Michelle West - Sun Sword 06 - The Sun Sword Read Online Free Page A

and she shook her head, to
put him at ease. Was aware that she hadn't by the darkening of his expression.
Yes
, she thought,
I'm at home here
.
    And at home, as well, in the streets of the upper holdings—the ones lucky
enough to border the bridge that led to
Averalaan Aramarelas
. At home
on the stone roads, and at home on the cobbled ones; at home in the wide streets
that began, with crowds and older buildings, to narrow as they moved toward the
Common at the heart of the Old City.
    She paused a moment beneath the great trees that could be seen at almost any
distance—by land or sea; they were the pride of Averalaan, and if their roots
caused difficulty to those who lived near them, the complaints they made were
couched in grudging respect. Even Gregori looked up toward their heights and
offered a rare smile.
    It was the only time he took his eyes off her back.
    Wagons and horses now joined them in the causeways; the languages of the Old
City grew louder and more varied. People gestured over the din that had grown
with every step taken, and some of those gestures would have curdled Ellerson's
blood. They made her smile.
    If she felt at home on the Isle, she could take comfort from the fact that
she also felt at home on the mainland; she was part of both worlds.
    But she could not fail to notice the respect given her clothing— it was her
clothing; neither height nor presence demanded much— and her guards.
Terafin
,
she heard, to either side. She looked ahead.
    She led them through the crowded streets of the Common until they came at
last to the imposing stone structure known as the Merchant Authority, and when
she placed foot upon the first of its broad steps she turned to glance at
Gregori. His smile was thin, devoid of warmth. But he nodded.
    "Yes," he told her quietly. "We've been followed."
    "How many?"
    "Two."
    "Whose?"
    His eyes narrowed slightly. "Haerrad's," he said, after a pause. "Or
Rymark's."
    She cursed, her smile sweet and demure around the shocking words. His brows
did not so much as rise.
    "Can we lose them here?"
    "There are many ways into the Merchant Authority at this time of day," he
replied. "If they choose to speak with the guards who watch those routes,
they'll know that you've left by an alternate one; your position, sadly, has
been noted."
    "Don't worry about it," she said, with unfeigned confidence. As reward, she
saw his open curiosity. She shouldn't have been pleased, but she was; Gregori,
like Devon, was almost unflappable. Still, it had been a lot easier to lose
pursuit in the old days. Neither she nor her pursuers were forced to be subtle,
and dignity did have its cost.
    She took the steps one at a time; Angel and Carver flanked her, and Daine
preceded her. A man met them at the door, as he always did; Gregori's words were
true.
    "ATerafin!" he said, in his oily voice.
    "Jelnick," she replied, in her sweetest.
    "You've been absent from the floor for far too long." His laugh was loud and
annoying. He ran a hand through hair that was flat with scented oil, and then
extended it; she tried not to look at it as if it were a dead fish.
    Ellerson would have been proud.
    Especially as she prevented herself from flinching when he lifted her hand to
lips and kissed it. Southern customs, she thought, in annoyance. She waited only
as long as politeness decreed before she retrieved her hand.
    "Forgive me, Lady," he said, grin broadening over perfect teeth—the only part
of him that
was
perfect. "We so seldom have people of note who are not
fat, fifty, and dour."
    She could not understand how he could speak so loudly and still have a job.
But her smile was now firmly fixed on her face. He offered to escort her, and
Gregori at last chose to rescue her, interposing his slender body between hers
and the merchant warden's girth.
    Beyond his bulk, the Merchant Authority crawled with people, each going about
their business. Some were voluble; their raised voices could