Lakhoni (15 page)

The
winter stretched far longer than Ree liked. The stones surrounding large
hearths in the kitchen and main rooms in the castle retained plenty of heat,
but there were no hearths in the hallways and Ree grew tired of her toes
feeling like they were freezing. Her room had a fireplace, but she always had
to dash through the hallways, her bear pelt wrapped tightly around her, her
breath fogging out behind her.

Snow
and frigid temperatures made her feel cooped up. It was far less convenient to
go see Titan now. And she still hadn’t found out what Shelu had been up to that
night in the slave barracks.

She
had to get out, do something.

Not
relishing the amount of work it would take to get herself bundled up, Ree went in
search of a serving woman to lace her boots for her; that was the part that she
hated the most.

She
dashed into the hallway to her room. “Cold!” she called out, her voice echoing
off the walls that surrounded her.

A
small woman came into view just outside of Ree’s doorway. Ree recognized the
lady as one of the two room attendants.

“You,
come and help me.”

The
tiny woman nodded her obedience and followed Ree. In her room, Ree ordered the
servant to help gather her winter clothing.

Minutes
later, Ree wore heavy clothes and sat on her bed, waiting for the slow old
woman to finish tying her boots. As soon as she was done, Ree leapt to her
feet. “Finally!” Ree left one final order as she hurried to the door. “Have a
fire burning in my fireplace when I get back.”

She
ran down the hall and into the kitchen.

“Where
are we going, Mistress Ree?” came Agmoda’s dry tone.

Without
pausing, she answered, “To see my horse. He’s lonely.” She pulled open the door
to the outside. “Lonely like a poor, friendless cook.”

Agmoda
chuckled. “It’s cold out there, Mistress.”

“Really?
I thought it was summer.” Ree turned around and cast a mock glare at the skinny
cook.

“It’s
gotten colder,” Agmoda said. “Snow’s light as a feather.”

“I’ll
be fine.” Ree dashed to the long, heavy table that extended nearly the length
of the kitchen. She grabbed a carrot and skipped back to the door. “Titan says,
‘Thank you.’”

Agmoda’s
laughter followed her out into the winter day.

The
quick journey between the warm kitchen and the stables was frigid, making Ree’s
nose cold and her breath form thick clouds. At least the sun was shining and
the wind that often came out of the mountain passes wasn’t blowing. The stable
door slammed open, nearly hitting her outstretched hand. She jumped in surprise
and dodged the large, hideous man that burst through the doorway.

Shelu
didn’t look at her, didn’t acknowledge her. Ree was briefly tempted to call the
warrior on his infraction, but knew it would do no good. He would bow just
right, but his eyes would stay hard and he would keep that same smirk on his
face. It wasn’t worth forcing politeness out of the ugly, rude man when he made
it feel like he was mocking you.

Ree
stepped through the stable door, pulling it partway shut. Using the door as
camouflage, she turned to see where Shelu was going. Instead of going through
the kitchen door, or circling around to the left of the castle where the
warriors had their barracks, he had angled to the right. To the slave barracks.

She
put the carrot for Titan in a pouch sewn on the inside of her cloak and waited
for Shelu to turn around the corner of the castle. Then she dashed across the
courtyard to the wall and scuttled along it. At the corner Shelu had turned,
she stopped and peeked carefully around it. The door to the slave barracks was
closing.

The
barracks had been built right on to the immensely tall wall that surrounded the
castle compound. It was a long, low building, very similar to the stables.
There were about twenty feet between her corner and the nearest wall of the
slave barracks. The building stretched about half as long as the castle’s
length. Between the barracks and the castle was a sort of alley that would
easily allow two carts to travel abreast through it. On the far side of the
slave barracks leaned an overflowing storage shed. Crates and wooden barrels,
along with tightly wound lengths of rope and bundles of hides, spilled out of
the shed.

Ree
darted across the alley and put her back on the exterior wall of the slave
barracks.
Why am I doing this again? And why am I hiding?
She stood
still for a moment, unable to answer both questions. Then she remembered the
night of that awful nightmare. Shelu’s raised voice coming from the slave
barracks.
Right. Because Shelu is up to something. He’s not allowed in
there.

Ree
had long ago noticed that the slaves were all young, pretty women. She had also
long ago heard how protective her father was of his ‘special servants.’ He had
explained that the girls were privileged to serve their king in a “particularly
special way.”
As if I were a kid. I know what he does with them.
The
thing was that Shelu just shouldn’t be in the slaves’ barracks.

Her
back pressing the cold exterior wall of the barracks, Ree carefully made her
way toward the door that had closed behind the large warrior.
No chance I
can get in there without him seeing.
She thought about what to do, the cold
on her face and hands reminding her that if somebody saw her out here, they
would think it very strange. She had to get out of sight, but also see what
Shelu was doing.

There
was a girl’s voice that night.
It sounded like he had been angry with the girl.

She
eyeballed the barracks’ door, then the shed just beyond the door on the far
wall of the building.

A
plan came to her. Not waiting to second-guess, and really not wanting to be in
the cold much longer, Ree walked back the way she came, doing her best to look
like she was on a normal outing.
In the freezing cold.

At
the stables, she wasted no time. She ran down the aisle between the horse
stalls. When she got to Titan’s stall, she grabbed a faded woven blanket and a
length of leather.

“Titan,
I need your help,” she said.

The
horse bobbed his head at her quiet tone, twin clouds of fog streaming from his
nostrils.

She
pulled the carrot back out of her pouch and broke it in half. “You get the
other half when we’re done.”

She
threw the blanket over Titan’s back, arranging it so that it draped over his
withers and somewhat up his neck and also reached over his hindquarters. She wrapped
the lead around his neck, tying it loosely. “Come,” she said.

She
led Titan out the wide door meant for the horses, across the paddock area, and
toward the slave barracks. Ree wrapped her arms briefly around the tall horse,
savoring his warmth and wild, clean smell. “Try to be quiet, okay?”

She
led the horse down the alley between the slave barracks and the castle, passing
close in front of the door and then in front of the shed. A few feet past the
shed, she stopped and let the lead fall to the ground. Titan was a retired
battle horse. He wouldn’t stray.

Ree
stepped back to the shed, leaning in close to the outer wall of the slave
barracks and trying to focus her hearing. She put her hands out, resting them
on a bundle of hides and leaned closer.

Nothing.
Maybe if she got closer to the door.

Glancing
around, she took quiet steps, her ears questing for voices. Ree studied the
wall; a small space between two large rocks had been formed. It looked natural
and it was perfect.

“. . .
it is.” This was Shelu’s voice.

Silence
followed, although Ree thought she might have heard movement or a very soft
voice. Ree glanced around to make sure she was still alone. The cold was doing
her a favor; nobody wanted to venture out.

“You
think I’m stupid,” Shelu said. “You’re wrong. If I were stupid, I wouldn’t have
known it was you, and you wouldn’t still be alive. So just tell me where it is
and we will be done. I’ll even let you go.”

Where
what
is?

“I
told you I don’t know.” This was a girl’s voice. “Don’t you think I would have
told you by now if I knew?”

“Girl,
I can be creative with what I do to help you remember. I would leave no mark.”
A pause. “Look around. Nobody of importance is here. So let’s try to keep
things nice and just tell me where the sword is.”

The
sword? Why is he—
Ree
stood up straight. Cold chills washed over her, tingling on her skin.
He
can’t possibly mean . . .

“Why
do you think I know? I told you I don’t know why my mother was hiding—”

“I
know what you said, but it’s impossible.”

Ree
wished Shelu hadn’t cut off the girl. She wanted to hear what the slave girl
had been about to say. She had an idea, but she couldn’t bring herself to
believe it.

“Your
father and mother surely told you. Nobody is so stupid that they wouldn’t pass
on such knowledge.”

“You
keep saying that!” The girl sounded close to tears. “Why didn’t you just ask
them instead of killing them?”

“Stop
it. We will not go through this again. The sword. Where is it?”

“I
don’t know!”

Silence
stretched.

Ree
wondered if Shelu had given up, if he was on his way out of the barracks. She
took a step away from the wall, but then heard his angry voice again.

“I
will get it out of you. But first, I think I will leave you to rot here, and
perform as a slave should, for a time. That will soften you.”

Ree
wished the girl would just tell Shelu what he wanted to know.

Or
maybe I don’t. If Shelu is looking for the Sword, the actual Sword of Nubal, he
obviously can’t find it—if it’s even real.
Another thought occurred to her. Did her father
know? Was Shelu acting on the king’s bidding?
If Father had the Sword, and
somehow had the Guide too, he could make the people do anything. He could take
the land of the Usurpers.

“I
know you think I know something, but I really don’t. Why don’t you just let me
go?” The girl sounded weak, exhausted.

“You’re
no good to me out there,” Shelu said. “Let’s see how you are after a few weeks
in the king’s company. Besides, where would you go? Your village is dead.”

Ree
heard the smile in Shelu’s voice and shuddered, trying to rid herself of the
crawling sensation his words caused. Ree darted away from the wall, reaching
for the shed.

The
door creaked open just as she reached the first bundle of hides.

“Princess
Ree?”

Her
heart pounded. Ree turned. “Shelu? What are you doing in there?”

The
warrior smiled, his stained teeth dull in his overlarge mouth. The man’s nose
had been broken so many times that it looked more like a smashed piece of fruit
than a nose. And his eyes were far too small for such a large head. “I think a
better question is what are you doing out here?”

Ree
adopted the posture she used when ordering servants around. “Not that it’s any
of your business, but Titan needed a walk and I saw these hides here.” She
stroked the top fur; it felt like a wolf’s pelt. “Some of them are quite nice.”

“If
you need another blanket,” Shelu said, pushing the door closed, “you should
just tell a servant.”

“Not
me, silly,” Ree said. “Titan. It’s so cold after all.” She turned all of her
attention to the skins, carefully breathing through her open mouth so Shelu
wouldn’t see her nervousness. As she poked and prodded through the bundle, she
ignored Shelu’s gaze on her. Why wouldn’t he take the hint and leave?

“I
see,” he said.

Out
of the corner of her eye, she saw Shelu spin on his heel and march away.
Did
he believe me?
She didn’t know what he would do if he’d thought she’d
overheard. Shelu’s cruelty was legendary, but Ree thought it absurd to imagine
he might hurt the king’s daughter.

When
he was out of sight, she let out a nervous laugh. Then an urge came over her so
quickly that she didn’t know she’d acted on it until she was standing in the
warm slave barracks, the door swinging closed behind her.

A
young woman sat on a slightly raised bed, staring at the wall. Her long brown
hair was in messy clumps, her eyes rimmed with red. She jumped when Ree entered
the room.

“It’s
okay,” Ree said, extending her hands. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

She
was older than Ree, at least by two or three years. Her eyes raced around the
room, settling for only a moment at a time.

“I
just wanted to see you. I heard Shelu. I don’t want him to hurt you.”

The
girl glanced at Ree, then at the door behind her.

“Shelu?”

“Yes,
his name is Shelu,” Ree said.

An
awkward silence filled the space between the two girls.