On Fire's Wings - Christie Golden [111]
When she made camp that night, the first thing she did was create a fire and ask to see Tahmu. She watched it intently for some time, eating and drinking with her eyes glued to the flickering flames.
Suddenly, she saw a blur and sat up straighter, leaning forward and straining to listen.
“I wonder if there was anything I could have done,” she heard the khashim of the Clan of Four Waters say in a heavy voice. Tears sprung to Kevla’s eyes. She had not fully appreciated how much son resembled father; Tahmu’s voice and face were so like Jashemi’s. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Tahmu tossed something into the fire moodily.
“Done how?” The voice was Halid’s, and Kevla tensed. “Prevented someone from being taken by kulis? Great khashim, if you knew how to do that, you would be more honored among our people than even the Great Dragon.”
Tahmu’s lips thinned. “I…suspected. But I did not act. I was blinded by love.”
Jashemi’s dreams, thought Kevla. Jashemi had tried to tell Tahmu of his dreams, but his father had refused to listen. Fear now warred with anger. If only Tahmu had trusted his son! She thought about what Jashemi had said, that her powers and his dreams—the dreams of others like him—were manifesting now to save their people. She wondered if he was right, and if Tahmu was hastening the destruction of all of Arukan.
But now Tahmu was speaking again and she turned her attention back to him.
“…have been warned,” he was saying. “Yet I have heard nothing.”
“Perhaps they have not been spotted,” Halid said. “Or perhaps the other clans think you have made this up, to hide your shame at a son who has run away with a Bai-sha.”
Tahmu’s gaze went stone cold and his head whipped up to look at Halid, who was out of Kevla’s view.
“You speak freely for a Second, Halid,” he said in a low voice. “Don’t forget your position, or I shall name another in your place.”
Kevla’s hand flew to her mouth. Don’t get him angry with you, my lord! You don’t know what he’s capable of!
There was a strained silence, then Halid’s gruff voice. “I humbly apologize, my lord. This has been a trying time for everyone in the Clan.”
“That it has been,” said Tahmu. “It is forgotten, Halid.”
She watched the fire for a long time. The two men and a few others cooked a meal over its flames, convincing Kevla that they were indeed on the hunt for her and Jashemi and not staying at the House. She learned nothing more of import, but was not comforted by the idle chatter of men around a fire.
She had no way of knowing how many men Tahmu had brought with him, but it didn’t matter. All that concerned her was that one of those men was Halid. It would be easy now for the Second to get his lord alone, away from the other men, and cause an accident or—
She was surprised at how much she cared. This was the man who had decreed her death, but she knew he hadn’t wanted to. Knew he certainly hadn’t wanted to hunt down his son like a liah. Kevla felt an odd sort of compassion for him. She did not want to see him dead, regardless of what he had done.
Besides, perhaps Tahmu was right. Maybe she was a kuli. The only one who thought she was not was Jashemi, and he had been a victim of her deadly powers. She fell into an uneasy sleep, and when she awoke in the morning was suddenly aware that she had not had any dreams of the Great Dragon since Jashemi’s—since Jashemi. She wondered why. Perhaps he knew that she was coming to see him, and soon she would be face-to-face with him. Then he could torment her to his dragon heart’s content. But she had to admit, she was relieved that she did not have to stand before the Great Dragon every night. Sleep was now her escape; living was her nightmare.
Her little five-score friend had done well by her; Kevla had plenty to eat and drink. Each day, she traveled closer to the sacred mountain, and each night, she