Текст книги "Dragonfly"
Автор книги: Julia Golding
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Chapter 21
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Two weeks into Tashi's sentence, the peace in the Courts of the Goddess was disturbed by the
arrival of exiles from Holt. Four women and assorted children had been accommodated in the
pilgrims' quarters in the palace, separated from the devotees only by a grille. Tashi watched
them closely as they moved among the pilgrims, keeping themselves aloof from the
Islanders. They appeared to be led by a formidable grey-haired woman dressed in white
mourning robes and took no part in the worship in the Enclosure.
Of course if they were from Holt, they would no more worship the Goddess than a goat, Tashi
told herself. But what were they doing here? And why had the Crown Princesses decided to
lodge them somewhere that must be
offensive to their Easterner sensibilities? Her obligation of silence prevented her from asking.
Each day for a week she lingered by the grille, hoping to have her curiosity satisfied.
Strange, it was the first time she had felt anything
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but despair since being sentenced to spend the rest of her life here. They represented to her a
link to the outside world–to the land where she hoped Ramil still lived. And from what she
gathered from the twitter of voices around the white-robed woman, the Holtish exiles were
bitter, complaining about everything from their beds to the food, deeply suspicious of the
intentions of their hosts.
Her silent observation did not go unnoticed by the four women as they sat over their desultory
attempts at embroidery. On the eighth day, their own curiosity got the better of them and the
grey-haired one strode forward to the grille to challenge the young woman hovering there.
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"What do you want?" she snapped.
Tashi took a step back and shook her head.
"Come to gloat over our fall?"
She shook her head vigorously; she had meant no disrespect.
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"
Tashi put her finger to her lips to signal that she could not speak.
"Goddess got your tongue?" sneered the woman. "I expect they've cut it out.
I heard they do that here."
"My tongue has not been cut out," Tashi replied, stung to defend her faith. "I have a duty of silence."
"Which you have just broken," the woman declared triumphantly, glancing back at the other
women.
It was true, Tashi acknowledged. She had failed the
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first test of the obligations imposed on her, just as she had failed at everything else. There was
no surprise in that; hardly any shame, as she was already as low as she could get.
"Yes, I have failed," Tashi agreed humbly. Now that she had broken her silence, she might as well satisfy her curiosity. "Who are you?"
"You have not heard?" The woman seemed displeased not to be recognized.
"No, I'm not allowed out. I am a pris–a devotee." The woman was not fooled.
She moved closer to the grille to stare at the fair-haired girl.
"A prisoner? You are like me then, though they call my incarceration
'hospitality.' What did you do, child?"
What had she done? Everything–nothing. "I broke my vows. And you?"
The woman smiled grimly. "I married the wrong man."
"Can you not divorce him?"
"He is dead–and his Empire another's."
Tashi felt a swoop of alarm. Even in the enclosure, all had heard of the fall of Fergox and given
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thanks for his defeat. She now knew who she was
speaking to and could guess who the other three women were. But what strange paths had
brought them to Rama she could not fathom. She had to get away from them before they found
out about her.
"I'm sorry for your loss," she whispered hastily, and backed away.
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"No, stay!" commanded the First Wife. "You are the first Islander to speak civilly to me."
"I can't, I'm sorry." Tashi walked quickly back to her cell, determined to stay away from the grille in the future.
The First Wife was not a woman to let her desires be ignored. The fair-haired oath-breaker
intrigued her and she wanted to talk to her again. The girl was more like an Easterner than any
of the Islanders the wives had met since disembarking from their ship.
The Etiquette Mistress had been appointed as liaison between the Holtish exiles and the Blue
Crescent court. The Crown Princesses had agreed to shoulder the burden of protecting the
warlord's family as a goodwill gesture towards the new ruler of Holt, but no one was happy to
have the wives in the palace. The Etiquette Mistress met the women once a day to check that
their reasonable demands had been granted and their unreasonable ones dealt with
diplomatically. She had naturally refused the Holtish exiles' request to be given a place to pray
to their own god–worship of Holin in the palace: unthinkable! The Crown Princesses were
seeking more suitable
accommodation for the exiles, somewhere where they could do no harm, but the population
were hostile to having Fergox's family settle among them and so far no suitable solution had
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been found.
The First Wife listened impatiently to this explanation. She drummed her long fingers on the
table as the
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Etiquette Mistress apologized to her with the elaborate courtesy of the Islands.
"So, we are to remain your prisoners," the First Wife rapped out.
"You are free to go out with an escort–for your own safety," explained the Etiquette Mistress evenly. "We keep no one prisoner."
"No?" The First Wife pounced on this admission. "What about the fair-haired girl in the Enclosure–the one with purple robes?"
The Etiquette Mistress's eyes glinted. "You spoke to Taoshira?"
"Who?"
"She spoke to you?"
The First Wife could hear the barely suppressed rage in the woman's voice.
"Yes, we spoke. Briefly," the First Wife said coolly.
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"That should not have happened."
"But it did. I am interested in her. Who is she?"
The Etiquette Mistress swallowed, debating whether she should answer. If the First Wife did not
hear it from her, she could winkle it out from any palace servant.
"She is the disgraced Fourth Crown Princess."
"The witch!" exclaimed the First Wife in disgust.
The Etiquette Mistress did not correct her, pleased that she had taken the news so ill. She would
not be seeking Taoshira's company again, the Mistress thought smugly.
"Is there anything else, my lady?" the Etiquette Mistress asked.
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"No. I've heard enough." The First Wife strode from the room, clenching her fists.
The first Tashi knew about her visitors was when someone grabbed a fistful of her hair and
dragged her from her bed. Her room was pitch black, the floor cold; it was still the middle of the
night.
"What–!" she gasped, dazed with sleep.
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The hand let go. Tashi sensed that there was more than one person in the room.
"You evil witch!" snarled a woman's voice.
Tashi panicked. "Guards!" Further cries were cut off by a hand over her mouth.
"You caused the ruin of us and our families," continued the First Wife, "and you will pay for that."
Tashi wanted to say that it was none of her fault; that Fergox deserved to die; that it was
madness to invade the Enclosure and attack a devotee; but the Second Wife had gagged her
with a silk scarf and bound her wrists and ankles.
"You have humiliated us; now we will do the same to you," announced the First Wife gleefully.
"First we will cut off that hair that so bewitched him, and then mark that perfect skin of yours so no one will forget what you did."
Terrified, Tashi struggled in earnest, kicking with two feet at the woman crouching by her legs,
propelling herself backwards against the washstand.
She struck with her fists at the First Wife, knocking a knife
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from the woman's grip. Rolling over, she upset the dented bronze fingerbowl at her bedside; it
fell to the ground with a reverberating clang.
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"Oh no: you don't escape again!" panted the First Wife, grabbing Tashi's arm to pull her back into the center of the circle.
Feet pounded in the corridor outside. A fist thumped on the closed door. The four wives froze.
"Devotee Taoshira, are you all right?" bellowed the guard.
Tashi screamed through her gag, a strangled sound but enough to alert the man that something
was wrong. The door flew open.
"What in the Goddess's name is happening here?" he exclaimed.
The First Wife kicked the knife out of sight under the bed and moved calmly to the entrance.
"We were just paying a social call on our sister here," she said. "We'll return to our beds now."
"Social call? In the Enclosure? At midnight?" spluttered the guard. "Why is Devotee Taoshira tied up and gagged?"
"We didn't want her to break her vow of silence again." The First Wife's eyes were cold as she looked at her victim.
Another guard appeared at the door. She quickly removed Tashi's bonds and helped her to her
feet. Tashi was shivering with shock.
"I will have to report this to the Third Crown Princess," said the first guard.
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"Wait here."
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Leaving them under the close watch of the other guard, he sprinted off.
Tashi stood to one side, rubbing her arms. The eyes of the four wives were on her.
"The penalty for attempted murder in the Islands is death," she said quietly as if to no one in particular.
The First Wife pursed her lips. "You know we had no intention of killing you."
That wasn't what it had felt like, being at their mercy. Tashi remembered all too well the ease
with which Fergox's people had shed blood.
"Even if you tell that lie," continued the First Wife haughtily, "we are caught in a living death as it is. What do we care? Anyway, your people would not dare execute us on your word."
That is probably true, thought Tashi, not that she sought anyone's death. The diplomatic
consequences would be huge: the new ruler of Holt, whoever that was, had sent the women
here for safety. It would be easier to disregard the testimony of an oath breaker.
But she deserved better than this. Tashi straightened her spine and dropped her hands by her
sides. She had been punished enough for her real faults and should not now be made to answer
for the sins of another. Enough of submission and apologies.
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Tashi faced the First Wife and took a step closer. "I am not your enemy. I did not seek marriage
with Fergox, but fled at the first opportunity. You avenge yourselves upon the wrong person. He
was to blame for his own downfall, and therefore yours."
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The First Wife's eyes narrowed, her face ugly with rage. "Don't you think I know this, witch? But he is gone and you are left: the favored one–the wife with whom he was going to replace me!
You must have bewitched him–
everyone said so."
Tashi felt her anger rising. "When did I do that? And how? Do you mean I did so as a child when,
thanks to your late husband, I was chosen as Fourth Crown Princess? Or perhaps when I was
being beaten by the priests of Holin? When exactly did I have a chance to do this? If I had
enchantments, I would have chosen an easier path, believe me."
The First Wife met Tashi's stare and held it. "I was right. You are not like the other Islanders,"
she announced with a curl of her lip.
"I think you mean that as an insult," Tashi said proudly, tilting her chin up,
"but I take it as a compliment. This is the way the Goddess has made me. It is what I am."
There was a rustle at the doorway and Korbin swept into the room, showing no sign that she had
just been roused from her bed: her hair veiled, her robes smooth.
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"Devotee Taoshira, what of your vow of silence?" the Third Crown Princess asked.
As if that was the most important crime of this night!
"I'm afraid, Crown Princess, that my vow shattered when I was dragged from my bed by my
unexpected
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callers." Tashi knew her tone was mocking but she felt so angry with them all.
"Ladies, perhaps you did not understand, but this part of the palace is out of bounds to all but
the devotees," Korbin said sternly.
The First Wife smiled. "Then why not lock the doors?"
"Because all remain here voluntarily and no one else dare disturb the Goddess's worshippers."
No one else but rude Holtish heathens was the implication.
"Then I apologize for our intrusion. We will retreat." The First Wife made as if to leave.
"Wait! What were you doing here? And why did you bind the devotee?"
The First Wife looked at Tashi, daring her to tell the truth. Korbin turned to her as well.
"Devotee Taoshira, do you have an explanation?"
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Tashi kept her mouth closed. If she accused the wives she would be giving her nation a
diplomatic headache, perhaps even risking war with the new authorities in Holt about whom
next to nothing was known. How would they react?
"You may speak," snapped Korbin, showing more emotion than usual.
"Oh, heavens, girl, you can tell her," interrupted the First Wife, riled by the dignity of her rival.
She had expected the girl to blab and weep; instead she stood there like a little queen, above
the insults offered her. "We came to cut off her hair and mark her face, is that clear enough for you?"
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Korbin took a shocked breath. This confession plunged them all into a nightmare of
consequences.
Tashi knew she had to do something. "My dear friend," she said with an'
attempt at warmth in her tone as she smiled at the First Wife, "you take the jest too far. Your
Highness, we were merely ..." She struggled for an explanation. "I boasted to my friends that I was scared of nothing, so we made a wager that they could not frighten me. I must admit they
won; I was sincerely terrified when they swooped in on me."
All four wives stared at Tashi with undisguised amazement but Korbin frowned.
"You pass your time in the Enclosure playing games, Taoshira? Have you no respect for this
place?"
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"It seems not, Your Highness. I'm sure you can believe that of me as you know what I'm capable
of. Perhaps it is these ladies who are acting out of character? Maybe if they were given a home
that was less of a prison and a place for their own worship, they would not fall prey to the
temptation to pass their time with such frivolous bets."
"Are you telling me what to do, devotee?" Korbin said with a frigid tone.
"No. I was only reflecting that on my ill-fortuned embassy to Gerfal, the host nation allowed me
the freedom to worship in our way even though it was an abomination to them. I was wondering
why we were less generous and forced strangers into the heart of a temple they despise, with
people they do not trust. It is almost as if we are driving them to cause trouble."
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Tashi turned her back on them all. "If you do not mind, I'm tired and wish to sleep."
Bending gracefully, she scooped the knife from under her mattress and passed it to the First
Wife.
This gesture revealed what everyone suspected: that she had lied about the reason the wives
had come to her and had done so to protect them from punishment. But there was nothing
more to be said if she did not change her story now. The four exiles retreated under guard.
Korbin lingered for a moment, fingering the door handle.
"Why?" she asked simply. "Why lie for them?"
"You never understood me, Korbin," Tashi said. "Think what you like, but having just escaped one war, I do not want to provoke another."
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The next week, a villa was found for the wives, complete with a place for a temple where
worshippers of Holin could gather as long as no human sacrifices were made. Peace returned to
the Goddess's Enclosure.
Two months after the incident in Tashi's room, the new ruler of Holt sent word to the Blue
Crescent court that he was coming to conclude negotiations on a marriage alliance with the
Fourth Crown Princess. He apologized for being unable to come any earlier as he had a kingdom
to subdue after the tumultuous fall of Fergox. He wanted to be confident that it would remain
peaceful in his absence while he left it in the hands of his
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viceroy, Zaradan of the Horse Followers, for a few weeks. He signed himself Ramil ac Burinholt.
The Crown Princesses, including the newly elected Fourth Crown Princess who had replaced
Tashi, met in closed session. The first decision they took was to agree to see the young man on
the terms he himself had proposed.
"Though the Fourth Crown Princess is too young to marry, we can agree to the betrothal," said Marisa, nodding to the shy twelve-year-old of impeccable matriarchal lineage from Kai. "She can
marry him in a few years."
"I do not think that is what the Prince has in mind," warned Safilen. "He thinks he is marrying Taoshira."
Korbin stroked her blue robes as if to soothe herself. They all knew they were taking a risk
allowing him to set foot on Rama, but for peace with Holt this was a price worth paying.
"The Prince is a ruler. He wants a political alliance with us to consolidate his fragile hold on the 392
crumbling Empire. He will compromise," she declared.
"He will want to repay the favor we did him by taking the exiles off his hands."
"You underestimate the strength of his bond with Taoshira," Safilen objected, her patience with her censorious sister worn to the bone.
"But she is beyond his reach, dedicated to the Goddess," Marisa pointed out.
"The priests are very pleased with her devotion and say she is much quieter since the Holtish
exiles left. I think we can safely say
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that the episode in her life with the Gerfalian prince is closed."
"With love, nothing is safe," muttered Safilen, wondering if Marisa had ever really loved anyone in her long life of selfless service to the nation. If she had, she would not be so complacent. "But let us see him and find out which of us is right."
Ramil found the journey in the royal barge a torture. He wanted to run along the banks, vaulting
the fences until he burst in upon Tashi and swept her up in his arms.
But I'm in her territory now, he reminded himself. / mustn't upset my hosts.
Instead he behaved himself, sitting in the chair provided for him, waving to the crowds on the
bank who had gathered to see the Dark Prince, killer of Fergox, new ruler of the Holtish Empire.
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The Etiquette Mistress, whom he remembered from Gerfal, met him at the door. Ramil greeted
her like an old friend, completely forgetting she disliked him.
"This way, Prince," the woman said with a low bow. "The Princesses are waiting in the Hall of the Floating Lily."
Ramil followed her down the corridor, barely taking in the beauty of his surroundings with its
delicate tracery, silk hangings, and hidden gardens. He entered the hushed chamber, seeing the
four Princesses ahead of him, seated on their thrones, resplendent in robes of
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blue, green, white, and orange. All had the same white faces and veiled hair he remembered
Tashi wearing. He was a little surprised that the smallest of the four, on the Throne of Nature,
had not turned to show him some sign of recognition, but then maybe Tashi was also trying to
behave. The thought made him smile.
Ramil reached the edge of the circle of thrones and swept a low bow, feeling his moment of
triumph had arrived.
"I come, Your Highnesses, to claim the hand of the Fourth Crown Princess."
He turned to Tashi, expecting to see an answering glitter of joy in her eyes, and found himself
staring at a stranger. "But where is the Fourth Crown Princess?" he asked, suddenly realizing that something was very wrong.
"This is the Fourth Crown Princess," Korbin said steadily.
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"Then what has happened to Tashi–to Princess Taoshira?" He could feel his heart pounding.
"Taoshira was obliged to join the devotees of the Goddess in the Silent Court," replied Marisa.
"She is no longer a crown princess."
Ramil's brain struggled to catch up with this news.
"Her election was discovered to have been flawed and her behavior unworthy of her office,"
added Korbin.
Ramil took a step towards her. "Are you telling me that you threw her out?
After all she did for you and for my people?" His rage hummed in his ears, his diplomatic skills
deserting him. "She was beaten and
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tortured by Fergox's priests for defending your Goddess, all the while behaving with dignity and
courage, and yet you say she is not worthy!"
"She denied her faith," Korbin said firmly.
"She had a moment of doubt. Do you have hearts beating under those robes of yours? I would
like to have seen any one of you do better in her shoes–
oh, but I forget, she wasn't allowed any! She stood barefoot in front of the Inkar of Kandar as
that woman tried to kill her and Tashi still refused to fight for Holin–that was the strength of her
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faith!"
Silence fell in the chamber as Ramil struggled to control himself.
"Where is she?" he hissed.
"You cannot see her," said Marisa, frowning at this outrageous display of emotion. "She is in the Goddess's Enclosure."
"I'm seeing her if it's the last thing I do. Send your guards to cut me down if you wish, but I didn't come all this way for nothing." Ramil moved towards the door.
"What you propose is sacrilege!" Marisa objected. "We refuse to allow any more invasions of the Enclosure."
"Then bring her here to me. One way or another, I'm seeing her." Ramil clenched his hand on his sword hilt and stared down the eldest Princess.
"I say we should let him see her," Safilen said gently. "Let the Goddess punish him if it is wrong to do
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so. Far better that than to start a war with a man who killed Fergox Spearthrower."
Reluctantly, the First Princess nodded and summoned a priest. "Bring the Devotee Taoshira here
at once," she ordered.
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Ramil paced between the thrones of Nature and Justice, making both occupants very nervous.
The newest Princess could not hide her fear as the man they said was to be her husband fumed
beside her. Then a door
opened at the far end of the chamber and a little procession of priestesses entered, a fair-haired
girl in their midst. Ramil held his breath: it was her. He could hardly believe it.
The devotee looked up and saw him standing in the middle of the chamber.
"Ram!" Tashi cried. Breaking with all conventions, she pushed through the priestesses and
sprinted the length of the hall. Reaching him she wrapped her arms around his waist, burying
her face in his neck. He hugged her tight, stroking her hair and kissing it.
"Excuse me, ladies, your devotee and I have some catching up to do," Ramil announced, lifting her up and carrying her out of the chamber. He blundered through the corridors until he found a
quiet garden and ducked into an arbor, hidden away from anyone pursuing them. He lowered
Tashi onto the bench and sat opposite her, just staring. He reached out and brushed her cheek.
"I thought you were dead," he said.
"I have been," she replied, marvelling to see how well
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he looked. "Slavery becomes you."
He laughed. "Actually I'm not a slave. I've come to offer you Holt as a wedding present. They've
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made me their king and the position is vacant for a queen. So, what do you think?"
Tashi shook her head in amazement. "Is this one of your jokes, Ram?"
"No, my love, I'm deadly serious." He looked at her more closely and saw that she was wearing one of his shirts and robes of the Horse Followers. "I can see that you have as many tales to tell as I do, but mercifully we have the rest of our lives to hear them. Just say that you'll be mine–
that'll do for now."
Tashi felt the huge weight of despair settle on her. What he was asking was impossible for so
many reasons. It was like being at the bottom of a pit, able to glimpse freedom above but with
no hope of escape. "But I can't, Ram. I'm a devotee now, not a princess."
"I don't want a princess–I want you." He put his arm around her and pulled her to him. "And what's all this devotee nonsense?"
"It's not nonsense. I've been sentenced for my failings. I have to make up for my broken vows
with a lifetime of maiden service to the Goddess."
Ramil wrinkled his nose. "I don't like the sound of that–and I'm sure your Goddess doesn't
either. You are not destined to be a maiden, Tashi." He kissed her brow but she drew away.
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"I have no choice."
"Of course you have a choice. Your vow to me came first, remember? I'm not letting you break
that." He stood up. "What do you have to do round here to get married?"
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Tashi gave a weary laugh. He did not understand how impossible it was to break the Blue
Crescent laws as if they were no more than cobwebs. "You find a priest, then the woman
declares she wants the man as her husband, and he says if he agrees."
"Excellent!" Ramil rubbed his hands. "I was afraid there was some terrible ritual thing that would take hours."
Tashi shook her head. "No, marriage is regarded as a private matter and nothing to do with the
state. But I'm in even less favor since I tussled with the First Wife." Ramil raised a curious
eyebrow. "I'll explain later. What I'm trying to say is that you won't find anyone who'll dare
marry us, if that's what you had in mind."
"I don't know much about your country, but the one thing I do know is that its priests are
corruptible. I'll go and catch us one. You stay here."
His footsteps faded as he ran off back the way they had come. Tashi sat watching the dragonflies
skimming over the pond in the garden, not daring to think, not daring to hope. Her life for the
past weeks had been a desert. The only time she had felt even slightly alive was when she'd had
to fight off Fergox's vengeful
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wives and that had only been temporary. Now Ramil had burst in upon her like a sudden storm.
He was mad to think they could marry. He needed a political alliance to consolidate his new
position; she was under a lifelong sentence.
But I prefer his madness to the sanity of my people, she admitted. What did the Goddess think?
The dragonflies twisted over the pool in a blur of flashing wings. The Mother would prefer their
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offering of love to each other than the desert of dry duty, Tashi realized.
"Here she is!" said Ramil, bringing a woman in a green robe into the garden.
Tashi fell to her knees in consternation. "Second Princess!" she gasped.
"Get up, child," Safilen said, making a beckoning gesture with her ringed fingers. "I've told this young man that I will hear your vows. Not a usual part of my duties, I know, but I understand
from Korbin it is quite legal."
"Does she know too?" Tashi asked, aghast.
"Of course not. But I thought I'd better check before annoying her like this.
We don't have long, so if you don't mind?" Safilen took Tashi's hand, smiling at the bewildered
girl. "Do you, Taoshira of Kai, take Ramil ac Burinholt as your husband?"
"Yes, I take him," Tashi replied faintly, wondering what on earth she was doing.
"And you, Ramil ac Burinholt, agree?" The Second Princess grasped his wrist.
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"Yes, I do," Ramil said firmly.
She placed his hand in Tashi's. "As the Goddess wills," Safilen proclaimed.
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"Well, that covers it, I think, though I apologize for not doing the full speech: I don't know it and it's rather boring."
"That's it?" asked Ramil, holding on to Tashi's fingers as if he feared she would slip away from him.
"Yes," said the Second Princess as she departed, "that's it."
Ramil ac Burinholt, King of Holt and heir to the throne of Gerfal, strode back into the throne
room, bringing with him his dazed new wife. He bowed to the Crown Princesses.
"I apologize for leaving you so abruptly an hour ago," he said.
"It is forgiven," said the First Princess. "Now that you have spoken with the devotee, she will return to the Enclosure and we will return to our discussion of our alliance."
Ramil held on to Tashi tightly. Coming to her senses, she returned the pressure, gripping his
fingers.
"Actually, your devotee is no longer suited to maiden service in the Goddess's temple as we
have just been married," Ramil announced.
The courtiers rustled and whispered to each other.
"Is this true, Taoshira?" asked Marisa.
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"It is, Your Highness," Tashi replied, tempted to make a run for it before she was arrested. Only Ramil's hand
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anchored her here. "I fear you will want to cast me out of the Enclosure."
"Who dared marry you?" asked the Third Princess, turning her eyes to her co-ruler as realization dawned.
"I did, sister," said Safilen, raising her hand. "Marriage under our law is a private matter and not something we put to the vote. I was quite within my rights."
Tashi began to laugh, realizing that she might, just might, be able to escape.
"And as Prince Ramil has insulted you by choosing another wife than the one you proposed for
him, you'll want to cast him out too," she suggested slyly.
"Oh, undoubtedly," murmured Ramil. "Do cast me out."
Safilen hid her smile with her fan. "Yes, begone, uncouth Prince," she said, waving him away.
"I obey," said Ramil, turning Tashi round and marching her from the room.
"Excuse me while I abduct myself a princess."
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"Uncouth!" snapped Korbin, glaring at Safilen. "They are both a disgrace."
Safilen rose and spread her fan, then leant down to her sister on the Throne of Justice.
"But uncouth is fun," Safilen whispered in Korbin's ear. "The Goddess laughs with us when we are happy, remember that. Come, sister." Safilen beckoned to the terrified new Fourth Princess.
"I want to have a private word with you about love."
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Ramil escorted Tashi aboard the flagship of his fleet of captured pirate vessels.
"I can't believe you just did that," Tashi said, reliving the moment in the Hall of the Floating Lily when Ramil had claimed her as his wife.
"What we did," Ramil said, squeezing her hand. "You Blue Crescent women can't pretend to be mere chattels of your husbands. I seem to remember you took me. A very novel way of marrying
for us Easterners." He stroked her cheek. "I'm looking forward to finding out more about my
rights later." He was pleased to see he had made her very embarrassed at the thought.
"I apologize it's not up to Crescent standards," he continued, leading her to his cabin through the ranks of grinning sailors. They whistled and cheered their new queen. "It's now manned by
volunteers, but we've not had time to change the decorations."
The walls of the captain's room were covered with carvings of gruesome faces, buxom wenches,
and graffiti. It was vile, but at least the sheets on the bed looked clean and the place smelt of
pinewood. Ramil guided her to a chair and placed a paper dragonfly on the table in front of her.
