Lakhoni (32 page)

“No,”
Alronna whispered, desperation making her voice harsh. Her fingers dug into his
wrist. “Now. Let’s go now.”

“I
have to find a way to get you out of here. Once we’re out of the compound,
nobody will know who we are. We can get away.”

Alronna’s
head sagged, the tension in her body suddenly gone. “They will know.” She
pulled her ragged tunic up off her right shoulder. In the dim light, Lakhoni
saw that he had been right: there was something on her skin. He bent closer.
No. Not on her skin. It
was
her skin. Something hot must have made the
mark. Rough, badly healed skin in the shape of a triangle inset in a circle
stood out on her shoulder.

“They
marked me. Called it branding.”

Lakhoni’s
heart sank.

“It
means I am the king’s slave.” Tears glimmered softly in the dimness of filtered
starlight. “Forever.”

During
his chores the next morning, Lakhoni’s mind still reeled from the revelations
of the evening. His parents had been guardians of the two most valuable and
powerful objects in the world! And the Guide had been under his mother’s bed!
Until Shelu had found it.

A
memory of something, an image of Gimno crouching in dust, flashed through his
mind. What? Something about the Guide? He tried to shake the memory away, but
it felt important. Gimno crouching in dust, pointing at something.
The
village
!

The
memory returned. Lakhoni had found the cavity under his mother’s bed, which he
now knew had been hiding the Guide. Gimno had called him outside and they had
realized that the strange tracks had meant Usurpers had come to the village.

Usurpers
in his village. The village where the Guide had been hidden. It couldn’t be a
coincidence. How had they known where to look?

The
answer came to him as he followed Cho back toward the main building. There were
always stories of Usurper raiding parties attacking villages. And Shelu’s party
was doing the same.

They
had both found his village near the same time. And his family and friends had
been destroyed. Lakhoni clenched his jaw. He had to get Alronna out of whatever
was happening and find a safe place for them to live in peace.

At
the main building, Cho and Lakhoni each grabbed two buckets. Lakhoni remembered
to try to find newer and tighter buckets; yesterday he had been dripped on the
entire time he walked back from the canal.

The
compound’s water source ran through the north end of the compound for around a
hundred feet. Lakhoni guessed that it came from a river running through the mountains
that made up the west wall of the city. There were multiple access points to
the canal in the compound until it disappeared under the temple walls. He
figured that the canal must have been planned so that it would provide a
convenient source of water for those in the temple too.

Cho
was in no mood for conversation as they retrieved buckets of water. Lakhoni
took a moment after filling his buckets to splash some water on his face and
steal a few gulps.

“Come
on, kid.” Cho didn’t wait for him.

As
he bent to grab his buckets, Lakhoni noticed that he could see his reflection
in the one he had not gotten water from. The water was still and flat. He knew
he was looking at himself, but the image of a thin face with dark hair growing
under his mouth and cheeks in tufts, and several inches of hair on his head,
was totally unfamiliar.
Am I even the same person?
He hefted the
buckets.

So
much had changed. He had come so far.

He
pushed the thoughts away, turning his attention to avoiding the bustling servants
and considering an escape plan. With the brand on her shoulder, Alronna was
easily identified as a slave. Which meant that they would have to get out of
the city as soon as they got out of the compound. He was on his own. Even Regg
had to be long gone, and if he were still around, he would have no reason to
put himself in danger by hiding a slave.

No.
He had to do this alone. He had to find a way out of the compound.

He
stopped and turned, taking a closer look at the canal. He followed the direction
of the canal until it flowed under the temple walls, then superimposed an image
of where he guessed the canal flowed. He knew it didn’t reappear inside the
compound walls—but there was that canal that ran from the west to the east of
Victor Plaza.

He
reminded himself to walk, turning back to his task.

He
needed to find out if the canal flowed directly from the compound, under the
temple, and out to the plaza. If it did, there had to be places that a person
in the water could surface for air.

What
if the architect of the city’s water system had thought of this and had taken
action to prevent a person from leaving the compound through the canal?

Lakhoni
quickened his pace to catch up with Cho.

Of
course, there was a chance that he was wrong, that the canal stopped in the
temple or that there was some kind of underwater gate at some point that would
keep people from escaping the compound. There was only one way to find out. He
would go at night, or no . . . in the final hours before dawn.
That way he could be out of the compound, dry off, and come back in claiming
some kind of errand. He glanced at the tattoo on his wrist—just like Alronna’s
brand—and was glad the soreness was mostly gone already. He should have no
trouble re-entering the compound in the morning. And once he had a plan for
getting Alronna out, he would find a way to get at the king.

As
he poured water into the huge basin for the dogs, he thought of the knife
hidden at the bottom of his bag. When Gimno had presented him with the gift of
the knife, Lakhoni had been surprised. A bitter laugh boiled out of him.
Wouldn’t Gimno be pleased to know that the knife he had given Lakhoni would be
used to take the life of King Zyron?

That
afternoon, the sun blazed across the hilly meadows Lakhoni and the other
dog-boys were in.

“My
father said that dogs treat humans like they are part of their pack.” Lakhoni
gestured for the excited dogs to settle down. “If they were in the wild still,
there would be a leader.” He commanded the dogs to sit. Kree and Chel obeyed.
“I don’t know how he knew this, but you have to make the dogs accept
you
as their pack leader. So tell yourself that you’re the boss over and over when
you’re dealing with them.”

“You
mean I have to train myself,” Balon said. “Train the wild humans!” He belted a
laugh.

“Sure,”
Lakhoni said. “Train you to stop smelling so bad.”

Balon
shot a surprised glance at Lakhoni, then looked down at his feet. “Did I step
in something?”

Lakhoni
laughed at Balon’s expression.

Balon’s
eyes widened and he turned to yell at his brother. “Falon! Run! The flames are
freezing over! Serious-boy here just made a joke!”

From
across the hilltop, Falon feigned an expression of utter shock. “Nooooo!” he
spun and ran down the hill, screaming.

Balon
and Lakhoni shared a laugh. “Wait. He’ll fall and snap a leg or two,” Balon
said.

Lakhoni
laughed again. Briefly, he wondered at how he could have thoughts of killing
the king at one moment, then be laughing with his companions the next. Was he
losing his mind?

He
left that question at the top of the hill as he followed the dogs and dog-boys
across the countryside, gathering the dogs for the return trip. He knew he had
to stay alert for any chance to learn more about the king, or get Alronna out.

The
next day, Lakhoni crouched in the dirt of the dog pen, working with Chel.

“Boy.”

Lakhoni
straightened, dropping Chel’s back right paw to the dirt of the dogs’ fenced-in
area. The red-haired girl he’d seen around the king’s compound stood on the
other side of the fence, staring at him angrily.

“Yes?”

“Do
you know horses?” Was she looking at him through her nose?

“Horses?”
Lakhoni glanced around. Who was this person?

“Horses.”
She said it slowly, as if trying to teach him a new word. “I suppose you
don’t.”

“I
know what they are,” Lakhoni said. Chel, who had quickly become Lakhoni’s
favorite of the dogs, plopped to the ground, tongue lolling. “Why?”

“Boy!”
The girl’s face grew pink. “You don’t ask me why. I need you to do something
for me in the stables.”

“But
I don’t know horses.” Lakhoni took pleasure in seeing her face grow even
redder. Who did she think she was?

“I
will have my father flog you for your im—imper—” The girl trailed off. “Don’t
be rude.”

Her
father? Lakhoni wanted to hide, or at least take back the last thirty seconds.
She was the king’s daughter. Had to be. Lakhoni fought down the panic that rose
in him, tensing his muscles to keep them from shaking. She could have him sent
away, or probably even killed. He stepped closer. “How can I help?”

“Much
better.” The girl spun. “Follow me.”

Lakhoni
climbed the fence and leapt to the ground, catching up to the small, red-headed
girl quickly. As she led him into the stable, Lakhoni wondered how old she was.
She looked younger than him, and she was bossy like a little kid, but the
intelligence in her eyes made her seem older. He followed her, keeping his eyes
trained on the back of her head.

She
stopped and pointed up. “Some stupid person put my saddle too high. Get it for
me.”

Lakhoni
peered through the dimly lit building, seeing a pile of blankets and a seat of
shaped, hardened leather. This was what the king and his soldiers had been
riding. He easily lifted the saddle from its shelf and stood there, looking at
the girl. “What now?” He wondered what he was supposed to call her.

“On
my horse,” the girl spun and led him past two more stalls.

He
sometimes said, “Yes, Master Kalu,” when the overseer gave him instructions.
Master wasn’t the word for girls, was it?

“This
one?” He indicated the tall, black horse with an elbow.

The
girl’s eyebrows rose as she watched him heft the saddle. “Yes, that one.” Her
stiff posture softened as she stepped to her horse. “His name is Titan.”

Lakhoni
put the blankets and saddle on the horse’s back and took a pace backward. “Is
that all?”

The
girl looked at the saddle and burst out laughing. Lakhoni wondered what could
possibly be so funny. After a moment, between fits of laughter, she said, “You
put it on backwards!”

“I
don’t know horses,” Lakhoni muttered as he lifted the saddle and turned it. As
he tried to orient it right, the girl nudged him aside and pulled some straps,
expertly fastening the saddle around the horse’s huge body.

“You
really don’t, do you?” The girl looked up at him. “You must not be from the
city.”

Alarm
rang through Lakhoni, but he fought it back. She had no idea why he was there,
where he’d come from. “No, not really.”

“But
you’re strong. And you work with the dogs.” She stroked the horse’s neck. She
suddenly seemed more human.

“I’m
from a village. I came here looking for—” Lakhoni thought fast. “Looking for a
different life.”

“A
different life? Why in the city?” The girl took hold of a long strap that dangled
from a harness of some kind on the horse’s head, leading the horse out of the
stall.

Lakhoni
pressed himself against the rock wall to let them pass. Had the horse made the
girl change the way she talked to him? She sounded genuinely curious. He chose
his words carefully. “There was nothing left for me out there. The city felt
like the right place to go.”

As
they came to the door in the stable building, the girl faced him again, her
eyes wide. “Did you ever see any Usurpers?”

Confused,
Lakhoni asked, “Usurpers? No. Why would I?”

“They’re
always raiding our villages. I think they might even be stealing some of our
people.” The girl stared at him. “You never saw a Usurper?”

Lakhoni
shrugged, remembering the footprints Gimno had pointed out in his village that
day so long ago. “No. I don’t know why they would raid us, though. They live in
the country northward, with all of the riches of the land.”

“Well
they stole everything else from the First Fathers, why wouldn’t they just keep
stealing?” She wrapped the leather strap around her hand, then let it spiral
off.

“I
don’t know.” Lakhoni glanced around. “Maybe they can’t stay away from our
cooking.”

The
girl burst into laughter again, her face suddenly shining. Lakhoni tried to
fight the grin that creased his face, a thought occurring to him.
Am I going
to get in some kind of trouble for talking to her?
He checked to see if
anyone was watching. He should get back to the dogs.

“You’re
funny, village boy,” the girl said. Making no apparent effort, she threw herself
onto her horse’s back. “What’s your name?”

Here
in the sun, looking up at her, Lakhoni realized that the girl’s oval face,
pointed nose, and slightly red hair made her look unusual, but that she was
still pretty. Her eyes glowed with the sunlight on one side of her face.
“Lakhoni.”

“Lakhoni.
Nice name.” She flipped the leather strap around, appearing suddenly nervous.
“I’m Ree.”

“Princess
Ree, right?” Lakhoni wondered where that had come from. He was shouldn’t be
talking to the king’s daughter like this.

“Yes.”
Ree let her eyes wander the area, then she turned back to him. “Maybe you could
help me again sometime.” She kicked her horse’s sides and it broke into a quick
walk, then a slow run.

Lakhoni
stared at her as she went. Ree. Strange name and a very strange girl. First she
orders him around like a kid, then suddenly acts like a real person when she
gets near her horse, then she acts nervous when she asks his name. He made his
way back to the dog compound, wondering if a friendship with Ree might help him
get into the palace and closer to the king.