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The masks in the Beit Amiya did not remain in their places for long. Dark, furtive figures scuttled from the shadows that dominated the main chamber. Quick hands seized the Jagastis’ masks and stuffed them unceremoniously into sacks.
Kalisha glanced at the other shamashas who, like her, were fronting for tsotsi sets. Once it became clear that the Beit Amiya had been abandoned, the clandestine tsotsis had met and decided to partition the plunder the Vessels had left behind as though it no longer had any value to them. It had value to the tsotsis, though. Kalisha’s sack was loaded with fine chains of silver and gold, as well as jewels pried loose from their mountings.
And now, the mask of Nama-kwah was hers. It rested in the sack on top of the rest of her booty.
She looked up into the face of the goddess’s idol, half-hidden in darkness. Then she glared at a bigger, older female tsotsi whose covetous stare indicated that she might consider breaking the pact the thieves had reached. Already, avarice was undermining that agreement, and the tsotsis were beginning to dispute the ultimate distribution of their loot.
With one hand, Kalisha clutched her sack to her chest. With the other, she reached into her waistcloth and pulled out her dagger. The other tsotsi decided she could be satisfied with the contents of her own sack after all. Kalisha was small, but she had long since established herself as a deadly foe who could not be intimidated; a person whose dagger was quick to strike and quick to draw blood.
After her would-be foe retreated, Kalisha looked left and right to determine whether there were any others who thought they could rob her of what she had rightfully filched. There were none. Still on her guard, Kalisha quickly made her way out of the building.
As she left the Beit Amiya for the last time, the young tsotsi smiled in anticipation of what Jass Mofo’s reaction would be when she emptied her sack at his feet, especially when he saw the Mask of Nama-kwah. And this time, she would chew the khat he was certain to offer her.