Guardians of the Desert (Children of the Desert) by Leona Wisoker Read Free Book Online Page A

not again! Eredion thought hazily.
    The floor came up under him and consciousness, mercifully, fled.

Chapter F o ur
     
    As late-afternoon light filled the room for the second time since the doors closed, the assembly scraped back chairs and rose to its collective feet. Alyea stood, repressing a deep sigh of gratitude; their only relief over the last two days had been brief meals and the inevitable follow-up to that. But even then nobody left the room; to her utter astonishment, servants brought in a series of large chamber-pots and screens, closed off half the room, and removed the stinking pots when everyone had taken a turn.
    She found it the most outrageously humiliating moment she’d experienced in a long time, but everyone else seemed to take it for granted, and she hadn’t dared complain. No point marking herself even more the outsider than she already was. Still, it took a real effort of concentration to not only endure her own turn, but to listen to the unapologetic grunts, farts, and pissing of the other desert lords. And even the aroma-sticks the servants waved through the room in the wake of the chamber-pots had only layered one stench over another.
    Alyea wanted to flee the room, suck in lungfuls of fresh air, go huddle in a hot bath, and sleep for a tenday. She couldn’t believe she’d just stayed awake for two straight days. Just one more item everyone around her seemed to regard as completely normal; she wanted to sit and think it all through, make sense of the madness she’d stepped into.
    But the teuthin doors hadn’t opened just yet, and nobody was moving to do anything about that.
    Evkit cleared his throat. The sound brought apprehensive silence and a host of wary stares; the little teyanin lord seemed supremely smug about something.
    “Let me be first to welcome Lord Alyea,” he said, and bowed deeply. “And first to extend invitation to visit my lands as honored guest, take pick of my devoted kathain . And my fortress fully stocked,” he added with a smiling glance at Scratha. “I invite Lord Alyea remain long as desire, and enjoy my hospitality.”
    Alyea drew a deep breath, considering for only a moment, then said, “I’d be pleased to accept, Lord Evkit. Thank you for the invitation.” She decided against asking what kathain meant; it was probably just the southern term for a personal servant.
    “Then I give further offer of escort,” Evkit said, his smile widening. “We both go in same direction; why not travel together? Safety in numbers. I would not allow honored guest come to harm on way to my lands. That would be intolerable discourtesy.”
    Alyea didn’t need to hear Deiq’s small choking noise, or turn to check Scratha’s expression, to know she’d just been backed into a corner. And worse, the teyanin lord had just secured his right to stay until Alyea left.
    She held her shoulders still against a shrug and her mouth relaxed with an effort.
    “I’m honored, my lord,” she said, a bitter taste on her tongue.
    “The honor mine,” Evkit shot back, his grin threatening to split his head in two, and left the room without looking back. Irrio followed, almost on his heels, clearly unhappy about something.
    Servants hurried into the room, opening the other doors from the inside, and began clearing away the debris of two days of often-heated discussions.
    Deiq muttered, “I told you to watch him.”
    “What was I supposed to do?” Alyea demanded.
    “There’s ways of putting an answer off .”
    “Not against that one, there isn’t,” Lord Rest said unexpectedly. “She did the best she could, Deiq. You’re acting like her mother. Go find a kathain to play with and leave Lord Alyea be.”
    Deiq’s face darkened.
    “Can we at least clear the meeting room before you start a fight, Lord Rest?” Azaniari asked tartly. “And a meal would be nice, along with a drink or ten. I think you’d get along famously after that. Besides, I think Lord Alyea can answer against