Figurehead

six

The marketplace is busiest around half-day. I carefully place each thin clay tablet, newly inscribed, to dry on the market stall bench. As the customers approach, I take an empty basin to the well while Ersu deals with the locals. I'm not much of a trader, but, begrudgingly, Ersu admitted it was helpful for him to have me there.

"That's the closest you'll get to a compliment with him," Krit pointed out in amusement. I don't doubt it.

The well is also crowded with locals at half-day. It is a good thing the trough is large and quite deep, although anyone hoping to refill their waterskins still needs to wait until they can draw from the well itself. The trough gets so easily clouded by sand and dust.

"It must be much easier for you, since you're not collecting pure water," somebody says, almost enviously.

I laugh, dipping the basin into the trough and carefully filling it. "Definitely."

She sighs, glancing at the two horned sandeer drinking contentedly beside me. "Good for you too," she comments, and Werv nods. He keeps his hold on them by the reins he crafted uniquely for their kind. Horned sandeer are so few during Dre, he told me. They are one of the animals most wanted by hunters throughout each season, so being a breeder is a very good thing if you can get your hands on them.

"How is Yef?" I ask. She checks on him each day.

She nods. "Healing well. I think he must have eaten sand, though, since he keeps returning to visit locals in their homes."

I laugh. I have become accustomed to the way those of the desert speak now, too. And the Avu accent is much less noticeable. "Eris said that yesterday, you told her you leave when Den comes."

I give Kued a half-smile. "Yeah."

Werv raises an eyebrow. "Really?" I nod. "Is this from you? Or not?"

I shrug. "I think it's from the Lord." In my peripheral vision, I see Kued roll her eyes and turn back to the line she waits in, and I suppress a sigh. Maybe one day she'll believe.

"Alright," Werv says after a moment, tugging gently on the reins. "I'd better return these two." I nod. He heads off.

"Why not just bring the water to his animals instead of bringing them here?" I turn at the sound of Tui's voice. She begins washing some recently-picked herbs in the trough.

"He does both." She flicks me a glance. "The young ones drink from troughs, but the older ones need much more. It's easier to bring them here instead."

She shrugs. "Alright, then." She pauses, then hands the herbs to a waiting healer, who returns to the hut. "Thanks," she calls after him, and he raises a hand in acknowledgement before disappearing through the doorway.

"What?" There is an expectant look on her face, or one of contemplation. Hard to tell.

She eyes me. "You're leaving in a week?"

I nod. "I think so."

"To return to Escatin?"

I furrow my eyebrows. "I'm assuming. Where else?"

She tilts her head. "The desert."

I frown. "What?"

She shrugs. "Just an idea," she says vaguely, trailing off.

"What?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing." She looks at me again, then shakes her head more firmly. "Never mind. I have to go."

"Yes.." I say uncertainly, as she heads off into the healers' hut.

An idea? Of what? Why would I stay in the desert?

Par is reclining in her market stall when I return and hand the basin to Ersu. I head over, confused by the fact her stall bench is completely empty. There were pieces of meat on it before I left for the well. Those same pieces of meat now sit at Krit's market stall where customers are trading them for coins.

She raises an eyebrow when I enter the stall. "What's with that?" I ask, nodding in Krit's direction. I take the stool from under her raised feet and sit on it.

"Drank too much firewater last night," she shrugs. I raise an eyebrow. She didn't seem to be affected by it this morning, can't have been if she went hunting. "Not enough for that," she adds, as if knowing what I'm thinking. "But," she sighs, "enough to blabber on about why I came to Deritri."

I furrow my eyebrows. "Has it not happened before?"

She laughs. "Me getting drunk? Or releasing the hare?"

I snort. "Oh, I know you've been drunk before. Releasing the hare," I say, the phrase one she picked up from locals. It's unfamiliar on my lips, but similar to the phrase I do know- breaking open the rain vessel.

She rolls her eyes at me. "Thanks." She blows out a breath, features slipping from amusement into solemnity. "It has happened before. It's driven me from other provinces. It might drive me from this one." She shakes her head. "If so, I'll have to try and stay with the former slaves. If they'll allow me. Otherwise, there's nowhere I can go except the Escatin mines."

I frown at the mention of the slave trade but push it aside, for now. "What did you do?" I ask. "Why have you been driven out of Avu provinces?" The Escatin mines are where all criminals are sent to labour. Do I want to know?

Her smile is sardonic. "I betrayed my blood, my people, my king and my empire."

"What?"

"I'm a deserter."