Joel Rosenberg - [D'Shai 01] - D'Shai Read Online Free Page B

me, and sat down.
    â€œPlease. At least, tell me what I did, what they think that I did. I mean, I—â€

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14
Raising Kazuh

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    T HE NICE THING about being brought in front of Lord Toshtai was that they let me—made me, actually—wash and get dressed.
    You learn something new every day: that day I learned that fear isn’t any antidote for boredom and irritation. I had been getting both more bored and more irritated as the morning dragged on.
    He was waiting for me in the hall, the great hall in which we had been received at our arrival in Den Oroshtai, just a few days, a few ages before. I had been so much younger then.
    Lord Toshtai didn’t look any different than usual.
    Today, the fat man was arrayed in many-folded robes of a lustrous yellow silk, his hair combed back flat against his skull. The folds of his neck had been freshly powdered; his hands, scrubbed to that pink, almost a glow, that’s a proud possession of members of our beloved ruling class, lay folded neatly on his lap.
    At my approach, he sat back on his throne, watching my entrance with eyes that were neither cruel nor kind.
    The musicians played, and the guards sang as we walked:
    â€œThe acrobat, Kami Khuzud, is brought be-fore Lord Toshtai;
    â€œOur Lord to dispense jus-tice and truth.
    â€œFearless is the innocent,â€

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15
Sword Talk

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    I STARTED WITH the armory, and the body.
    Crosta Natthan insisted on accompanying us, which didn’t bother me; I really wasn’t looking forward to pushing my way past the guards.
    On the way over he was able to tell me about his discovery of the body, which he insisted on doing in a tone of voice that made it perfectly clear that he thought I was asking purely for effect.
    The warrior guarding the door moved aside at Crosta Natthan’s scowl, and we slid in through the narrow opening.
    Refle’s body hadn’t been removed. A carpet of flies lay thick on the corpse, leaving only for moments as we fanned at them. The room stank, even though the windows were open and two censers sent clouds of thick patchouli and pungent meryhm into the air.
    I raised an eyebrow. “Is there any reason that thing is still here?â€

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16
Investigation

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    B EING A PEASANT and an acrobat is no particular help when you’re investigating something; it would be handier to be a swordsman.
    I spent the rest of the evening trying to find out about Orazhi, and his daughter, and Arefai, with no success. The servants either didn’t know or wouldn’t answer directly, and the soldiers wouldn’t answer at all. Even old Crosta Natthan was close-mouthed on the subject.
    Finally I presented myself at the entrance to the living quarters.
    I guess I had been accorded some status; the servitor on duty—a warrior this time—didn’t argue with me: he simply nodded, then took a brush and ink and quickly painted a note in the elegant hand that all of Toshtai’s warriors had, and sent for an attendant to take the note to Arefai.
    Only a few minutes later an ancient old woman in an equally ancient silk robe came up to the entrance. She scowled at me for a long moment. “He will see you,â€

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17
Kami Dan Shir

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    T HE ERESTHAIS HAD set up the high wire to run from building to building, but the rest of us hadn’t been allowed on the third floor of the old donjon.
    I looked across the wire at the old donjon, and wondered. The thumb-thick cable ran from building to building, now singing-taut. I tapped on it; it gave a deep but tight basso rumble.
    I looked at the others, but mostly at Gray Khuzud, his face still a mirror to his pain. He tossed his head, his pigtail flopping limply.
    â€œIt will be fine, Kami Khuzud,â€

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18
Many Farewells

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    T HE WHILE BEFORE bedtime was our time, it was in some ways a quiet time as we all sat on Madame Rupon’s porch, looking out at the town,