Once more she advanced upon the child's defenses. And this time found a tinycrack. She focused upon it, struck with all the remnants of her strength ...
And screamed. And screamed.
Terror squeezed her heart.
The soul on the other side was that of Ala-eh-din Beyh. It was not lost. Itwas not bewildered. It had been lying in ambush.
Torgo did not think. Instinct drove him. He plunged inside the tent, fistsflying. He knew what had happened without having to think it out.
He struck child and woman with powerful blows to the head. The shock broke thelink. The devil in the child tumbled back into the abyss. But it did notvanish completely. Torgo felt the power there.
The Witch's screams waned. She lapsed into a deep sleep, maybe a coma. Torgodestroyed the tent, killed the fire in the braziers, fanned fumes away. Tearsstained his cheeks.
Had he been fast enough?
She should have foreseen this. She should have trained him for this. In his ignorance all he could do now was watch and wait and hope that Gorloch wouldbe merciful and permit her return from that far darkness into which she hadfallen.
Power streamed from the child.
Outside, clouds began to gather.
Aaron entered the house and found the females all prickly and sullen. "Nowwhat?" He was not in the mood for it. Things had not gone well at work thatafternoon. The Herodians were sorting themselves out to line up behind thecivil or military governors and were trying to frustrate one another by givingconflicting orders to their Qushmarrahan employees.
Arif said, "Nana's mad at Mish because she took Yoseh some food."
Mish said, "You told me to do it."
"A damn fool idea, Aaron," Raheb said. "And you didn't have to behave like a trull, Tamisa." Laella snapped, "She did nothing of the sort, Mother. Tamisa, you shouldn't have spent all that time talking to him. It didn't look right."
"Maybe I just wanted to hear somebody talk who could say a whole sentence without cutting me down or bellyaching about something."
Point to Mish, Aaron thought.
Stafa said, "I ride horsy, Dad."
"You did? Arif, come here. Tell me what you and Stafa did today while Mom and Mish finish getting supper ready."
The women got the message.
It was not a world where women dared long exasperate even a man as gentle as Aaron.
He took Stafa into his lap and Arif under his right arm and they talked about camels and such till it was time to eat. The boys were exceptionally quietduring the meal. The women said nothing. He supposed he must be looking veryfierce. Maybe they were all waiting for some giving of the law. Let them stew.
He could use the quiet. It did not last, of course. But the women were not the instrument of its death.
There was, to his dismay, a tapping at the door. He was more dismayed when heopened it to find Reyha and Naszif outside. He stepped out of their way. Theycame in without saying anything. Both looked awful. Laella rose slowly, facepallid, as though some horror had come through the doorway with them. Laellaheld Reyha for a moment, then helped her sit down. Naszif settled beside her,, opposite Aaron. They looked one another in the eye, each knowing what theother knew. Mish moved the boys away.
Naszif said, "Reyha told you some things she would have been wiser to havekept to herself, as she learned today. She had a visit from the Living. Nowyou're in it, too, like it or not. The Living will be watching."
Reyha stared at her folded hands.
"She came to see you last night. This morning they came to see her. They knewshe'd come into Char Street but not where she'd gone. They wanted to knowthat, and who she'd seen, and what she talked about. They were insistent. Avery important man of theirs was murdered last night, here in Char Street, about the time she was out, and they think they have reason to believe a womanwas responsible."
"Bel-Sidek's father!" Aaron blurted.
"Eh?"
The old soldier who lives up the street."
"Khadifa," Raheb interjected.
Aaron scowled at her. "The old guy with the bad leg from Dak-es-Souetta. WhenI was going out to work this morning there were people at his house. I gotnosy and went up there. He told me his father died during the night. I wasn'tsurprised because the old man had been bedridden since they moved in."
"Bel-Sidek," Naszif mused. "That fits. He sounds like the man who visitedReyha. He had a bad leg. She'd seen him before but didn't recall who he was.
He knew all of us. He didn't really believe Reyha had done anything. Hethought she had come here to visit Laella. But he wanted to be sure."
Aaron was disturbed by the man opposite him. This was not the Naszif to whomhe was accustomed. This Naszif was calm, collected, in complete control, andaltogether too businesslike. He did not know what to make of the apparentchange.
Naszif continued, "Reyha can be very stubborn. She refused to tell themanything till they gave Zouki back."
"Which they refuse to do because they'd lose their hold on you."
"No. According to the crippled man they can't do that because they don't havehim in the first place."
"What?"
"Yes. Despite the fact that they took me to see Zouki last night, this morningone of them is denying that they have him. And I think he was sincere. If he'dhad that advantage he would have used it. On the other hand, Reyha thinks sherecognized the voice of one of the men with the cripple, subject to hisorders, as that of one of the men who took me away last night."
Aaron had begun to get a bad feeling about this Naszif that he did not know.
He was up to something.
"Is there something going on inside the Living? Are there factions operatingwithout recourse to the established chain of command?"
"What are you doing, Naszif?"
"Thinking out loud. Consider. I'm sure the man who took me out last night, andwho was with bel-Sidek today, is a character named Hadribel. Hadribel is thenumber two man of the Living in the Shu. He was taking orders from bel-Sidek.
And bel-Sidek said, at least by implication, that the man who had died wasmore important than him. Who was that man, really? And who would dare murderhim?"
"That's enough, Naszif. I've figured out what you're doing. I'm not going tolet you use me. You had your one shot at getting me killed and got away withit. You don't get a second chance."
Naszif frowned, pretending he did not understand.
"Almost two hundred from our tower survived the Herodian prison camps, Naszif.
Most of them came back to Qushmarrah. Some work down at the yard. You rememberBig Turi? Bad Turi we called him sometimes. What do you think Turi would do ifsomeone told him it was our buddy Naszif that opened that postern that night?"
Naszif looked troubled. Laella said, "Aaron! You stop that kind of talk."
"Be quiet. And use your head. What happens after he fills me up witheverything he knows or guesses? The Herodians somehow get a sign, they grabme, and Naszif gets his message through. So what if old Aaron gets himselfbusted up some while they're getting him to tell them what he wants them toknow? He gets rid of Aaron and he gets rid of one of the ways he'svulnerable."
Laella looked at Naszif, whose face was a blank, then at Reyha, who stared ather hands still, shaking as she shed silent tears. "Reyha?"
Reyha said nothing. She did not look up.
Straining her old bones till their creak sounded in the silence, Raheb movedto the hearth where she began adding wood to the fire.
Aaron's throat was so tight he was afraid he was squeaking when he said, "Theguys who survived our outfit don't belong to the Living or anything, Naszif.
But they've got it all planned out, what they're going to do when they findout who opened that postern. It's going to take them a long time to get thatfar, but the last thing they're going to do is send him out to run through the streets without his skin on."