Chapter 33: Tessa
Tessa knelt next to Jak, weary beyond belief. Hungry, thirsty, ragged—she’d seen beggars better dressed than she was now—she only felt thankful that she and Jak were still alive. They’d crossed the Waste! Granted, it had been a narrow neck of desert where the Ur made a long loop before reaching Tekena, but it had still been four days of travel through the harshest terrain she’d ever encountered.
"See the big house at the end of the row, yes?" Toko pointed to a hut larger than the others and set apart from the rest of the village. "Headman’s house. Bet you fifty credits."
"No takers," Jak answered. "Look at the door."
The door was a rusty red in the early morning sunlight; definitely the headman’s house. Then it swung open, and the man himself appeared on the broad, cluttered porch. He was dressed to work on the crops in short blue trousers and a gray tunic. He was younger than Tessa would have expected, and so was the woman who came out after him. After an affectionate kiss, he headed toward the fields, and the woman picked up a bucket and began ladling water from the rain barrel into it, evidently intending to water the garden that grew beside their house. When she turned, Tessa saw that the woman was pregnant and very close to her time.
"She looks as though that baby could come at any moment," Tessa said. "She shouldn’t be hauling heavy water buckets."
"Not my problem," Toko said. "And easier to run away from her when we steal food."
"The fields aren’t that far away," Tessa pointed out. "If she calls for help, we’ll have the whole village on us."
"So, we kill her."
Jak’s outraged growl dismissed that plan. "No, we will not kill the pregnant woman."
"Toko," Kamura asked, "don’t you still have the credits that Jak gave you for arranging passage."
The boy’s hand went to one of the pockets of his tunic. "My credits," he said.
Jak grabbed Toko by the scruff of his neck.
"No, wait!" Tessa said. "I’ve got a better idea."
She did not want Jak and Toko scuffling. She had no doubt that Jak would win any such contest. But it could get noisy, especially if Kamura felt compelled to aid Toko. They were much too close to the village for that to be safe.
"The woman is young and pregnant and probably feeling less than attractive. I think I have something that will tempt her more than a few credits."
"We’re going to trade her one of your bracelets?" Jak asked, frowning. He still had a firm grip on Toko’s neck.
"Just one," Tessa said. "The smallest and plainest. More would only make her suspicious of us. And it will just be Kamura and me. You two stay here."
"No, I’m going with you."
"No, you’ll stay here with Toko. Look at yourselves! The pair of you are enough to make a moki panic, let alone a simple farmer’s wife." Both men were ragged, Jak dressed only in pants and soft boots, Toko barefoot and in his knee length trousers and ragged tunic. And Tessa had a use for that tunic. "Kamura, do you still have your comb?"
"Yes, in here." She patted the pocket of her trousers.
"Good. We’ll clean up. I’ll be a poor farmer’s wife, and you’ll be my helper boy. Just remember, go along with what I tell you, and keep your mouth shut."
It wasn’t as easy as that, of course. Jak had argued against staying behind. To Tessa’s surprise, so had Toko. But she’d ignored them both as she used Kamura’s comb and water from the river to do her best to make herself and Kamura presentable. They’d taken Toko’s tunic and, with the sleeves and bottom tied in knots, had turned it inside out to create a makeshift bag for Kamura to carry. They’d left the two half-naked men to circle through the reeds to the side of the village nearer to Tekena while they approached the headman’s house via the main footpath.
Before they left, Tessa had looked through the bracelets in her sash. She’d chosen the smallest and plainest she had; a narrow band of gold set with a single green stone. It was the first gift she’d ever received from a client. He’d been an older man, not very tall, with graying hair and the paunch of a successful merchant. The sex had been simple and quick, and he’d spent most of their time together talking about his daughter. It had never occurred to him that Tessa and his daughter were nearly the same age. She sighed. Or, perhaps it had. Well, that was her old life. It was only fitting that his gift should help finance the new life that she hoped to have.
"I’m glad you came up with this idea," Kamura said. "I was afraid Jak was going to hurt Toko."
"You seem to have become quite fond of that young man," Tessa said. "Are you planning to become Consort to the Overlord, like you cousin or aunt or whatever she was?"
Kamura was walking behind her, so she couldn’t see the girl’s face, but she heard the note of sick protest in her voice.
"No, never!"
Never, Tessa thought? She was sure Kamura was more than half in love with Toko. At the very least, she was in the full throes of a schoolgirl crush. It was the quintessential good girl meets bad boy romance. So, why then the horrified protest? But they were nearly at the headman’s house. There was no time to question her further.
"Keep up, boy," Tessa called. "We still have a long way to go before we reach Tekena."
Obligingly, Kamura closed the gap between them just as the headman’s wife looked up from filling yet another bucket of water for the garden.
"Good morning, mistress," Tessa said to her, smiling.
She’d often been told that she had a charming smile. She only hoped this woman would agree.
"Good morning," the woman replied.
She paused to wipe her arm across her forehead.
"That looks like hot work."
"It is. And it makes my back ache. And my feet."
Tessa made a sympathetic face. She knew she looked sincere, sweet, and helpful. She’d practiced the expression often enough in front of her mirror.
"Why don’t you rest for a bit and let Sinjay here do that. I’d be happy to lend him to you for an hour or so in return for a loaf of bread to see us through until we reach Tekena."
The woman looked at Kamura and then down to the bucket at her swollen feet. "All right," she said, sighing. "We have enough bread to spare a bit for you and your boy."
"Thank you so much, mistress," Tessa said. "You’re very generous." She turned to Kamura. "You, boy, get that garden watered."
Meekly, Kamura took over the chore of watering the garden. The woman waddled toward the porch at the front of the house. Long, backless benches flanked the doorway, and stacks of mismatched baskets and bowls were scattered across the floor. A large urn of drinking water stood at the far end with a small shelf containing clay cups above it.
"Let me help you, mistress," Tessa urged, taking the woman’s arm.
She walked the headman’s wife to one of the wooden benches. She was no taller than Tessa, but nearly twice as wide with her pregnancy, and her feet were grotesquely swollen.
"Here, sit down while I find something for you put your poor feet up on."
With a sigh, the woman dropped heavily to the bench. Finding an empty basket among the clutter on the porch, she turned it over to serve as a footrest. The woman groaned as Tessa lifted her legs onto the footrest.
"Thank you. You’re a blessing from Lady Ur," she said. "You’ll find drinking water in the jar over there." She pointed to the large clay ewer, nearly as tall as Tessa herself. "There are cups above it."
"I’ll pour some for you, mistress. And, if you don’t mind, I’ll give the boy a drink now. It will help him keep his mind on his work."
"Do as you like, just so he finishes watering the garden before my husband comes back for lunch. He’s a good, hardworking man, but not a generous one."
Smiling, Tessa filled a cup for the woman and another for Kamura. She took the woman’s to her first and then went around the side of the house to where Kamura stood looking at the wa
ter bucket.
"Get busy, Kamura," Tessa hissed as she handed her the cup. "Some of those people in the fields can see you!"
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Via demanded in a whisper.
Tessa stood with her mouth open as Kamura drank, realizing that Kamura had no idea how to do even something as simple as water the garden.
"Just keep filling that bucket and pouring the water over the plants. Do your best to wet down anything that’s green."
Turning, she hurried back to the headman’s wife.
"Are you comfortable, mistress?"
"Yes, but I think my time will be very soon. And take some water for yourself; you must be thirsty, too."
"You’re very kind, mistress," Tessa said.
The woman was right; she could have the child at any moment. She only hoped the baby would wait until they were well on their way to Tekena. She went to the urn and drew a cup of water for herself. As she did so, she slipped the chosen bracelet into her hand. Tessa returned and sat on the porch at the woman’s feet. As she did so, she let the bracelet drop. There was a quick flash of gold, and then her hand covered it and she tucked it into her tunic.
"What was that?" the woman asked.
"Oh, just a bauble I plan to sell in Tekena."
"It’s a bracelet."
"Yes. I had it from my grandmother. I’m going to stay with my sister, but I can’t show up empty handed, not with that great tall boy in tow, and I don’t have any credits."
All lies, but it made a pretty story, one the woman would enjoy hearing.
"May I see it?"
"It’s nothing much, really. You must have many jewels that are better." She held out the little bracelet. "But it is real gold and, see, it has a green stone, sacred to Lady Ur. Grandmother swore it helped her through childbirth, for all six of her children."
She held out the little bracelet to the woman who took it with a look of longing on her face.
"Try it on, mistress. Maybe some of Lady Ur’s blessings will come to you."
The woman slipped the bracelet on her wrist and admired the play of green and gold.
"It’s true that your sister will be happier to see you with something in your hands, but you won’t do well with the traders in Tekena. There are so many people in the city for the ceremony that the merchants are charging three times what they normally do. Not that we farm folk see any of it."
"I must do what I can."
"You might be able to do better than what the traders will give you."
"How is that, mistress?"
"The few credits the merchants will give you for this won’t buy much in Tekena, not with half the world there for the Joining. But we’ve had a good year, my husband and I, and I could make you a better trade if you wanted to take it in food and water."
Yes! But, still, Tessa pretended to be reluctant.
"I only have the one boy to carry things," she said. "He couldn’t manage a load of flour or tiff. It would have to be already baked bread, maybe a little meat."
"I have six loaves of good bread baked this morning. You can have three for the bracelet, as well as two jars of clean drinking water."
In the end, Tessa settled for four loaves of bread, three jars of water, and a sack of dried fish. She was well pleased with her trading as she and Kamura continued along the footpath, Kamura carrying their booty in the bag they’d improvised out of Toko’s tunic.
Omniphage Invasion Page 33
