Читать книгу The Seekers: Soul Ties - Anton Anderson - Страница 11

Upon arrival at Poinistan, the procession was led straight to the prison where Shai and the others were awaiting them. Located in a basement of the barracks, the dungeon was small, but the igni were never known for having many prisoners. There was some food and water on a table. Both prisoners were sitting in a cell, drilling their captors with eyes full of hatred. And now the third one joined them. It was good to see that no one was able to escape. All the other cells were empty, though Sabiri didn’t know how common that was.

«Glad everyone’s alive, including our prisoners.» Sabiri smirked.

Shai offered her a mug of water. «You look a bit beaten.»

«And you look like you’ve been swimming in a river of mud,» Greta said, already chewing on a piece of meat.

«Because that’s what happened…» Shai started to explain.

After sharing their tales and finishing their snacks, the company finally turned their attention to other matters.

«So, we need to talk to them.» Shai walked towards the cell.

The guards let them in, locking the door behind them. There was barely enough room for this many people, but everyone managed to find a place to stand.

«So, shall we take the gags off from all of you, or just one of you?» Greta asked. «Who’s your leader?»

She looked closely at their faces, looking for any useful signs, but there were none. The prisoners just carefully watched her every move but didn’t make a sound.

«We can always put the gags back,» Sabiri suggested.

The scouts stood behind the prisoners and grabbed them by their horns, keeping them from moving their heads and biting. Sabiri and Greta carefully removed the gags, but the prisoners remained mute.

«Don’t want to talk?» Greta raised her eyebrows. «Look. Let’s start with your tribe. Where are you from? It’s simple. Tell the right thing, we’ll verify your words, then we’ll let you go. We’ll even give you something for the trouble we caused.»

Silence. The prisoners didn’t move a muscle, didn’t make a sound.

Greta shook her head. «Come on! Are you afraid of giving us the wrong answer?» She looked at each of them in turn. «If you won’t give us anything, we’ll have to kill you anyway just to be safe. Am I asking for something secret? Something that might endanger your home? You think we would capture some random people just to attack the village they happened to live in?»

Silence.

«Shall we tell them?» Greta asked.

«We should – I’m curious,» Shai answered.

Sabiri agreed, «That could help our case.»

Greta looked back at the prisoners. «Alright. What were you doing near Drowners’ territory? They scared away everyone who knew even a little about their recent actions. Were you just passing by? Were you totally ignorant about your whereabouts? Why didn’t you take any of the roads? Why just the three of you? Why were you almost empty-handed?»

Those words still didn’t change anything. The prisoners’ blank expressions were taunting, if not mocking.

«We don’t have the time for this!» Greta rushed forward, dangling her claws just a millimeter from one of the prisoners’ eyes. «Maybe you’re not the enemy, but I really want to know what you were doing back there!» she roared. «Tell us, and we’ll let you go. Keep silent, and we’ll make you talk!»

She hovered the tip of her sharp claw in front of each eyeball, making sure the prisoners understood what was going to happen. But she got nothing. None tried to free their heads from the scouts’ grip. None attempted to even look away. Sabiri was almost sure that at this point the prisoners were daring Greta to do it. She saw this before, all those years back. Some of their prisoners not only refused to be defeated but craved to get victories wherever they could. They kept silent no matter what, even if there was nothing to hide. They resisted being moved into another cell, even if there was no way of escaping. They jumped on the blades they were being threatened with. They rejected food and water.

Seeing that threats alone weren’t going to work, Greta picked a target at random and pressed a claw into her cheek. Slowly dragging across the victim’s skin, her sharp talon left a long, red trail on its path. Her victim flinched, but the scouts held her tight, so nothing prevented Greta from making another cut. Bright-red blood ran down the victim’s neck, dripping beneath her armor. Still, there was no fear in those eyes. Pure hatred and rage, that was all Greta could see, making her face twist in a grimace of joy.

«I think there’s no sense in keeping quiet,» a voice on the left finally said, ruining Greta’s fun.

The other prisoners tried to jerk their heads towards the sound, but the scouts didn’t let them move their heads. Yet it looked like the same thought had already occurred in the rest of the prisoners’ minds. They were quiet for a while, probably unsure who should be talking. Greta stepped back, waiting for them to finish thinking.

The one on the right finally spoke. «We’re from the Rortring tribe. I’m Mas, next to me’s Abasi, and that’s Rohu. We were going to the Big Market to buy a few books.»

«Why weren’t you using a road?» Greta asked.

«We would love to, but without a properly protected caravan it’s too dangerous.»

«Why didn’t you have such a caravan?» Sabiri asked. «Silence!» she snapped when Rohu opened her mouth. «She talks, you don’t come to her rescue!»

Rohu gave her another glance full of hate but kept quiet.

Mas continued, «We can’t spare mounts or people for such matter. Books would help our tribe, but that’ll be in the future. Now we barely have enough not to starve.»

«So,» Shai started, «your chief thought so highly of your skills, that she sent you through a forest full of predators, swarmers, and other igni?»

Mas shook her head. «We really needed those books. She said that knowledge would help our tribe to survive, maybe even grow.»

«What books?» Greta asked.

«How to raise crops properly. How to lure prey. How to fight better – »

«You were fighting alright,» Sabiri interrupted her.

«With weapons, I meant.» Mas stared at the floor, her face already red. «With fists we just trust our instincts, but to use weapons properly we need knowledge.»

«What books specifically?» Greta asked.

«How should we know? Any books good enough would suffice.»

«Yet you were sure you could find what you needed there?» Sabiri interrupted her.

«Well, it’s the Big Market…»

«How did you know you had enough money?» Shai interrupted her again.

«We didn’t. Our Keeper of stories – »

«When were you supposed to come back?» Greta interjected.

«In a few weeks – » Mas didn’t know who to look at.

«How did you know you’d need that much time?» Sabiri didn’t let her finish.

«We’re used to traveling through the forest. We figured – »

«Where were you going to stay at the Market?» Shai cut off her explanation.

«In the „Safe travel,“ it’s a…»

By the time they’d run out of questions, Mas’s face was even redder, sweat was running down her forehead, her wide, frightened eyes searching the floor. But she passed the test: all her answers made sense, she wasn’t taking too long to answer, and the answers to the same questions varied slightly. All seemed legitimate.

«What are you thinking?» Greta asked Sabiri and Shai.

«I think she’s telling the truth,» Sabiri said. «I’ve heard about people traveling through forests in small groups. I don’t think she was making up those answers.»

«I agree.» Shai nodded. «We shall investigate their supposed tribe just to be certain, but she did sound convincing,»

«Alright.» Greta turned towards the prisoners. «We’re leaving now. The guards will untie you, but you’ll still be locked up here for a while. We’ll treat you as our „locked-up guests,“ with a hot bath, good food, and everything. Feel free to ask the guards for something extra, something normal prisoners don’t get. Any questions?»

Once again, the prisoners struggled to decide who should talk, but they didn’t waste too much time.

«For how long?» Abasi asked.

«No less than a week. Depends on how fast we check your words,» Greta answered.

«A week!» Rohu yelled. «We can’t waste another week! Our tribe needs us and those books!»

Greta put her hand on the hilt of her sword, and Rohu stopped yelling at once.

«You’re apparently one of the smaller and poorer tribes, judging by what you supposedly don’t know. But we’re more resourceful. If your words check out, we’ll give you those books as an apology. For now, try not to make too much noise.»

They left the prisoners in the cell and crossed the room to examine the prisoners’ belongings. They had short swords, as simple as you could get away with, just oversized knives without pommels or cross-guards. But they were sharp and pointed, although a bit off centered. Their bags were indeed half-empty, and there were indeed coins in them. Sabiri examined them closer: some small coins, some triangles, some squares – there was even oval-shaped money in there. Just one coin was gold, and all the rest were silver. A few looked like they were made in the same tribe; everything else was a weird mix of art styles, sizes, and quality. That could either mean bandits robbing people passing by, or a tribe that didn’t bother unifying the coins they received.

With no more questions to ask, the prisoners were left in the care of the guards. When the metal door slammed shut behind their backs, Sabiri realized that it was already evening. Three falling stars were trying to outrun each other, slowly gliding against the dark-purple sky. Nighttime birds filled the nicely cool air with their shrieking. The houses around them all had their windows lit, shedding warm, golden light on the street. The sounds of people having dinner, squeezing through the glass and window frames, made Sabiri’s stomach rumble.

«There are quite a lot of us today,» Greta said. «Let’s go to the inn and have dinner together. You could stay there until tomorrow.»

Everyone but Sabiri agreed. «I’ll join you later. I really need to send a bird home – they must be looking for me.»

«Come on!» Greta exclaimed. «Like we would leave you alone.»

Sabiri shook her head. «I’ve been here before, remember? I know where the Birds house is.»

«Oh, really?» Greta raised her brows. «Show us, then!»

Sabiri looked around. Strange. Just a few seconds ago I was sure where to go.

«Err…» escaped from her mouth.

«Let’s go!» Greta exclaimed. «After all, Shai could also be interested in sending a note home, as well as your scouts.»

Shai shook her head. «My people knew that I might be late.»

«Really?» Sabiri stared at her. «What if you were captured, or killed? Were they supposed to start worrying only after… How long?»

«A couple of days…»

Sabiri gave her a nudge on the shoulder. «A couple of days? I’m sure Iskrila is already anxious and waiting for me near the gates. After «a couple of days’ she would turn every last tree in the area upside down looking for me!»

Shai looked at her seriously. «You’re not some fisher, Sabiri, you never know what will happen in the next hour doing this job – »

Greta interrupted her. «And this means that nobody should be worried about you? Because it would be «okay’ if you went missing? Because «it’s your job’? Well, cool, at least let your scouts send a note.»

The Birds house looked as it would in any other tribe; a narrow building three floors high. The top floor had several glassless, thin windows. A small bird flew out through one of them, disappearing in the darkening sky. Greta and her scouts waited outside while the others entered the building. The first floor was filled with cages, many of which had occupants. The birds were making all sorts of noises, mostly talking among themselves, paying little attention to their new guests.

The keeper was sitting behind a small desk, completely focused on her work. She was measuring grain on shiny scales. The last person to cramp inside closed the door just loud enough to get her attention. She observed the company, unsure at first about who all those people were, then her face transformed into a smile. Apparently, she recognized someone.

«Welcome back, Shai! Are those your people?» the keeper asked.

«Hello, Abita.» Shai smiled. «Some are mine; the rest are from Coracastan. We weren’t supposed to be here today, so if would be nice to send word back home. I don’t know…» She counted the people in the room. «Three, maybe four birds might be enough.»

«Oh, that’s no problem.» Abita waved her hand. «Take as many as you need.»

It was too cramped inside to move freely, so the scouts quickly scribed their notes short and hurried outside. Sabiri chewed up her quill for a second, then snickered to herself and started writing.

She handed over their notes to Abita and watched how she tied them to a big bird’s leg. When Abita returned to the first floor after releasing the bird, Shai still wasn’t finished writing. She filled a whole piece of paper on both sides and sent it separately from her scouts’ notes. They thanked Abita for the help and went outside.

«What took you so long?» Greta asked.

«Shai wrote a whole poem to someone,» Sabiri said. «You think she has a new lover?»

«I don’t – » Shai tried to object.

Greta interrupted her. «Oh, that must be one of her old ones!»

«I wasn’t!» Shai yelled at her.

«I guess she wasn’t home for too long,» Sabiri theorized. «She had to give orders to absolutely everyone under her command!»

«You…» Shai snapped. «Why can’t you take this seriously?!!»

«Because you need to relax sometimes, Shai!» Greta laughed, looking at her red face.

Sabiri noticed that one of Greta’s scouts looked like she also wanted to say something funny to Shai but stayed quiet. Did she think that would be out of line? Or did Shai’s voice sound that scary?

Soon they reached the inn, a two-story building which looked most inviting. Large windows were shedding warm light. Door and window frames were freshly painted white. A big sign hanging above the front door, said «The full belly.»

Sabiri was sure that in better times it was usually full of people, but now there were a lot of empty tables. The innkeeper shined after seeing such long-awaited guests. She quickly pushed a few tables together, overfilled them with every kind of food and drink, and brought out a few benches. Instead of returning to her post, she asked to dine with them, and was delighted to be allowed to join.

Her name was Lisa. She liked smoked arnu meat and clare juice. Just yesterday she’d read a book on how to make vegetables taste like meat (Sabiri failed to understand why anyone would do that). She heard that they would run out of metal for arrows soon, so hunting would become more difficult. She—

These were clearly lonely days for her, as Lisa managed to talk more than everyone else combined! But Sabiri didn’t mind her, for it was a nice way to find out what was going on in the village. And her scouts eventually eased up around their mistresses as well and joined the conversation.

After eating and drinking a little more than they thought physically possible, after discussing everything that came to mind, they finally said their goodnights and went to sleep. Usually, Sabiri would share a room with at least one of her people, but Greta insisted that since there were no one else in the inn anyway, they should enjoy as much space as possible.

Sabiri immediately liked her room. It was lit by several jars of burning bugs and had a bed almost big enough for three people. The floor was covered by a piece of lite hide that muted her weary hoofsteps. A big window overlooked the tribe, letting in a stream of welcome fresh air.

She was too full and too tired to do anything else today. After covering the jars with pieces of hide, left there just for this purpose, she dove under a blanket and fell asleep almost immediately.