Karim looked down at himself as if only just realizing he wasn’t wearing any clothes. “If you prefer, sena,” he said with a smile.
***
Sita was in the bakery grinding wheat when it happened.
The warm hum of women’s chatter was interrupted by a chorus of shouts from outside. Sita followed the other women to the door to see what all the commotion was about. She saw the brute Zev running down the street toward them, carrying a young man in his arms. A boy of about fifteen ran beside him, his face creased with worry.
“Elyas!” Zev bellowed.“Elyas!”
Karim appeared at the bakery door, a large bundle of wheat on his back. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“I think someone’s hurt,” Sita replied, and ran to meet them.
The young man Zev carried was as pale as death, his one leg soaked in blood. Through the mess of flesh, Sita could see the sharp end of a bone poking through the skin.
“What happened?” she asked Zev as he continued shouting for aid.
“Find Elyas, woman, if you want to be useful! Otherwise, get out of my way!”
The young man groaned, his eyes fluttering as he fought to remain conscious.
“Please, let me help,” Sita said.
Zev’s nostrils flared. “You will not touch him, Khetaran. Elyas may have spared your life, but that does not mean you are one of us. Not to me.”
“What’s going on here, Zev?” Elyas hurried toward them, walking as quickly as his elderly legs could carry him.
Zev turned to the frightened young man at his side. “Tell him, Amal.”
Amal wrung his hands. “I-I…”
“Speak, boy!” Zev roared.
“Sami and me were f-fooling around on the roof,” Amalsputtered. “We were jumping from my house to his, a-and when Sami jumped, he…” The words died on his lips.
Elyas examined the terrible wound, his expression darkening. “Bring the boy inside, Zev. Amal, find Sami’s mother at the oasis. She will want to be with him.”
Amal hung his head, then took off running.
Sita followed Elyas and Zev into one of the houses, which had been set up as a kind of infirmary with rush mats and simple linens for bandages.
“Put him there, Zev,” Elyas said. “Then go get Miri. Tell her to send the others for fresh water and to come right away. We must try to stop the bleeding…” He shook his head, dropping his voice to a whisper. “Even if the boy survives the night, he’ll never walk again. But we must try, for his mother’s sake.”
Sita glanced at Sami. Zev had lain him on one of the mats, and the boy had grown quiet, too quiet. His lips were open, his face gray. Something stirred in her, a force powerful and bone deep. She touched her carnelian Isis knot amulet.
The blood of Isis flows through your veins, my girl.
Isis. The goddess of magic. The Great Mother.
She Who Knows All the Names.
“Let me help him, Elyas,” Sita said softly.
The Hudjefa leader’s brow furrowed. “Help him? What do you know of medicine, sena?”
“I am no priest, but I know some Khetaran healing techniques, and people come from all over the region to learn such wisdom. At least let me try!”
Zev reared toward them like a cobra, ready to strike. “Elyas, you mustn’t entertain the whims of this woman! She is a stranger! She hides the truth from us, I know it. I can see it in her eyes!”
