THE CONTENTS OF HER PARCEL lay scattered across the floor, once again spread out for inspection. Everything was there. Madrid had kept none of it. Shikoba sniffed, then picked up the moccasins, wondering how she was supposed to wear them when they belonged to her mother. She ran a finger down the delicate beadwork, imagining her mother’s hand guiding bone needle and thread, punching the holes in the supple leather.
If what the Shamankas had said was true, then her mother had made these moccasins and then sent them away to be hidden in a world apart from Shadra when Shikoba was a mere infant or possibly just after her birth. Shikoba had never seen the moccasins before they were gifted to her, and they had the clean look of a new item that had never been used.
The emperor wants the magic woven into the stitching. He must know something of their use, but not how to wield the power himself. Or maybe the magic of the moccasins wouldn’t work for him? Maybe their power was incompatible with his? Maybe they could only be worn and activated by a witch’s gift? Or maybe only by my mother as the Shamankas had indicated? If so, then how am I supposed to wear them?
The questions chased themselves around in her head. If she did wear the moccasins, in whatever misaligned quest the emperor sought to achieve, and they failed to work for her as they would have for her mother, then they would die. The emperor would assume that she was sabotaging the effort and kill them both. Instinctively, she knew that her mother had kept the truth of their use from Madrid, only revealing part of the information. It was the only thing that made any sense. Madrid had to know this or at least suspect that she would not willingly give up such sacred knowledge.
On a whim, Shikoba slipped her boots off her feet and put on the moccasins. They fit like a second skin, sized just right. She stood up and clanked around the cell, testing out their feel. The soles of her feet tingled. The sensation was not unpleasant. Her feet warmed, spreading to her toes. The sensation crawled up her ankles and then to her knees, warming her body as it traveled. Blue lightning flickered around her body, spreading past her hips and up to her chest. When the blue enveloped her head, she felt twin stabs of lightning. One pierced her heart and one pierced her head. The flash of light was blinding and she fell to her hands and knees, crying out at the sudden shock of the invasion. The magic sifted through her mind, and her heart, taking its measure of her, and then abruptly it left.
The heat faded, and Shikoba shivered as the cool air of the cell enveloped the sheen of sweat that covered her body.
“Okay, that was not cool.” Shikoba sat back and reached down to take off the moccasins. They would not come off. She tugged at the sides, tried to peel them off by her heel, but they would not budge. She wriggled her toes and could feel the tender hide moving with them, but try as she might, she could not remove them. The moccasins had fused themselves to her body. The tingling in her feet settled into a low hum, but did not dissipate.
“Oh great. This is just wonderful,” she groused. “This isn’t going to end poorly. You are going to get me killed,” she said aloud to the offending moccasins. “What happens when the emperor wants me to hand them over? Are you going to grow me new feet, then? Because he will chop them off.” The slippers did not respond, beyond a faint rumbling. Shikoba had the impression that they were purring, like a satisfied cat.
As she sat there, contemplating the moccasins, her eyes wandered over to the mask. “I am not putting you on. No way.”
The sound of a giggle made her jump to her feet. She swung around, just as the cell door closed with a click. Tesha was back. Shikoba had not heard her enter the cell. The girl carried a tray. A delicious aroma wafted across the room and Shikoba’s stomach rumbled at the smell. Tesha carried the tray to a table pressed up against the outside wall under the window and set it down.
“Do you always talk to your feet?”
Shikoba’s mouth twitched at the corner with the beginning of a grin. “No, not normally. Do you?”
Tesha laughed. “I talk to my hand. See?” She bent her fingers into the shape of a duck’s beak. The fingers opened and sound came out, although her lips did not move. “The emperor demands that you eat. He says he will come for you shortly,” quacked her hand.
The smile slid from Shikoba’s face. Her hunger fled.
Tesha‘s smile dropped. “I’m sorry, Shikoba. I want to help you, but I am not sure how.”
Shikoba gave her a sad smile and sat down in front of the food. A bowl of watery soup and a chunk of bread sat on the tray. There were no utensils. She broke the bread up and dropped it into the soup, watching it melt below the surface. Some stray carrots bobbed to the surface. “How did you come to be here? Where is your brother?”
Tesha sat down on the floor beside her, her knees drawn up under her chin. “We were on our way to you, following your path, when we ran into a slaver wagon. We didn’t know what it was at first. We thought it was a merchant train. They captured us and stuck us in the wagons with the other people in there. Deshi was put in a different carriage from me. It was a horrible trip. The wagons stink like a privy. The people were covered in the smell.” Her face darkened at the memory. “Thankfully we didn’t have that long to travel before we arrived here. When they reached the building, one of the guards dragged me out of the wagon and off to the side and said I was to serve the emperor. I was taken to work in the kitchens. I have not seen Deshi since we arrived. I fear they sent him to the mines.”
“The mines. You mean the salt mines?”
“Yes. The emperor has tripled the quota that Shadra must pay in tribute as punishment for withholding a special salt from the sacred caves. That is what the cooks say, anyways. They bring in new workers every day.”
“Where are they all being housed? Did they build long houses for them all?”
Tesha shook her head. “No, no one ever sees the workers after they go down into the mine. They never return.”
“Never? Who feeds the workers? Someone must be caring for them.”
“The workers are fed by an elevator. The food is loaded in, and then it is sent down the shaft. We do not know what happens on the other end. We try to send down lots, but we don’t even know how many people are down there.”
Shikoba stared at Tesha, her mouth dropping open with surprise. “I don’t understand. How do they take the workers underground?”
“They are delivered there in the same wagons they arrive in. They never leave the wagons until they reach the underground caves. I am one of the few ever to be taken off of a wagon and that was because the girl who was doing this task died just before I arrived.” She waved at the far wall. “On the east side of the cliffs, there is a tunnel. It is heavily guarded by over one hundred mercenaries.” She glanced at the cooling bowl of soup. “You need to eat.”
Shikoba picked up the bowl and took a tentative sip. Once the liquid reached her lips, she realized how hungry she was and tipped the bowl back, gulping down the contents. She even licked out the bowl, leaving no morsel behind in the pottery. Assured that it was empty, she put it back down on the tray. Tesha picked the tray up and returned to the door.
“Shikoba. If you happen to go down into the caves, will you do me a favour? Will you keep an eye out for Deshi?” She stood with her back to Shikoba.
“Yes, of course, I will.” She almost said that he was fine, but the words wouldn’t come. She could not speak what might be a lie. “I will find him, Tesha. I promise.”
Tesha’s hand moved up to swipe at her face. “Thank you,” she whispered and then left the cell, pulling the door closed behind her with a click.
Shikoba laid down on her pallet, suddenly weary. The emperor might be coming to fetch her, but she wasn’t about to sit around waiting for him. The stress of the last day washed over her, overpowering her fear of the future. She closed her eyes and was soon fast asleep.