Secret Sacrament by Sherryl Jordan Read Free Book Online Page B

was still busy, and Gabriel wished he had some money for an apple or a drink. It was a colorful place, bright with red and gold awnings stretched over the stalls. Flags and ribbons, stained with yellow dust, fluttered in the warm puffs that occasionally swept down the humid street. The air was rich with aromas of hot baked bread, sweet pies, and fruits and vegetables fresh from the gardens outside the city. Lessappealing was the stench of rotting oyster shells carried in by the breeze from the beach, and the human sweat from the milling throng. Beggars limped among the shoppers, and small thieves darted close to the wealthier customers, looking for loosely tied money bags. Buyers and sellers shouted as they bargained, and live chickens squawked from bamboo cages. Priests went about selling tiny marble replicas of the new Navoran temple, chanting blessings for any who would buy.
    Leaving the tumult of the market sector, Gabriel went up a lane to the business area. Here the streets were narrow, the buildings high and close, blocking out the sun. In spite of the shade, the air was stifling. Climbing a flight of wide, ancient steps to an upper street, he came to the crest of a hill. Looking across the rooftops he saw the sea far below, stained brown where the city’s sewage and the River Cravan entered the harbor. A steady breeze blew in, rank with the smell from the beach. A ship was leaving, its yellow sails painted with the Empire’s symbol of the red horse.
    Gabriel thought of his father, and the old regret ached in his heart. It was four years since that momentous day of Jager’s funeral, and the loss of him, the loss of the possibility of ever receiving love from him, still hurt. Shutting the pain away,Gabriel left the old business area of the city. As he crossed the city square in front of the marble temple, he passed a colossal golden statue of the Empress Petra. The statue and the city square were new, recently built by the Empress as her eternal gift to the Empire. Not protesting that taxes had been raised to meet the cost of the so-called gift, the city’s prosperous came here every day to recite prayers and to leave offerings in the money urns. They were here now in crowds, to celebrate her birthday. Pressing through the throngs, Gabriel came at last to the grand streets of his own neighborhood. At his home the gates were open and his seven-year-old sister, Subin, waited between them, crouching down with her arms around her knees. She leaped up when she saw him coming and raced to meet him, waving frantically.
    â€œThere’s a man here to see you!” she cried. “He’s got a letter for you. It’s got a blue seal and a green ribbon around it, and he wants to give it to you his own self.”
    â€œHe’s probably from the lawyer’s office, with something about my inheritance,” he said, picking her up and carrying her over his shoulder. Giggling, she tried to talk while he jogged through the gateway and across the courtyard to the front door.
    â€œMama gave him a glass of wine. Father’s best. He’s waited a long time.”
    â€œI wish I’d come home sooner,” Gabriel remarked, setting her down unceremoniously on a cushioned seat between the stone pillars and sitting beside her to remove his shoes. “What does he look like?”
    â€œOld.”
    â€œAny more useful details?”
    â€œHe’s got a mole on his eyelid.”
    â€œThat narrows the field. It’s not one of the lawyers.”
    He went inside, and the house enveloped him in shadows, wonderfully cool.
    â€œThey’re upstairs,” said Subin, skipping behind him.
    He hurried up the stairs, feeling his shirt wet under the wide belt, and he decided to visit the city baths later. His mother waited in the hallway at the top of the stairs, in the small alcove with the window overlooking the sea. She wore a simple long green dress with a gold sash and looked cool and