Shirley Meier's Blog, page 85

232 - The Last Stretch to the City

I sat on my mule and tried to take comfort from Ili's prattle about Kefas Bear. Kaita was up riding next to Kyriala because one of the Yeoli guards rode next to her. This last patrol were both men and both Yeolis. One almost blond with a very pretty face and very charming. I didn't like either of them. They kept Gannara away from us as if we were evil, as if he needed protecting from us.

231 - No Politics in the Fig

I heard the commotion upstairs before I set my good wine decanter down and bounded up the steps two at a time. Dorn and I had had to hire two more bouncers since the Imperator – who who apparently had a hair up His Imperial Butt – had let this nonsense get completely out of control. Who ever heard of anyone who'd ever put His Divine Buttocks on the Crystal Throne, letting the mob decide

230 - A Field Operative Bear

When Ailadas came back from his little talk with the Arkan Sereniteer, Kefas, he looked unsettled. Any stranger wouldn't know that he was upset, but I did. "Minakas... would you and Ilesias come with me please?" "Oh, yes ser. If the exalted Ili would be pleased to come?" He giggled, tucked Indispensible Bear under one arm and held up his other hand to me to be lifted up. He drew us

229 - A Cherished Arkan Tradition

Even as I pulled in a breath I thought half a dozen other things, like if so, where's the Mahid supposed to be protecting him instead of having him smacking some copper-link bandit himself? He... they are all... fugitives...to the wool-hairs. I glanced up at Serao, then back down at the paper, covering my mind flailing away in eight different directions. By my duty I should corroborate this.

228 - A City Clock Chiming Noon

The fessas kid still had the old geezer's sword on his mule's saddle and Serao wanted to help the wool-haired kid with getting himself back, as she put it, so we invited the two of them to spar with us when we were at the next waystation. Waystation Allasgulas. It was the last on this little road; the next day's travel would bring us up to Hamastown where Mines Road met the Main Road to

227 - A Sereniteer's Itchy Somethings

We, Serao and I, got to babysit for our next patrol assignment. When we got to Petas Hill station, Terai and Baralas and this bunch were all there waiting for us. The report that came with these people said they weren't as helpless as they looked. Terai and Bar's patrol overlapped ours at Petas Hill, too small a town to have an office, just a waystop. "Brained a bandit with a book, the old

226 - Did He Ever Say?

"Good thing we picked a fake name for me," Gannara said as we rode at the tail end of our little procession. "Yeah. Hey, Rao, thanks." He just shook his head at me, not needing to ask what I wa thanking him for. A whistle from the guard up front. The pair of them were bracketing us, one riding front, one back. When we looked up he waved and called something in Yeoli that I thought was

225 - The Official Report

The Sereniteer's office was just off the main road, thankfully away from the squalid inn we had rejected. Kaita was up behind me, since her mule was being commandeered to haul prisoners, while Ailadas had Kyriala, his ostensible niece. Kaita whispered in my ear, "I wonder if the inn is so bad to encourage people to camp at that place." It made sense. "You mean they migh be in league with

224 - Weighty literature

"Oh, really now, I say…" I heard Ailadas begin. I dove for the sword, landing in the middle of our luggage, scrambling, hands stinging in my gloves they smacked so hard against the scabbard. "Ailadas! RUN!" Kyriala didn't stop screaming, her high voice carrying perhaps even as far as the village we had left behind. I vaguely heard his voice, unearthly calm. "I think not."

Author's Note

If you liked Kefas and Serao and would like to see more of them, I direct you to Karen's site, Chevenga.com, where I've launched a forum discussion about what possible problems they could have on the road.You may either comment there, or here!