Free Desert Rising by Kelley Grant Page A

asleep with a smile on his own face.
    F ARRAH FOUND A robe for him a ­couple of weeks after their talk. She’d had to look hard for a robe suitable for his taller frame. It was patchy enough that he’d blend into almost any crowd of beggars, especially if he hunched a bit to disguise his height.
    He hid the cloak in his bags. He begged his aunt and uncle to send him on errands over the next few weeks, supposedly to help him get used to the city, with its many circling streets and tiny alleys. He divided his time between exploring the different regions of the city and learning to sell in the hall and tally taxes. He didn’t think his aunt and uncle would like his violating city laws by dressing as a Forsaken, so he didn’t mention contacting his sister. By walking the streets and visiting the Temple, he learned that there were two main roads—­one east-­to-­west and the other north-­to-­south. The Hasifel merchant hall sat on the north-­to-­south road, making it easy for pilgrims to shop on their way back from tithing at the Temple.
    Though the main routes were cobblestoned, so wagons or stock would not get bogged down in mud, serious traders avoided them. Instead, they wound their way through the city on a series of tiny side roads because the main roads led directly to the Temple, and the congestion of the pilgrims who came to tithe made it slow going for anything larger than a person on foot.
    Wider, semicircular brick roads hugged the walls of the Temple. Kadar had been confused about why the merchants would not use them until he ventured down one lane. A surly guard quickly directed him back to the main route, but not before he’d seen the giant stone houses and beautiful gardens flanking the road. Later, Kadar asked a vendor about those houses. The man gave him an earful about the rich, first-­circle families who were too proud to shop for themselves and sent servants instead. Kadar returned later to explore the next two concentric brick roads. They were slightly less ostentatious and contained the houses of the second-­circle and third-­circle families.
    The rest of the city looked more thrown together, with properties divided up unevenly and roads cutting throughout. The merchant district was located on the north end of town, and the Forsaken and beggars’ district was on the southern side, where land that couldn’t be farmed indicated the beginnings of the desert. The west end held the livestock fairs, the bigger stables where his family’s caravan kept their mules and wagons while in town, and Kadar’s real find—­the horse-­ and sword-­training grounds for the Temple initiates. Robed Temple acolytes streamed in and out of the grounds all day. It seemed every person in the Temple took lessons here at one point or another—­which meant it was the path on which to find Sulis.
    It seemed like an easy solution. But he soon realized that going out dressed as a Forsaken the past few weeks had given him a great map of the city but not much else. Sulis could be out at any time of the day. And for most of the day, he was stuck inside the merchant hall listening to his uncle’s lectures on tending a permanent stall.
    He had been venting his frustrations one evening by grooming the entire stable of horses at the house when Farrah came up behind him.
    â€œHave you contacted her yet?” she asked softly, picking up a currycomb and settling beside him.
    He snorted and growled wordlessly, and she laughed.
    â€œA little frustrated, then?”
    â€œI know where to find her. I’ve got the disguise. I just can’t sit there the entire day until she happens to go by. And I don’t know how to find out when and if she’ll be there. It would take an enormous amount of luck, and I don’t have that much money to give to Parasu.”
    Farrah frowned, thinking, and Kadar stopped brushing a moment to admire the dimples