Siren's Silence

Chapter 20: Green-eyed Shadow

Siren

  The marketplace would have seemed beautiful were it not for the fact that I'd already seen a dozen more like it in the last few weeks. Everywhere were tents and stalls, merchants hawking their wares, and sand, way too much sand. Sand in my boots, sand in my hair, sand up my arse, and binding to my clothes, digging into my skin. At least the sand of the beach was finer and could be washed away by the water, but there was none here save for the few small oases and rare springs that towns like these grew around.

  I had learned much about the area while I was traveling through it, trying to adapt, but no matter what I did, I stood out. A silent shadow in the beige and white attire common for the area, moving through the crowd, searching for signs of my lost men, seeking out anyone who could read, and usually avoiding authorities.

  This far inland, my reputation was practically unknown, but a woman traveling alone was either considered suspicious or an easy target. My blade had already rested on the throat of several who had attempted to treat me as the latter in previous establishments. I was hoping to avoid similar unpleasantry here. For one thing, this place was bigger than any but the port city in which I had first arrived. It was a major trade hub, a hot spot for all kinds of goods, including slaves. That and that alone was the reason I was still here, listening, observing, and occasionally  attempting to communicate with some of the traders, trying to scrape together any information I could.

  I kept looking up whenever I heard the jangle of chains, hoping it was one of my men, but alas, it never was. From what I'd learned since my arrival, the slaver who had taken them had done very little business here before moving on, unusual behavior for him, apparently. Perhaps he'd been told to hurry, that I was hunting him. Possibly there was just higher demand further inland and therefore more money to be made by holding on to the strong sailors. Whatever the reason, the simple fact was that my men were still out of my reach and the temptation to set loose every slave I found and upset the entire system that had taken them was tempting, but I knew better. The slaves would be recaptured, punished, and forced back into the same life again and I likely wouldn't survive doing such a thing, spelling nothing but doom for those I loved. No, I had to be patient, had to recognize that this system of theirs couldn't fall in a day, and certainly not at my hands. I had a singular goal, to find my people, I had to achieve that first.

  My attention was drawn by a massive disruption in the market which I had been observing from the shadows for some time now. Several riders pounded into the marketplace, their horses scattering sand and people alike. Merchants scooped up their most valuable wares, stashing them away, women and children dove for the alleyways and nearby buildings, and even the men went into hiding.

  I was no stranger to this behavior. I had seen it dozens of times. These men must have authority, and, based on the people's reactions, abuse it.

  Great, not what I needed, I thought. My eyes focused on the leader's horse. It was a bronze-colored lean beast, long-legged, thin, a born and bred desert horse. All I need is food and water for it and me and then I could make some significant ground on that trader... Food preserves, I have, and I'm betting that's what is in the bags on its back. Water, I can get at the next oasis. There's one only a few miles away...

  The idea was probably foolish, but tempting. The beast's rider was dismounting, it would be so easy... As confident and cocky as these guys were, they'd never see it coming. It would be so easy...

  I was moments from moving, when my blood began to boil watching these "authorities". They were yelling at the merchants, demanding taxes that several of them insisted they had already paid. One kicked over a table and I snapped. The boy now pinned below the heavy wood was young, still learning his craft, but had been kind enough to point me in the right direction. The gold that wretch of a guard was taking was that which I had given the boy, far overpaying for a trinket I didn't need, just to try to help. Now I could see why he was having so much trouble keeping his father's business.