The pillars of creation

CHAPTER 57

Standing outside the squat buildings made of sun-dried bricks, Je

The bone-dry air was so hot that it reminded her of nothing so much as bending over a bonfire and trying to breathe. Blistering heat radiated from the rocks and buildings around her and rose from the ground beneath her feet as if there were a blast furnace below. Using bare hands to touch anything baking under the ruthless sun was a painful experience. Even the hilt of her knife, shaded by her body, was so warm that it felt feverish.

Je

What a long and tortured journey fate would deal her, she could never have guessed that day. She hardly knew herself anymore. Back then, she could never have guessed how much her life would change, or how much she would change.

Sebastian, pulling Pete behind, reached out and gripped her arm. "You all right, Je

"Yes," Je

"He's asking the others." Sebastian sighed in a

Despite being part of the Old World, and a part of the domain of the Imperial Order, the traders who traveled the vast deserted land, sometimes using the desolate trading outpost where Sebastian had found them, were an independent lot. Apparently, there were not enough of them to worry about, so the Order didn't bother.

Sebastian leaned against the wall beside her as he gazed out at the silent wasteland. He was weary, too, from the long journey back to his homeland of the Old World. But at least he was well, now, just as Sister Perdita had promised.

The journey, though, had been nothing like what Je

With a thumbnail, Jermsen idly picked at the leather reins while watching the figures in black. "The men are afraid of all the soldiers," she told Sebastian. "That's why they don't want to talk to us."

"What makes you think so?"

"I can just tell by the way they keep peeking out. They're trying to decide if telling us anything will somehow get them in trouble with all the soldiers."

She understood the way the small band of traders felt to be under the scrutiny of so many brutish men sitting up on their big cavalry horseshow it felt to be watched by such grim soldiers layered with leather and chain-mail armor and bristling with weapons. The black-robed men, with their pack mules, were traders, not soldiers, nor were they used to dealing with soldiers. They feared for their safety, feared that if they said something wrong these warriors might decide to slaughter them out here in this wasteland. At the same time, while vastly outnumbered, the traders seemed reluctant to be cowed, lest they set a precedent for how they were treated thereafter. They were debating, now, trying to figure out the balance where their safety lay.

Sebastian pushed away from the wall. "Maybe you're right. I'll go in and talk to them alone-in their building, instead of out here under the eyes of the army."

"I'll go with you," she said.

"What is it? What do you think?" Sister Perdita asked Sebastian as she marched up from behind.

With a casual flip of his hand, Sebastian dismissed her concern. "I think they just want to bargain. They're traders. That's what they dobargain. It might be counterproductive to try to force them."

"I will go in and change their minds," the Sister said with dark intent.

"No," Sebastian said. "Now is not the time to complicate a simple matter. We can always apply more pressure if we need to. Just let Je

Je

Je

And she would have vengeance. Her mother, who had been denied even a proper burial, could at last rest in peace knowing that her murderer had finally been visited with justice. That was all Je

Je

After closing the small rickety gate to the paddock, Je

Sebastian into the shadow of the doorway of the squat building. The jabbering voices of the men echoing inside the single room fell silent. All the men were swathed in the traditional black robes of the nomadic traders who lived in this part of the world.

"Leave us, then," the lead man said, waving his fellows out at seeing Sebastian and Je

The men, their eyes peering out at her from gaps in the black cloth they were pulling back up across their mouths and noses, nodded as they filed by. By their crinkled exposed eyes, the men seemed to be smiling congenially at her from beneath the masks, but she couldn't be sure. Just in case, and considering what was at stake, she smiled back as she returned a bow of her head.

The stagnant air inside the room was sweltering, but at least the shade was a relief. The one man remaining inside hadn't pulled the loose wraps of black cloth back up, so they sagged around his neck, away from his smiling, weathered, leathery face.

"Please," he said to Je

"Fiery?" she asked.

"Hot," he said. "You are not dressed for this place." He shuffled over to the rough plank shelves at the side and returned with one of the black bundles stored there. "Please to wear this." He lifted it toward her several times, urging her to take it. "It will make you better. It will cover you from the sun and hold in your sweat so you don't dry like rock."

Je

"Well?" Sebastian asked when the man turned away from Je

The black-robed figure hesitated, clearing his throat. "Well, they say that maybe. ."

Sebastian impatiently rolled his eyes when he caught the man's veiled meaning, and then fished around in his pocket until he came up with a silver coin. "Please accept this gesture of my appreciation for the efforts of your men."

The man took it respectfully, but it was clear the silver coin was not the price he was hoping for. He seemed hesitant, though, to say that he found the amount inadequate. Je

It was Lord Rahl's blood money, the money he had given the men sent to kill her and her mother. She could think of no better use for it.

"I don't need it," she said before he could lecture her. "Besides, aren't you the one who said it was your way to use what was close to the enemy to get back at him?"

Sebastian withheld any comment and turned to the man. "What about it?"

"Late yesterday," the man said, finally more forthcoming, "some of our men spotted two people going down into the Pillars of Creation." He went to a small, uncovered window beside shelves stocked with simple supplies along with more of the black outfits. He pointed. "Down that way. There is a trail of sorts."

"Did your men talk to them?" Je

The man looked from her to Sebastian, hesitating, apparently not comfortable answering such direct questions from a woman, even if she had been the one who had paid his price. Sebastian gave her a look that said she should let him handle it. Je

Je

Sebastian wiped sweat from his brow and tossed his heavy pack to the side of the floor. The pack hit with a hard clank and fell over. Some of the things spilled out. A