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it had become dangerous, leaving me waiting in suspense for the moment when it
would all go dark.
Though she hadn t reappeared, I dreaded seeing the peasant woman s ghost
again. Ghosts were not bound to one place and time as a rule, and as she had
shown up in the Tribunal courts antechamber, I knew she d caught my scent and
could follow me anywhere. If she manifested again, I did not know if it would
be to spell my doom or pronounce my good fortune.
At least for the moment, she didn t turn up, and I breathed a little easier
for a while.
I had accomplished my will through the Tribunal, recognizing the minor Lord
who cast the deciding vote as a small, dry husk of a
Helpmeet 23
man all too glad to accept stolen temple treasures in exchange for something
so pitiful as condemning one lone man to the position of
Helpmeet rather than the execution my being a runaway monk required. He had no
idea I was the one who had arranged all this, of course, and I was hard put
not to laugh when he d sneered at me.
I survived the long, cramped, malodorous journey in the transport shuttle,
living on when others fell prey to fouled water and the havoc wrought when
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other prisoners minds broke under their burdens.
Without anyone to stand by me and without understanding why, I wished for Nori
and bided meekly on my own, avoiding unwanted attention. I lent a hand in
small ways where I could, slipping my crust of bread to tiny, too-thin women
with huge eyes or murmuring a quiet word into the ear of a man on the verge of
insanity.
Little things. I didn t know if anyone had noticed; I didn t think they had.
Still, my heart beat hard and coppery in my throat every time I forgot myself
or could not turn away, and I swore each time that this one was the last even
though I ve never been able to keep my promises to myself. Well, I d fled the
temple, so I know many would say I couldn t hold true to any oaths at all.
They were wrong, naturally. I only saw, then and now, where the real worth lay
in life, and it was not in the cold temple of a dead god. I might have escaped
into the life of a slave, but it was life
.
Dirty, ugly, glorious life
. And I did not plan to stay among the
Helpmeets for long, after all. As soon as I found myself alone, I
would run as fast and as far as I could and live out the rest of my days
without any shackles.
Unfortunately, the saying about  the best laid plans held true for me, as it
ever has and always will in the lives of men.
* * * * *
 On your feet, on your feet, on your feet, one of the nameless soldier guards
brayed without enthusiasm, slouching his way through the corridors and rooms
of the transport shuttle. He dragged the butt of his solid metal club along
the corrugated tin inner walls, producing a raucous cacophony of clanging and
clattering he barely seemed to hear.  Get up, you lazy dogs, get up
double-quick time, hear?
24
Willa Okati
Ko looked up from his examination of his hands, folded quietly and resting in
his lap between his crossed legs. He watched the guard pass him by without any
further reaction except to swallow once, hard and dry on his thirst-swollen
throat.
It was time, then. They d landed what felt like hours ago, though his sense of
time had disappeared on the windowless shuttle.
Many of the other Helpmeet prisoners clustered around him, most of whom had
barely moved since they d touched down, grasping the sleeves of one another s
threadbare tunics and babbling in high, panicked gasps. Unable to stop
himself, Ko bent to soothe a woman who no doubt had once been someone s
cherished princess. He petted the tangled mess of her hair, which must have
been her crowning glory not so long ago. She turned wide, sad eyes up at him,
glossy with tears.
 Hush, he crooned.  It s almost over.
Her lips quivered.  It never will be, Father. Not until we re dead.
Ko s blood chilled.  What did you call me?
She blinked, tears forgotten in her confusion.  I m sorry. I only meant you re
as kind as one of the monks, or the way they re supposed to be in the stories.
I --
 Quiet. Ko s voice was brittle in his ears, giving too much away, but he
couldn t soften it.  I m no one s  father. Don t you see the way I m
dressed? He gestured to his leather suit, which despite being filthy now
still advertised his false position as a sex worker.  I m just a man like your
brothers and cousins, a man whose luck ran out.
 You re not just a man, she said, surprising him with her sudden, keen
insight.
 Whatever else you might be.
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He couldn t listen to any more of that.  Get up, he said abruptly, turning
away from her.
 Are you just a man? the voice Ko had dreaded hearing asked him, the ghost s
tone laced with amusement.  Are you just a man, or are you more than one of
the common, cowardly breed?
Ko refused to look up to try and spot her. If he acknowledged the ghost s
presence, it might give her more power -- and if she meant to do him harm&
Fear made him gruff when he clapped his hands together as best as he could
with the short-linked chains binding his wrists.  All of you, get up! Do you
want the guards to beat you for being lazy? Move!
Ko hadn t expected the soldier guards to let them go without one last session
of fun and games, and he d been right. The grim satisfaction at having
anticipated this correctly sat heavy in him. Now that their traveling lethargy [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]