Shadow's Son by Shirley Meier, S.M. Stirling and Karen Wehrstein ...
Shadow's Son by Shirley Meier, S.M. Stirling and Karen Wehrstein ...
Shadow's Son by Shirley Meier, S.M. Stirling and Karen Wehrstein ...
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Generated <strong>by</strong> ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html<br />
The Imperial capital had started on the western shore of the lake; the Marble Palace was there, well<br />
back from the water, the gold leaf blinding from the pitched roofs <strong>and</strong> towers. A broad processional<br />
avenue, fringed <strong>by</strong> mansions <strong>and</strong> public buildings, <strong>and</strong> then lower structures in sickle-curves along the<br />
lake. Those would be the poorer quarters, where thefessas shopkeepers <strong>and</strong> artisans lived, <strong>and</strong> the<br />
free-poorokas . And it washuge , as big as Illizbuah on the far side of the Lannic. A million souls or more<br />
in times of peace; who knew how many hundred thous<strong>and</strong> more, since everyone in the provinces to the<br />
immediate east who had something worth stealing was running for the capital.<br />
She studied their faces a little; Arkan women were shy before men, but one as wounded as she tended<br />
to be ignored. Theokas were dumbly miserable, as at some natural disaster, flood or plague or rain at<br />
harvest. Most of theAitzas seemed merely irritated, affronted at the disruption of their orderly lives; she<br />
even heard two daughters of minor nobility chattering about the unexpected chance to participate in the<br />
capital's social season <strong>and</strong> visit the Mezem. Thesolas were more quiet; a mixture of shame <strong>and</strong> fear,<br />
Shkai'ra supposed, since their Steel-Armed God, <strong>and</strong> Arko itself, charged them with its defense. The<br />
families of the warrior caste alone were likely to have an idea of what war <strong>and</strong> conquest meant, here, far<br />
from the Empire's borders. <strong>and</strong> it was less unimaginable to them that the Empire would lose the war.<br />
Arko's streets were laid out on a grid, paved with granite blocks over concrete. Less filthy than most<br />
large cities, even with the extra numbers crowding in; there were stone grills at regular intervals, leading<br />
down to understreet sewers. Shkai'ra looked about at buildings gone seedy-gaudy, yellow tile along the<br />
edges a little chipped, many of the fountains at intersections dry <strong>and</strong> filled with litter; yet even in the<br />
poorerfessas district there was fine building <strong>and</strong> artwork enough for the rich of some l<strong>and</strong>s she had seen.<br />
There were many shops, <strong>and</strong> the jewelers, trinket-sellers <strong>and</strong> tailors seemed to be doing a roaring trade.<br />
Fewer food shops, <strong>and</strong> the prices—she could hear people haggling—were outrageous.<br />
She grinned behind the b<strong>and</strong>ages. Chevenga was making no effort to stop or molest the tens of<br />
thous<strong>and</strong>s pouring ahead of his troops, so long as they took nothing useful to his army. They streamed in<br />
through thelefaeti <strong>and</strong> the great tunnel, thous<strong>and</strong>s every day, thanking the appropriate god of their caste<br />
for the barbarian's inexplicable mercy. Then they went to the market to buy food. Meat <strong>and</strong> fresh<br />
greenstuffs seemed to be short already; fruit <strong>and</strong> flour were still plentiful, from the winter wheat harvest.<br />
But give it a little time…<br />
The taverner looked up as Shkai'ra walked in, eyes widening slightly. She made a grating, bubbling noise<br />
at his question, <strong>and</strong> held up half a silver chain; he bowed, rubbing his h<strong>and</strong>s at that.<br />
"By all means, a room, bath, <strong>and</strong> dinner," he burbled, as she laboriously signed "Emmas Penaras,solas ,"<br />
in the register that Imperial law required all innkeepers to maintain; most of the rest of the column was<br />
simple symbols, with the innkeeper's h<strong>and</strong>writing beside them. "You honor our house, distinguished <strong>and</strong><br />
heroicsolas ." There was pitying contempt in his eyes for the soldier who could not bear to show his face<br />
among his own.<br />
"Eat… room," she rasped, deepening her voice. Her Arkan was weak, most of it things along the lines of<br />
"where is your unit" <strong>and</strong> "give me your gold or wear your intestines."<br />
Shkai'ra took a seat as they readied the accommodations. The place was a mixture of strange <strong>and</strong><br />
familiar; openwork arches on all sides, here where the weather rarely became more than chilly, an unlit<br />
charcoal brazier in the hearth. Tables, <strong>and</strong> a counter with covered jugs of wine, water <strong>and</strong> soup set into