Moon's Artifice Read Online Free PDF Page B

shrugged. ‘All I’m saying is think before you speak, understand me ? Don’t ask such things of folk you don’t know. If it turns out they’re warrior caste, you might get a slap for the insult.’
    ‘Or Master Shadow might turn out to be an assassin and kill us in the night to protect his secrets,’ Emari said gravely.
    ‘No ! Pity’s light ! Have you been listening to old man Pethein again ?’ Kesh demanded, wagging a finger in Emari’s face. ‘I’ve told you not to loiter in the tavern once they’ve got stuck in for the evening. Next time I think you have been, I’ll slap the brown off your legs, hear me ?’
    ‘Yes, Kesh,’ Emari replied in a quiet voice. ‘Sorry, Kesh.’
    She grabbed the little girl and hugged her. ‘I know you are, but you’ve got to be more careful round these parts. Sailors come from all over and get troublesome when they’re out drinking. You keep clear after dark, you hear me ?’
    ‘I will,’ Emari promised.
    The girl fell silent for a while, her lips pursed as she thought. Kesh saw she wanted to ask something, but the little girl was trying to be mindful of what she’d just been told about thinking before she spoke. It was enough to make the older sister laugh, but she fought the urge. Emari tended to blurt out every thought that crossed her mind ; it would be good for her to start controlling that before she got much older.
    ‘Kesh ?’ Emari eventually said in a small voice.
    ‘Yes, little one ?’
    ‘Is there going to be a war ?’
    ‘Between the Houses ?’
    Emari nodded.
    ‘Well, I don’t rightly know,’ Kesh said, kneeling on the landing to look Emari in the eye.
    When they’d taken Emari in, her father a shipmate of Kesh’s father, Kesh had promised herself she’d never lie to her new sister. Something about hearing their neighbours tell Emari her father had sailed off with the Gods had jarred with Kesh. The Empire was not a happy place to live in sometimes, and Emari needed to know what it was really like without fearing it.
    ‘The Houses like to fight,’ she said by way of explanation, ‘it’s what noble folk do a lot of the time. If you’re high-caste you’re not allowed to work or learn a trade – House soldiers are warriors trained from birth to do that job alone. Now it might be that Eagle and Dragon end up fighting, but the Harbour Warrant isn’t controlled by either and they have to respect the Emperor’s domains – otherwise the other Houses would step in against them.’
    ‘Master Steelfin said House Eagle could attack the harbour all the same, block us off so we can’t fish or trade.’
    ‘Pah, Master Steelfin’s a stupid old man,’ Kesh said quietly, ‘and he knows little more about the Empire than I do. If they do blockade us, it won’t be for long. The warriors have their own code for fighting ; they’re only allowed to kill other warriors. The Gods say it’s a sin to kill someone of a low caste – as you’d remember if you came to temple a little more often.’
    ‘Doesn’t stop them all, mind,’ called a voice from the bottom of the stairs.
    Kesh turned to see her mother, Teike, leaning against the banister post and looking up at them, a wicker basket full of food slung over her shoulder.
    ‘But don’t you worry about the Eagles, my girl. It’d embarrass House Dragon if the city began to starve and Dragons don’t like losing face.’
    Teike slipped her scarf off her head and brushed her hair back away from her face. Once order was restored again she nodded towards the common room, one eyebrow raised. ‘If you don’t hop to your sweeping however, you might have me to fear !’
    Emari gave a squawk and jumped up, clattering down the stairs and barely stopping for a kiss on her forehead on the way. Teike smiled after her and beckoned Kesh down also.
    ‘Help me with the shopping ?’
    Kesh pulled the load from her mother’s shoulder. ‘Emari’s seen a rope attached to the roof, it looks like a thief’s