1000 of You Page 2

  He expected her to try to escape. It was a thought she had considered countless times in the past. Although she’d made the attempt twice before, for which she’d been severely punished, the possibility of making another one never strayed far from her mind.

  She never expected Kolis Rahn to trade her in exchange for a sword. Yes, she was his property, his slave, to do with as he pleased, but she never suspected he would get rid of her this way. She was Orshii. For that alone, she would have fetched a high price in any market. But instead, she’d been treated like a common animal.

  Muam adjusted himself on his pallet of furs. She pulled the one he’d given her tighter around her and ran her hand over the fine pelt. It was bear. Heavy and warm. She wondered if he had killed it himself, or purchased it.

  Her eyes went back to the two weapons sitting upright on the shelf. He had warned her about leaving the hut after dark. If she chose to take one of the weapons, it would be to protect herself.

  He groaned and cleared his throat, drawing her attention to him again. In the short time she had been with him, Muam Kai had shown what kind of man he was. What kind of master he would be. He could have left her to fight the cold alone. He could have given her the smaller pieces of bread and cheese. He could have grabbed her arm and dragged her into his hut.

  He could have thrown her on the pallet and had his way with her.

  But he hadn’t done so. He had done nothing but show her kindness and consideration. His actions led her to hope that, if she remained with him, he would continue to treat her the same. He may not even beat her when he became angry, or drank too much wine.

  This could be her one chance at having a halfway happy life. Why would she risk leaving?

  The fire popped, and a piece of burnt wood broke apart, collapsing to the side. Going over to the small pile of firewood, she pulled out two more logs, placing them in the pit. Gritting her teeth, she prayed to the Ancient Mother, and knelt beside his bed. Cautiously, she joined him on the pallet, drew the skin over the both of them, then stretched out along his length. He was his own blanket of warmth. As the chill left her body, and her muscles relaxed, he began to snore. Cuddled against his back, she laid her head on her arm, to fall asleep almost instantly.

  The morning arrived before she was aware of it. Sunlight peeked through the door flap and spilled across her face, awakening her. Opening her eyes, Gova had to take a moment to remember where she was and who she was with. Sometime during the night, she had rolled onto her other side, and so had Muam. In fact, he had spooned up behind her and draped one muscular arm over her waist.

  She debated whether or not to risk lying there and continue absorbing the welcome warmth, when the fire popped. During the night, the flames had melted down to cooling coals. The hut’s interior had grown nippy. Regretfully, she carefully eased away from his embrace, hoping not to awaken him.

  The cold air washed over her body, penetrating the thin shift as if it didn’t exist. Stirring the embers, she brought the fire back to a low flame, then added more wood. Taking the bowl and rag Muam had used the night before, she went outside to dump the dirty water, and to find a spot to relieve herself. When she reentered the hut, she was surprised to find him sitting up in bed. The look on his face made it clear he was shocked to see her.

  “I thought you had fled,” he remarked, confirming her assumption.

  She gave him a small smile. “I had to take care of my needs. Forgive me if I woke you.” Replacing the bowl on its shelf, she picked up the water bucket. “Which way is the well?”

  He pointed behind them. “Go around to the right and keep walking. You will eventually see it.” Without answering, she left the hut again to get more water.

  People glanced at her walking by as they went about with their daily work. She knew they didn’t recognize her. They knew she was a stranger. Until they figured out why she was there, they would eventually ignore her. But once they discovered she was Muam Kai’s slave, the gossip would fly fast and thick. She slowly shook her head. Things would get worse if they ever found out she was Orshii, but she couldn’t hide the color of her eyes. Gova kept her head down as she approached the well. The posture would tell everyone she was a slave. And, for the time being, it would also help protect her heritage from being discovered.

  Setting her bucket on the rock lip, she bent over to draw the well’s bucket up from the depths. As she reached for the rope to pull it over to her, she stopped to stare at her reflection in the water below. The face looking back at her was unrecognizable. Gova ran a hand through her hair. It needed washing, as did the shift she’d been wearing for more than a month. The only time Kolis gave her a new one was after he had torn the previous one from her body before he had his way with her.

  Had his way with her. She wondered when and if Muam Kai would demand that of her. Kolis had mocked the man when he said he knew Muam had no woman. Was it because her new owner did not prefer women? Or was it because he had loved before but lost her? Maybe he prefers to remain solitary. Maybe he has chosen to lead a celibate life.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of children laughing. Several meters away, three boys were kicking around a rag ball. Their exuberance was almost contagious. Behind them, Gova saw merchants pushing their carts and heading for what must be the middle of town where they would set up to sell their wares. And beyond them, open land.

  Open land. No fences, no barricades, no guards to hold her back.

  How hard would it be to leave this well and start walking? How difficult would it be to leave this village and never look back?

  No. No, I cannot leave.

  Out there lay the unknown. Out there were other men who would take her and use her, and eventually destroy her. But here…

  She glanced over her shoulder. She needed to get back before Muam became suspicious…or worried.

  Filling the bucket, she hoisted it onto her shoulder and hurried back to the hut. She was almost there when Muam came around the corner. Again, his eyes widened in surprise, and she knew he had half-expected her to make a run for it. She glanced down to see him fingering something in his palm.

  “I…I was on my way to the market to get us something to eat,” he almost stuttered.

  “Let me do that, as soon as I put this bucket back inside.”

  He hesitated, silently debating with himself. Gova knew why. “At some point, master, we must learn to trust one another.”

  “Do not call me that. Call me by my name,” he gruffly admonished her, but his tone did not intimidate her. He held out a hand and gave her two copper duas. “Give me the bucket. I will put it back. I will be in my shed if you need me.”

  She took the money. “Is there anything in particular you want?”

  “No. You choose.”

  “Is there anything you do not like or want? Or prefer not to eat?”

  She was answered with a humorous grunt. “I have never been picky. If I am hungry enough, I will even eat it raw.”

  Bobbing her head, she hurried away to get them something to last them through the day, if not longer. She resisted the urge to look behind her, to see if he was still standing there, watching her. But she wouldn’t be surprised if he was.

  Chapter 4

  Sorcery

  The venders set up their carts in a circle in the middle of the township. Gova noticed how the people selling similar items tended to spread themselves away from the others. A woman selling fabric was next to a man with fruit. Beside him was a man with pots of spices, and next to him another man sold flatbread. She guessed it was done that way to deter them from undermining each other’s sales.

  Gova looked at the two copper coins she held. It was not a lot to bargain with, but she had to make do with what Muam had given her.

  Before she approached a vendor, she acclimated herself with everything being offered. That way she could decide what she wanted to get, and which cart appeared to have the best to offer.

  If there was one thing she was c
apable of doing well, it was bartering. Vendors always initially inflated their prices because they expected the customer to dicker for a better price. They also tried to outsell their competitors. So if a customer showed preference for another seller’s goods, the vendor usually lowered his price to get the sale. She knew those tricks, but she also had a few of her own no one knew about or suspected.

  In the end, she managed to get four slices of flatbread, some cheese, two pieces of fruit, and a small portion of freshly-killed goat for her two duas. Using the front of her shift as a temporary pocket, she was carrying her items away from the market when she passed two women standing near a stall selling handmade jewelry. One woman loudly remarked, “You would think some women would take more pride in their appearance than to show up at the market looking filthy and smelling like a whore.”

  “Maybe her master just kicked her out of bed and ordered her to fix him something to eat.”

  “That is possible. But it is obvious she has no shame.”

  Gova stopped to supposedly examine several pairs of sandals, her ears growing red from the disdain. They were talking about her. They knew nothing about her, or how she had come to be in town, and they had already deemed her unworthy.

  She straightened slightly. I am Gova Dov. I am Orshii, and I am as worthy as any of you.

  The words were not spoken, but remained silently defiant in her heart.

  She looked down at her stained and torn shift. At her sandals which had been repaired too many times to count. A hand reached up to feel the rough texture of hair that once, long ago, had been shiny and softer than silk.

  She had no money left, and there was no way she could ask Muam for more. Least of all, to buy herself another shift. She had the feeling they might have to tighten their belts in the near future because he had lost a sale because of her. Because Kolis had traded her for his new sword, instead of paying Muam what he was due. Muam’s weapons may be of superb quality, but it took a lot of time and effort to make them. She dreaded to think how many weeks or months he had spent on Kolis’s sword. The income from that one weapon alone would have provided him with enough food until his next sale. Now, because of her, he had no income from it. And he now had another mouth to feed, to add to his woes.

  A brownish rock near the toe of her sandal caught her attention. Bending down, she picked it up and dusted it off with her fingers. It was a small, round, flat pebble, almost exactly the same shape and size as a dua. She hefted it. And the same weight.

  She glanced over her shoulder. It had been a long time since she’d used her ability. It was a gift she jealously guarded. But now…

  She couldn’t ask, or even expect Muam to spend his precious little money on her, or on anything other than food to keep them both from starving. She owed him for his sacrifice. He did not have to take her in. He did not have to accept her in payment, but he had. And for that, she owed him so much.

  Holding the rock in her hand, she slowly began stroking it with the ball of her thumb and concentrated. It took her a few moments to bring her long-hidden gifts back to the forefront. As she continued to rub the pebble, it gradually changed. Not in size or shape or color, but in appearance. The flat side took on the faint image embossed on a dua. When she was satisfied, she flipped the pebble over and worked on the other side. Soon, it resembled one of the copper coins. Still clutching the food she’d purchased, she went over to the stall selling garments and bought a simple, light brown shift. Its cost was less than the coin, but she didn’t argue when she was handed her change.

  Gova returned to the hut. Sometime tonight, the fake coin would convert back into its original form. By the time the merchant discovered the pebble in his money box, he would have no idea how it got there. She’d taken the risk to deceive the merchant, and she doubted she would ever use her ability to do it again. To continue to do so would alert the merchants that someone among them was deceiving them with sorcery. And sooner or later, that suspicion could land on her.

  Once she reached the hut, her first task was to cook a quick morning meal. She gathered some common herbs she found growing in an adjacent field, and took them back to use. As the meat simmered, she heated water in the metal bowl and washed herself before donning the new shift. After that, she worked at getting the tangles out of her hair before also washing it. When she was done, she tackled the hut’s interior and waited for Muam to return.

  * * *

  Muam stepped back to examine the bedframe he’d cobbled together from spare tree branches. After checking its sturdiness, he deemed it suitable to use.

  He hadn’t meant to spend the morning making a bed for Gova, but there was no way he could expect her to continue sharing his bed. Neither could he allow her to sleep on the hard ground. The bear pelt would cover the frame nicely, but that meant she needed another pelt to cover herself with. He mentally went over the size and number of pelts on his own bed, but came up short. Somehow he needed to find a way to get another pelt.

  Grabbing the frame, he left the shed. Hopefully Gova will have returned with something to break their fast.

  He mentally paused. Unless she took the coins and fled. Unless she saw his generosity as her chance to make her escape. The thought of the woman betraying him in that manner hurt more deeply than he expected. Still, he couldn’t blame her if she did.

  He was halfway across the stretch of land that separated his work shed from the hut, when he caught the scent of something cooking. The closer he got to his home, the more he realized it was coming from there. Relief went through him, and he stepped up his pace.

  He pushed the bed frame through the door flap before entering himself. Once inside, he stopped and stared at the interior. She’d tidied up. The floors were freshly swept, and it looked like she’d taken the pelts outside to shake.

  His one metal pot sat atop the fire, and it was from there the wonderful smell was emanating. But what surprised him more was the sight of the woman hanging bundles of herbs on the other side of the room. Gova turned around when he entered.

  “Morning meal is ready.”

  He continued to stare at her. At her transformation. She’d washed herself, as well as combed her hair. And…

  His eyebrows went up. “Is that a new shift?”

  Her face flushed, and she nervously wiped a hand across her thigh. “I was able to negotiate a fair price for it,” she told him. “I also got us enough food to last us through the day.”

  “On two duas?”

  Her face turned a brighter shade of red, and a wild thought came to him. A thought born from the stories he’d heard about the Orshii. About what they could do, or were purported to be able to do.

  Swallowing thickly, Muam quietly asked, “Gova, are you a sorceress?”

  Chapter 5

  Honesty

  Gova didn’t hesitate to answer him. She couldn’t. Not because she feared what he might do if she lied, and he discovered later that she’d deceived him, but because she never wanted to be less than truthful to a man who may have saved her life.

  “Yes.”

  “How?”

  She glanced down at the frame. Instead of taking the time she was at the market to work on a weapon, he had been making her a bed. He’d been thinking of her, of her comfort.

  He planned to keep her around.

  She gazed back up at him. “I changed a pebble to look like a dua. The merchant will not discover it until late tonight or tomorrow morning.”

  Muam eyed her shift. “Do not ever do that again,” he flatly ordered.

  “I have no plans to. To do so might bring suspicion upon me and you, and I cannot allow that to happen.”

  He gave a nod, then strode over to the other side of the hut to put down the frame. “The bear skin from last night will comfortably pad it. I saw no need for you to sleep on the floor, and you cannot continue to sleep in my bed,” he added almost as an afterthought. “However, there are not enough furs to blanket you with. I will ask about to see if anyone needs
their knives sharpened. I might be able to raise enough coin to purchase a coverlet for you.”

  Sharpening knives. That explained how he was able to survive between sales of his weapons.

  Gova reached up to the shelf where she’d stashed the change from the fake dua. Walking over to him, she held them out. “This was left over from when I bought my shift.” Muam took the small lead ducats without commenting.

  She retrieved the one small bowl he must use to eat out of, and the larger one he used as a wash basin, and squatted in front of the fire. Muam parked himself in front of the pit and watched as she ladled some of the meat and broth into the larger bowl before handing it and the only spoon to him. He grunted as he took them from her.

  “I will need to make you a spoon. Until then, how will you eat?”

  “With my fingers.”

  He looked at the steam rising from the food. “But it will burn them.”

  “I have been burned before,” she told him. Picking up the two slices of flatbread she’d had warming by the fire, she held them out to him.

  He tore off a piece and used it as a scoop, blowing on the meat chunk before stuffing it in his mouth. She watched in amusement as he gave her a wide-eyed look, knowing what he was thinking.

  “I deliberately made Kolis’s food unpalatable. It was one of the few ways I could punish him for the things he did to me.”

  They continued to eat in silence. At one point, Muam licked his fingers. “What all can you do when you use your sorcery?’

  “Not as much as the stories foretell.”

  “Can you change your shape? Can you become another animal? Say, a tiger?”

  She managed a small laugh. “No. That is impossible. However, there are times when I can speak to animals. It takes a lot of concentration. Anything I do takes a lot of concentration.”

  When he didn’t reply, she glanced up to find him staring at her. “At any time did you use your sorcery on me?” he finally demanded.