“Yes!” I chirped. “Would you care to join us?”
The woman grabbed her husband’s arm, full of hope. He smiled and rolled his eyes. “It would be rude to refuse such a generous offer, my Lord.”
“It’s settled, then!” Calish clapped his hands. “I’ll see you after sunset.” He bowed to them, winked at me, and returned to his task.
“How about I escort you back across the bridge and let my people know we need a second chicken for this evening?” I said, taking the woman’s hand to lead her back and search her history.
She was more than willing to hold my hand, which made it much easier to look into her past to see if she was a trustworthy person or not. They went on their way, and I stayed on the road, pleased with my near accomplishment.
That was a good find.
A memory of Trisk’s pep talk floated through my mind. “There are all kinds of work and all sorts of jobs. Just because yours isn’t difficult for you doesn’t mean it’s not as important.” If all turned out well, we’d have a skilled builder in our employ by the end of the evening.
I instructed Qarla of our plans for a private dinner, and she acted quickly to accommodate them. I continued to greet the visiting Citizens, feeling good, almost restored. For the first time in three days, I didn’t feel hunted. The people who came bowed like they always did, and I helped each one up, thanking them for their visit. Every person I touched, I assessed quickly. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, just seeing whatever was easiest to see. Tragically, most were worried or scared the Woodsman’s threat against me would be fulfilled, I would die, and the Authority would ultimately crumble, leaving no hope for a future. After helping a few to their feet, I ignored my gift. The good feeling I had in the morning was chipped away by worry in my already wounded heart.
I forced a smile on my face. I carried on as if I was not afraid of the Woodsmen, although I will admit it was an act. My mother said once the Great One had a mortal duty for each of us to fulfill, and when we were finished, we’d be called to live out eternity with him. “Death is no more than a portal leading us to him.”
As beautiful as that sounded, I didn’t want to die.
I am young and willing to be useful if only the Great One would give me something else to accomplish.
Maybe I messed things up so often he was done giving me chances to prove myself. Perhaps I’d done so many things wrong, there would be no portal for me, and my life would just end.
Forcing myself to continue down the line of Citizens, I thanked them for coming all while smiling the smile I worked to perfect since becoming Calish’s wife. I had to keep it together; I couldn’t let them see me cry.
Not now.
“My Lady.” A man in a thin, hooded cloak bowed.
I thought it strange anyone would be wearing one in this heat, thin or otherwise. “I’m sorry, the line ends over there, sir.” I pointed to where he should go. “I’m sure we’ll have an opportunity to talk shortly.”
“You are gracious, but you’ve already fed me,” he mumbled, backing away from the people waiting.
“Excuse me?” I didn’t think I heard him correctly. I stepped closer to him. “Can you say that again?”
“I came to give you a gift,” he said, still bowing and separating himself from anyone who might be close enough to hear him.
“Sir, if you remove your hood—” I suggested, reaching for it.
He grabbed my wrist, and I startled. “Don’t scream,” he growled, lifting his head for me to see him properly.
Kash.
I gasped as he pulled me further from the waiting Citizens.
“I’m not here to harm you. Don’t make me change my mind.” He released my arm and bowed to the people who had taken notice of him. “Now, be calm and act happy to see me.”
“Why are you here?” I swallowed, sure he came to kill me.
I am ready.
I stood proud and defiant, unwilling to let him see my fear any more than I let him see it at our last encounter.
“As I said, I came to give you a gift.”
“The last thing you gave me has barely healed,” I said in a quiet but angry voice.
“Why do you hide it?”
“I refuse to be owned. I’m not privileged to be a proper wife thanks to its curse.”
“On the contrary, you can have all the lovers you wish,” he scoffed. “You misunderstand it. I don’t own you, Una. This mark gives you ultimate freedom, a salvation from all the darkness of the world.”
“You’re not comparing yourself to the Light of the Gods, are you? Let me tell you, light does not come from darkness. You and your men have no light within you,” I spat. “Why did you brand me?” I stepped forward, my teeth readied for his jugular.
But people are watching.
Kash enjoyed the banter. “You gave me an untouchable life. I’m simply returning the favor.” He smiled. “Although, I thought I made it quite clear I don’t like people stealing from me.” He glanced at Tenor now sitting in the grass, tied to the fence.
“I didn’t steal him. He came to me,” I defended. “The way I look at it, I did you a favor.”
“Oh, another one from Mother Una? Please, enlighten me.”
“Do you want someone in your ranks who would abandon you so quickly? Better I have him and you know where he is than he be a thorn within your own misguided brotherhood.”
He leaned in toward me to whisper in my ear. “I’m glad to hear we’re working together.”
I pulled back only to see his sinister smile spreading across his unshaven face. “I’m not working with you. I will never offer sympathy to your cause.”
“We’ll see.” He paused. “While this is a very interesting conversation, it’s not what I came here for.”
“Then leave.”
Or don’t.
“But I brought you a present.” His delight faded as he handed me a small box tied with a golden ribbon.
“How’d you get this past the guards?”
He ignored my question and patiently waited for me to accept the gift.
His hand.
All I had to do was touch him.
If I did, would it reveal who he was?
My lungs gave little room for the air I required.
“How do I know you?” I asked, beckoning the thought to the forefront of his mind.
He said nothing, but he enjoyed watching me squirm. The corners of his mouth twitched. It was almost as if he wanted to tell me.
Secrets are either too sweet to keep or too sour.
While I reached out for the box, what I wanted was his hand. I cupped my hands around the gift, making sure to run my fingers over the surface of his.
His smile broke through his controlled facade, no doubt assuming my gesture an intimate one. “Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” He lifted an eyebrow.
“If I take this, do I owe you anything?”
“No.” He bowed. “This is a gift. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“I should kill you where you stand.”
“But you won’t.”
“Why not?”
“Do you want your admirers to see you get dirty?”
“Then I will call out and have my guards end you instead.”
“You’re not going to do that either.” He pulled his hands inside his sleeves.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Two reasons. You don’t know who is working for whom. As you asked, how did I get that box past your checkpoint, or this?” He inched back the hem of his cloak to show a meaty blade held securely in his belt. “I’m the only one allowed to kill you, and I can do so whenever I please. All of this security is nonsense.” He let his garment fall back into place.
My mouth went dry. “And the second reason?”
“Because like it or not, you need me. Your own guards cannot protect you, as I have just proven.”
Fear seized my muscles and halted my breath. “I suggest you go,” I choke
d out. “I’m going to tell Calish you’re here. He will hunt you, and when he finds you, he will surely kill you.”
Kash laughed a hearty laugh. One that demanded the attention of the people closest to us. “See? We are trading favors. But we are also still playing the game.” His eyes moved down the exposed burns on my forearm. “Good day, Mother.” He waved to Marsh then turned calmly, heading toward the checkpoint.
I walked as fast as my legs would carry me to the front of the line waiting for thistle broth. Guards watched me, but I didn’t call for them. I couldn’t.
His men. They’re all his men!
“Excuse me.” I pushed past the Citizens and crossed the bridge. Glancing over my shoulder, I could still see Kash.
He’s almost to the barricades.
“Calish!” I yelled, trying to find him. “Calish!” I screamed louder, beginning to panic.
He flew out of the tent as Marsh bolted across the lawn toward me.
“He’s here! He’s here!”
“Who?” Calish’s head whipped around. “Who’s here?” he asked again. Marsh drew his arrow, aiming it out at the crowd of people in the road.
“Kash,” I whispered, holding the box in front of me.
“What is he wearing?” Calish snapped his fingers at his guards.
“A brown cloak, with a hood. He was unshaven—”
I didn’t get another word out before Calish let go of me, mounted a horse, and flew out into the road with four other riders close behind.
Marsh stayed with me, arrow still drawn in anticipation of an attack. “Was he the man you were talking to?”
I nodded.
“Why was he here?”
“He could have killed me, but he didn’t. He came to give me this.”
The box grew heavier in my shaking hands.
“A gift?” Marsh asked, confused by my answer. “What’s in it?” He lowered his weapon.
“I don’t know.”
He held his arrow and bow in one hand, no longer on guard. “Well, open it!”
I pulled the golden ribbon, letting it fall to the ground. After lifting the lid of the box, I teased the tissue paper from the top to see it more clearly. Whatever it was, it was a grayish beige color.
Oh, my gods!
“What is it?” He pried back the box top to see inside.
I dropped it and covered my mouth, trying hard not to scream. The contents of the box tumbled out, making their origin undeniable. Two body parts, a hand with Kash’s brand in its palm and a severed human tongue, lay in the grass amongst cheerful packing paper.
Marsh retched, covering the severed items with the box. “Didn’t you say the man who threatened you had the mark on his hand?”
I nodded. “I’m going to be sick.” I left it all with him and ran into the tent away from the children, the Citizens, and the guards. If this was Kash’s way of telling me my bounty had been lifted, there were simpler ways to let me know.
He’s got to be dead, right?
If he wasn’t, I doubted he’d live much longer. Without his precious mark, he was nothing. Certainly, there would be someone out there eager to take their revenge now that he wasn’t protected.
Even with the threat against my life gone, I gained no peace.
Trading favors?
What a horrible, twisted perception of what happened! I didn’t want to “play the game” anymore. I didn’t know what “game” it was.
This is all too much.
I didn’t want any of this.
If the Great One decided to give me one more task to complete before my days were up, he’d be wise to reassign it. I couldn’t care less about what waited for me at the end of my life. I was done with all of it, especially since I saw into Kash’s past and knew who he really was.
Chapter 37
They didn’t find him. They only found his cloak thrown into the dried grasses at the side of the road. That’s what one of the men reported anyway. There was no point in bringing in the trackers because we all knew where he went. The Authority, with all the guards and officers assigned to protect me, knew they were no match for the Woodsmen. Not in their territory. Kash knew it, and that’s why he didn’t run. He didn’t have to. He said he was untouchable, and I started to believe him. He’d proved members of the Authority worked for him. Perhaps the gods were on his payroll, too.
I should have ripped his throat out.
He wasn’t a god; he was just a man. He stood so close to me, I tasted his breath, and I let him walk away. Someone let him in to see me.
Who let him in with a weapon?
No one could hide a blade that large. Either he was a Charmer, or he really did have followers posed as members of the Authority. What did it matter? He proved his point. Any effort to guard our area only kept the small-time criminals or desperate Citizens from making stupid choices. We’d never stand a chance against a well-planned attack by the Woodsmen. Our men wouldn’t cripple them.
I heard the sound of the breathless horses and hooves pounding the ground when Calish and his men returned. I assumed since he didn’t come to find me immediately, Marsh intercepted him to show him Kash’s gift. My brothers talked in low voices as they approached the tent.
“Una, can we come in?” Calish asked.
I didn’t answer.
He pushed his head through the door. Angry he’d been outrun by Kash and underserved by the men sworn to protect us, he was a bit more abrupt than usual.
“Una.”
He didn’t have to ask me anything; I knew the information they wanted. I sat myself up, still reeling from what transpired. Both of them did their best to remain quiet as I told them everything about Kash’s visit. Calish, usually a good listener, had been pushed to the edge of control. Marsh, on the other hand, paced the entire time, blowing hard breaths from his nostrils like an ox.
When I finished, Calish slicked his hair back and cursed. “Fuck!” he yelled louder. Kicking over the crate, he sprang up. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”
I glanced at Marsh, but neither of us said a word.
“Well, that man’s dead.” Calish pointed to the box.
Huh?
“Noran found him this morning. Impaled through his ass and up through his mouth right in front of the fucking Temple.”
Marsh recoiled.
“And, of course, no one saw a damned thing, because it happened in broad damn daylight in front of the entire fucking village!”
Marsh croaked, “How do you know?”
“While we were out chasing Kash—the ghost who waltzed into my yard with a machete handing out body parts—my patrols were questioning the suddenly blind population of Ashlund! They still have no leads!”
“Well, they do now,” Marsh huffed.
“Why didn’t you kill him, Una?” Calish roared. “He was right in front of you!”
Marsh tried to shut him up.
“What? Don’t sit there and act like you’re not thinking the same damn thing!”
“It’s a fair question,” I agreed as I fiddled with my hands. “Honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t. I guess I just wasn’t expecting him. I expected someone else. He caught me off guard. If I attacked him, another would step into his place and finish the job. I know that now.”
“What are you talking about?” Calish sounded exhausted.
“I touched his hand when I accepted the box from him. It was my only chance to read him.” I took a deep breath. “Now, I know who he is. I know how he knows me.”
“How?” they said in unison.
“We met in prison, sort of. We were in the same cell, but people there didn’t socialize; we kept to ourselves. You learned quick to be as invisible as possible. Near the end of my time there, they put the horrible woman in with us. She hated me most of all. She attacked everyone at one time or another and tried to escape every time the cell opened. There was no controlling her, no reasoning with her. The guards stopped offering us things to volunteer for, and since we didn’t work, w
e didn’t eat.
“After a couple of days, a few of us crafted a plan to hold her back so I could volunteer and bring food back for our cellmates. I’d done it so often, the men I teamed up with trusted me to follow through. One of those men was Kash. We were by no means friends. We were coconspirators at best. We were starving. Desperate. We had to work together.”
Calish turned the crate over and sat on it, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Before I was released, the woman attacked me. Before anyone could stop her, she broke my arm and my ribs. I honestly think she tried to kill me. A few of my cellmates came to my aid while Kash struggled to keep me conscious. Of course, he hadn’t told me his name up until that moment. His name was Salik, then. I didn’t remember him at all until I read him.”
Marsh stopped pacing. “I’m confused. Did Kash come here, or did this Salik person give you the hand as a gift?”
Calish leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs, his fingers steepled in front of his lips. “They’re one and the same.”
I nodded. “Initially, Salik was caring for a wounded man in our cell. It just so happened to be Kash. Even though Salik protected him, he eventually died from his wounds.”
“So Salik became Kash,” Calish confirmed.
“Yes. Salik assumed Kash’s identity. He had been working with Kash and his group for years. Salik took the blame for several of Kash’s crimes to keep him out of prison and keep things running. Somehow, they both ended up in the same cell during Talium. He credits me for his survival and thinks I’m anti-Authority.”
“Aren’t you?” Marsh scoffed.
“I wasn’t making a political statement, Marsh. I fed everyone in my cell. Nobody deserves to be punished like we were.”
Calish interrupted us. It wasn’t that he wanted to break up a budding argument as much as it was to keep us on track. “How did Salik become Kash?”
Scavenger Girl: Season of Toridia Page 43
