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I can do.
I have seen the northern great river where it s bound, Zivar said. Lauria
has, too. It s bigger than you realize.
If we free it, thousands will die. Didn t you live near the old course of the
river? People you know will be among them. She lowered her voice. How many
Greeks are you willing to kill to save the Alashi? How many
Danibeki?
I don t know, I said.
Well, think about it.
We were at the edge of the town. A curious crowd was gathering. I wish to see
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an apothecary, Zivar called.
There was a nervous shuffle, and then an older man stepped forward.
I m the apothecary, he said. What do you need?
A remedy for sleeplessness. I have trouble sleeping
great trouble. I ve had a remedy in the past that would put an ox to sleep.
Can you prepare it for me, quickly?
At once, he said. My shop is this way.
We followed to a cottage. Herbs hung in bundles, and the shelves along the
walls held jars stopped with corks.
The apothecary brought down a large jug, opened it, then used a funnel to pour
thick syrup into a smaller bottle.
He corked it and gave it to Zivar with a tin spoon. One spoonful should do
it. Don t take more than three. If you ve drunk a lot of wine, take less than
you would otherwise.
How shall I pay you?
My roof leaks near the chimney. If you could have your aeriko patch it, I d
consider it an excellent trade.
While one djinn did that repair, Zivar had another split firewood in exchange
for a pot of stew he d made for his own dinner, and a cask of wine. We were
soon on our way.
They tricked Lauria into drinking this, I said, holding up the syrup. I
don t think we ll be able to trick Kyros.
I think that if he s given the choice between drinking the syrup and being
thrown down from the height, he ll
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Freedom sSisters choose the syrup, Zivar said with some satisfaction.
Why do you hate Kyros? I asked. Because he held one of your spell-chains?
Zivar s eyes flickered. The spell-chain that Lauria found in his boot, she
said.
He made that. I m certain of it.
Men are not supposed to learn sorcery, but he married a sorceress who failed
in her apprenticeship, and I would wager he persuaded her to teach him.
Magic& She shook her head in disgust. Magic is for women.
What about shamans?
Eh. They re nothing to do with me.
Why do you dislike men so much? Even among her servants, there were no men.
I spent years as a concubine, and I don t dislike all men.
Zivar sighed. Do you really insist on a reason? They smell bad. They shed.
Some of them have hair on their backs.
She threw up her hands. They re men. What more of a reason do you need?
I would never understand her. I resolved not ever to trust Alibek s safety to
Zivar, and followed her back to the palanquin.
I
poured syrup into the spoon and held it up where Kyros could see it. This
will make you sleep, I said.
Nothing more. Open your mouth.
Kyros hesitated. I wondered if he feared it was poison. I saw no advantage to
poisoning him over killing him some other way, and neither did he, apparently,
because he opened his mouth and swallowed it. I dosed him with two spoonfuls,
then thought it over and gave him another half spoon. He was bigger than
Zivar. His eyes soon took on a glazed look and he fell asleep, drool running
from the corner of his mouth onto the cushions.
It smells like rank feet in here, Zivar said as the djinni lifted us up.
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I sniffed. I ve smelled worse, I said.
Oh, I ve smelled worse, Zivar said. It still smells rank. Ugh. I wish I d
had the aeriko steal a larger palanquin.
Wouldn t that be heavier? Alibek asked. Slower?
I don t think anyone s following us.
Sure they are, Alibek said. Even if Xanthe lied or ran and they believe
Kyros stole the spell-chain, he d head
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Freedom sSisters in this direction.
Maybe.
It s the most likely possibility.
Have your aerika seen anyone coming? Mine haven t, Zivar said.
And of course, no aeriko has ever chosen not to see something it was supposed
to be watching for, Alibek said.
What would you have me do? We could abandon the palanquin and go on foot&
I think we need to take care of the spell-chain now, Alibek said. We have
it. We can break the rocks and free the river, and no one will be able to put
it back together.
That s not true, Zivar said. We can free the river, but the Sisterhood can
just bind it back up again.
Lauria stirred, but said nothing. Kyros is asleep now, I said. Lauria? You
used to say that you wanted to free the river. I thought about all the people
in the path of the water. Did you change your mind?
Lauria straightened up and looked around at all of us. The real reason the
Sisterhood bound the northern great river was to hide the gate that leads to
the Silent Lands.
This was not what I had expected her to say.
You re going to have to explain that a little more, Alibek said.
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