Rebel Elements (Seals of the Duelists) Read Online Free PDF Page A

brought you with me this past year, my boy,” Philo said with a broad smile as he gestured out the carriage window at the passing landscape. “To see the glories of the empire first-hand.”
    “But scribbling’s all I’ll be doing once we get home.”
    Bayan wondered at Kipri’s insolence, but Philo seemed immune. “Nonsense and stuffery,” replied Philo. “I’ve no intention of foisting boredom upon you and the other lads. After seven years in this fabulous land, I will require an interesting life at the Kheerzaal to keep from going comatose, and I shall make sure you’re constantly entertained as well.”
    Kipri leaned toward Bayan. “He means overworked,” he whispered loudly.
    The large eunuch merely harrumphed and rustled his pages as a signal for silence as he returned to his reading.
    Would I trade my own fate as some sort of magical warrior for Kipri’s? The son of a rebel, coerced to serve the empire that his father hated? Bayan tried to imagine his father leading a militia against imperial forces, but his mind conjured instead Imee’s heart-shaped face, and Bayan knew he’d rather take his chances at duelism.
    Maybe she’ll wait for me anyway .

Vagaries of Travel
     

    Bayan stepped up into the cramped space of the enclosed cooking wagon and handed a clump of freshly-picked bitter melon leaves to Lotte, Philo’s chef, who accepted them with a smile. “You’re going to make his day, you know.” She gave the leaves a swish in a bowl of clean water.
    “It’s not hard to please someone who eats anything you put in front of him.” Bayan grinned. His rage, fear, and desperation always receded when he helped Lotte cook. The activity reminded him of home.
    Lotte poked at the bitter melon slices she’d made, nibbled one, then shook her head. “You can’t possibly think that after traveling with the man for this long. We’re speaking of a man who hired a professional chef and gave her an entire kitchen in a wagon.”
    “He can afford that?” Bayan asked, surprised.
    “Oh, yes. Philo made his fortune right after the Raqtaaq Wars. You’ll notice he has a way with people. Well, it wasn’t any different over in Nunaa. Even though he worked for Emperor Hedrick, they still accepted him and let him do his job. He was the only eunuch in all of Nunaa who didn’t get hassled, hazed, and booted home.” She nibbled another bitter melon slice, nodded, then spread the slices on the ground beef, chicken eggs and diced tomato in the sizzling pan atop the stove built into the wagon’s wall.
    “Is that why the emperor ordered him to Balanganam?”
    “Oh, no. He volunteered. For all his obsession with creature comforts, Philo Sallas is, at his heart, a generous and loyal man. Or woman, depending on his attire.”
    Bayan wrinkled his forehead. “What does that mean? Is it normal for the empire eunuchs to dress like him? Kipri doesn’t.”
    “Most eunuchs stick to their cream tunics and culture-free hairstyles, but Philo is a rainbow ibis among sparrows. He has to be as true to himself as his situation will allow.”
    When the meal was ready, Bayan helped Lotte carry platters of lightly herbed frybread, the palaya she’d just made, and bitter melon greens from the small cooking wagon out to the others at the campfire, which burned at the base of the a damp, stony cliff edged with delicate ferns. The hungry travelers eagerly reached for their shares.
    Philo, wearing a black wig laced with creamy pearls, thanked Bayan for helping Lotte cook again. Bayan nodded, then excused himself from the group and entered the dimness of the purple carriage. He sat down, lifted the baby pitcher plant’s pot from its holder, and placed it on the wagon’s windowsill.
    By the light of the fire, he pricked his ring finger with the knife given him by his father and squeezed until blood welled up. Holding his finger over the plant, Bayan let one drop fall, then another.
    “What in sints are you doing?” Kipri appeared, as