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e nods and takes the letter. Her comment causes him to pause as he breaks the letter's seal. "Yasefe." The captain's voice is wary. "Yes...I think you'd better come in." He bows and precedes her into the room; she feels the warding spell ease. Jamir looks around, then offers her a chair..."Though," he adds, "I suspect you're not quite as tired as your disguise suggested." She smiles. "No need to waste energy that I might be needing later." She settles herself gracefully in the chair and looks about her. Jamir's room is decorated with several expensive tapestries. Yasmaili also notes the bowl in the corner that contains sand and artfully arranged rocks. "I hope you are no friend of Yasefe," he says somberly. There's a wry twist to Yasmaili's mouth as she answers, "Not a friend, no." He's too distracted to notice, and only nods. "Commandant Jelwei was suspicious when the flow of caravans to Harava increased; we've been declared anathema by the southern clans and well we know it." Studying her face, he continues, "Rumor travels swifter than anything else known. Alas, this means that any who pass through Harava are well aware of Qenar's troubles. There's been word of rogue wraiths, and of a coming invasion from the west." Jamir sighs. "All of which means that we can no longer rely on reinforcements from the rest of Qenar, should the desert clans arrive in force." "Rogue wraiths!" Yasmaili echos, then as the rest of his speech has time to register, she adds, "Invasion?" Yasefe has surpassed himself in greediness then, she thinks, but I doubt he's any wiser. She eyes Jamir closely. "I am of the desert clans," she points out, her voice deliberately neutral. The captain's grin is mocking. "Yes, rogue wraiths. They've tried to keep the news under a veil, but considering the northerners wouldn't know what to do with a veil anyway, no wonder they've failed. Wraiths from over the Black Wall, silent and watching, vanishing only after they leave a dead body as warning....As to invasion, well, the Ezinen to the west weren't happy about their twin defeats at Blackrock Pass." [Reminder: Avrezin attempted twice to invade Qenar through Blackrock Pass, which is guarded by canton Birechan. Attempted, and ultimately failed.] "What is your relation to this Yasefe? Why are you watching him?" We know him as one of the men who appeared suddenly, and our agents to the south, when they can risk sending messages, have informed us that he comes from a hostile clan. We can only conclude that he may be a spy, or worse." A strange feeling sweeps over Yasmaili, and she is uncertain whether it is relief or disapointment. He really hadn't traced her here then. If he was here to spy... and today she had made his arrival at the city so...notable. She quells a sudden urge to chuckle, and turns her mind to what she should tell Jamir. Jamir gives her a puzzled, thoughtful look, trying to decipher her expression. He moves over to the tamed rock garden and begins rearranging the rocks, leaving their imprints in the sand like footprints. "Yasefe is head of my family. As I am unmarried and fatherless, he considers me one of his...assets, to be used or disposed of as he wishes. I decided that I wished to do my own disposing, and I left. I thought I had managed to get myself thoroughly lost, but it appears I was mistaken." He blinks. "That's *not* what I expected to hear," he manages to say. "Yes, yes, I remember that custom. My grandmother broke free of it and married the man she chose." Jamir grins wryly at her. "And while she lived, no one among us gainsaid her." She looks measuringly at Jamir, her black eyes bold and her jaw resolute. "Although we are tied by blood, I have no love and less liking for Yasefe. Any enemy of his is a friend of mine."
Back: Yasmaili's Prologue 6 Sun image provided by Clipart Castle.
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