A Time of Omens - Katharine Kerr [71]
“Even if they should be incarnations of the same soul, Marka and Alaena are not the same person, No one is, truly, from life to life.”
His eyes filled with tears, and he tossed his head, turning half away. Jill let out her breath in a long sigh. They were sitting in their tent, off at the edge of the campground. From outside Jill could hear Marka, babbling in a frenzy of joy, and Keeta’s low voice, celebrating with her. It was certainly impossible to make Salamander go back on his offer.
“Well, that’s torn it, then,” she said. “I’ll be going on to Anmurdio alone.”
“What? I can’t let you do that!”
“And I can’t let you drag that child along with us, either.”
“Why not? Is it any more dangerous than the life she’s used to, wandering the roads and never knowing where her next copper’s going to come from? We’ll be safe enough. That’s why I’ve been building up the troupe.”
“Are you trying to tell me, you stupid chattering elf, that you want to take all these wretched acrobats all the way to Anmurdio with us?”
“Of course I do.”
Jill could only stare at him. He smiled, all sunny charm.
“List but a moment, O Princess of Powers Perilous, and all will become as clear as a summer sky. Cast your mind backward to our youth, and our adventures in Slaith. Ah, glorious Slaith! Alas, thanks to my brother and his righteous wrath, no more do its beds of fish entrails scent the warm and tropic air, no more do pirates swagger down its rich and arrogant streets, no more do—-”
“Are you going to hold your tongue or am I going to cut it out? Get to the point!”
“Well and good, then, but you do take the bloom off a man’s rhetoric, I must say. The point, my turtledove, is this: Slaith was a foul and evil den of pirates, but even there, in that den of the accursed, my humble gerthddyn’s calling made us both welcome and immune to infamy. Far more welcome, then, in isolate, nay, even desolate Anmurdio shall be an entire troupe of performers.”
“Imph. I hate to admit this, but you’re probably right.”
“Of course I’m right. I’ve spent many a long and guileful hour in thought, working this scheme through. We’ll probably even turn a profit.”
“Oh, very well, then! Since there’s naught I can do about it all, anyway, I might as well go along with your daft scheme. Poor little Marka—a fine way to start married life!”
“Aha! You’re the one who’s making the mistake this time. You’re remembering pampered Alaena, the rich widow who lacked for naught. Marka has lived as hard a life as ever you did as a child, following your father round the kingdom.”
Jill said something foul beyond repeating, simply because he was right, but he merely laughed at her.
Later that afternoon Jill went looking for Marka and found her sitting in front of the tent she shared with Delya and Keeta. She’d spread out a large mat and arranged the tiles, which might possibly have come back to her from another life, in tidy lines to study them.
“Marka?” Jill said. “I’ve just come to offer my congratulations.”
“Oh, thank you!” She looked up with a smile of such sheer, innocent joy that it wrung Jill’s heart. “You know, I never ever thought I’d be this lucky, not ever.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re so happy.” Jill sat down on the ground across from her. “Keeta tells me that the troupe’s going to join together to buy you a wedding dress.”
“Yes, and it’s so wonderful of them.” She hesitated briefly. “You look sad, too, just like Keeta and Delya do. Why?”
“Oh, there’s just something about a wedding that takes us old crones this way. Don’t let it trouble you.”
“But it does trouble me. You’re all acting like I’m going to get dragged off to the archon’s prison instead of married.”
Jill hesitated, but the girl deserved an honest answer.
“Well, I suppose it’s because this kind of happiness just can’t last, just because of the way life runs, I mean. It’s sad, in a way, like seeing a spring flower and knowing it’s going to fade when summer comes. I know that sounds awfully harsh, but do you think you’ll