Of Sand and Malice Made Read Online Free PDF

realizing she’d lost her quarry. She pulled her cowl off her head and turned this way, then that, then continued down the street.
    It was too dark to see her clearly from this distance, but Çeda knew it was Ashwandi, the woman who’d taken her to speak with Kadir, who’d led her out of the estate when they were done. What by Tulathan’s bright eyes would she be doing chasing Çeda through the streets? And why was she doing it so clumsily?
    Ã‡eda drew the knife from her belt and followed, padding carefully in time with Ashwandi’s footsteps but with broader strides, until she was right behind her. Ashwandi turned, eyes wide as she raised her hands to fend Çeda off, but she was too late. In a blink Çeda had slipped her arm around Ashwandi’s neck and pressed the tip of her knife into her back—not enough to draw blood, but certainly enough to make Ashwandi intimately familiar with just how sharp Çeda’s blades were kept.
    â€œYou might get away with such things east of the Trough,” Çeda whispered, “but not here.” She pressed the knife deeper, enough to pierce skin, drawing a gasp from Ashwandi. “Here, women like you are as likely to end up on the banks of the Haddah staring sightless into a star-filled sky as they are to make it home again.”
    â€œI’m not the one you should be worried about,” she rasped.
    â€œNo?” Çeda asked, easing her hold on Ashwandi’s throat. “Who, then? Your mistress, Rümayesh?”
    â€œI am no
servant
of Rümayesh! I am her love, and she is mine.” Her Kundhunese accent was noticeable, but more like a fine bottle of citrus wine than the harsh, home-brewed araq of Djaga’s accent.
    â€œShe’s after me, isn’t she? That’s why I’m being followed.”
    â€œYou begin to understand, yes? But I tell you, you have no idea the sort of trouble you’re in.”
    Ã‡eda shoved her away. It was then that Çeda realized that a bandage was wrapped tightly around Ashwandi’s left hand. With a pace that spoke of self-consciousness, or even embarrassment, she used her good hand to tug her sleeve back over the bandage, then pulled her cowl back into place. Only when her face was hidden within its depths did she speak once more. “Do you know who Rümayesh is? She has
seen
you, girl. She is
intrigued
 . . . Nothing will draw her attention away now, not until she tires of you.”
    Ã‡eda felt suddenly exposed and foolish, a fly caught in a very intricate web. “What would she want of
me
?”
    â€œYou’re a tasty little treat, I’ll give you that. She’s taken by this girl who shades at night but fights in the pits by light of day.” Even in the dying light, Çeda was sure Ashwandi caught her surprised expression. “Yes, she knows of your
other
pursuits with Osman, and nowshe’s taken by the pretty thing that came to her estate, by the White Wolf who sank her fangs into the Malasani brute.”
    This implied much . . . That Rümayesh likely knew of Çeda’s time with Djaga, her training for her coming bout, her time in the pits, perhaps. Çeda didn’t merely feel off-balance; she felt like the world had been tipped upside down, and now the city was crashing down around her. “I came to Kadir to speak of a
package
. That was all.”
    â€œYou’ve been set up, child, as have I.”
    Brandishing her knife, Çeda closed the distance between them with one long stride. “Make some bloody sense before I rethink how very nice I’ve been treating you.”
    â€œKadir told you of my sister, Kesaea. For years
she
held the favored position at Rümayesh’s side, longer than any other, if the stories I’ve heard are true. But Rümayesh grew tired of her, as I knew she would, and
I
stepped into her place.” Ashwandi shrugged. “Kesaea was angry. With