Then go to the front courtyard and help Jican see to the needs of Hokanu's caravan.'
Kevin's lip curled daringly into a half-smile as he made his slave's bow, still slightly less than custom dictated, to Mara's everlasting irritation. Then, with a glance at Hokanu that came just shy of spiteful, he spun on his heel and departed. The only flaw in his performance was the fact that the short Tsurani robe looked ridiculous on him, a detail Hokanu did not overlook.
The comment half-heard as Kevin stepped through the screen into the corridor was close to indecent, considering the presence of the Lady. With a vicious twist of anger, Kevin wished he could pick a fight, then, with equally surprising candour, he realized he felt jealous. 'Damn him, and damn her, too,' he muttered to himself. To even think of an infatuation with Mara was sure invitation to get himself strung by the neck from the nearest ulo tree, probably head down over a slow fire. If he was to gain anything from this woman, it would not be through dalliance. Somehow, against all expectations and traditions, he would contrive a way to be free again.
The outer courtyard was dusty, as if last night's rains had been a dream dispelled by sunlight. Needra and wagons jammed the latticed enclosure; drovers' shouts and the snorts of gelded bulls overlaid the confusion as slaves ran to and fro with fadder, thyza bowls, and water basins. Kevin strode into the midst of the bustle still preoccupied with his pique, and almost stepped on Jican.
The little hadonra yelped in affront and leaped back to avoid being knocked down. He peered upward, took in the muscled expanse of Kevin's chest that the scant robe failed to cover, and frowned with a fierceness that his mistress had never seen. 'What are you doing idle?' he snapped.
Kevin disarmingly raised his eyebrows. 'I was taking a walk.'
Fetch a basin and bring water to the slaves in the caravan.
Move smartly, and don't offend any of the Shinzawai retinue, or by the gods, I'll see you strung up and kicking.'
Kevin regarded the diminutive hadonra, who always in his Lady's presence seemed as shy as a mouse. Although shorter by more than a head, Jican held his ground. He snatched a basin from a passing slave and jabbed the rim into Kevin's middle. 'Get to work.'
The larger man grunted an expelled breath of air, then leaped back as a flood of cold water drenched his groin.
'Damn,' he muttered as he caught the wooden implement before it fell and insulted his manhood more permanently.
When he straightened, Jican had moved on. Having lost his chance to slip through the press unobserved, Kevin located the water boy and obediently filled his basin. He carried its slopping contents across the dusty pandemonium and offered drink to two rangy, sunburned slaves who perched at their ease on the tailboard of a goods wagon.
'Hey, you're Kingdom,' said the taller, who was blond and bore two peeling scabs on his face. 'Who are you? When were you captured?'
The three slaves exchanged names as Kevin offered his basin to the slighter, dark-haired one whose right hand was bound in a bandage, and whose expression was strangely cold about the eyes. This man proved to be a squire from Crydee and was not known to him, but the other, who called himself Laurie, seemed familiar.
'Could we have met before?' Kevin asked as he took back the basin from Squire Pug. The blond man shrugged with an instinctively theatrical friendliness. 'Who knows? I roamed the Kingdom as a minstrel and sang in the court at Zun more than once.' Laurie's eyes narrowed. 'Say, you're Baron -'
'Quiet,' cautioned Kevin. He glanced quickly to e; side, ensuring no soldiers could hear. 'One word of my ~
and I'm a corpse. They kill officers, remember?' . ~ ~`
Conscious of how thin and weatherbeaten his felow countrymen looked, Kevin asked after their lot following capture. ~
The dark, enigmatic man named Pug gave him a hard.
look. 'You're a quick enough study. I'm a squire, and if they had figured out that meant minor nobility, I'd have been killed the first day. As it is, they've forgotten my rank. k ohi; them I was a servant to the Duke, and they took that to mean a menial.' He glanced around at the hurrying Acoma slaves, who moved with single-minded purpose to do the hadonra'`bidding. 'You're new to this slave business, Kevin. You