Peter Brett - The Desert Spear

"What?" she asked.

"We 're just going to pretend you didn't say that," Rojer said after a moment. He resumed walking, the others following his lead. Leesha shook her head and followed. "These greenlanders are worse than we thought," Ashan said as they walked back to join the other men. "I cannot believe they take orders from a woman!"

"But what a woman!" Jardir exclaimed. "Powerful and exotic and beautiful as the dawn."

"She dresses like a harlot," Ashan said. "You should have killed her simply for daring to meet your eyes."

Jardir hissed and waved the thought away. "It is death to kill a dama'ting."

"Your pardon, Shar'Dama Ka, but she is not a dama'ting," Ashan said. "She is a heathen. All these greenlanders are infidel, praying to a false god."

Jardir shook his head. "They follow Everam whether they know it or not. There are only two Divine Laws in the Evejah: Worship one god, and dance alagai'sharak. Beyond that, every tribe is entitled to their own customs. Perhaps these greenlanders are not so different from us. Perhaps their customs are simply foreign to us."

Ashan opened his mouth to protest, but a look from Jardir made it clear the discussion was over. Ashan's mouth snapped shut, and he bowed. "Of course, if the Shar'Dama Ka says it, it must be so."

"Go and tell the dal'Sharum to make camp," Jardir ordered. "You, Hasik, Shanjat, and Abban will join me for their tea."

"We 're bringing the khaffit?" Ashan scowled. "He is not worthy to take tea with men."

"He is more fluent in their tongue than you are, my friend," Jardir said, "and Hasik and Shanjat barely have a handful of greenland words between them. This is the very reason I chose to bring him. He will prove invaluable at this meeting." It seemed the whole town had gathered around Smitt's Tavern by the time the Krasians arrived. Leesha let only the town council and their spouses attend, but coupled with Smitt's small army of children and grandchildren who were setting and serving, they outnumbered the Krasians greatly.

The crowd rumbled ominously as Jardir walked to the tavern. "Go back to the sand!" someone shouted, and many voices grunted in agreement.

If the Krasians were bothered at all, they gave no sign. They strutted through the crowd with their heads held high, unafraid. Only one, a rotund man clad in bright colors and limping on a cane, looked at the Hollowers warily as he passed. Leesha stood by the door, ready to rush out if the crowd turned ugly.

"You're right, he is handsome," Elona said at her ear.

Leesha turned to her in surprise. "Who told you I said that?" Elona only smiled.

"Welcome," Leesha said, when Jardir made it to the door. She and her mother gave identical curtsies. Jardir looked at Elona, then glanced over to Leesha. They were similar enough that no one could mistake their relation.

"Your…sister?" Jardir asked.

"My mother, Elona," Leesha rolled her eyes while Elona tittered and allowed Jardir to kiss her hand. "And my father, Ernal," she nodded to her father. Jardir bowed to him.

"Allow me to introduce my councilors," Jardir said, gesturing to the men behind him. "You have met Damaji Ashan. These are kai'Sharum Shanjat and my dal'Sharum bodyguard, Hasik." The men bowed with the introduction. Jardir made no effort to introduce the fifth member of his entourage, moving on down the receiving line with his men, bowing and making introductions.

The fifth was unlike any of the others. Where they were lean, he was fat. Where they dressed in somber, solid colors, he was clad as brightly as any Jongleur. And where they were fit and strong, he leaned on his crutch so heavily that it seemed he would fall over without it.

Leesha opened her mouth to greet the man as he entered, but his eyes passed over her, and he bowed to her father. "A pleasure to meet you at last, Ernal Paper."

Erny looked at him curiously. "Do I know you?"

"Abban am' Haman am'Kaji," the man introduced himself.

"I…used to sell you paper," Erny stumbled after a moment. "I, ah…actually still have your last order sitting in my shop. I was waiting on payment when the Messengers stopped coming from Rizon."

"Six hundred sheets of your daughter's flower press, I believe," Abban said.

"Night, that was you?!" Leesha exclaimed. "Do you know how many hours I slaved over those sheets, only to have them sitting in the dryhouse like…like compost!"

Jardir was there in an instant, breaking away from an introduction to Smitt as if it were meaningless.

"What have you said to offend our host, khaffit?" he demanded.

Abban bowed as low as his crutch would allow. "It seems I owe her father some money, Deliverer, for paper she and her father made for me years ago that I was not able to claim after our borders closed."

Jardir snarled, backhanding him viciously to the ground. "You will pay him triple what you owe, immediately!" Abban cried out as he struck the floor, spitting blood.

Leesha shoved Jardir aside, running to Abban's side and kneeling beside him. He tried to pull away, but she took his head firmly in her hands, examining him. His lip was split, but she didn't think it would require stitching.

She rose quickly and glared at Jardir. "Just what in the Core is the matter with you?!"

A shocked look came over Jardir's face, as if Leesha had suddenly grown horns. "He is only khaffit," he explained. "A weakling without honor."

"I don't care what he is!" Leesha snapped, storming up to Jardir so their noses practically touched, her eyes ablaze like blue flame. "He is a guest under our roof, as are you, and if you wish to remain so, you'll mind your ripping manners and keep your hands to yourself!"

Jardir stood there, stunned, and his councilors looked equally shocked. All turned to their leader for a cue on how to react. The warriors flexed their hands, as if readying them to reach for the short spears slung over their shoulders, and Leesha's fingers itched to reach into one of the many pockets of her apron for a handful of blinding powder in case they did.

But Jardir broke the stare and stepped back, bowing deeply. "You are right, of course. I apologize for bringing violence to your table." He turned to Abban. "I will purchase the pages from you at triple what you must pay her father," he said loudly, turning to eye Leesha. "Anything so precious to Mistress Leesha must be a treasure indeed."

Abban touched his forehead to the floor, and then braced himself on his cane to rise. Erny rushed over to help him, though the small man could do little to shift the other's great bulk.

Jardir turned and smiled at Leesha, beaming with pride as if he honestly thought he could impress her any more with a display of wealth than he had with one of violence.

"Handsome or no, he's a pompous ass," Leesha muttered quietly to Rojer.

"Perhaps," Rojer agreed, "but an ass who can crush the Hollow like a bug if he wishes."

Leesha scowled. "Don't go betting on that." "The Northern women have steel in them," Hasik observed in Krasian as they were ushered to one of the tall greenland tables with its hard benches.

"Ours do as well," Jardir replied, "they simply hide it beneath their robes." All of them, even Abban, laughed at that and did not disagree.

Tea was served by children, along with plates of hard biscuit. The Northern Holy Man cleared his throat, and all eyes turned to him. Ashan stared at the Tender like a raptor watching a rodent. The greenland cleric paled under the dama's gaze, but he pressed on.

"It is our custom to pray before meals," he said.

Elona snorted, and Jona glared at her. Jardir ignored the woman, though he was shocked at her rudeness. "That is our custom as well, Tender," he said, bowing. "It is right to give thanks to Everam for all things."

Jona's lip twitched slightly at the name Jardir attached to the Creator, but he nodded, mollified for the most part.