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Later that night, I supped by myself in a tavern at the next caravanserai. As alone as I could be. Long Feather and Jonata sat at a nearby table where they could watch me without them being in my line of sight. Yet, I couldn’t avoid the familiarity of their spirits.
Darys stalked up to my table and straddled the bench on the other side. Her wardens moved past us, no doubt joining my own guards at the table behind me.
“You can’t continue blaming yourself for random misfortune,” she boldly stated in Issuran.
I straightened. “You have no real knowledge about me. And you are stepping beyond your rank, Sister.”
“Maybe I am,” she replied. “However, I am not your enemy, Chief Justice. We have the same duty to perform—keep the Jing emperor alive long enough to reach Chengzhou.”
“Go away.”
“I see.” She smiled and switched to Jing. “Do you truly believe that by driving away other people, your heart will not be broken by loss?”
However, I wasn’t falling for her trap, and I refused to play her word games. “You are not from Child, and this is a public place,” I snapped in Issuran.
She shook her head, but she resumed speaking in Issuran. “Maybe you should speak with one of Shang’s people. You’re not the only one who has lost comrades in this war, and I have no doubt I will lose people I care about before it’s over.”
I relaxed a bit. “So, you believe the demon war is not over?”
“Balance is noted for saying exactly what She means, Lady Justice.” Darys shrugged. “According to Her Revelation at the Kemet capital, we have one more generation to go before we will defeat the demons.”
It was my turn to test the Thief priestess. Using my eating sticks, I retrieved a vegetable from my bowl and held it up. “What is this?”
Darys frowned at my abrupt change of subject. “I don’t know the Issuran word for it, but the Jing term is ‘pak choi’. Our Temple of Knowledge says it’s related to cabbage.”
“Sister, do you think the other plants in the garden miss this particular pak choi?”
“I don’t know.”
“You seem to spend a great deal of time with Knowledge,” I said. “Do they have any treatises on the emotions and intelligence of plants?”
“I’ve never searched for such information before.” Her frown deepened. “What is the purpose of your question?”
“During our trip to Diné, Brother Sisquoc of Wildling and I discussed why the demons focus on humans and not any other life form in the World.” I examined the leafy chunk of vegetable. “According to the Temple of Wildling, all life is interconnected. If we have thoughts and feelings, and animals have the similar thoughts and feelings according to the Wildlings’ experiences, he conjectured that plants must as well.”
“It makes sense,” she murmured. “Don’t justices pull the memories of stones and plants to learn of deeds around them?”
I nodded. “So, how could anything have a memory if it didn’t also have thought?”
“By your logic, it cannot.” Darys propped her elbows on the table. “Therefore, memories are thoughts we’ve recorded within our spirits. However, I still don’t understand the purpose of your line of questioning.”
“What’s special about humans then?”
“Maybe it is the similarities between humans and the demons that attract them to us.” She paused as the tavern girl asked for her choice in drink and whether the priestess wanted dinner.
Once the girl scurried toward the kitchen, Darys eyed me again. “There’s also the fact they eat us and wear our skins as we would another animal’s. Is this what concerns you? How closely the demons resemble us?”
“Yes,” I said. “And our one fault is we do not regard each other with the same respect we should show to all living things. I believe they regard us with same belief that we have for the animals and plants that nourish us. The only difference is we fight back.”
She shook her head. “You are certainly not what I expected.”
“What’s that supposed mean?” I glared at her.
“According to our own Reverend Mothers of Balance, the prophesized justice who can see would be the one who leads the final battle. I pictured you as a great hero. Someone of conviction. Not someone who doubts her purpose.”
I froze. This was the first time I’d heard about the prophesy outside of Reverend Mother Alara. Maybe the old bat wasn’t yanking my emotions around after all.
Darys frowned. “Have I offended you, Lady Justice?”
“May we continue this discussion in my quarters after you’ve finished your meal?” My tongue wanted to choke on my words. “This is not a conversation we should have in public.”
“Of course.” Darys inclined her head. “You are correct. I should not have mentioned the subject in a public place.”
“And I apologize for my behavior on the road,” I said. “I had no right to inflict my ill temper upon you.”
She smiled and nodded just as the tavern girl arrived with a full tray.
I finished my meal and sipped on another cup of Jing’s cool light-tasting beer while Darys consumed her own meal. We continued to speak of the differences between the Skoloti tribes and Issura, and she taught me a few more words in her language.
When we finished, we left the tavern and headed toward our assigned suites. Our wardens prowled behind us. The crowd parted away from our path, but from the mix of fear and anger wafting from the people, it had more to do with what my Temple robes represented than the recent demon attack on their capital city.
I silently requested Luc, Po, and Shi Hua attend my discussion with Darys as we climbed the steps of the caravanserai. This one was much larger than the caravanserai we had lodged in over the past ten days. It was five stories tall and built of stone, nearly a fortress in and of itself. Po said it acted as a warehouse for the goods flowing into and out of Chengzhou, but I had the impression commerce wasn’t the building’s original purpose.
When we reached the top floor, instead of mine and Luc’s stateroom, we headed toward the suite used by the imperial couple. These days, the Jing guards bowed to us as befitting foreign dignitaries while Mateqai escorted us to Po and Shi Hau’s private sitting room. It was an odd feeling concerning those who had accompanied us across the Peaceful Sea. I no longer viewed them by their rank, but rather honored comrades who survived that horrid voyage. However, it was necessary to adhere to the formalities, given our mission.
Inside the sitting room, Luc bowed before carefully lowering his body to a silk-covered cushion before the Jing emperor and his wife. Two other cushions lay on his right for me and Darys. Jing guards and our own wardens stood against the walls of the room.
Both Darys and I executed the appropriate bows for our ranks before I said, “With your permission, Your Majesty, I would like to ward the room.”
Po nodded and fingered the gold beads on the left-side of his moustache, an indication that he was worried about something. Shi Hua appeared exhausted, her normally bright smile a shadow of itself.
Darys sat on the far right cushion while I circled the room and muttered the words to the warding spell. After I finished, I dropped to the cushion between Luc and Darys. I turned to her.
“Please tell us everything you know concerning your Reverend Mother of Balance’s prophecy about the justice with sight.”
Darys blinked. “You don’t know?”
“The information has been withheld from me, and I have suspicions in regards to the reasons,” I replied. “Nor has the knowledge been shared with Temple of Light, according to the empress and High Brother Luc.”
She remained silent for a long moment. It was the first relatively normal Thief characteristic I’d seen her display since we left the coastal port of Huang He eleven days ago.
Finally, she nodded. “I will tell you about the prophesy on one condition—that you share will me whatever suspicions you have.”
“We’ll agree to your condition with one of own,” Shi Hua said. “You agree to be truthspelled.”
Darys nodded again. “Considering your issues with your own Reverend Father of Thief, I understand your worries, and I agree to your terms, Your Majesty.”
I sucked in a deep breath at the warm tingle of Shi Hua’s power, but Darys didn’t seem a bit surprised it was the Jing empress who laid the truthspell on her.
“If you would start your questioning, Lady Justice,” Po murmured.
Under our previous circumstances, I would have made a borderline rude reply to him about using me as bait. Now, all I felt from him was a gentle flow of trust. I was no longer an oddity he wished to seduce, but a useful ally. And from my discussion with Queen Teodora before we left Orrin, our liege regarded him in the same way.
I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry. It was one thing to have my suspicions. It was another to have them confirmed, which I had no doubt Darys was about to do.
“When did the Skoloti Reverend Mother of Balance have her premonition?” I murmured.
“Thirty-three winters ago.”
Gorge rose in my throat at the proximity of my conception to the Reverend Mother’s premonition.
“Can you give us the precise time of her prophecy?” Shi Hua asked.
“The Spring Rituals,” Darys and I said at the same time.
Everyone, even the guards and wardens, stared at me. I cleared my throat.
“Did she see the manner in which a justice would gain sight?” Luc asked.
“If you don’t mind, could I tell you the full story as I know it?” Darys smiled. “The tale will answer most of your questions. Then you can slice apart my recitation with your questions.” I glanced at Po.
He nodded and said, “Please continue with your story, Sister Darys.”
To my amazement, it was Mateqai who blurted, “Your Majesties, with all due respect, it would be best if Sister Darys were formally questioned.” He glared at the Skoloti woman. “We had more than enough issues with Thief to warrant it.”
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