The Sable City
Page 25
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Amatesu stopped and bowed formally to Uriako-sama who scarcely nodded in return, arms still crossed and eyes narrowed at Zebulon Baj Nif.
“What does he say?” Shikashe asked in formal Ashinese.
“He asks where we go, and what we are to do there. He does not, however, inquire as to payment.”
Shikashe’s dark eyes flashed toward Amatesu and one finely-plucked eyebrow arched.
“What do you take this to mean?”
Uriako Shikashe and Amatesu had known each other for decades and journeyed together for years. While their backgrounds were very different they had come to find that in many things what each of them knew or did not know was complementary. Shikashe knew how men behaved while they were together at war. Amatesu knew other things.
“It means that as soon as we make landfall and the opportunity arises, Zebulon Baj Nif intends to run.”
Shikashe smiled very slightly at one side of his mouth.
“That will not be a problem, by then.”
“No,” Amatesu agreed. “By then, Madame Nesha-tari shall have made herself known. After that, the man will not go anywhere.”
Amatesu glanced at the deck beneath her feet and made a small gesture with one hand, two fingers bent under her thumb and two extended. It was not a gesture typical of any shukenja school, but from a far more ancient peasant tradition. It was meant to ward away evil.
Chapter Thirteen