AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I heard the commotion when Fahet returned. Then sixteen people pointed me in this direction. You should have told me. Why didn’t you?”
“I wanted you to rest.”
“I told you it was just Asha spoiling me.”
Seth stopped. “No, it wasn’t.”
Raider stopped, and Umae danced to the end of her lead rope. Raider looked away. “Seth—”
“You don’t have to tell me. But don’t pretend it’s nothing.”
“Fixating on it doesn’t help,” Raider said sharply. “What’s done is done. It just is.”
But what if something could be done? The quicksilver was clearly the source of Raider’s pain. An arcanist had put that in his body. Maybe an arcanist could remove it.
But there was no point in arguing a hypothetical now, with no arcanist to ask. So, for now, Seth let it go.
When they got back to the caravan, Raider took Umae to Asha’s tent. Seth noted this from afar, tending to his own horse. They would be moving again in an hour or so, once the sun’s angle shifted.
A few minutes later, Raider came walking through the maze of camels, horses, and tents. He had the curved dagger in its jeweled sheath in hand, and he went straight to Chief Karek’s tent, which had already been propped up with a new pole, its torn panel replaced.
Raider was admitted and was inside for almost an hour. By then, Seth was readying his gear. Raider’s saddle and gear lay with Seth’s, so he approached to collect them.
“You gave Chief Karek that knife,” Seth observed, seeing it absent from Raider’s hands and sash.
Raider shrugged.
“Because Umae ran through his tent? So did the stallion. And that knife was worth a lot.”
Raider crouched to check his gear. “I wanted to give it to him anyway. Did you see how his eyes lit up at the oasis during the ritual exchange? But I needed an excuse to do it. This was a good one.”
“I thought you liked that knife.”
“I did. But it was flashy and useless,” Raider said, grinning, reminding Seth of how he himself had once described it. “Chief Karek will keep it for a while then trade it.”
“Was that a way of paying for us being here? Because if it was, I’m the one—”
“I wanted to give it to him, as I said. I owe him much more than a fancy knife. But it was nice to see his eyes dance.”
“Why do you owe him so much? Why do the Sudai treat you like you’re one of them?”
“See?” Raider said, tying down the flap of one of his saddlebags. “It’s in your nature.”
Seth grunted, hating that Raider was right, hating that it didn’t dim his desire for an answer.
Raider gazed across the bustling encampment. “These people saved my life. I lived with them for over a year.”
That only sparked a dozen more questions, but Seth restricted himself to one. “So why don’t you stay with them?”
“Because I’m not one of them. I love them, but I’m not one of them. I’m a feather on the wind, Seth, nothing more.”
CHAPTER 20
TRAVELING WITH THE CARAVAN offered many advantages. The food and water carried by the camels, the shelter offered by so many tents, the sharing of goods and tools. But it was the evenings with the Sudai that Seth came to love.
They told stories and sang. Seth still only understood a fraction of the language, but he could enjoy the rhythms, and usually someone would translate for him. Occasionally Raider did it, but he was often pulled away by other people. Then Asha would take over.
When she would sit with Seth, he felt her warmth and kindness, but he also felt himself under examination. He had the distinct feeling that she was trying to determine whether he was acceptable. For Raider.
