Steelflower at Sea

by Lilith Saintcrow

  “For her pyre,” I said, as clearly as I could, in tradespeak.

  One nodded, a fractional dip of the muffled head. They could have thrown her body over the wall. This way, at least, her spirit would rise on the smoke and join her thiefmother’s, in whatever afterworld the two of them might share.

  I turned my back on them, but I did not sheathe my dotani. I walked, steadily, for the cranyon again, its bole a wet pillar and its outline blurring with moisture. The thin piercing rain had soaked into my braids; they were heavy once more, my neck throbbing with tension. My teeth ached as well—I forced myself to loosen my jaw, despite the risk of the bubble in my throat bursting. If it did, I decided, I would swallow it.

  And that was how we left Antai.

  * * *

  to be continued…

  Glossary

  Several languages are represented, among them G’mai, Shainakh, Skaialan, trade-pidgin, Antaiin, Hain, and Clau.

  A’vai – Again.

  A-thatch, thatch’n – Displeased, insulted, angered but not to the point of blows

  Adai – Female G’mai

  Adai’in – good instinct

  Adai’mi/sa – My adai/Lady adai (honorific)

  Adarikaan – shining blade

  Adjii – Adjutant

  Albestrkha – alabaster

  Alhaia – Clau greeting

  Baia – pungent plant/herb; “poor man’s woundheal”

  Bakaii – illicit lover

  Ban’sidha prutaugh – ill-tempered whore

  Boydhar – a species of bird

  Cha – (Pidgin.) Expletive, inquiry, agreement, spare syllable.

  Chaabi – Clau stew

  Chedgrass – tall grass found in streams, silky with plump, pearl–like seeds

  Cor’jhan – suitor/betrothed

  Dauk’qua’adaia – Everstars (guide with constant light), guiding s’tarei to adai

  Dauq’adai – Seeker

  Dhabri – head-covering, headwrap

  Dolquieua – green rot, “the eating moss”

  Donjon – jail

  Dotanii – long and slightly curved, slashing blades with oddly shaped hilts meeting the hand differently than other blades

  Fallwater – shower

  Farrat – A ferret-like creature, but more closely related to cat than weasel

  Fatan’adai – telling the future

  Fuchtar – a common expletive

  Fislaine – an herb, pungent smell

  Haigradabh – An ancient word left over from the Darjani tongue, meaning something like laughter

  Haka – strong, clear liquor

  Hamarai – wall of silence

  Hamashaikhan – The Shainakh Emperor’s Elect

  Hath’ar lak – The sleep after a battle, also, a gift from a kindly grandmother or a quiet death in bed surrounded by relatives

  I’yah’adai – Literally, “power-exhausted”

  Ilel’adai – vision

  In’sh’ai – G’mai greeting or word of thanks

  Insh’tai’adai, s’tarei, ai – “As the adai (wishes), the s’tarei (performs).”

  Jada’adai – Twinsickness

  K’wahana – type of Clau bird

  K’yaihai – G’mai womanhood ceremony

  Kaahai – Bitch, female donkey, balky mare

  Kadai a’adai allai – G’mai battle–cry

  Kafa’adai – A G’mai scribe

  Kair’la – The same verb for sweet syrup-crystals dissolving in water, with insanity tacked onto the end.

  Kimiri – type of cheese

  Kiyan – Silver piece

  Lahai’arak – a complex mess of a battle, no victory for either side

  Lya-ini – G’mai, honorific for “agemate (of my cohort)”

  Malende – bad spirits

  Navthen – a chemical inside a clay ball that produces a hot burst of flame when mixed with ortrox that coats the outside.

  Piri-splitter cut – sword technique

  Qu’anart – smoked fish or mutton stew

  Rako – forest creature with a black mask and a striped tail

  Rheldakh – a Pesh bird-goddess, known to give succor to travelers

  S’tarei – male G’mai

  S’tarei’mi/sa – My s’tarei / Sir

  S’tatadai – a marshcat, a taller G’mai female

  Sadaru – ritual suicide

  Sh’yada’adai – the testing of a young adai’s Power

  Sharauq’allallai – outcaste, murderers, kinslayers; those the G’mai cast away

  Shaurauq’g’d’ia - a foul emission from the loins of a diseased demon

  Skai’atair - unclean, foul, outcaste, the dregs of a poisoned bowl, as well as assassin

  Stilette – a thin, sometimes flexible blade

  Strinlin – instrument

  Sunbrollaugh – patricide

  T’adai assai – “It is done.”

  Taih’adai – “Starseed” a teaching sphere

  Tamadine – a particular unit of soldiers

  Tannocks – idiots

  Taran’adai – Speak-within (telepathy)

  Tavar’adai – A combination chest/fireside seat for an adai’s comfort while traveling

  Tsaoganhi – A wandering people, much given to singing and mending

  Vavir – a drug made from the vavir weed

  Ya’hana – Tracks, tracking, a mark in snow, the bending of a blade of grass

  Yada’adai’s’ina – Literally, “student teacher”

  Yada’Adais – G’mai teacher

  Zaradai – witchlight

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks must go to Skyla Dawn Cameron and Mel Sanders; I wouldn’t have written Kaia’s further adventures without their encouragement. A great debt of gratitude is also due you, my faithful Readers.

  Let me thank you once again in the way we both like best, by telling you a story…

  About the Author

  Lilith Saintcrow lives in Vancouver, WA, with her children and a house full of strays. You can find more of her books at www.lilithsaintcrow.com.

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  Also by Lilith Saintcrow

  A Saint City Novel

  Selene

  Essays on Writing

  The Quill and the Crow

  Roadtrip Z

  Cotton Crossing

  In the Ruins

  Atlanta Bound

  Pocalypse Road

  The Complete Roadtrip Z (Coming Soon)

  The Marked

  The Marked

  The Steelflower Chronicles

  Steelflower at Sea

  Steelflower

  Standalone

  Rose & Thunder

  SquirrelTerror

  Fish

  Desires, Known

  Beast of Wonder

  Jozzie & Sugar Belle

  Watch for more at Lilith Saintcrow’s site.