“For her pyre,” I said, as clearly as I could, in tradespeak.
One nodded, a fractional dip of the muffled head. They could have thrown her body over the wall. This way, at least, her spirit would rise on the smoke and join her thiefmother’s, in whatever afterworld the two of them might share.
I turned my back on them, but I did not sheathe my dotani. I walked, steadily, for the cranyon again, its bole a wet pillar and its outline blurring with moisture. The thin piercing rain had soaked into my braids; they were heavy once more, my neck throbbing with tension. My teeth ached as well—I forced myself to loosen my jaw, despite the risk of the bubble in my throat bursting. If it did, I decided, I would swallow it.
And that was how we left Antai.
* * *
to be continued…
Glossary
Several languages are represented, among them G’mai, Shainakh, Skaialan, trade-pidgin, Antaiin, Hain, and Clau.
A’vai – Again.
A-thatch, thatch’n – Displeased, insulted, angered but not to the point of blows
Adai – Female G’mai
Adai’in – good instinct
Adai’mi/sa – My adai/Lady adai (honorific)
Adarikaan – shining blade
Adjii – Adjutant
Albestrkha – alabaster
Alhaia – Clau greeting
Baia – pungent plant/herb; “poor man’s woundheal”
Bakaii – illicit lover
Ban’sidha prutaugh – ill-tempered whore
Boydhar – a species of bird
Cha – (Pidgin.) Expletive, inquiry, agreement, spare syllable.
Chaabi – Clau stew
Chedgrass – tall grass found in streams, silky with plump, pearl–like seeds
Cor’jhan – suitor/betrothed
Dauk’qua’adaia – Everstars (guide with constant light), guiding s’tarei to adai
Dauq’adai – Seeker
Dhabri – head-covering, headwrap
Dolquieua – green rot, “the eating moss”
Donjon – jail
Dotanii – long and slightly curved, slashing blades with oddly shaped hilts meeting the hand differently than other blades
Fallwater – shower
Farrat – A ferret-like creature, but more closely related to cat than weasel
Fatan’adai – telling the future
Fuchtar – a common expletive
Fislaine – an herb, pungent smell
Haigradabh – An ancient word left over from the Darjani tongue, meaning something like laughter
Haka – strong, clear liquor
Hamarai – wall of silence
Hamashaikhan – The Shainakh Emperor’s Elect
Hath’ar lak – The sleep after a battle, also, a gift from a kindly grandmother or a quiet death in bed surrounded by relatives
I’yah’adai – Literally, “power-exhausted”
Ilel’adai – vision
In’sh’ai – G’mai greeting or word of thanks
Insh’tai’adai, s’tarei, ai – “As the adai (wishes), the s’tarei (performs).”
Jada’adai – Twinsickness
K’wahana – type of Clau bird
K’yaihai – G’mai womanhood ceremony
Kaahai – Bitch, female donkey, balky mare
Kadai a’adai allai – G’mai battle–cry
Kafa’adai – A G’mai scribe
Kair’la – The same verb for sweet syrup-crystals dissolving in water, with insanity tacked onto the end.
Kimiri – type of cheese
Kiyan – Silver piece
Lahai’arak – a complex mess of a battle, no victory for either side
Lya-ini – G’mai, honorific for “agemate (of my cohort)”
Malende – bad spirits
Navthen – a chemical inside a clay ball that produces a hot burst of flame when mixed with ortrox that coats the outside.
Piri-splitter cut – sword technique
Qu’anart – smoked fish or mutton stew
Rako – forest creature with a black mask and a striped tail
S’tarei – male G’mai
S’tarei’mi/sa – My s’tarei / Sir
S’tatadai – a marshcat, a taller G’mai female
Sadaru – ritual suicide
Sh’yada’adai – the testing of a young adai’s Power
Sharauq’allallai – outcaste, murderers, kinslayers; those the G’mai cast away
Shaurauq’g’d’ia - a foul emission from the loins of a diseased demon
Skai’atair - unclean, foul, outcaste, the dregs of a poisoned bowl, as well as assassin
Stilette – a thin, sometimes flexible blade
Strinlin – instrument
Sunbrollaugh – patricide
T’adai assai – “It is done.”
Taih’adai – “Starseed” a teaching sphere
Tamadine – a particular unit of soldiers
Tannocks – idiots
Taran’adai – Speak-within (telepathy)
Tavar’adai – A combination chest/fireside seat for an adai’s comfort while traveling
Tsaoganhi – A wandering people, much given to singing and mending
Vavir – a drug made from the vavir weed
Ya’hana – Tracks, tracking, a mark in snow, the bending of a blade of grass
Yada’adai’s’ina – Literally, “student teacher”
Yada’Adais – G’mai teacher
Zaradai – witchlight
Acknowledgments
Thanks must go to Skyla Dawn Cameron and Mel Sanders; I wouldn’t have written Kaia’s further adventures without their encouragement. A great debt of gratitude is also due you, my faithful Readers.
Let me thank you once again in the way we both like best, by telling you a story…
About the Author
Lilith Saintcrow lives in Vancouver, WA, with her children and a house full of strays. You can find more of her books at www.lilithsaintcrow.com.
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Watch for more at Lilith Saintcrow’s site.