Elyon's Ghost, page 5
Ghost didn’t answer. She scratched her chin and glanced down at the small space remaining between them. She’d been squatting behind a smaller box, ready to spring if she needed to, but now, she stepped around it and moved forward a few steps and positioned herself like Terrowyn had, shoulder against the wood facing the Guardian. She held out the hand holding the knife and opened the fist wrapped around it.
Terrowyn stared at the handle and then, for the first time, studied the blade. “That’s not yers.” She lowered her brows and squinted to get a better look at the weapon in the flickering light.
Ghost’s eyes narrowed, and she closed her fist around the handle and pulled the knife in close.
Realizing her skelli thought she meant to take it from her, Terrowyn grinned and amended the statement, “Maybe I should say it weren’t yers before, but it is now, aye?”
The girl’s shoulders relaxed again, and she looked down at the knife. Terrowyn had only recently realized that no one had taught the child how to speak, and she’d begun teaching her as best as she knew how. Because of this, the skelli’s vocabulary was limited, and Ghost repeated, “Yers.”
Terrowyn’s eyes held a glint of amusement. “No. I say ‘yers,’ and you say, ‘mine.’”
At the skelli’s blank expression, Terro pulled out her own belt knife. She pointed to the one Ghost held. “Yers.” Then she bounced her own in her hand. “Mine.” She’d always known Ghost was bright. How else could she have survived living in the Codpiece from the age of three all on her own? When she saw understanding dawn in the small, dark eyes set so deeply in the undernourished face, she smiled.
Ghost bounced her knife in the palm of her hand. “Mine.” She pointed to Terrowyn’s blade. “Yers.”
“Exactly.” Terro pointed to the welts on the girl’s arms. “Any more of those I can’t see?”
Ghost looked down at the welts. She ran the sharp edge of the knife up her arm and then back down again.
Without thinking, Terrowyn snatched at the knife. “What are ya doing?”
Ghost reacted so fast that she startled Terrowyn into jumping to her feet in an automatic defensive move. The skelli had leapt up, too, swiped the knife through the air, and retreated into the darkness, presumably up against the wall.
Behind her, Geller drawled, “She didn’t get ya, did she?”
Terrowyn looked at her arms, fingers, and chest, knowing a slice from a sharp blade could take a few moments before you actually felt it. She swallowed hard and shook her head. “I’m fine.”
The Prime chuckled. “Ya know, me old da used to tell me that no matter how much ya trust yer horse, ya never walk up behind ‘em and startle ‘em. Ursuna, he’d say, ye’ll lose yer teeth that way. I’d say ya almost lost yer fingers.”
Terro turned and, still thinking about her close call, grinned at her old handler and blew out a quiet breath, “Fowkin’….”
Geller raised her brows and returned the grin. “Aye. Well said.” She handed two biscuits and several slices of apple into the gap between the boxes. “Here ya go. Kara said she’ll be happy to look at th’ lass, but….”
Taking the food, Terrowyn raised her brows, “Aye. But is right.” She looked into Geller’s eyes. “Sorry I’m not helpin’ with th’ processin’.”
Geller held up her hand. “Don’t worry about that. Th’ Commander stopped and woke up the magistrate, who woke up her scribes, and they’re all down there now takin’ names and statements. If ya can find th’ two trib runners and anyone else mixed up in this mess, they’ll be goin’ to th’ mines fer a very long time.”
“Ya gotta love th’ Commander. She’s good at her job. Makes our work easier, that’s fer sure.”
“And she hates slavers almost as much as she hates th’ rapists. Anyway, feed yer skelli and yell if ya need Kara or me.”
CHAPTER 6
Terrowyn knew the side wall of the building wasn’t too far back from where she stood, so she moved a tiny bit closer to where Ghost waited in the dark and lowered herself down again. “I’m sorry, Lass. I shouldn’t of grabbed ya, but I was worried ya’d cut yerself.” She chuckled and turned her head to stare into the blackness beyond the smaller box. “Kinda funny thinkin’ a skelli what’s been on her own practically since she dropped from between her whorin’ mother’s legs can’t handle a knife without cuttin’ herself. But that blade looks a mite sharper than th’ one I’m used to seein’ ya with, aye?”
Ghost moved forward but stopped on the other side of the box.
The welts on her arms would heal, but Terrowyn was worried about any other injuries the two nobs might have caused. Slavers weren’t known for their gentleness, and since Ghost wasn’t pretty enough for the higher-end sex trade, she’d probably been thrown in with the pidges and nobs who’d end up as slave labor or worse, those who were considered expendable and sold to the brutal underground sex dens where skellies had a life expectancy of less than a sevenday. “How come yer up here and not down in th’ cages?”
Ghost clacked her teeth together again.
“Ya bit th’ skuzzy nob when he pulled ya out of th’ bag?” A common method of carrying skellies and nints through the streets was to knock them unconscious and throw them into a bag. Terrowyn cocked her head. “Did he hit ya on th’ head? Is that how he caught ya?”
Ghost shook her head and pointed in the general direction of the stairs. “Skelli.”
“Yeah, there’s another skelli down in th’ cages.”
“Lag.” She made a snatching motion and stared into Terrowyn’s eyes to see if she understood.
“The nob grabbed th’ other skelli.”
Ghost pointed at her own chest and made a snatching motion again.
“And th’ nob grabbed you?”
Shaking her head, Ghost tried the new word. She made the snatching motion with her fingers. “Grabbed?”
“Aye.”
“Nob grabbed skelli. Ghost grabbed skelli.”
“Ya tried to save yer friend from th’ slavers and got grabbed yerself, and they brought ya here?”
Ghost held her knife with two fingers and let the blade point toward the ground in front of her feet. She clacked her teeth, snatched the blade, and swung it back and forth. Then she used her other hand and raised it above her head and brought it down hard and fast and made striking sounds each time the arm came down. Then she pointed to her arms and looked up to see if Terrowyn was following along.
“Ya bit him, stole his knife to keep him away, and then he took somethin’ and tried to whip it out of yer hand.”
Ghost pointed behind her. “Lag.” She then pointed to the ground in front of her feet. “Lag.”
“Both nobs came after ya with th’ leather or rope or whatever they used?” She recognized the look when the skelli didn’t understand what she’d said. “Nevermind. Yer safe, now, Ghost, and I’m proud of ya fer tryin’ to help yer friend. But ya can’t do that no more. Ya come find me, understand?”
It was obvious to Terro that the skelli didn’t understand, so she let it drop. She tore off a piece of biscuit, knowing that if she gave her the whole thing, she’d stuff it all into her mouth and make herself sick. “Here.”
Ghost looked at it and then into Terrowyn’s eyes. She held out her hand, indicating she wanted Terro to toss it to her.
Shaking her head, Terro said, “Yer not a dog, Ghost. Yer my skelli, and I’ll not toss ya the food anymore like yer some mangy dog on th’ street. Come get it from me. I won’t grab ya, and I won’t hurt ya.” She stretched her arm out until the biscuit was almost hovering over the short box. When Ghost snatched it out of her hand and shoved it into her mouth, she broke off another piece and repeated the process several times over.
Grinning over at the girl, she held up a slice of an apple, knowing the child considered them a special treat. Ghost’s eyes lit with excitement, or hunger, it could have been either. The girl stared first at the fruit and then into Terrowyn’s eyes. “Come out here.” She patted the floor next to her.
Ghost considered the idea and then moved in front of the box, receiving a part of the apple as a reward.
Terrowyn held up the other three slices. “Ya want th’ rest?” At Ghost’s emphatic nod, Terro said, “Well, I want a healer to take a look at ya. Ya let her come, ya get a slice. Ya let her look at ya, ya get more. Aye?” The fact that Ghost even considered the question told Terrowyn how hungry she was. “I know ya watch th’ healers that help nobs and pidges in th’ Codpiece. I’ve seen ya up on th’ roof watchin’ at times. Kara’s one of th’ healers. A bit heavy,” she patted her stomach, “dark face, friendly eyes.”
Watching the healers had been a fun way to pass the time, and a couple of times, Kara had looked up to see her sitting on the roof with her legs over the side, watching her. Ghost remembered the woman tossing her a whole apple one time, and she’d caught it and scrambled away to eat it all on her own. She’d gotten sick that night, but that was because she hadn’t listened to Terrowyn, who always told her to eat slowly so she didn’t throw up her food.
That was a hard thing for a starving nine-turn skelli to do, though. Ever since she’d thrown up the apple, she’d tried to eat just a little at a time and save the rest for later. She stared at the apple in Terro’s hand and thought she’d try for the treat without the healer. Holding out her hand, she looked at the woman whom she’d known her entire life. “Please?”
Terrowyn broke the apple slice in half and held it out on her palm. “Ya used yer words. Good girl.”
Before Terro could change her mind, Ghost snatched the apple and stuffed it into her mouth.
“Whoa, slow down. Ya don’t want to choke on th’ skezzi thing.” She held up the other side of the broken slice. “Kara?”
Knowing she wouldn’t get the rest without doing as Terro asked, Ghost nodded.
“Ya need to put th’ knife away. I won’t let ya near her with it.” When Ghost backed away, Terrowyn held up her hand. “It’s yers. I won’t take it from ya. But no knife around th’ healer. It needs to be on that box when she comes.” Pushing to her feet, Terrowyn walked to the aisle and called out, “Geller.”
Ailith climbed up the stairs and stood on the top step. “Th’ Prime said I were to wait to see if ya needed somethin’. She’s down below.”
“Go get th’ healer, Kara, and bring me a new torch. This one’s sputterin’.”
Nodding, Ailith pointed to th’ window. “Sun’s comin’ up. We should have a bit of light comin’ in soon. I’ll grab a torch and th’ healer fer ya.” She raced down to where the healers had set up a room to check out anyone who needed medical attention, which, unfortunately, turned out to be practically everyone who’d been shackled to the wall.
Ailith stepped in the door and nearly bumped into Commander Shirin. She quickly jumped to the side. “Whoa, excuse me, Commander.”
Shirin still couldn’t believe the changes she’d seen in Ailith since Lady Knight Isobel had worked her miracle. The shiv hadn’t quite regained her old, cheeky self, but Sábria felt that was because she was ashamed of the way her “illness,” as she referred to Ailith’s aberration, had taken over her personality. Shirin agreed and had decided it was best to treat her like she would any junior shiv. “What do you need, Ailith?”
When Ailith opened her mouth to speak, Shirin barked, “Is that how you report to your Commander?”
Pulling herself to attention, Ailith brought her fist to her chest. She waited for Shirin to nod and then began again. “Senior Guardian Terrowyn told me to come get healer Kara fer Ghost, and she wants me to bring her a new torch too, Commander.”
Shirin turned to Kara. “Kara, can you break away for another patient upstairs?”
Kara finished wrapping a nob’s wrist where the restraints had scraped the skin raw and stood. “I’m all yours, Commander.”
Turning back to Ailith, Shirin pointed to a pile of unlit torches in the corner. “Grab one of those and meet us upstairs.”
Although it wasn’t necessary to salute every time she was told to do something, Ailith did it anyway, for good measure. By the time she’d gathered two new torches, one for her since hers was also sputtering, and one for Terrowyn, the Commander and Kara were already on the fifth floor. Ailith trotted noisily up the stairs, and the Commander turned back to her and held up her hand.
Terrowyn called out. “It might be a bit. Ghost needs to decide if she wants this apple slice enough to leave her knife on the box.”
Shirin took one of the torches from Ailith. “I’m coming over with the new torch.” After handing it to Terrowyn, she pulled Ailith off to the side while Kara waited to go check Ghost. “Prime Geller said you had something you needed to tell me.”
So much had happened in the last few candlemarks that Ailith had to think a moment about what it was she wanted to run past the Commander. She cocked her head and stared out a side window. The building next door was a floor shorter than the granary, and she could see the sky brightening over the rest of the city. The yellow sky right before the sun rose above the horizon sent her back to another sunrise when she’d been a child standing next to the mass funeral pyre watching her parents’ bodies go up in flames. Memories and nightmares had been plaguing her lately, and she wasn’t sure why.
“Ailith?”
Ailith blinked several times and came back to the present. “Sorry, Commander. I was tryin’ to remember what I wanted to tell ya.”
Shirin had watched Ailith’s eyes unfocus and wondered where she’d just gone. “Are you okay?”
Ailith forced a smile on her face. “Oh, aye. Weren’t nothin’. Well, it were to me, but nothin’ really. Let’s see. I was talkin’ to one of th’ skellies in th’ cage. Oh! I remember. The skelli and some pidges were sayin’ how they didn’t want to go to th’ Temple because th’ Arch Priestess sells ‘em to th’ mines as sex slaves.”
“What?” Shirin practically shouted the word. She’d never heard such nonsense.
“Aye. And I was wonderin’—”
“Wondering if it’s true?” Shirin stared at Ailith in shock.
“No! Fowk no. Why does everyone think I’d believe somethin’ so daft?” Her brows descended. “You and th’ Prime don’t trust me to be one of ya nor more.” Crossing her arms, she stared out the window again.
Shirin sighed and rubbed her temples. “No, I’m sorry, Ailith. You surprised me, nothing more. What were you wondering?”
Ailith couldn’t get the idea out of her head that both Shirin and Geller automatically thought she’d believe such nonsense. She glared at the Commander. “Do all of ya think I’ve gone queer in me head? That I don’t trust th’ Arch Priestess to do what’s right? Ya must think I’m still crazy or—”
Shirin grabbed Ailith’s shoulders and turned her so they were facing each other. “No. Absolutely not.” She shook her lightly. “Listen to me, Ailith. I’m your Commander, and do you think for one moment that if I thought you were mad, I’d allow you to come out and work with the Blades? You surprised me, that’s all. I’ve never heard of such a thing—that people would think Sábria would sell women to the mines. Now that’s mad.” Shirin let her hands drop to her sides. “Now, what were you wondering?”
At times, some people spoke more with their eyes than with their words. As Ailith stared into the Commander’s eyes, she knew she was telling the truth. Pulling in a deep breath, she let it out while she gathered her thoughts. “Well, remember that pidge what gave th’ Arch Priestess the Deathbell disease?”
“Yes.”
“Someone wanted her and all the Blades dead. Now, someone, maybe th’ same someone, is tryin’ to make it out that th’ Arch Priestess is crooked. Sellin’ pidges and skellies fer sex. Tryin’ to make it so people don’t trust her. Ya ken me meanin’?”
Shirin’s gaze hardened, and she nodded slowly. “Yes, I think I do.” She put her hand on Ailith’s shoulder and squeezed. “Ailith. There’s a reason the Goddess brought you to us, and I’ve come to believe that your insight….” Shirin recognized the narrowed eyes and slightly cocked head as Ailith’s way of trying to suss out the meaning of a word. “Your unique way of looking at things is one of those reasons. Never keep your suspicions to yourself. I want, no, I expect you to bring them to me, just like you did today.”
Blushing at the unexpected praise, Ailith nodded once. “Aye, Commander.”
Shirin patted her shoulder a last time. “Good Lass. I’ve raised a lot of Blades, and you’re going to be one of the best.” Ailith had lowered her gaze to her boots, and Shirin put her knuckles beneath her chin and raised it until they were looking into each other’s eyes. “Believe it, Ailith. I do.”
“I’ll try me best, Commander. Thanks. And…” she shrugged, “…well, just thanks is all.”
“Go on back to the healer’s room and help out where you can.”
“Aye, Commander.” She hesitated, “Um, Prime Geller told me to wait near th’ stairs down below in case Senior Guardian Terrowyn needed somethin’.”
Confirming a change of orders with someone who hadn’t given the previous order was something most shivs found difficult to remember. Usually, they were so nervous about receiving an order that they just saluted and ran off to follow the new command. Shirin was glad to see Ailith had been in the military long enough to know she needed to clarify which order to follow. “I wasn’t aware of that. Return to your post, then.”
Ailith came to attention and saluted before hurrying to the bottom of the stairs to wait.
CHAPTER 7
Terrowyn called out from between the boxes, “Kara. Come to th’ opening.”
Kara stepped forward, along with Shirin, who wanted to hear what was said. Because Ghost was so important to one of their Senior Guardians, both she and Sábria had taken an interest in her as well.
Kara stopped at the opening and peered in. “Hello, Ghost.”
