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“The dust storms are bad every year.”
“Not like this,” Filik insisted. “Entire towns have disappeared. Landmarks wiped out and new ones appearing.”
That was interesting, but the extent of Filik’s news. I might have to put him aside for a bit until he had something better. Maybe I’d try my hand at snaring the king’s general. While I’d heard he was happily married, it wouldn’t be the first time I’d caused one to stray.
I sat in my chair. “Just one more thing…” I dangled my foot.
Filik almost went cross eyed as he stumbled for the lotion by the bed, a special blend just for him. The routine was always the same. He placed a large dollop in his palm then rubbed his hands together to warm it, absorbing some of it with his skin.
The drug in it took only seconds to take effect. His eyes rolled back a second before he collapsed. I pulled a rope and Palla entered, my bodyguard and best friend. Almost twenty years we’d been together, and she’d changed little. She still wore her dark hair shorn short and spiky. She eschewed voluminous robes in favor of breeches and armor.
Where I had a slim and willowy shape, Palla had a solid strength that many a male misjudged to his detriment. I never feared when she was near, as Palla was good at reminding the over eager and uninvited that there were consequences. I called the shots. And those that didn’t play by my rules got a painful lesson in following them.
Palla snorted the moment she recognized the limp body. “Him again?”
“Trust me, I’m aware I need to trade him in. He’s tapped for information.”
“I’ll ensure the bidding leans in someone else’s favor next time, then,” Palla stated as she bent and slung him over her shoulders.
“See if we can’t tempt the king’s general in for a show. Perhaps Councilor Jray or Lord Vazar could host a soiree and hire me as the entertainment.”
“Are you talking about General Do’om?” That caused Palla to chuckle. “The man is much too rigid to stray from his wife. How else do you think they ended up with nine children in seven years.” Almost unheard of among nobles, but Do’om also happened to be a follower of Ovv, one of the older fertility gods.
“Well, who do you suggest then?” I snapped, not really angry because Palla spoke the truth. Always had since we’d become friends, first in the desert when her caravan found me and then while living on the streets of our first city, Thaasky. When my circumstances changed, I made sure to bring Palla along with me. “I need a new fount of information.” Because while dancing paid well, spying was a lot more fun and could sometimes be just as lucrative. More than one investment had paid off with the knowledge I’d gathered. As a result, I’d become a silent owner of a few businesses.
“Do’om is as high as you can go unless you want to try the king himself.”
I grinned. “Maybe I will.”
To which Palla laughed again. “You and a king. Ha. I’d like to see you try.”
We arranged Filik, removing his clothes with quick efficiency before tucking him under a blanket. I then held a vial with a potion I liked to call “subtle subliminal” under his nose. I let him breathe in the fumes of it a few times before I whispered in his ear, telling him snippets about the decadent things he’d done with me. How much he loved me. How he’d passed out with pleasure.
He’d wake with a vague recollection and a great sense of satisfaction. I’d pretend to be sorry he had to go, and he’d make all kinds of promises to keep me.
With the stage set, Palla left well before Filik woke. As he stirred, I placed my book aside and pretended to rouse with him, all of me perfectly covered, as was proper for an unmarried woman when with a man. Ironic given the things he’d supposedly done to my body.
As he pushed to a sitting position, I slipped out of the bed that had seen countless men—but no actual sex—and grabbed a voluminous robe, covering myself even further. A reminder to Filik that our evening was done.
We played the dance of departure—“I’ll miss you.” “I’ll count the hours.”—and only once I’d closed and locked my door did I heave a sigh of relief.
Done for the night.
Or not.
A slow clap from a corner had me throwing the dagger I pulled from a concealed pocket before I’d even turned to look.
CHAPTERTWO
Nineteen years ago…
I didn’t knowhow long I wandered, lost in the desert, before I met Palla. After my entire family died, I started running, with no real direction or plan other than trying to get as far away as possible from the killer lizards.
Despite knowing their dislike of the sun, I often checked over my shoulder, convinced they’d come after me. I even imagined their jaws rising from the sand, chomping off my foot.
Having fled in a panic, I didn’t have much in way of supplies, only a partially full skin of tepid water infused with herbs my mother insisted I carry at all times. A child of the desert, I knew to drink only sparingly. Oases were few and sometimes far between. It didn’t help that I’d not followed a known path, like the road to Giilba, a smallish town where my father’s sister lived. A mean woman with too many children, she had a quick cuff and stern words even for her niece.
When light began to wane, I got lucky, finding three boulders barely poking from the sand. But better than sleeping on the ground. I spent the night curled on the biggest of the rocks, shivering with cold despite the blanket I’d grabbed.
