There were warm hands
on either side of his head as he dozed in the water. Before he opened his eyes he could hear
Kinourae say “What good does your suffering do?
How does it atone for anything?”
His eyes opened slowly
and he looked up into Limyé’s face. “You
might think about that while I get you out of there and dry,” he said.
Ahrimaz blinked and he
said “What? I didn’t hear you.”
“I asked you how does
your suffering, your agony, atone for any of the evil you have done,” Limyé
said, and urged Ahrimaz out of the elephant’s pool. “Especially in this world where you have done
no evil?”
“But…”
“You feel bad and feel
that it is just that you feel so wretched.”
Limyé wrapped him in a blanket towel and walked him toward the door to
the House of the Hand. “Let me put you
to bed. Not in the cell any longer.” Heylia slid ahead and Yustiç neighed from her stall, more disgusted that she couldn't come along.
“But…”
“You said that
already. There is a bedroom that was
once yours… ah, his… as a boy, tidied up.
No more cells. There are a number
of people writing to the House protesting your treatment.”
“But…”
“Brace yourself across
the breezeway,” Limyé said briskly. “The temperature dropped again last night and
there’s a crust on all that snow. The
Ambassadors have said they wish another day of privacy before they greet us
all.”
“Didara wants to get her tusks shined and
polished up,” Ahrimaz said. “And
Jagunjagun will want to outline his scars with paint.” The wind droned through the pillars but Limyé
rushed him across so only his hair had time to freeze and tap against the
blanket only once before falling limp in the warmth of the House. “Limyé, it’s not right I shouldn’t be…”
“…so comfortable?” The healer tipped his head to one side as he
fended off the two dogs who were Ahrimaz’s constant shadows now. “I repeat.
What does your suffering pay for?”
Ahrimaz let himself be led up the stairs and
down a hallway lined with honeywood paneling and bright green tile on the
floor. To a door he almost knew. Children’s rooms. He started to shake, then took a deep
breath. “My room. In infinite worlds… very similar… My room.”
“Yes. So
let us set you up in bed and let you sleep more. You had very little sleep on the road, Teel
and Pel tell me and the Captain corroborated them with her report. You needn’t worry. There is nothing you need do for the next few
days. No Ambassadors to save. You can train all day tomorrow if you like,
Rutaçyen says. She has a whole new wave
of classes just beginning and says ‘we need more alternative world warriors to
be a draw to the war school!’
“But…”
“Lie down, Ahrimaz.”
“But…”
“Just sleep.
And think on what I asked you.”
“What good does my suffering do?”
Limyé pushed him over with one finger in the
centre of his chest. “Sleep.”
“But…”
He was asleep even as his head hit the feather
pillow, felt the feather quilt pulled up to his chin, still trying to argue. “But…”
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