Sword-Maker(130)

Men have done more for less. “You knew,” I said. “You knew if you baited the hook with Elamain, I’d come at once. And you would buy my service before anyone else could offer.”

“I have learned,” Esnat said, “to strike before anyone else. To do the unexpected. To anticipate certain things … things like magical swords.”

“You couldn’t have anticipated this sword.”

“Well, no, not exactly,” he agreed judiciously, “but I have made it a practice to be aware …” Brown eyes were shrewd. “Will you hire yourself to me?”

It would be easy enough, I thought, even with a possessed jivatma I didn’t want to use. I am good, very good; if I wasted no time at all, fighting to win instead of dance, it could be over immediately. And I wouldn’t risk hurting anyone, meanwhile making a huge profit.

But I liked Esnat. Slowly, I shook my head. “I admire your intentions, but you’re offering too much.”

Esnat’s eyes took on anxious appeal. “Don’t you think you’re worth it?”

I shrugged. “What I’m worth doesn’t really matter. I just think this is too much. I don’t want to beggar you. There’d be nothing left over for Sabra.”

Esnat grinned. “If you want to win the game, you have to be willing to lose it.”

Hoolies, this was ridiculous. But if that’s the way he felt … “All right,” I agreed at last, “I’ll accept your terms. You make it hard not to.”

Esnat smiled happily. “I’ll see to sending the challenge. The dance will be in two days.”

There was nothing left to say. I turned to walk away.

Esnat’s voice stopped me. “Did you find the bait to your liking?”

I didn’t bother to look around. “Ask Elamain.”





Eleven




The walk back through Iskandar’s teeming bazaar was odd. There were still hundreds of people, all jammed together in the alleyways and streets, but the feel of it was different. The smell of it was different.

At first, elbowing my way through clusters of people gathered here and there at stalls, or talking together in groups, I thought it was simply that there were more of them. And then I realized, as I worked my way more deeply into the center of the city, it had nothing to do with numbers. It had to do with emotions. I could actually taste them: anticipation, impatience, a tense expectancy.

Puzzled, I glanced around. And knew almost at once what part of the feeling was.

The city was empty of tribes. It hadn’t been so the day before. People of the desert had walked freely throughout the city, doing much the same as the others: looking, talking, buying. But now the tribes were gone. Only the others remained.

Also tanzeers, and their guards, filling narrow streets.

“This isn’t right,” I muttered, pushing my way through the crowd.

Nearby, someone spoke of the Oracle, discussing divinity. A listener disagreed; an argument ensued. I don’t know who won.

Nearby, someone spoke of the jhihadi and the changes promised the South. That a man with a newborn power could unite the Southron tribes, then change the sand to grass.

I shook my head as I walked. It was impossible.

At last I made my way through and went to find Del, to tell her about Esnat and the dance I’d accepted. But discovered she was gone.

Lena looked up from cooking. “Some men came by earlier, looking for you.”

“Oh?”

“They said they represented a tanzeer named Hadjib, who wanted to hire you.”

I shook my head. “Don’t know him.”

Lena’s expression was odd. “They said their employer had heard about your sword.”

So it began. Everyone wanted the power. “Where’s Del?”

“She went to the circles, with Alric. She said she had a sword-dance.”

Foreboding was swift and painful. “She said she’d wait here for me.”

“No, she didn’t.” Lena grinned. “She said she might be here.”

I glared down at her. “It isn’t fair,” I complained. “You women always protect one another.”

Lena’s brows rose. “Is that what Elamain does?”

I blinked. “She told you about Elamain?”

“A little.” Lena’s smile didn’t waver. “I’ve known her kind before.”

I had no more time for Elamain or her kind. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter—” And then I broke it off as something occurred to me. “Hoolies—she wouldn’t. Would she? Would she?” I stared at Alric’s wife. “She wouldn’t challenge Ajani without telling me.”

Lena looked right back. “Why don’t you go and see?”