The Shadow Gypsy (The Shadow Sisters) Read online

  "What if you told my future in front of my guests? Then no one would want to whip you for the information." He was playing a cat and mouse game with me, but to what purpose?

  "If you wish amusement, Your Majesty, I would be happy to."

  "You are saying what you would tell me wouldn’t be a real future. Why?"

  "Because your future, like all our futures, is connected with hundreds of others. If I tell your future with hundreds listening, one or more of the people here or others they tell could take actions that would impact your future, producing one of the futures I did not see clearly." I should have been near panic by now. It was a king I was dueling with. But it felt like one of Sister Rong’s games, which drew me like an Ahasha bat to blood.

  The king laughed hard.

  "Whether you can see the future true or not, you are a very talented woman. This young man lets you throw knives at him, and a king cannot determine whether you are real or a fake, because your arguments make sense and cannot be tested. I’d wager that true or not, what you tell has value for your insights if nothing else." He turned and handed a page behind him two small leather purses and said something to him. The boy ran around the table and dropped one in Yoan’s hand and another in mine. It felt heavy. "Ryana, you have amused me and my guests, judging by the looks on their faces. I look forward to seeing you again in the future."

  I didn’t. He was a clever man, maybe too clever. Like Lady wu’Lichak in Araby, he knew the bull’s eye was not painted in the center and the necks of the bottle were narrower than normal.

  "Thank you, Your Majesty." Yoan and I bowed and made a hasty retreat to the sound of clapping. We were led to a separate room where two long tables were loaded with food, enough for three times our numbers.

  "You had me terrified," Luka said when the door closed behind us.

  "Get used to it, Luka. Travelling with Ryana on a good day is exciting, and on a bad day, terrifying." Yoan laughed, handing Stela, who kept the Dorian clan's money, his sack of coins. When I went to hand my sack to her, she pushed my hand away.

  "The Dorian clan owes you more than we can ever pay. Keep that as our wedding gift to you."

  "Thank you, mother." I gave Stela a hug. "I’m going to miss you. The clan has been like family to me." I was torn in so many ways. I would miss the safety of the Dorian clan, people I knew and loved who would expect nothing from me. The Tobar clan would be like my time at Ahasha where I wished to belong but was never sure what I had to do to stay. And Luka, what did he expect, and could I give it? The duel of wits with the king I understood, but my future with Luka and the Tobar clan I didn’t. It scared me to death.

  * * *

  A sixday later, Alida and I stood to the side watching the Tobar clan performing for the king. The performances looked and felt completely different, although in reality they were clever variations of the acts the other clans performed. They had to be, or audiences would skip clan performances because they all looked alike. Luka performed tumbling routines, but what made him different was the use of fire. It made the act unique and look dangerous, which appealed to audiences. When the acts were over and the clan was beginning to leave, a page came running over to me.

  "Mistress, the king would like you and her to join him."

  "Me?" Alida said in open-mouth horror. The page nodded, and we followed him around to the back of the table. When the king turned, we knelt.

  "Rise. Ryana, why are you and your friend here with the Tobar clan, and why aren’t you performing?" he asked.

  "Alida and I were just married to men from the Tobar clan. It’s the gypsy’s custom for the woman to join the man’s clan. Since we’re new, the clan hasn’t decided where we will fit into the acts."

  "I’ll wager you’ll have trouble finding someone who will let you throw knives at him, particularly a husband." He laughed. "I look forward to seeing you when the Tobar clan returns to Tarion."

  We bowed and made a hasty retreat. As we did, Alida leaned close and whispered. "I don’t know how you do it. Just standing that close to the king was terrifying, and you managed to convince him you could tell his true future."

  "Not quite. He’s not one to see what he wants but rather what is. He was unable to determine from what I said that I was a fake."

  "Same thing," Alida said, laughing as we walked arm in arm following a page to the room where the clan had been taken. "I’m glad you’re joining the clan along with me. I love Pali, but it’s scary even though I’ve known everyone in the clan for years. It’s different living with them."

  As the door closed behind us, Santo turned from speaking with Luka.

  "What did the king want," Santo asked. "I’ve heard about the extra money you make fortunetelling, like the forty gold the king gave you. That’s a season’s work for the clan. Everyone was talking about what you said to the king. Now I see why Luka fell in love with you. I’ll wager we have some exciting times ahead."

  Alida gave a soft snort that was almost a laugh. "That’s because my… sister does some really stupid things, like chasing after wizards to save me and telling fortunes for province leaders." She grabbed me in a tight embrace. "I love her, anyway.

  "Well, Luka, maybe you can keep her from making things too exciting," Santo said, patting Luka on the shoulder. Luka gave a weak smile but said nothing. I was two persons: his wife and the Shadow of Death, and he knew the Shadow of Death might bring excitement he could not stop. I wished for the hundredth time that I could be that Ryana who wished only to be an apprentice Shadow Sister Spy. But the past couldn’t be changed. I must learn to live in the moment, for Luka and the Tobar clan.

  CHAPTER THREE

  DAZEL: Tarion - The Magic Balls

  I had changes to get used to with my new clan. With the addition of Alida and me, the Tobar clan was slightly larger than the Dorian clan with four children, ten married couples, and four unmarried--two young women and two men. They had clowns rather than a comical skit. Instead of a teeter-totters act, they had an acrobatic act performed on swings hung from ropes strung high overhead, and had an escape artist. Otherwise, the acts were variations on the standard knife throwing, magic, horse riding, tumbling, puppets, and juggling. They had a standard fortunetelling tent, but their games were different.

  One game consisted of throwing a copper into one of several trays. Each tray paid a different amount, up to a silver. The more the tray paid, the shallower it was. The copper, being metal, bounced when it hit the metal tray which was set at a slight incline the table disguised. The second game involved wooden rings. The object was to land the ring on one of several bottle necks. Like throwing a ball into a narrow bottle neck, the speed and arc of the throw was the key to both games—and a great deal of luck for the silver payout tray.

  We had finished a long and wonderful session of lovemaking, and Luka sprawled on the bed, his face relaxed and content, as I dressed. I had to establish my nightly wandering as normal as an excuse to be out late. Alida would support my explanation. When I jumped down from the wagon, the camp was quiet except for a few people around a dying fire. Using the wagon as cover, I launched Kasi and Anil and kept in the shadows until I reached the edge of the forest before appearing where Alida would notice.

  "Ryana, wait up," she shouted, dragging one of the single girls, Roza, along with her. She had a good figure and long black hair. "I told you, Ryana is always wandering about late into the night. She’s better than a camp dog," she said with a smile because it was a remark only close sisters would make even in jest.

  "Woof," I said, as I gave her a hug.

  "Alida said you had Shadow training?" Roza asked excitedly.

  "Yes, and now I find it hard to sleep more than four to six hours. And I like the night. It’s a good time to relax and dream." And kill, I shuddered at the thought. I was good at killing.

  "She walks like her feet never touch the ground," Alida said. "Stela said we needed to put bells on her so we would know when she was coming. Scare you to death when s
he walks up right behind you and you didn’t hear her."

  "You caught the one man in the clans every woman has been chasing for years. After he met you, he stopped flirting with everyone. It was a pain. It’s hard to catch a man who won’t look at you."

  "I think he caught me, Roza," I said, being truthful.

  She laughed. "Well, I’m off to bed. I need my eight hours. Need to look beautiful if I'm going to snag a husband." Roza winked and waved as she and Alida headed toward the wagons.

  She reminded me a little of Ilka with her infectious smile and bubbly personality. I wandered deeper into the forest, and sat down on a tree stump to listen to Anil and Kasi chasing bugs. Anil warned me of someone approaching. Reflexively, I dropped into the moment prepared to… I shook myself and relaxed when I realized it was Santo, and there was nothing to fight.

  "Evening, Ryana. So it’s true. You do wander at night and don’t need as much sleep as the rest of us. The training at Ahasha must have been hard." He sat after I nodded at his unspoken question.

  "It was like any kind of training. It slowly becomes natural after a while, like juggling or tumbling. And it’s hard to forget what you've learned."

  "That’s true. Did you learn knife throwing there?"

  "No, I have Yoan to thank for that. The first few years at Ahasha is devoted to the type of education a noble’s son or daughter would get. The skills of a Shadow don’t come until much later, after they have determined you have the ability. They felt I didn’t, and it would waste their time and mine trying to make me into something I would never be. It’s just as well. I doubt I would have liked the life," I lied. I loved the sisterhood and would gladly give my life for them—and maybe in a way I had. There is more than one way to die.

  "Have you figured out how you might fit into the acts? I doubt anyone is going to let you throw knives at them, but Arkady was very impressed with your throwing skill. He said you’re as good as him, and that's quite a compliment."

  "If no one minds, I could take the fortuneteller tent, and I’ll work on the games while we try to decide."

  "That’s good. Kata takes it the most often. She thinks it’s boring and would rather work one of the games. You must have quite a reputation if the king has heard of you. Marku said you bring in more money than the games. Do they teach that at Ahasha?"

  "No. The Shadows don’t put much faith in the past or the future--only the present."

  "No matter. You can work the fortuneteller tent for now. Good night, Ryana. You may not need a full night’s sleep, but I do." He wandered off leaving me alone, feeling I had established my cover. An hour later, I collected my darlings and returned to the wagon. Luka was dead asleep, but when I slipped in beside him, his arm went around me pulling me close. I nuzzled against his shoulder, drinking in the feel of his smooth skin and its scent. My visual-self felt warm and loved. My shadow-self kept silent.

  * * *

  We left the next day for Sandel, traveling slowly to give the Dorian clan time to get several sixdays ahead of us. The clans tried to visit each town every four sixdays, giving enough time in between performances for the population to want another. The gypsies’ performances were cheap, very cheap, if you didn’t participate in the games. That was where the clan made most of their money. So we had stayed in Tarion an extra sixday and would take several extra days in Sandel, Winton, and Udo to practice before traveling on to Scio, the capital of Araby.

  The clan put on a performance the third night in Sandel. I stood off to the side watching the acts and trying to decide where I could best contribute to my… yes, my clan. Afterward, I would take the fortunetelling duty for the first time as a member of the Tobar clan. While I watched, I played with the wooden ball, I had found in our wagon.

  "What’s this, love?" I had asked, picking up one of the three wooden balls about the size of a child’s head, lying in a cabinet at the back of the wagon where a jumble of things were stored, including my bag with my Shadow things.

  Luka laughed. "As a boy, I played with the idea of becoming a juggler. I was pretty good but not good enough. When I got interested in fire, I gave up juggling." He shrugged. "But I kept the balls."

  I don’t know why, but I took one of the balls outside and sat there playing with it. I’d hold it in my hand, twist it, rolling the ball onto the back of my hand, and up and down my forearm. Over the next week, I played with it as I sat listening to Anil and Kasi. Then like I had with the blowtube, it became an obsession. I found I could, fairly consistently, roll the ball up my right arm, around my upper chest, and down my left arm, then reverse the action or continue it onto my right hand to begin again.

  I was working with the group who performed on the high rope swings, which tonight was the last act. It included three married couples and Ferko, a single male. Kata’s daughter, Riva, was also beginning to learn routines on the swings. Right now she was better than me. In truth, I missed Yoan and our skit. But no one showed an interest in being the prop, and as Sand had said, clans were reluctant to use material from another clan. In truth, they considered themselves one big family, and you didn’t steal from family.

  Afterward, I went to the fortuneteller tent. A handful of people, mostly women in the well-worn clothing of hard workers, waited as I opened the flap of the tent. They just wanted to hear something good would happen to them, and I enjoyed the evening. Lately, I seemed to be able see the whole person: what they didn’t say, their scars and bruises, favoring one limb or another, their accents and the way they phrased things. Combined with the tension or lack of tension in their hands, I felt I almost knew the person. No gold dropped into my palm, but I had a steady line of customers all evening.

  "I don’t know how you enjoy fortunetelling. I find it boring and sad knowing the women are hard treated," Kata said as we sat around the fire afterward.

  "Yes, their lives are hard, but I can give them a small dream to help them through the days to come." That was certainly part of what I felt and hoped I provided. She looked at me for a long time before replying.

  "Yes, I like that. I’ve always considered the women who paid to have their fortune told as marks, like those who play our games of chance. But if you give them a dream to hang onto, maybe they are getting something for their money." She raised her cup to me. "I admit I was worried about someone not born a gypsy marrying into the clan. Usually, that doesn’t work out well. But I like you, Ryana. And I love you for taking over the fortunetelling duties." That evoked laughter from around the circle, as everyone had been listening. I was new and the clan wanted to get to know their new member. Alida they knew from years of the clans meeting on the circuit, but I was an unknown quantity.

  Over the next two sixdays we put on performances in Windon and Udo. I had been a little apprehensive when we arrived. Lord Phellen had me tied to a wagon wheel and would have whipped me to death if Lord Boyan hadn’t stopped him. I kept an eye out for nobles and the new Lord of Udo but saw no sign of the noble and his guards. The last thing I wanted was the clan punished because of my past sins.

  We arrived in Scio late at night. Santo decided to rest the next day and put on three performances, one every other day. As Luka sat on the edge of the bed and pried off his boots getting ready for bed, I took out my bag, twisted the foot rests which opened the secret compartment, and exposed its contents. He stared opened mouthed as I dressed, strapping on blowtubes, needles, knives, and putting my gypsy clothing over them. It was the first time I had opened the bag or dressed in Shadow clothes with him watching.

  "Night business?" he asked. We had agreed to use night rather than Shadow since a passerby might hear the word shadow and put us all in danger.

  "Yes,"

  "Dangerous?"

  "No, my love." I held his face between my hands and gently kissed his lips. "Not at all. I’ll be back in three or four hours." With my bats under my shirt, I slipped out the door and into the night. I knew Scio and the location of the Earth Wizards, so had no trouble finding it or avoi
ding people on the way there. By the time I reached the door to their guild house, it was open. They had known I was coming the minute I stepped onto their property—the earth warned them.

  A young, broad shouldered man in the traditional Earth Wizard's brown robe, with its green vines and leaves trim on the hem and at the end of the open sleeves, bowed to me. "Welcome, Shadow of Peace." My mouth dropped open as I tried to think of a response to the strange greeting. "Your enemies called you the Shadow of Death because they feared you and their destruction. But you are our sister; you stopped a war and brought peace to the kingdom. Come." He turned and led me through the passage.

  I followed him into the giant hall where eight wizards stood next to their seats. He waved me to an intricate chair of vines with yellow and white flowers. When I sat, they did.

  "Welcome, Sister of the Shadows. What may we do for you?" an old woman asked. Her face a dark brown, smooth, and serene. Her warm voice and smile made me feel welcome.

  "I would like the Earth Wizards to be my liaison throughout Hesland. I will be traveling across the land, and our senior Sister will want to contact me. If I use the Intermediaries, it will soon be obvious I’m traveling with the gypsies. That would put the Shadow Sisters, my clan, and me at risk."

  "We are honored by the trust you place in us, sister. Will other Shadow Sisters be visiting us?" she asked, her head slightly cocked to the side as if to emphasize the question.

  "I have always trusted the Earth Wizards and been rewarded with your support. No, only I will contact you for information from Ahasha. My senior Sister will use messenger birds, if that is all right with you. The messages will be for me only. Contact with the other Sisters will be through our Intermediates."

  "Yes, that is most satisfactory. We love birds and can easily train them to fly between our lodges and Ahasha. You will not be returning to Ahasha?"

  "No. I would make my Sisters nervous… I’ve killed too many to be trusted." There, the truth.