Del thanked the girl, then arched an eyebrow at Rhashad. “You send money home to your mother?”
“If I didn’t, she’d have my ears. Or worse: my mustaches.” Rhashad grinned. “You should come meet my mother. She’d like a bold bascha like you.”
“Or not,” I said hastily, seeing interest in Del’s eyes. It might have been for the mother; I wouldn’t risk it being for Rhashad. “Here, have some aqivi. Del prefers wine.”
Del preferred not drinking. “Do you know a man named Ajani? He’s Northern, not a Borderer, but he rides both sides.”
“Ajani, Ajani,” Rhashad muttered. “The name sounds familiar … Northerner, you say?”
“Very much so,” she said flatly, “in everything but his habits. He is blond, blue-eyed, very tall … and he likes to kill people. If he doesn’t sell them to slavers.”
Rhashad’s eyes sharpened. He looked at her more closely. This time he really saw her. Saw her and the sword.
The note in his voice was odd. “Have you ever been to Julah?”
Say no, I warned her mutely.
Del said yes.
Hoolies, he’ll put it together.
Rhashad nodded slowly. His look on me was shrewd. “Eighteen months—or so—ago, Aladar ruled in Julah. Rich man, Aladar: he traded in gold and slaves. And would be to this day, if a slave hadn’t killed him.” He didn’t look at Del. “Nobody knows any names. Only that one was a Northern woman, the other a Southron man. A man with scars on his face, who was a slave in Aladar’s mine.”
I hunched one shoulder. “Lots of men are scarred.”
Rhashad spread four fingers and scraped them down one cheek. “Lots of men are scarred. Not all of them quite like this.”
“Does it matter?” Del asked roughly.
Rhashad dropped his hand. “Not to me,” he said evenly. “I don’t betray my friends. But other people might.”
A coldness touched my spine. “Why? If Aladar’s gone, what does the new tanzeer care about how it happened?”
“The new tanzeer is Aladar’s daughter.”
“Aladar’s daughter?” I gaped. “How did a woman inherit the domain?”
“Thank you,” Del said dryly.
I waved it off. “Not now; this is important.”
Rhashad nodded. “Indeed, it is. And the reason she holds the domain is because she was rich enough to buy men, and strong enough to hold them.” He smiled a little. “Too much woman for me.”
“A woman,” I mused. “Hoolies, things are changing.”
“For the better,” Del remarked, then sipped her sour wine.
“Maybe not, bascha.” I scowled into my bowl of rapidly cooling kheshi. Then I shrugged. “Ah, well, it won’t last. They may be taking her money now, but it’ll wear off. They won’t put up with taking orders from a woman for long. Rhashad didn’t, did he? And he’s a Borderer. A man afraid of his mother.”
“I respect my mother. And you should, too; she’s a better man than you.”
“They’ll overthrow her,” I said thoughtfully. “They’ll change loyalties. They’ll sell it to a man, or else one will steal it for himself. And then another will try to steal it from him.” I shook my head. “Julah will run with blood.”
“See why I left?” Rhashad asked. “First the Vashni begin killing, and now there will be war for control of Julah. I’d rather go see my mother.”
“With Jamail in the middle, if he’s not already dead.” Del sighed and scrubbed at her brow. “Oh, Tiger, how much longer? First there is Ajani to think about, and now Jamail as well. What am I to do?”
“Go to Iskandar,” I said. “It’s the only logical choice.”
Del’s mouth was twisted. “There is no logic to feelings.”
Which was, I thought, about the truest thing she’d ever said. Especially when applied to her.
Eleven
Something landed on my head. “Come on,” the voice said. “We’re going to Iskandar.”
I lay belly-down on my precarious cot, mashing my face into the lump of cloth pretending to be a pillow. My left arm was under the lump. I was under a gauzy sheet, trying to recapture sleep.
The thing on my head did not go away. Without opening my eyes I reached up, felt the saddle-pouches, dragged them off my head and over the side of the bed. “Who’s keeping you?” I mumbled.
Del was not amused. “I have no time for this. Ajani could be at Iskandar.”
“Ajani could be anywhere. Ajani could be in hoolies.” I freed my left arm. “I hope Ajani’s in hoolies; then we can forget about him.”