The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - By N. K. Jemisin Page 0,99

wont look at him, then.

Its not that simple! When hes weak, hes more dangerous than ever; he has trouble controlling himself. You shouldnt His voice dropped an octave suddenly, breaking like that of a youth in puberty, and he cursed under his breath and stopped. I walked on, and was not surprised when I heard him stamp the floor behind me and shout, You are the stubbornest, most infuriating mortal Ive ever had to put up with!

Thank you, I called back. There was a curve up ahead; I stopped before rounding it. Go and rest in my room, I said. Ill read you a story when I get back.

What he snarled in reply, in his own tongue, needed no translation. But the walls did not fall in, and I did not turn into a frog, so he couldnt have been that angry.

Zhakkarn had told me where to find Nahadoth. She had looked at me for a long time before saying it, reading my face with eyes that had assessed a warriors determination since the dawn of time. That shed told me was a complimentor a warning. Determination could easily become obsession. I did not care.

In the middle of the lowermost residential level, Zhakkarn had said, Nahadoth had an apartment. The palace was perpetually shadowed here by its own bulk, and in the center there would be no windows. All the Enefadeh had dwellings on that level, for those unpleasant occasions when they needed to sleep and eat and otherwise care for their semimortal bodies. Zhakkarn had not mentioned why theyd chosen such an unpleasant location, but I thought I knew. Down there, just above the oubliette, they could be closer to Enefas Stone than to Itempass usurped sky. Perhaps the lingering feel of her presence was a comfort, given that they suffered so much in her name.

The level was silent when I stepped out of the lift alcove. None of the palaces mortal complement lived herenot that I blamed them. Who would want the Nightlord for a neighbor? Unsurprisingly, the level seemed unusually gloomy; the palace walls did not glow so brightly here. Nahadoths brooding presence permeated the whole level.

But when I rounded the last curve, I was briefly blinded by a flash of unexpected brightness. In the afterimage of that flash I had seen a woman, bronze-skinned and silver-haired, almost as tall as Zhakkarn and sternly beautiful, kneeling in the corridor as if to pray. The light had come from the wings on her back, covered in mirror-bright feathers of overlapping precious metals. I had seen her once before, this woman, in a dream

Then I blinked my watering eyes and looked again, and the light was gone. In its place, heavyset, plain Kurue was laboriously climbing to her feet, glaring at me.

Im sorry, I said, for the interruption of whatever meditations a goddess required. But I need to speak with Nahadoth.

There was only one door in this corridor, and Kurue stood in front of it. She folded her arms. No.

Lady Kurue, I dont know when Ill have another chance to ask these things

What, precisely, does no mean in your tongue? Clearly you dont understand Senmite

But before our argument could escalate, the apartment door slid aside a fraction. I could see nothing through that sliver, only darkness. Let her speak, said Nahadoths deep voice from within.

Kurues scowl deepened. Naha, no. I started a little; I had never heard anyone contradict him. Its her fault youre in this condition.

I flushed, but she was right. Yet there was no answer from within the chamber. Kurues fists clenched, and she glared into the darkness with a very ugly look.

Would it help if I wore a blindfold? I asked. There was something in the air that hinted at a long-standing anger beyond just this brief exchange. Ah, but of courseKurue hated mortals, quite rightly blaming us for her enslaved condition. She thought Nahadoth was being foolish over me. Most likely she was right about that, too, being a goddess of wisdom. I did not feel offended when she looked at me with new contempt.

It isnt just your eyes, Kurue said. Its your expectations, your fears, your desires. You mortals want him to be a monster and so he becomes one

Then I will want nothing, I said. I smiled as I said it, but I was annoyed now. Perhaps there was wisdom in her blind hatred of humankind. If she expected the worst from us, then we could never disappoint her. But that was beside