Vessel Read Free Page B

snorted.
    “Doesn’t he know who your master is?”
    “Shall I tell him you forbid it?” I hoped with every part of me he would say no, but he paused, considering it.
    “He should feed them. He’s the one who caught them,” Dine grumbled. “Stand up, chit.”
    As I stood before him, he grabbed the fabric over my face and pulled it up to reveal my horrible face. I fought the urge to rip it away from him and cover myself. I stared at the dirt caked on his boots. I don’t know why he liked to look upon my face sometimes. Maybe it reminded him why he hated me. I knew if my hand crept up to cover the scars, he’d slap it away, so I concentrated on being a stone until he was done. Mercifully, he dropped the drape almost as soon as he’d lifted it.
    “You can do Tow’s chore. The Envoy will be here in just a few days.” Dine turned to go. I knelt again.
    “Master?”
    “What is it?” Dine ran a rough hand through his black hair.
    “May I go to the riverbank for clay to replace the teapot I broke?”
    “Go,” was all Dine said as he left.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    It was true I needed to gather clay, but I had other motives for visiting the river. It would take a good hour to get there on foot and always required permission. It was the furthest from Roma I was allowed to travel on my own. The only reason Dine let me was because there was nothing else beyond it—no cities, no villages, and no people. If I went any further, I’d be alone in the wilderness where the old and sick went to die.
    Sometimes I thought about escaping when I came here, but I pushed those thoughts from my head today. I was too busy planning a meal for my prisoners. I almost always found something to eat here. I also collected sumasara , the red bark of a special tree. Consumed in small amounts, it prevented pregnancy. Too much and one could die. Had I known of the plant when I was younger, I might have prevented Shel’s attack, the one that left me maimed. No one could bear Dine children but his wives. It was a mistake I almost didn’t survive. My child didn’t.
    I carried my usual basket. I picked several branches of sumasara , breaking enough to last several months into hand-sized twigs and tying them with a bit of bark in a bundle. I tucked them in the basket and continued to the river where the clay waited to be dug out of the cut bank.
    There was no way to dig clay in a billa without getting it filthy, but no one would see me here. I removed the frame from my head and set it on the grass before climbing down the bank. I quickly collected enough clay for the teapot and brought it back to the top of the bank. While I fashioned the pot, my head felt light, like it might float away with the clouds in the warm spring sky. It was easy work, and I finished quickly. I set the pot on a rock to dry and washed my arms clean in the cold, green river water before foraging.
    There were cress, which could be eaten raw, and tubers that made a fluffy white starch when cooked. Even salt could be scraped off the rocks here for flavoring. Once my basket was full and the pot dry enough to travel, I replaced the billa on my head and started for home.
    It would be midday before I got back to Roma. I hurried, hoping Recks and Kinder weren’t too hungry. I left the pot by the hearth at home to cure and grabbed my water bag.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    I allowed myself a small smile as I approached the ruins. Something like happiness stirred in my chest. It made me less cautious than I should’ve been, and I ran down the stairs without thinking. Too late, I heard Tow’s voice talking, low and taut. I froze.
    “Who’s there?” Tow demanded. He walked to the stairway and looked up at me. “Oh, it’s you.”
    Try as I might, I couldn’t still my ragged breath. If it weren’t for the billa , Tow would have seen the look of surprise on my face. My heart, now in my throat, threatened to leap out of my open mouth.
    “Come on then,” said Tow.
    My grip on my basket