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she owed her life to a Herodian witch. The foundations of her certainties had
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been cracked and chipped and it would take her a while to mend then.
Mish and the Dartar were comfortable now, but Mish still did most of the
talking, chattering without letup. Aaron wondered if he had been as
empty-headed and naive at that age.
"Yoseh. When do you think al-Akla will try to break into the citadel?"
Mish shut up. The women listened intently.
"Today sometime, sir. As soon as possible. He has to do it fast if he wants it
all to work out."
The boy had, so far, shown no inclination to rejoin his brothers. Aaron
wondered what special instructions he had received concerning the Habid
family. "After we eat I think we should go find out what's happening."
The boy nodded though he did not seem taken with the idea.
Stafa asked, "Arif coming home, Dad?"
"I hope so, pretty soon, Stafa." Stafa had proven more resilient than his
elders, except in the heart of the night, when he had been terrified that bad
men would come take him away from his mother.
Aaron said, "Laella, if this doesn't work out we're going to have to move."
"I know." She said it with a conviction she usually reserved for Aram's law.
She had something to add, too, but a knock on the door interrupted.
Aaron went, carrying a knife. He looked through the peephole. "Yoseh, it's
your brother." He opened the door.
Yoseh watched Nogah come in, uneasy. He had been given no specific orders
about what to do after he ducked into the carpenter's house but he was sure
they had not planned for him to stay till they came to get him.
Nogah looked at him a moment, shook his head, asked, "You moving in here, kid?
Come on. We have work to do."
Yoseh was too embarrassed to reply.
Tamisa got even for him, sort of. She filled a chipped cup with the pale tea
her family drank, went to Nogah and offered it in such a sweet, polite, gentle
manner that he could not refuse without looking an ass.
She came away smiling wickedly. She winked at Yoseh. She had begun to sense
her power.
Yoseh waited nervously while Nogah sipped, Mish bustled around, and the
carpenter got himself ready for the rain. Nogah scowled but did not say
anything. He had become defensively uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the
two older women.
Out of nowhere it occurred to Yoseh to wonder if this rain had reached far
enough south to spread some moisture across the mountains. He could imagine
the women and children bustling around trying to salvage every possible drop.
He could see the old men and stay-at-homes trying to reinforce embankments
meant to channel streams into shaded and hidden pools. Precious, precious, the
rain.
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Maybe this would be the turning they had been awaiting since he was a child.
Stafa went to Nogah and asked, "I ride horsy?"
"Not today. The horses are all inside. It's raining."
The boy pouted for a moment, then got interested in something else.
"Are you ready?" Yoseh asked the carpenter. V.
"Yes."
Yoseh recalled examples of his father's flowery oratory, thanked the women of
the house for their hospitality. Nogah stared at him slack-jawed. He opened
the door, let the veydeen precede him, then told Nogah, "Thank Tamisa for the
tea and let's go, big brother." He was amused. Service with Fa'tad al-Akla did
not permit many chances to practice the social graces.
The street was deserted. Mounts and gear had been removed. Fa'tad had no more
interest in the Shu, except to leave a handful of men there to intimidate the
veydeen. The exits from the labyrinth were no worry. They had been sealed with
far too many thicknesses of brick to be opened by the men trapped inside.
Yoseh asked, "Where are we headed?"
"The Residence. Fa'tad's made that his headquarters. And us guys have to keep
an eye on the ferrenghi witch. She's almost ready to have a crack at getting
into the citadel."
Yoseh frowned. The carpenter asked, "The witch Governor Sullo brought? She's
helping you now?"
Nogah said, "She doesn't care who she lets inside as long as they finish what
Ala-eh-din Beyh started. I get the feeling it's personal." He sounded like he
had trouble believing the woman could be as pliable as she had proven.
They entered the Residence, shook the rain off. Yoseh wondered what they would
do with the carpenter. Fa'tad would not want him tagging along everywhere.
Nogah said, "Go up those steps there and down the hall to the left. I'll
report in."
"Come on," Yoseh told the veydeen. "Let's see this witch. If we're going to be
watching her we're going to be right in the middle whenever whatever happens."
He was not excited about that. He had a Dartar's dread of sorcery.
The carpenter followed, gawking at their surroundings as much as he did. "They
say the citadel is a hundred times as rich as this."
"I know," the carpenter said. He seemed too awed for thought or conversation.
They found Medjhah and the others in a large and poorly lighted room where a
homely woman leaned over a table, frowning, oblivious to their presence.
Medjhah, Mahdah, Faruk, and the others surrounded Yoseh, chattering, teasing,
obviously pleased that he was unharmed.
That warmed him inside.
They were less effusive than they might have been without an audience. They
were Dartar and veydeen, and ferrenghi were present.
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The carpenter smiled uncomfortably. The woman ignored them so thoroughly they
might not have been there-till she rose suddenly, said, "I'm ready to begin my
experiments," in accented ferrenghi. Yoseh caught only the fact of her
readiness.
Medjhah fumbled out a few clumsy phrases to the effect that they had to wait
for Nogah. She was not pleased. Like the rest of them she had had no sleep and
wanted to get on and get it over.
Nogah showed a minute later. He said, "Fa'tad wants to know how much longer
we're going to stall around up here." He shoved a captured knife and sword at
the carpenter, who took them but looked at them like he had been presented
with a fistful of snakes.
Medjhah replied, "Yon beauty is waiting for you, big brother, her little heart
going pitty-pat."
Nogah gave him an ugly look. "Then let's move out." He communicated with the
witch using signs, though Yoseh knew he could have stumbled around and made
himself clear with his crippled ferrenghi. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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