Nua had her favorite hiding place near the junkyard, where she often spent her time waiting for the gangs or guards to pass. It was a small, ruined stone and adobe hut, or what was left of it – three walls, and only one of them up to the first floor. A panoply of thorny plants prevented the use of it as an outhouse, and the highest wall was thick, with an intact window, that for someone as small as Nua could serve as a shelf. On the outside, the opening was conveniently shaded by a tamarisk bush. The cloud of its pale pink flowers did not block the view from the window, and so it created a perfect hidey-hole, as well as an observation spot.
The girl nestled on the ledge. She was glad for the shade. The Great Sun, Utu, was high up already, scorching Overlord’s Mercy dry.
“Running and climbing.”, remarked Anki out of the blue.
“What?”
“I was thinking aloud. Your areas of expertise are running and climbing. Your coordination and strength are lacking, but you’re still good enough to use them as a base for the sorcery Techniques.”
Nua was unwrapping the package. The fish was a bit squished, but that did not matter. She fingered the white, oily meat, then dug in. It was so fresh that it hardly even smelled. At least in her opinion.
“You could ask, I would tell you it’s not peeling tubers.”, she subvocalized, glad that she could do it while eating. “I’m also good at jumping.”
“Hmm. I was wondering if you could perform all three roughly at the same time.”
“Running, jumping, and climbing? That’s some obstacle course.”, she snorted in disbelief. “Now shuddup and do what you wanted to do. I’m busy.”
“Right.” The sprite seemed amused. “Go on, indulge yourself. You’ve earned it.”
Then he vanished. The girl didn’t even raise her head. She had so much food in her lap that she wondered if she can really eat all of it. Sorcery could wait.
Soon after, the ledge was littered with fish bones, and Nua’s shirt – was stained with oil in addition to the half-washed-out blood. She scraped the fish skin, trying to get out the last, brownish slivers of meat. She already ate the rest, together with the crunchy fins. For the first time since she grew up, she felt satiated, and it was an odd sensation she wasn’t used to. At the same time, she knew that she wouldn’t refuse to eat something more in addition to the fish. A piece of bread, or a fruit. Who knew the stomach had separate space for separate foods?
She burped. Full and sleepy as she was, she started feeling guilty for not bringing any of her loot home, but she knew that was unlikely to succeed. Four other street urchins were traversing the area just now, all of them male and taller than her, most likely members of some gang. They didn’t notice her, and she was glad not to make any contact. Even now, when the fish was safe in her stomach, they had nothing to say to each other.
It was strange not to hear Anki’s quips and remarks all the time. She got used to his odd manner of speaking, and now even if she did not understand all the words, she could work out the general meaning. She didn’t believe that she would be able to do it without the mind link. Its sorcery was already doing something to her. Hopefully nothing bad – the king gave an oath that he’ll leave her an independent person, and he also seemed to loathe slavery. Or just the slavery of the Unsagga. She did not know.
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He had a long-term mission, and that mission was frightening even if Nua did not gleam at its details. She wasn’t able to look into the future far enough to know if she should be worried. It would be good if she could tell Hala.
She sighed.
Auntie would probably have her exorcised. Although with Anki it might not work. After all, she wasn’t really haunted. It was something the gem did, a kind of sorcerous contraption.
She closed her eyes and tried to feel the ether inside. The spirit said she could do it any time, regardless if he allowed it or not. The tiny sun was in there, spinning, ready to be pulled at. Still wary, she left it alone.
Auntie would not understand.
She leaned against the wall, her eyes closed. Cicadas were chirping, hidden from the hot midday sun. A predatory bird cried far above her. For a little while, she did not have to fight for survival and it was fine.
Nua was dreaming.
She was lying somewhere soft and warm, her face cuddled in a silken surface. A familiar scent, sweet and salty, filled the air. She felt a gigantic hand caressing her head, heavy, but surprisingly gentle. A voice was speaking. She didn’t understand the words, but they filled her with joy.
And there was ether, too. Not the one with the peppery aftertaste, not uncomfortably hot, but cool as starlight, flowing around her as if it was fresh water coming from the depths of the Earth. It was calming her, reassuring, healing. She breathed in and out. She could lay there forever.
“Nua!”
Startled, she opened her eyes, the dream vanishing from her mind. It was there – then it blurred – then it was gone forever. The only thing she remembered was the softness and the sensation of reassurance.
A blue blob was drifting in front of her face.
“Like a kitten. It is a wonder you did not fall,” he scoffed.
“Sneaking.”, Nua said.
“What?”
“I thought I was also good at sneaking. It would be mighty useful, you know.”
“That is a more complex Technique, but we can always try.”, Anki answered, visibly not in the mood for the sorcery talk. “Those wretches entered the junkyard and found the Leopard. The lackeys set up camp, but I can’t see the mage anywhere. Perhaps he is hiding, or he returned to get help – I could not make out the details from afar. They’ll have a hard time cracking anti-theft protection, or at least I hope so. I would love to whip you into shape to prevent this audacious robbery, though I doubt you’ll make it in time.”
“If they saw it from the upper city, someone else did, too.”
“That is exactly what I’m afraid of.”
“Aren’t you worried they’ll try to get into the Temple?”
“Not so much, no. My soldiers should have regenerated by now, and the clockwork guardian is a tough nut to crack, not to mention they need the ether or life force of the Unsagga to get in, and mine precisely to enter the armory. If they find a workaround, well, I am not there anymore and in anticipation of such a case, the soldiers have been instructed to initiate a self-destruction sequence. I dearly hope it won’t come to that. It would be a major setback.”
In her mind, Nua silently urged the mage engineer to crack the safety measures. Preventing the bloody war that Anki had in mind would not be such a bad idea.
“You want to check on them tomorrow?” she asked instead.
“Obviously. A busy day awaits you, Nua. First the work, then the observation, and finally, tuber peeling duty. All peppered with the channeling of ether. I hope, or rather – I’ll insist.”
“Oh, I doubt that part about the peeling.”
“How so?”
“What do you think, what will Hala say if she hears I got a job?”
“She won’t get rid of you, hopefully?”
“Oh, it’s exactly the opposite.”, Nua slid down, hanging on the window ledge, then she jumped. She brushed the dust off her pants. “I just thought about it, but I guess that by a complete accident, I finally made Auntie proud. Let’s go. She might even give me more gruel!”