Black Spice (Book 3) by James R. Sanford Read Free Book Online Page A

anyway.  “He loves you, even knowing the cowardice you hide
in your heart .”
    Caleem
looked away from him, and he pressed on.
    “I
know you want to please him and do what is best for him.  But you made a
mistake tonight.  You have revealed yourself and allowed yourself to be
captured.  And he will not love you for this.  He will say that you should have
killed us all.  Just as you have displeased your father all your life, just as
you couldn’t earn his love no matter how hard you tried, so it will be with
your new brother.  He will not be able to love you now, and he will not want
you near him.”
    Caleem
had lowered his head as Kyric continued to speak, his eyes closed tight, and
now he bent forward, shaking with silent sobs.
     “I
think we have the truth at last,” Kyric said, wiping away a tear of his own. 
He handed the torch to Mahai and walked away into the darkness.  Aiyan followed
him.
    “Kyric,
where did you learn . . . how did you know to . . . to say such things?”
    Kyric
threw his head back.  He was over it already.  “I just substituted the word
‘father’ for ‘mother.’”
    They
bound Caleem’s ankles with another belt.  He didn’t resist.  The moon had only
moved a little since they passed out.  They had the whole night ahead of them.
    “We’ll
need to set a watch,” Aiyan said.  “More to guard the prince than anything, for
he is sure to attempt escape.”
    “I’ll
take care of that,” Kyric said.  He looked around until he found Aiyan’s helmet
with the drug-laced salad.  He set it down in front of Caleem.
    “Eat.”
    Caleem
looked up.  “I’m not hungry.”
    “Eat
it,” Kyric said, “or I’ll bash you in the head so hard you won’t wake up for
days.”
    Caleem ate.
    They
kept a watch anyway, and, as usual, Aiyan had them up before the sun.  He
wasn’t sure what to do about Caleem.  They couldn’t leave him here.
    “We
need a safe place to stash him until I can take care of Soth Garo.”
    Witaan
had the solution.  “I know of a hunting lodge in the woodlands near Tialucca
land.  There will be men there who can help.  Send Nakoa with me and we will take
him there.”
    Aiyan
was doubtful.  “You don’t realize how desperate they get.  He would do anything
to get away.  He would break his own leg to slow you down.”
    Nakoa
smiled.  “We’ll keep feeding him the black spice until we get there.  He’ll be
no trouble.”
    Aiyan
agreed in the end, having nothing better, so they marched off, Witaan and Nakoa
each with a hand on Caleem’s belt to hold him up.  He stumbled along miserably,
his head hanging down.
    Before
the rest of them started east, Aiyan scrubbed out the nut helmets.  Kyric was
suddenly unconcerned for the heat.  He strapped his helmet on and tightened the
laces of his body armor.  Then something in his gut tore loose, the cramp nearly
bending him over.  It was all that red pepper he had eaten.  It subsided
quickly and he joined the others.
    They
headed toward the Silasese town, climbing to a low saddle between two tall
hills.  They crested the ridge and held their hands up against the rising sun. 
The morning haze lay thick on the land and they couldn’t see anything.  Then
the sea breeze brought them the sound of drums.  Many drums.
    “I
had forgotten,” Lerica said.  “Tonight is Winter’s Eve.  Merry Solstice,
everyone.”
    “That
means it’s Midsummer Day here below the line,” Aiyan said.
    Kyric
turned to Mahai.  “Is that what the drumming is for?  Do your people celebrate
summer solstice?  I don’t suppose you tear up straw men at midnight.”
    “All
the nations of Mokkala stay up dancing the night before,” Mahai said.  “Being
tired and worn out is supposed to help you break through to the spirit world.  At
dawn my people hunt shark for a feast after dark, once it has been cooked in
the sacred way.  During the day there are weddings and the big spirit singing
at sundown.  A lot of