On Fire's Wings - Christie Golden [150]
Sahlik’s answer was quick and heartfelt. “Of course, my lord.” She smiled slightly. “I have missed the caverns.” She looked from Kevla to Tahmu and pursed her lips shrewdly. “Let me take—do you have a name, child?”
The girl shook her head shyly.
“I will name her Meli,” Tahmu said, “if she likes it.” Kevla’s throat closed up. The word meant “gift.” “Does that please you?” he asked the girl.
“Yes,” Meli said in a whisper. She spoke with a strange accent; while the Dragon had taught the kulis to speak Arukani, all of them had their own way of uttering the words that made them unique.
“Come then, Meli,” said Sahlik, “and I will tell you all about life at the House of Four Waters.”
Kevla watched them go, smiling. Her father touched her arm. “Walk with me,” he said.
Kevla knew she needed to go, but she couldn’t tear herself away just yet. She walked and talked with her father for a long time. He told her stories of Jashemi she had never heard, some moving, some amusing, and when he had finished Kevla felt more connected to the man who had been her brother.
He spoke also of her mother, and Kevla listened hungrily as he described a woman of passion, beauty, and intelligence. He explained his reasons for marrying Yeshi in Keishla’s stead, and even as he spoke them she realized he thought them foolish.
Hesitantly Kevla asked, “Where is she? Yeshi?”
“I banished her,” Tahmu said. “I couldn’t bring myself to order her death. And now, I am glad I didn’t. That is one less thing to blame myself for.” He frowned. “Though there are so many others.”
Kevla chewed on her lip, weighing her words. “Have you seen my mother since the day you took me with you to the House?”
Sorrow settled over his fine features. “No,” he said. “I thought it best not to. I tried to be a good husband to Yeshi.”
She slipped an arm through his as they sat next to each other and laid her head on his shoulder. As they regarded the stars just beginning to appear in the sky, she said, “The world has changed, Father. You have changed with it. Would you want to see Keishla again?”
He closed his eyes. “Yes, I would.”
“Then find her.”
He looked at her with unspeakable sadness. “It’s too late for that,” he said heavily. “Far too late. Too late for so many things.”
His eyes fell upon Meli. Sahlik was teaching her how to play Shamizan. Kevla’s own heart ached at the sight.
You like the game, then?
Oh, yes, very much.
I am so glad. I hoped you would.
Her mind returned to the present as Tahmu continued. “I did not have the courage to claim you before, though now I do so with a pride you cannot imagine. I hid you in my house, and I let Yeshi dictate your future. I let you be abused and beaten. When you used your powers to save my life, I ordained your death. I have no excuse but that I thought I was obeying the laws of my people.”
“Great lord, there is no need—”
But Tahmu continued. “A caste system that elevates some and condemns more, that exiles its own children, that walks with hushed step and head bowed in shame does not serve Arukan. It serves Arukan’s enemies. I have seen the future in the eyes of my three children. One of them, I will never see again, and the pain of that—”
His flowing speech came to an abrupt halt as he bit his lip. In a rough voice, he continued.
“The pain of that can only be equaled by the joy I take in having my two daughters returned to me. If you will, if I have not made you ashamed to own me as your father, Kevla Bai-sha will henceforth be known as Kevla-sha-Tahmu, the beautiful daughter of a very proud father.”
Kevla was shocked. Mixed emotions flooded her. Evading the question, she replied, “I cannot stay. I want to. I want to get to know you, to know my little sister. But I have to leave. Arukan may have been able to stand against the Emperor, but the world is still in jeopardy. I must leave and find the other Dancers.”
He sighed, and she knew he had understood her unspoken refusal. “I feared you would say that.” He continued watching Meli play with Sahlik. “There’s my