and Wren’s urging. Her transference abilities had strengthened with training and she had more control now, but tossing a few hay bales tired her after a short while. With crystals, the Energy expanded tenfold or more, but not without consequences. Anyone who worked with the crystals wouldn’t be able to harness for at least a day afterward. One hand rested with long habit on the knife at her waist.
Elder Finlor paced. “Good.” Then his focus turned to Jin, the seeker from Xiath’s quest. “Can you make out exactly how many are there?”
The quiet seeker gazed off into the distance for several heartbeats as he stroked his shaved head.
Cass couldn’t get an exact number with the awareness. To many heats moving around in a relatively small area confused her senses. She studied Jin. Despite his shaved head, the new-oathed man kept a beard that trailed down the front of his tunic and came to a point just below the open lacing. She hadn’t paid him much attention since their capture and he kept to himself, though she did remember seeing him with Har’guana, the new youngling with the misshapen head, on several occasions.
“I can’t get an exact count, Elder,” Jin finally said. “But I don’t believe they outnumber us.”
Finlor pinched his lips together and narrowed tiny eyes in the direction of the hamlet. “Then we have numbers on our side. I don’t intend on stopping. Just pass through. Those handy with a weapon stay alert for trouble.”
Raith grunted an agreement and shifted his weight beneath broad shoulders. He was nearly as short as Finlor but his stocky build added to his size. His reddened face wore a frown most of the day and Cass wondered if he longed to be teaching again. Despite his demeanor out here, he had been gentle with his youngling students.
She turned her attention back to Elder Finlor when he spoke. “Our first choice is to avoid a fight. But we’ll use middling weapons or individual Energies if needed. Save the crystals for more serious problems. We can’t afford anyone to be drained and helpless. And I want all men to stay close to the women, especially those who don’t know how to handle weapons or can’t harness the Energy.”
None of the women protested this, not even Eletha. Cass could take out an armed man. She had done it before. Even against two, she had come out victorious. But no one, not even the strongest Gypsy, could fight off a mob determined to rape, maim or kill.
The Elders conferred and ordered the group to spend the night near the river with the wagons creating a barrier between them and the road. Tomorrow they would venture down Briar’s Pass as early as possible to avoid conflict. Daylight seemed to deter some offenses. At least, in the opinions of several Bankari.
Cass had one man in particular on her mind and he owed her. Very soon, she would collect.
Chapter 2
They traveled along Briar’s Pass, headed toward the hamlet. The stench grew with each shift of the sun and Cass rolled her shoulders to relieve tension.
“You all right?”
She turned to look the wolf singer in the eyes. At just twenty-one, Taniras was two years younger, but she seemed older, especially since she’d been conversing with wolves. “Good as expected, I suppose.” No use trying to lie to the other woman. Taniras couldn’t see the pink lion footprint above Cass’s head unless she allowed that. She kept things to herself, of course, just as everyone did, but she told the truth whenever possible and expected others to give her the same respect.
The wolf singer seemed satisfied with the answer and didn’t push for anything more. Instead, she turned her attentions back to Maesa. The youngling sat up now but Taniras still hovered like a worried clan mother.
By early afternoon, they reached the edge of the hamlet and the cobblestone street that needed repair. Cass took in the Energy. Middling heats pulsed against her senses, many a stench difficult to ignore, and she roughly counted about one hundred and fifty villagers.
A crooked sign hastily nailed to the rotting entrance post read:
LOST MINER’S HAMLET
No money, no service
Stone buildings, worn and in sad disrepair, sat close together along the street. Spots of color along the building fronts and the evidence of ancient reliefs, probably removed for their gilding, revealed that this was once a well-to-do village gone to pot. Overcast skies gave a gray look to everything as a cold breeze blew.
A fitting name, Cass thought as the stink of vomit and waste found her nose. The smell made her want to gag but she feigned resolve instead.
“Eww.” Maesa fell silent and covered her nose with a cloth when Cass and Taniras gave her warning glances. They certainly didn’t need trouble here.
The familiar stench of Cass’s father grew as they entered the center of the hamlet. A tall, stone building, at least three levels high, caught her gaze and she wondered who built this place. Most of the buildings housed taverns now. One sign announced goods and services. And they passed a blacksmith shop and a livery. Those in the streets stopped and stared at the entourage. Several came from behind closed doors to gawk. Mostly men and whores, from what Cass could tell, lived in this awful place. A few children, probably born in the taverns, wandered in bare feet. A very young one squatted in the street to relieve herself. The distinct smells of sour wine, waste and unwashed bodies confronted Cass as the people drew closer.
Her father certainly picked the right place to be among his own kind. Where are you, you flea-ridden snake?
As they approached the fifth tavern, another stone building with touches of red along the eaves, a sign over the door read:
CLAMORING JACKASS
Open dusk till dawn
Cass gripped her belt knife so hard the ivory handle pressed painfully into her skin. So, you’re in there. It was only then that she realized the wagons had stopped moving. “What’s going on?”
Thad glanced at her. “Not sure.”
Before she could say anything else, several men and women stepped along side the wagons. The children seemed most interested in The Big Iron. Some threw rocks at the bars and ran squealing when they received protests. One little girl stepped close to Cass’s wagon and gazed up at Snowy. She couldn’t have been more than eight or nine. She smiled and tucked her chin in as she swayed with hands on her skirts.
“Five coppers,” the woman behind her said in an accent as she placed hands on the little one’s shoulders. “She know how to please a man.”
Cass held her tongue and glanced at the men. Snowy shook his head. Thad grunted and gave an angry look to the woman who held her hand out for coins. The woman realized no one wanted the girl so she hauled her off in another direction.
“That’s disgusting,” Maesa said. No one argued.
Cass’s face flared with heat. No wonder her father came here, with tidbit girls for the taking. She cursed under her breath and squeezed her belt knife until her fingers went numb. Thad studied her but didn’t say anything. The way she felt, she might have taken his head off if he’d uttered a single word. He wasn’t like her root father. None of the Gypsies were like that awful man. But that didn’t curb her rage.
Another problem burned in her mind. Haranda had seen her father’s face in her nightmares. So had Wren and Adelsik. Would they remember if they saw him here? They wouldn’t let Cass within spitting reach if they did, and her throwing skills weren’t as sure as her hand-to-hand fighting. She would have to figure out some way to get to him before her kin realized what she planned. Surely, no one would miss one middling, especially one as vile as her root father. The son of a stinger bush. And nothing in her oaths or handbook forbad her from killing unoathed middlings.
She took care to notice all the faces around her. Women, who looked as though they’d been bedded recently. Children who needed more food and protection from the life they lived here. And men. Lot’s of men. Many staggered with too much drink and leered at the women on the wagons more than those at their fingertips. Perhaps Cass could take care of a few more besides her father. She relaxed the grip on her belt knife, so as not to draw attention from Thad or the other kin, but kept her hand close enough to get to it quickly if needed.
Snowy stayed close to Taniras and Maesa with an arrow knocked. Elder Finlor had wanted to drive straight through this place but Cass had a different idea. She started to get down from the wagon when Thad’s hand closed on her arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Taniras said.
Cass looked back at the singer, who had fists on her hips. She looked quite comical sitting on the trunk that way but there was nothing humorous in her expression. Cass hadn’t lied since the day Saldia and Kal covered for her fight with Adelsik. Of course, after that incident, the slumberer had gotten closer to Cass than anyone ever had. Adelsik studied her with those round eyes that reminded Cass of a doll.
With youngling status behind her, no one could see her footprint unless she allowed it. No one could tell whether she lied or not but that didn’t still her guts as she gazed at Taniras’s challenging, black eyes. She had never physically confronted the singer and certainly wouldn’t now that she spoke to wolves. Besides, Gypsies weren’t supposed to engage kin like that. The Elders handled disputes and Cass had no intention of involving them in anything.
I must lie. No other way around it. “I need to visit the privy.” She kept her voice low, hoping the wolf singer couldn’t tell a falsehood from the truth.
Taniras’s face softened. “You’ll have to wait.”
“I can’t.” Perhaps the woman would think her menses had come.
“At least wait until Elder Finlor can arrange for an escort.”
“All right. I won’t go alone. But I hope he can hurry.”
With that, Snowy stood. “I’ll take him the message.”
Taniras placed a hand on his arm. “Careful, love.”
He smiled. “Of course. Besides, I want to find out what in blazes is going on up there.” He jumped down from the wagon, causing several villagers to back away. Two guards joined him and they started toward the front of the procession as another took a place closer to Cass’s wagon.
She watched Birek and Maesa a heartbeat but neither said a word. In fact, Birek had been very quiet of late. She leaned out a ways but saw no familiar face in the crowd of middling gawkers. Another child, this one no older than six, ran up to the wagon on Thad’s side. Her reddened eyes left no doubt in Cass’s mind that she’d been weeping. Small, dirty hands gripped her skirts and she swayed.
Before anyone could offer her up for sale, Thad said, “No.” His fists clenched and unclenched and his jaw muscles twitched.
A smiling man, with too much wine in him, latched onto the child and dragged her toward the nearest tavern. Children deserved better than this. As the staggering man passed one of the water troughs, Cass focused transference Energy on him. The weighty feeling sat in her gut and she envisioned him tipped over. In a matter of heartbeats, a sopping wet man hung over the trough with his head beneath the water, feet kicking empty air in a futile attempt to free himself. No one came to his rescue and the little girl fled.
Cass glanced at Thad, Taniras, Maesa and Birek but none seemed to realize she’d done anything. She wished she had enough sparking Energy to cause a blaze. She would burn this disgusting hamlet to the dirt, though she doubted the stone buildings would kindle. Though middlings could see orbs, they couldn’t see sparks. Thad had great sparking ability. Cass had witnessed it. Perhaps if she brazed him off enough…
Her thoughts were interrupted as Snowy and the guards came back to the wagon. The villagers had begun to disperse and those who still watched talked among themselves now.
Snowy looked upset, and Taniras stood as he stopped on Thad’s side of the wagon. The singer leaned toward her husband. “What’s going on?”
“Road’s washed out. Flooded since yesterday. Elder Finlor says we’ll have to stay here until the water recedes. There’s no other way through to Maricar.”
“What? He can’t be serious.”
“I’m afraid he is.” Snowy’s mouth turned down.
Cass found herself almost smiling at this luck from the Goddess. Most of the villagers had drifted away to their daily businesses, which left only a few screeching children and yipping dogs in the streets, but the vile heat from these middlings nagged at her. “How does Elder Finlor know the road’s gone?”
Snowy shook his head, white-streaked hair moving about. “Evidently, there’s a village council here.”
“Of what?” Birek said. “Reformed rapists?” He didn’t smile. Instead, his sleepy features twisted into disgust.
Cass had never seen such outward emotion in the new-oathed man and she studied him. If these middlings could affect mild-mannered Birek this way then Thad should be little trouble so she placed a brief hand on his arm. “What they do to little ones is beyond excuse, Thad.” He nodded, jaw rippling under clenched teeth. “It’s bad enough that grown women live this way but for such young children to get hurt over and over is repulsive.” She was almost certain he had no idea what her nightmares entailed. His hands began to clench again. She opened her mouth to say something else but Elder Finlor walked back.
“There’s a stone wall and some ruins just the other side of the hamlet.” The Elder’s round face was slightly pink as he studied a map. “We’ll camp there. Now get these wagons moving.” He stormed back to his own.
Soon the procession clopped along the worn cobblestones. They passed two more taverns before coming to the end of Lost Miner’s Hamlet and turned toward the small river that passed behind many of the stone buildings. To the north, a large, stone wall as tall as a barn extended from the hamlet road
all the way across the river, where it created an arc to allow water to flow beneath, then continued right into the woods. The only way past the wall was down Briar’s Pass.
At the far end of the wall, where its smaller remnants disappeared through the thick trees, sat two stone buildings with missing roofs. The stone chimneys looked in fine shape, despite their age. Why no one occupied this place intrigued Cass. The buildings appeared stable. With new roofs, they would provide nice shelter for several kin.
Her mind turned to her root father again, whose stench still oozed against her senses. She wanted to get to the Clamoring Jackass even more than she wanted to punish Croferituus. If there were any way to get the Azure Amulet from Siri...no, that would get her caught for certain. She had to be discreet. Only her root father would know what she planned, and he would discover it too late. If she only had shade walking abilities. That, combined with urging, which she also didn’t have, would serve her well.
Haranda’s words rang inside her mind. No use wishing for what cannot be. Not that she genuinely wished for more Energies. Hers served her well enough. But to borrow someone’s abilities, just for a single night, was all she needed. She sighed aloud before she realized it, and Taniras eyed her as they stepped down from the wagon. Finlor ordered the wagons lined up between them and the hamlet. Safer for kin but another obstacle Cass would have to deal with tonight.
Several middling children watched from the sparse grasses behind stores and taverns. One of the girls was taken away by a woman, while the remaining played some game or other.
Taniras would question Cass if she didn’t go directly to relieve herself, so she went off into the woods where no one could see her and sat on a stump to think. She held the Energy in case someone wandered to close.
After an appropriate amount of time, she released the Energy and made her way back to her kin to help set up camp. A while later, the child taken earlier had returned with some sort food in her dirty hands. Payment for services, no doubt. Something that churned Cass’s stomach. Had her father been with one of these little ones? No doubt he’d been with them all on one occasion or other. Yes, she would enjoy his shock as she plunged her knife in his gut and split him open. She planned to send him straight to the Eternal Fires of Torment. And she planned to do it tonight.