“Nua! Wake up, Nua!”
There was a large, heavy hand resting on her shoulder. Her eyes snapped open, and she instinctively rolled away. She anticipated another fight. Guilt and tension overwhelmed her – instead of keeping watch, she fell asleep.
Then, she saw a familiar face.
“Captain Idris!”
He stood over her, casting a shadow on half of the backyard. Nearby, the black musushu was waking up, slowly uncurling and glaring at them with a visible disgust.
“It’s all right, Nua,” Idris said. “We’re here.”
She sat on the pavement and stared, still half asleep and not comprehending.
“We saw the flare,” he explained. “We dispatched the ghouls, then tracked you all the way to the city. We knew you were looking for a medic. Ashra is inside now, taking care of everything.”
“Is Hessa…”
Idris nodded.
“You did well,” he patted her on the back. “Come on, go in there. I need to take care of Shadow – she does not tolerate anyone else.”
He turned to the mount, who was glancing at him with her spikes half raised, undecided if she should growl or whimper, and gave her a few strips of jerky. With hesitation, Nua got to her feet. Her fighting stick rolled on the pavement. At first, she thought to take the baton with her instead of leaving it with the supplies, but then she took another glance at Idris. After the events of the previous day, she needed a while to fully wake up and come to her senses. Eventually, a realization washed over her. She didn’t need to fight, not right now.
“Go, ask for a warm drink,” Idris advised. “Gods know you need it right now. Tell them I have ordered to give you breakfast.”
The door was guarded by Oswald and Lykomedes, both resting idly against the wall. The large Northerner acknowledged her with a slight nod. The Mycean waved with a huge grin on his face. They both looked tired and somewhat roughed up. Lykomedes’ wrappings were in tatters, and his skin was showing signs of sunburn again. Half of their chase must have happened at night, so it was probably a result of fighting ghouls in the afternoon. Nua was suddenly glad that her night vision didn’t come with increased sensitivity to sunlight. “Beast-eyed” was a slur, but in fact, there was nothing demeaning about having eyes that worked in a similar way to a predatory animal’s. Let’s take Shadow, for example; she was definitely a better person than many humans.
Skipping steps, she entered the mansion.
“Hey! Kid! You can’t come in here!”
It was a young man, a helper most likely.
“She can!” Nua heard a well-known voice. “I allow it!”
“Ashra?”
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There was a commotion in the antechamber before the entrance to the large hospital room, one that Anki showed her before. Several people stood there. Nua recognized the Azurian doctor as well as Ashraqat and another Mycean mercenary called Quintus (it was a relatively common name). An unknown, gaunt woman accompanied them. She was clad in long, worn robes made of undyed linen, she had sunken eyes and a somber look on her face.
The doctor was nonplussed. “I can’t just let her in. This is still a hospital, not a mercenary camp, and I have other patients than your friend. The ward’s turning into a guestroom at that point.”
“Then let us move Hessa,” Ashraqat said. “No guests lining up for her, and no angry mobs either.”
“Look, as much as I loathe letting one of my best aides go, tarnishing my reputation over an Unsagga, and having her,” the doctor pointed at Nua, “Rough up the cloth merchant’s son, I won’t botch my own work. She’s not ready to be moved.”
“Oh.” Ashra raised her brow. “Which merchant?”
“Qadir family.”
“Duly noted. Thank you.” Ashraqat’s voice was ice cold. “We will move her when the Trickster Sun’s up. As I told you before, Raya is a priestess of One. My stargazer Ezekiel says that her herbal concoctions speed up recovery greatly; they can even bring people back from the brink of death. She is no surgeon, but that’s already been done. Talk to her instead of allowing your pride to get the better of you, and you’ll find that together you can help more people than Hessa alone.”
“With all due respect, lady merchant – I have seen many who claimed their remedies work miracles,” the medic crossed his arms. “Especially the holy people. I will look at her work and judge if her elixirs are any good, but I guarantee nothing.”
Ashra nodded.
“My people are going to keep watch at your premises.”
“Her hands are shaking,” Nua heard all of a sudden. She stiffened, startled; then she realized it was just Anki. “I’ve been watching them for a while. She’s trying very hard not to strangle him and go in regardless. She’s not doing it only because she knows that they carry dirt from the desert, and so they’re a danger to the ill.”
“You were in,” she guessed. “How’s Hessa?”
“Sleeping. She made it through,” Anki said. “I have no idea what the remedies of this priestess are worth, though. In my era, the worshippers of One were just a bunch of herders. My guess is that she infuses them with ether.”
“That would be nice to learn.” Nua was staring at the floor. She was thinking. Ashraqat came in person and made everything right, as she usually did. All of a sudden, the conclusion of yesterday’s events hit Nua all the harder. Without the lady merchant’s help, outside the caravan, Hessa’s authority was nothing. Her power held only for as long as she remained in that small, traveling kingdom. Whatever she did, wherever she went, her achievements – even her humanity - would not stick. She could be as well left for dead yesterday because she was Unsagga.
Was this what Anki meant, back then, when Nua joined Ashraqat’s service? No matter what she was, her existence ultimately depended on the goodwill of the Azurians. Am I glad with the role of a mercenary or a desert guide, and nothing else? What would Hala say?
Well, she would be damn proud of her, that’s what she’d say.
She didn’t know any better.
None of them did.
Anki had lived in an era when the Unsagga weren’t called the cursed ones. They were treated like everyone else.
Like people.
She wasn’t enthusiastic about Anki’s vision of world conquest. But something had to be done and it was dawning on her that she could be the person to do it. Her fight with the assassin showed her how much skill she had acquired in just a few weeks. In her mind, the encounter repeated itself over and over again. She was slower and weaker, but her etheric potential, though unrefined, was already greater than his. How much could she learn in a year? In twenty years? Would it be enough to make a change? She looked at the hospital room’s door and unwittingly clenched her fists. She would try… no, she would make it so that no Unsagga is refused treatment because of who they are.
Then, she glanced at the king. It was unwise to tell him that she agreed with the idea of the revolution. She needed to do things her own way, and she had no idea what exactly her way was and where to start. Right now, though, her goals aligned with his.
She would see it remained this way.