Megari grinned at Oriyu, who pretended to look away and adjust his helmet. “Oriyu told me. He said she had Takkan’s dagger, too! Please, Mama, may she join us?”
“It would hardly be appropriate.”
“But she’s hungry. Aren’t you?” Megari’s eyes sparkled with mischief. She looked to be no older than ten, and the hem of her dress was striped with mud. I liked her immediately.
When her mother wasn’t looking, I answered Megari with a small nod. I wasn’t just hungry. I was famished.
Megari tried to slip one of her persimmons into my shawl, but Oriyu cast us both a stern glance.
“I’ll get you some later,” she whispered, following her mother and me into the guardhouse before Lady Bushian could forbid it.
Inside, a young woman was seated primly on a wooden stool. She clutched a scarlet umbrella and was dressed entirely in white except for an ebony belt embroidered with mountains. Her round face, powdered and accentuated by a mole on her right cheek, looked kind—but once she raised her eyes, I saw that they were sharp as thorns.
“Zairena?” Megari breathed, turning to her mother. “What isshedoing here?”
Lady Bushian glared at her. “Manners, Megari. Or Oriyu will send you back to your room.”
“Is this the thief you wanted me to meet?” Zairena asked, bowing demurely. “The child who stole Takkan’s emblem?”
My eyes narrowed.Child?I couldn’t have been more than a year younger than she was. And I didn’tstealthe emblem.
“Oriyu claims Takkan gave it to her,” said Lady Bushian tightly. “When and why, we shall soon find out. Hasege said she was with assassins he encountered in the Zhensa, but my nephew is hardly a trustworthy source of news. I hate to ask, Zairena, but does she look familiar to you?”
Zairena leaned forward to scrutinize me, resting her chin on her umbrella. “No, no. I would have remembered one such as her, with that strange bowl on her head. I have faith that all the bandits who attacked my parents are dead. Lord Sharima’en has such a way of claiming the wicked.” She paused. “Though perhaps thereissomething wicked about her. Hasege did tell me about this girl. He said she tried to kill him.”
“No, she didn’t!” Megari argued. “Mama, she’s not an assassin. She can’t—”
Lady Bushian’s shoulders tensed. “I will decide the girl’s fate,” she said, drawing out a dagger from her side. Takkan’s emblem swung from its hilt, and mud encrusted its silken cords.
“Two weeks ago, my son told me he was going hunting with Hasege. He took five of Iro’s best sentinels with him. Hardly the appropriate entourage for a simple hunting trip.”
“Takkan’s never been a very good liar,” Megari muttered.
“Their mission took them deep into the Zhensa Forest, where assassins ambushed them. They were separated, and Takkan has not returned.” Lady Bushian’s cold gaze met mine. “And in the forest where he went missing, my nephew found you—with this.” She dangled the emblem before me. “Did you steal it from my son?”
I shook my head vigorously.
“Am I to believe he gave it to you?”
To think I’d wanted Takkan’s dagger, not the emblem. I swallowed hard.
Yes, he did.I nodded firmly.
“When?”
That was a harder question to answer without the use of my voice. I put up my fingers.Four, five, maybe six weeksago?
“Why?”
I pursed my lips, then scooped the air and stirred.He liked my cooking.
Lady Bushian shook her head, not understanding.
“She gave him food,” Megari guessed when I pretended to drink from my cupped hands. “She cooked for him.”
Lady Bushian raised an eyebrow as I confirmed this with a nod. “You cooked for him,” she repeated.
Soup,I mouthed, pretending to feed myself.
