Secret Sacrament by Sherryl Jordan Read Free Book Online

have,” she replied sharply. “By my wits.”
    â€œWhere do you live?”
    â€œAt the palace.”
    He grinned. “I’ve heard that silk sheets aren’t very warm on cool nights,” he said. “I’ll get you some blankets. When did you last have a proper meal?”
    â€œNot since I’ve been in this torture-house. The Empress doesn’t realize I’m here, I think.”
    â€œI’ll bring you some food, too, later on today. And I’ll give you a wash, and change your bed.”
    â€œDo you feed and wash all the crones who comein here that you feel sorry for?”
    â€œOnly the beautiful ones.”
    Unexpectedly she laughed, and he almost nicked her skin with his scissors. “You’d better keep still,” he warned.
    â€œI’m glad you appreciate true beauty when you see it,” she said, still cackling. “Princess of the garbage pits, that’s what they call me.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œThat’s where I live—when I’m not at the palace, of course. It’s amazing what you find there, what other people call rubbish.”
    â€œFood, you mean?”
    â€œThat, and other treasures. I find them and sell them.”
    â€œThat’s how you live?”
    â€œI make a few hanas, enough to eat once in a while.”
    â€œIs that why you were attacked? You’d found something of worth?”
    â€œYou could say that. A cup. I’d found a cup, only one little crack in it. The boys decided they wanted it.”
    â€œYou suffered all this, for one cracked cup?”
    â€œIt was a lovely cup.”
    He bent his head low again, concentrating on the stitches about her eye. The ones nearest the lid he left for Hevron to remove. While he worked,Edyth peered at his clothes, searching for jewels or signs of affluence. She noted the simple brown thigh-length tunic and the white shirt with its flowing sleeves and cuffs neatly edged with blue. He wore no rings, and there was no money bag attached to his wide belt, only a small knife in an embossed leather sheath. The handle was metal set with a dark green stone. If the stone was a real gem, it was the only sign of wealth. His trousers were a lighter brown, homespun of fine wool. He looked plain compared with his colleagues.
    â€œHave you got a rich relative paying for your training here?” Edyth asked.
    â€œYou’re a nosy old crone, aren’t you?” he said amicably.
    â€œJust curious. You’re not stuck-up like the others. If you have got it, you don’t flaunt it.”
    They did not speak again for a while, and the only sounds were the snip of the scissors as Gabriel cut the silken threads, the droning of the flies above the beds, and the murmuring of other voices in the ward. Suddenly the voices stopped. Even the patients stopped talking. Then Gabriel heard Hevron hurrying to the door of the ward, heard him say, with a graciousness and warmth never used with his students, “Greetings, Grand Master! Greetings! What an honor, to have you here!” He was obviously bowing low, for his nextwords were muffled. For the first time Gabriel halted in his work. Straightening his back, he turned and looked where every person in the ward was looking.
    In the doorway, resplendent in his crimson, gold, and white robes, stood one of the Masters from the Citadel. Hevron finished paying homage, and the Master shook his hand in the Navoran way and spoke to him. For several minutes they talked, their voices hushed, and the students slowly returned to their work.
    Gabriel’s fingers trembled slightly against Edyth’s cheek, and his face was flushed. “Has he come to see you?” Edyth asked, eyeing him shrewdly.
    â€œNo. He’s here to tell Hevron who’s been chosen to study at the Citadel. They pick only the best students from the top universities in the Empire. It must be someone from here, this year. That man is Salverion, the Grand