Lakhoni (26 page)

Lakhoni
couldn’t argue with that.

Just
before the caravan departed from the plaza, dogs began to bark behind Lakhoni.
Surprised, he spun and saw a group of huge dogs bounding out of the gate to the
compound. Several young men ran after them, trying to herd the animals south to
where Lakhoni assumed there had to be another gateway out of the city. After
long moments of chaos, the boys got the dogs running in a semblance of order.

Then
the plaza disappeared behind the shaven, hairy, tattooed, and cloth-covered
heads of the citizens of Zyronilxa. Zello’s wagon led the way through rivers of
people, down wide streets cutting between more blagros and finally to what
appeared to be the east entrance to the city. The odors of food, garbage,
people, and old fires gave way somewhat to a heavier odor: rotted fish guts.

All
in all, it had taken the caravan nearly an hour to travel from the north
entrance to the east entrance of the capitol city.

Lakhoni
cleared his throat, “Do you know how big the city is?”

“About
a mile an’ a half long. Mile wide,” Regg said. He began making clicking noises
to encourage Dara to keep moving as Zello and Hezeron’s wagons each came to a
halt near some large, brick buildings. They looked like barracks, but their
doors were much wider.

Regg
gestured to the wall of the building. “This’s gonna take some time. Best to
stay out of t’way.”

Lakhoni
walked to the building’s wall and leaned back on it, sliding down into a
crouch. Regg grabbed a bag of feed from the back of Paztar’s wagon and fastened
it to the harness on Dara’s head. Several men joined the merchants from the
caravan. While Regg tended to Dara, the men and the merchants argued loudly.
Lakhoni caught the words “price” and “agreement” many times.

Finally,
nobody in the arguing group looking very happy, forearms were clasped and the
merchants gestured at their wagons. Lakhoni pushed himself back up and followed
Regg’s lead as the unloading began. Carrying four bricks, Lakhoni walked behind
Regg and the other ox-tenders and the guards as they entered the building. It
was a warehouse, and it had to be at least thirty paces long, twenty paces
wide, and the height of three men. And it was almost completely full of stacks
and stacks of bricks and roof tiles. There were narrow walkways for workers to
navigate amongst the bricks, but there had to be enough brick in this building
to construct an entire city.

The
unloading was heavy, sweaty work. After all of the walking he had done, Lakhoni
didn’t notice any strain on his legs, but his chest and arms, as well as his
lower back, were knotted tightly when the brick hauling was finally complete.

“That’s
got ‘er,” Regg said, dusting his hands off on his trousers.

“What’s
next?” Lakhoni asked, emerging from the dimness of the warehouse into a
darkening city. The sun had gone behind the mountain range, and the light was
failing fast.

“Dye
cakes,” Regg said. He showed Lakhoni a special palette just inside the
warehouse and the two of them quickly unloaded the remaining red dye.

This
done, Lakhoni brushed his hands on his breeches and asked, “Now what?” He
noticed the oxen had been led off somewhere and were now completely out of
sight.

“Nothing.”

Taken
aback, Lakhoni met Regg’s eyes. “So that’s it? We’re done?” His heart hammered
in his chest. A nervous quiver in his stomach felt like a trapped bird.

“Yep.
Job’s over.”

“What
do the men do now?”

“Go
home, if they’ve got one. Others’ll find a place to eat, get clean, sleep.
Tomorrow there’ll be more work.”

“Maybe
another caravan?”

“S’right.”

Lakhoni
pondered for a moment, looking around at the foreign sights of the city.
Despite the heavy, unpleasant smells, he was starving. And exhausted.

And
he worried that the worst smell assaulting his nose might be himself.

“Where
can I find food?” Lakhoni asked.

“You
got money?”

A
sinking feeling filled him. “No.”

“Paztar’s
done good here, you should talk to him,” Regg said, pointing to the merchant in
blue. “He’s sometimes free with the coin and he’ll be payin’ most of us in a
minute.”

Lakhoni
nodded and made his way to the merchant, who was just closing his heavy lock box
with one hand and holding a jingling pouch with the other. Yed stood nearby,
clearly keeping an eye out for anyone who might want to sneak some money from a
wealthy merchant. Thinking back to the deal he made with the merchant, Lakhoni
remembered that the deal was that he would do the cooking and be allowed to
stay with the caravan until Zyronilxa. But he had helped with all of the
unloading and loading too, surely that would help him convince Paztar to pay
him something.

The
goat-faced merchant mumbled to Regg and Jeno, handing them a substantial pile
of coins each. As Paztar did this, Yed and Razo hefted the heavy money box from
Paztar’s wagon and three strange-looking wagons stopped next to the caravan.
They were much smaller than the heavy wagon the oxen had been dragging. These
wagons looked to be big enough for one passenger to sit on a cushioned seat
that rode near to the ground, right on the axle of two tall wheels. The driver
of the wagon sat on the creature to which the wagon was hitched. The animal
looked like a llama, but was much wider than the llamas Lakhoni had seen pass
through his village. The shoulders and haunches of the beast were rounded and
muscled; its legs were much thicker than that of a llama too. Lakhoni stepped
forward, trying to catch Paztar’s eye before he left. Finally the thickly
browed face turned his way. “What is it boy?”

Lakhoni
thought fast. “I wanted to thank you for letting me join your caravan.”

The
eyebrows rose a little and Paztar nodded silently, turning to go and signaling
Yed and Razo to follow.

“Uh,
Paztar?” Lakhoni said, one hand going out as if to stop the man.

“Something
else?” Paztar said, turning on his heel to glower at Lakhoni. “I am anxious to
return home, boy. It has been a long journey.”

“I
don’t want to offend, but as I told you on the road, I have no family. I know
nobody here.” Lakhoni let silence stretch. “I have nothing.” He forced himself
to keep looking the man in the eyes, not wanting to seem anxious or unsure of
himself. “But our deal was that I would cook, and I did more than that. Maybe
you could help me get started here?” Duty, mercy, fair
dealing . . . would these things convince Paztar?

“You
don’t lack for brashness, boy,” Paztar said.

Lakhoni
acknowledged that with a nod and remained in place, unsure of where to put his
hands.

“And
your point is valid. I would be dishonest if I took your labor free of charge,”
Paztar said. “But you did eat my food, too, and the deal was that you would
cook and being able to join us would be your pay,” Paztar said, a small smile
forming on his lips.

Lakhoni
waited.

“However,
the food you ate was not enough for the labor. I will pay you two ontis for
your work, but will subtract the value of the food you ate,” Paztar said. He
gestured to Yed and Razo to open the heavy box. Making a show of deep
consideration, Paztar extracted several coins. Through it all, Lakhoni willed
himself to stand quietly.

“Here’s
for your labor, boy,” Paztar said, dumping the coins into Lakhoni’s
outstretched hands. That done, Paztar stepped through a swinging door that the
wagon driver held open and sat down. Yed and Razo set the box on the floor of
the small wagon. The wagon driver was already in place and he called to the
beast. The animal trotted quickly away, swinging a sharp turn and pulling the
small wagon back into the city, Yed and Razo jogging behind.

Lakhoni
sifted through the coins in his hand.

“D’you
even know what those are worth?” Regg asked.

“No
idea.” Lakhoni grinned Regg. “But it’s money, right?”

“S’money.
T’ain’t much.” Regg took one of the coins from Lakhoni’s hand. “This’s a senti.
Four of them to an onti.”

Lakhoni
looked closer at his wealth. Each coin was made of a small wood disk that had a
sphere of metal embedded in the center. The coin Regg had called a senti had
dark wood. He had three of those.

He
held up a coin of which he had two. This one was made of a lighter-colored wood
and had a smaller chunk of metal embedded in it. “What’s this one?”

“Shilo.
Four of ‘em to a senti.” Regg nodded. “Paztar done yer good.” He gestured for
Lakhoni to follow him, handing back the senti he had taken. “You c’n get a good
meal an’ a clean bed fer a shilo.”

Lakhoni
looked at his money again, realizing he needed to put it somewhere out of
sight. Three sentis and two shilos. Enough money for maybe ten days of food and
sleep. He had to get more work. “Where do I go for food and a bed?” Hunger,
like a small forest rodent, clawed at the inside of his stomach.

“I’ll
show ya a good place,” Regg said.

Stuffing
his coins into the bag over his shoulder, Lakhoni followed Regg. Tonight a meal
and sleep. Tomorrow he would learn how to get to the king.

Ree
loitered anxiously in front of the stables after putting Titan away, waiting
for Lina. She knew the servants would never ask about what her business was,
but some of the guards would. Besides, she didn’t want to raise any suspicions.
Aggie had shushed her every time she’d tried to ask what Lina had been crying
over.

Lina
stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her bland, gray tunic. Ree
briefly wondered what it would be like to have to wear such boring clothes. At
least the female servants
wore
clothes! Most of the boys and men ran
around in only loincloths. Ree squared her shoulders, stuck out her chin and
approached the little servant woman. “Lina?”

“Mistress?”
Lina looked around quickly, as if expecting an attack. “Princess Ree?” She
bowed her head four or five times in quick succession. “Is there something you
need?”

“I
just want to talk to you. Follow me.” She led the way into the stables.

In
the speckled lighting of the stables, Ree turned to Lina. “I heard you talking
to Agmoda. A while ago. About your brother?”

Lina’s
eyes went wide. “Oh, no, Mistress. It’s nothing.”

“Lina,”
Ree said, adopting her spoiled princess look. “I’d like you to tell me what you
told Agmoda. I may be able to help.”

Lina
glanced around, as if worried that the horses would tell her secrets. Ree bit
back a giggle at the thought of the animals nickering Lina’s secrets to each
other. She wanted Lina to take the conversation seriously. “Tell me what you
told Agmoda.”

“Y-yes,
Mistress.” Lina met Ree’s eyes then quickly looked away and spoke. “You see,
it’s my brother, Mastopo. A few weeks—maybe a month or so—ago, he just up and
disappeared. Mastopo, he’s never been right. Goes crazy, loves to chase girls.”
Tears welled in Lina’s eyes. “But he’s my brother and he’s got a good heart.”

“Did
he run away?” Ree asked.

“No,”
Lina said, then shrank in on herself. “I mean, no, Mistress, I don’t think so.
Mastopo wanders now and again, but not for this long.”

“So
somebody took him? Why?”

“I
don’t know. But you hear of young men disappearing sometimes.” Lina blotted her
eyes with her sleeves. “People say it’s a demon on the loose. Some say it’s the
Living Dead.”

“And
what is it?”

“I
don’t know, Mistress,” Lina said.

“Isn’t
the City Guard doing something about this?”

Lina
shrank more, eyes darting to each side.

“Lina.”
Ree gave the girl the look she always gave troublesome servants. “What about
the City Guard?”

“They
do nothing.”

“Why
not?”

Lina’s
eyes darted quickly to Ree’s face, surprise evident in them. The servant girl
looked away. “I  . . .  I don’t know how—” She stopped
and fidgeted.

“Lina?”

“Begging
your pardon, Mistress.” Lina met Ree’s eyes again. “But how would I know that?”
She looked away and shuffled. “I just work in the kitchen.”

It
was a good point. “I will find out. Do you know anything else?”

Lina
shook her head.

“You
can go back to work now.”

Lina
scurried away, heading for the chicken coop.

Ree
wandered toward the temple, making for her room.
Why are young men
disappearing?
It was possible her father knew about this, but so far she
didn’t have more than one servant’s story. She needed to find out more.

But
she’d done too much snooping for one day. People might get suspicious. For now,
she could gather her room servants to perform a story. Perhaps today she would
tell them to do the Tale of the Seed and the Cow. Or maybe The Weeping
Daughter. The boy who always played the role of Melno had a lovely smile.