He leaned against the wall, bewildered and intrigued.
Was this the same Sun Priest? Had she somehow outlived all her counterparts and was now in the Maw? And even more surprising, did she think he, a son of Carrion Crow, would be her ally against the Odo Sedoh? It was bold. And foolish.
Because now he knew where to find her.
He grimaced, uncomfortable with the idea of hunting her down. He had liked the Sun Priest he met on the day of his mother’s funeral, thought her different and promising. That was when he had dreamed of peace between the clans. Only now that the Odo Sedoh had come, his dreams were those of war.
Not war, he told himself, independence.
The aviary was quiet, all the patrols in for the evening and the birds roosting.
He grabbed a clay bowl from a nearby shelf and filled it from the water barrel. He dug into the bag he always wore at his belt and retrieved a handful of grubs. He offered them to Benundah.
“I am sorry I ever doubted you.”
She cawed once, a reprimand, but took his peace offering. Using his fingers, he dribbled water from his bowl onto her wings and began to groom her. He plucked the loose feathers and set them aside for the new mantle he was making, having gifted his old one to the Odo Sedoh. Once he had removed all the loose quills, he ran fingers across her lustrous plumage, smoothing the water across her feathers. It was more a bonding exercise than necessity, as the crows groomed themselves, but both man and beast found it soothing.
“I do not deserve your trust, but I would ask you this thing.”
He looked into her eyes, brimming with intelligence, and wished again he could hear her voice the way the Odo Sedoh could. But for all his desire, he was no god.
“Go find him, and bring him back. I would speak to him before I decide anything.”
The great crow clicked softly, tapping her beak to his cheek. He nodded and stepped back, letting her go. She flapped her wings, spraying him gently with water, before she launched skyward. Once she was gone, he took a blanket from a peg along the wall, found a shadowy corner of the aviary where the reeds were fresh, and settled in to wait.
CHAPTER 22
CITY OF TOVA (COYOTE’S MAW)
YEAR 1 OF THE CROW
Take a friend where you find one.
—Exhortations for a Happy Life
Even with Naranpa’s healing powers, it took a full day and a half for Denaochi to recover. She had wanted to take him back right after the bloodletting ritual that had almost killed him, but Sedaysa had insisted that he stay and that Naranpa stay with him.
“It is too cold, and he cannot walk that far,” the boss of the Agave had declared.
“I can send word for the Lupine to send men to carry him.”
“Carry a boss through the street like a child?” Her mouth had turned down in disapproval. “What if someone sees?”
“Those who wish him ill have already seen.” Naranpa meant the bosses themselves.
“There are enemies everywhere.” Sedaysa dismissed Naranpa’s unsubtle reprimand. “Best not to show weakness.”
It wasn’t so much Sedaysa’s persuasions that convinced Naranpa, rather that Naranpa was aware that it might be best for her to stay inside and out of sight, too, not knowing if there were crows somewhere in the city looking for her even now. But she did have Sedaysa send a runner back to the Lupine to tell Zataya that Denaochi was alive and on his way to well. And Naranpa drafted letters to the Sky Made matrons and the Carrion Crow captain asking them to come to the Lupine the next evening, and she would send the same runners at the hour to escort them. She had hesitated before deciding to send a letter to Carrion Crow. Asking them to come had certainly not been part of the original plan she had discussed with Denaochi. And part of her worried that the captain might send the Crow God Reborn in his stead, and that would be the end of her. But if she could send one to Golden Eagle and not expect assassins to answer, she could send one to Carrion Crow. It was a risk, but she felt it was one worth taking. She would not unite Tova under the banner of the Sun Priest once again without taking risks.
“I’ve invited the others to meet you,” Sedaysa declared, as Naranpa sat dozing beside her brother’s sickbed.
“Pardon?”
“Pasko and Amalq. You remember them.”
Pasko she remembered as the man in red with the speckled feather headdress. He had been the first to claim a knife. And Amalq had been the woman in blue beside him.
“Was not our meeting previously sufficient?”
Yes, they had sworn their support to her and Denaochi’s cause on the strength of his bravery and her display of sorcery, but Naranpa kept envisioning them stabbing her brother and then sitting around making polite conversation while courtesans fucked in the background and he bled to death in the middle of the room. She had no warmth toward her new allies.
“You need to share a meal.”
“You hope to make me like them.”
Sedaysa smiled. “On the contrary, I hope to make them like you, Sun Priest. It is an alliance of common cause that Denaochi has brokered. Let us see if we can deepen that.”
“Why are you helping us?”
Sedaysa came to sit on Denaochi’s bed. She rested a hand on his arm, her face gentling. “We have a history, your brother and I. Has he told you about it?”
Naranpa sat up. Denaochi had told her almost nothing of what his life had been for the past twenty years. She was both eager and apprehensive to learn more.
“My husband owned the Agave before I did, and Denaochi worked for him. Not here but at another house. One that catered to more specific tastes.”
“Pain.” She raised her chin. “He has told me something of those days.”
“Has he?” She sounded surprised. “And that my husband purchased him for his own? That is how we met. He was brought into our household but kept… separate.” Sedaysa met Naranpa’s gaze. “But we still encountered each other. At meals, passing in the hallways. How could I not be intrigued? He was funny and so handsome.” Her face softened. “And for the first time since my marriage, I was not alone.”
“So he kept you separate, too.”
“From the world.” She sighed. “Perhaps it is no surprise that Denaochi and I became lovers. I had married a much older man for security, not love. The Maw is not like the Sky Made districts. Might rules here, and that often leaves girls like me and boys like Denaochi with few resources.”
“I grew up here. I know what it’s like.”
“Of course you do. But you’re a woman of power now. I thought perhaps you had forgotten. But safety seemed a small concern compared to first love.” She brushed a hand across Denaochi’s cheek. “I was willing to risk it all on this handsome courtesan.”
“Your husband found out.” That was easy enough to see.
Sedaysa looked up. “I suspect he set us up all along so that he could administer his righteous punishment.” Her eyes were sad. “Me, he only beat until I passed out. I do not like to think on what he did to your brother, and I have never asked for specifics, but I heard the screams every night for weeks. He made sure of that.”
She threaded her fingers through Denaochi’s. “Your brother came to me a month later, and he was a changed man. His humor gone, that scar on his face. Together we conspired to kill my husband.” She tilted her head. “Does that shock you?”
“I am not here to judge you or him.”
“My husband was a cruel man. Not a drop of kindness in him. I did not mourn his death, and I inherited all of this and more.” She spread her hands to encompass the Agave. “But it broke something in Denaochi. We were never lovers again. But I owe him much. I owe him my life. So if he comes to me and asks me to help him unite the bosses to his cause, and his cause is you, then I do it. And I continue to do it, until he asks it no more.”
* * *