Crown in the Stars (30 page)

Yawning, Shoshannah sat with Demamah just inside the cool, dim house, wearily picking through heaps of dried lentils and peas. “I wish I could have a nap.”

“You’ll sleep well tonight,” Demamah comforted her. “But that’s the last time Mother lets you out for a festival. She’s upset that you returned without your sandals.”

“I had blisters from dancing; my feet hurt so badly that I removed the sandals. My Aunt Hadarah promised to hold them. Or maybe it was Aunt Chayeh; I don’t remember. I should have tied them to my sash.”

“Mm-hmm, that’s true,” Demamah agreed. Smiling, she cast a sidelong look into the sunlit courtyard, watching Ra-Anan, who was listening to the architects present their ideas for the final stages of their grand tower. “At least Father was pleased with you.”

Yes, but that will encourage him to hand me over to the next rowdy gathering. And then I might not return safely
. Reluctantly, Shoshannah considered thanking Adoniyram for his apparent protection last night. But something about his
conduct during the festivities had unsettled her—and it wasn’t just his blatant flirting with all those young girls. He had been so calm and unsurprised to see her amid the crowd…

Zeva’ah entered the main room now, smiling, the fringed crimson-and-cream wool garment in her arms. “I should still be angry about your sandals, Shoshannah, but you and Demamah did such fine work on this fabric that I find myself excusing you.”

“Thank you, Aunt,” Shoshannah murmured, picking through the lentils. She was going to hear about the sandals for months if they weren’t returned, she was sure.
Please, Hadarah, or Chayeh, don’t forget to return them!

“And,” Zeva’ah continued, “you impressed the women of the city; they’re sending little gifts to you. Food mostly, which I’ve sent to Tabbakhaw in the kitchen. So, obviously—despite your objections—you enjoyed yourself after all.”

“Once I knew I would survive,” Shoshannah replied, in what she hoped was a teasing tone.
Once I’ma-Meherah was with me… yes, then I had fun. I was with some of my own family again
.

Zeva’ah clearly resented Shoshannah’s teasing. Throwing her a sharp look, she smoothed the fabric in her arms and changed the subject. “The next garment you make should match this; I’ll arrange for more crimson. But you should make it of even finer thread.”

There was a brief commotion at the gate as Perek and some guardsmen streamed inside, bowed, and knelt, waiting for Ra-Anan to finish his meeting. Shoshannah looked away, uninterested. Ra-Anan’s dealings with his guardsmen were usually dull and dominated by her uncle’s own unchallenged commands.

She continued her sorting, listening to her aunt’s preferences in threads and colors, while stifling the impulse to yawn again.

Then Demamah gasped, “Oh! Look at those two coming in now—they’re at least as big as Perek!”

“And
filthy,”
Zeva’ah said, shocked, moving closer to the door to stare at the two men who had offended her. “Surely they aren’t being considered as guardsmen.”

Shoshannah glanced at the two men, then gaped, clutching handfuls of dried lentils. The bound, grimy, thick-bearded, skin-crawlingly unkempt man now kneeling before Ra-Anan was Tiyrac—dear, grumbling, mush-hearted Tiyrac! And just beyond him, hands also bound, was…
Kal
.

She almost said his name aloud. But the word stopped in her throat, she was so badly shocked. They were here. Kal was here. And scruffy, with an oily, hacked, uncombed mane. How could this be her usually tidy, al-most-vain-of-his-hair Kaleb?
What’s happened to you?

Think!
She scolded herself, rubbing the lentils from her sweating palms.
Kal and Tiyrac would never willingly go anywhere looking so awful, not even to a waste pit
. She studied her beloved and his brother again, touched and tortured by their captivity.
You’ve done this on purpose. For me. I wish you hadn’t, but I am so glad to see you!

She was grateful that Zeva’ah and Demamah were so fascinated by the two filthy apparitions in their courtyard that they were ignoring her completely. While they stared, Shoshannah calmed herself, listening hard.

“You are brothers,” Ra-Anan said, arrogant, looking as if he smelled something putrid. “Move back, then tell me your names.”

Tiyrac scooted backward on his knees, then answered unwillingly, “Tiyrac.”

“And I am Kaleb, the younger,” Kal said, his sociable voice at odds with his loathsome appearance.

“What tribe are you from?”

“We’ve been disowned,” Kaleb answered, still pleasant. “We have no tribe.”

Ra-Anan frowned. “Why?”

“Fighting. Too many complaints about our behavior.”

“At least they simply disowned you,” Ra-Anan said pointedly. “Here, we are not so merciful if you break the rules. You have no wives?”

“No,” Tiyrac said, abrupt.

Kaleb shrugged, wonderfully casual. “My beloved is somewhere; I think her family is hiding her from me.”

Hearing this, Shoshannah nearly choked—delighted that he was able to enjoy himself, filth and all. Ra-Anan eyed Kaleb darkly. “You need not concern yourself with her now; you will both be in my service until I dismiss you.”

“Your men have my horse,” Kaleb said. “I go with him.”

“Shut up about your horse,” Tiyrac growled. Facing Ra-Anan, he demanded, “What if we want to leave?” “You won’t be leaving.”

“Meaning you’ll keep us here against our will?”

“You’ll prefer to stay. If you don’t, we send others to find you. And if we find you, then you’ll both suffer,” Ra-Anan informed them, looking aggravated. He was also recoiling slightly, his thin nostrils twitching.

A persistent outcry from the street stopped the interrogation. A lean, dignified guardsman opened the gate, spoke to an unseen person outside, accepted something,
then shut the gate again. His dignity fading, the guardsman dangled Shoshannah’s just-returned sandals from his fingertips, obviously not knowing what to do with them.

“There
are your sandals,” Zeva’ah sniffed to Shoshannah. “Go get them, then come right back.”

“Yes, Aunt.” Nervously Shoshannah stepped forward, bowed politely to her uncle, and accepted her sandals from the discomfited guardsman, thanking him. She was aware of Kaleb’s presence the whole time. When she dared to glance at him, she saw that he and Tiyrac were openmouthed, frankly scandalized by her one-shouldered linen gown. But then Kal’s eyes gleamed suddenly, clearly plotting mischief.

“Do you always let your women walk around half naked?” he asked Ra-Anan, sounding completely amazed and naïve.

He was pretending, Shoshannah knew, but he still made her flush self-consciously. She wanted to throw her sandals at him.

Ra-Anan stared at Kaleb for a long instant, then sneered and spoke to the other guardsmen. “Be sure these animals are clean, properly clothed, and
polite
before presenting them to me again. Get them out of here.”

The guardsmen all grimaced and turned their faces as they hauled Kal and Tiyrac away, shoving them roughly. Shoshannah knew that if either brother did anything wrong, he’d be punished severely. Perhaps killed.
Behave!
she begged Kal silently. To the Most High, she prayed,
Be with them, please …

She strained as much as she dared to watch them departing through the gate. There was no mistaking Kaleb’s jaunty walk; he was enjoying himself and planning more
mischief. Trembling, heartsick, Shoshannah went back to sorting the lentils.

Zeva’ah turned away from the door, indignant. “Half naked indeed!”

“Did you
see
her?” Kaleb hissed to Tiyrac, still awestruck by his unexpected glimpse of Shoshannah.

“I saw her,” Tiyrac muttered. “And it was enough. Control yourself.”

“No wonder your beloved is gone,” Ghid’ohn told Kaleb grimly. “You probably insulted her every time you opened your mouth. Now you’re going to have a bath.”

“A what?” Kaleb asked, pretending ignorance again, making Tiyrac glare at him.

“A bath,” Ye’uwsh said, shoving him forward. “Something you’ve never had before. The nearest mud puddle will improve you, I’m sure.”

Vastly relieved, Kaleb sighed. This day had proven better than he’d dared to hope. Despite the shock of her face paints and bare shoulder and arms, Shoshannah looked perfectly beautiful and well cared for. And she had seemed concerned; her heart was unchanged toward him. Elated, he blessed the Most High.

He decided to quarrel—just a little—about having a bath.

Seventeen

“YOU—KALEB—LOOK,” the guardsman-turned-stablehand Dibriy complained. “You’ve missed a pile. Clean it up!”

I haven’t reached that stall yet
, Kal answered silently, scooping the manure.
If you hadn’t been slapping your lips together all morning, you would have noticed that I’ve been working in a pattern
.

Kaleb worked for Dibriy and the other guardsmen as he had always worked for Zekaryah: willingly, remembering that by proving himself trustworthy with small, unpleasant tasks, he would eventually be granted more agreeable responsibilities. His goal was to guard Shoshannah. Or at least to tend her horse officially. He had already found Ma’khole, who was too fat now but otherwise healthy. The little mare had recognized Kaleb,
bumping him in greeting; Shoshannah would be pleased. If only he could tell her.

Perhaps today I’ll see her
. This hope—and the alluring memory of her in that new gown—made captivity bearable. But he had been watching for days without seeing her, much less speaking to her. And there were other problems. He wasn’t allowed to talk with Tiyrac, and he was separated from Khiysh.

Most High
, he thought, trying not to complain,
let me see a way to get out of this Great City alive with Shoshannah and Tiyrac and the horses. There must be a way
.

As soon as Kaleb had finished spreading the stalls with fresh straw and grasses and filling the troughs with water, Dibriy commanded, “Weaponry. Now.”

Weaponry. Grimacing, Kal retrieved his “weapon”—a blunted pole—from a corner of the stable. This was a toddler’s weapon. And his weaponry instructor, that Perek, wasn’t much more impressive. He was volatile and blindly devoted to their Master Ra-Anan.
So now we’re going to dance around in the mud and I’ll pretend to learn what I already know
.

“Do you think you’re clever?” Perek sneered at the end of their “lesson,” gouging Kal with a pole. “You couldn’t defeat a dung heap!”

And I think you see me as a threat
, Kaleb decided.
That’s why you’re harassing me constantly
. He reminded himself to be patient. For Shoshannah. Clenching his jaw, he endured Perek’s taunts.

Perek stalked, swatted, prodded, mocked, and smacked at Kal the whole way to the gate of Ra-Anan’s
courtyard. Kaleb cast sidelong glances at Perek’s shadow behind him as they walked, gauging Perek’s movements, bracing himself for each blow.

Perek, you’re a horse dropping
.