Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky, #1)(99)

She and Serapio had spoken little since she had come to understand that he was on a suicide mission. Oh, she’d yelled at him when she thought the others on the barge couldn’t hear. Hissed words of frustration in his sensitive ears. Glared murderous looks in his direction. Even cried and begged until she was wrung out of emotion and words to convey it. He had seemed shocked that she even cared and then sat stalwartly through her ranting and raving.

At one point she had considered using her Song to change his will, but he’d given her a look, blind or not, that made her quake. She was sure he knew her plans and would never let it happen. She didn’t think he’d hurt her, but on this one thing, she did not want to risk his goodwill.

“Are you still not speaking?” Aishe asked as Xiala helped her tie off the barge. Xiala had confessed she was a sailor herself the second day on their voyage, and since then she had helped Aishe and her family with the management of the boat, if only out of boredom and a way to avoid Serapio.

“No,” she answered.

“What will you do now that you’re in Tova?”

Xiala shrugged. She had no idea. She wasn’t even sure Serapio still wanted her company, or if she wanted his. A day. He had only a day to live. It was frustrating and awful and absurd, and it made her swell with fury to think of it.

“My uncle wants to take Serapio to the Odohaa.”

“Perhaps he should.”

Aishe tied off the post and moved to the next one. “What will you do?”

Xiala’s stomach sank. “I thought we would be exploring the city together, but now…”

“You can come with me.”

She glanced over at her new friend.

“I mean, if you and he are done, I wouldn’t mind your company.” She grinned, the implied invitation obvious enough. “And if you’re not done, my door is open in friendship, too.” Her eyes took Xiala in, lingering and suggestive. “But that would be a pity.”

Xiala laughed. Aishe was fun and easy, and despite her forwardness, Xiala felt no discomfort. In fact, her open manner reminded her of Teek customs. But Aishe still didn’t even know she was Teek, and certainly didn’t know what that meant. Xiala was sure that if she went with the girl, she would enjoy it. Days and nights of drinking and fucking and a clean farewell when they were ready to part ways.

But Aishe wasn’t who she wanted.

“Are you ready?”

She turned to find Serapio at her back.

“What?”

“We are docked, and I promised to spend this day with you in Tova. Are you ready to see the city?”

“Don’t do it out of obligation,” she shot back, angry.

He frowned. “I don’t. I…” He paused, his expression troubled.

“Let me leave you to talk,” Aishe said, tying off her knot. As she passed Xiala, she touched her arm. “My invitation stands. Go to the Standard Dog near the Titidi Great House, someone will know it, and ask for me. They’ll tell you how to find me.” She squeezed gently, and then she was gone, leaving Xiala alone with Serapio.

Xiala crossed her arms and waited for him to speak.

His voice was hesitant, unsure. “I don’t ask you out of obligation, Xiala. I ask because I want to spend my last day with you.”

Every excuse vanished from her mind as her heart cracked. “Mother waters, Serapio,” she whispered softly. “Why do this? Why? Aishe’s uncle doesn’t care about you. These Odohaa sound like opportunists who would only use you. You’re so young. You’ve barely lived. You don’t have to do this!”

“This is all I can do. I thought you understood that.”

“I do, but…” She bit her lip, holding back the words she had said a dozen times before in the past two days. “Oh, hells,” she muttered. “Who am I to convince you that life is worth living? I’m a mess. I’ve got nothing to offer you, nothing to show for my years. I can’t even go home.”

And it made sense to her all at once. Serapio, for the first time, was coming home. To a people who didn’t know him, to a house he could never truly live in, even if all he could do was die for them. He would suffer what he must suffer because for one brief moment he would be more than himself. He would be all of Carrion Crow, the fist of his people, the sharp beak and talon of his god, and he would not be alone. And, Xiala knew well, being alone was no life at all.

“Will you spend the day with me or not?” he asked.

“Of course,” she said. “I will not leave you until you ask me to.”

He smiled, truly smiled. And her heart cracked a little more.



* * *



They left behind their travel companions and headed up the steep steps to the Holy City. Xiala had heard Tova floated in the clouds, but she had not quite understood what that meant until now.

“Mother waters,” she murmured. “Look at this place.”

Titidi had begun its solstice celebration in earnest, despite Aishe’s claim that the holiday crowds were thin this year, and the district’s streets were lined with people. Many were dressed in skirts dyed the bright blue of a summer sky. Others wore furs and cowled robes to keep out the cold. Musicians played on the street, and the sounds of flutes and drums filled the evening air.

“Describe it to me,” Serapio asked. “I want to know.”