Free Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson Page A

emperor's subjects in Gurath."
    "An admirable solution, Your Highness," Governor Alwar said, immediately restored to good humor.
    Although she understood the prince's reasoning, Tana didn't quite share the governor's satisfaction at the result. Oh, she understood why she couldn't go to Fanjandibad. The royal ladies would love Diribani, but they'd hardly want a snake girl in their court. It was Tana's misfortune that her relocation also dashed the future she had dared to imagine earlier. If she couldn't set foot in the
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    marketplace, how could she provide for her family through the trade she knew best? The royal command had spared her life, but, for everyone's safety, Tana would have to spend it in the countryside. She had no illusion about what Alwar's soldiers would do if they caught her in town once Zahid and his entourage had gone. Without taking her life, the local white-coats could make it very unpleasant. At least the farmers should be pleased, she thought with some bitterness. If left alone, the nagas would hunt rodents and pests in their fields. Or, if people preferred to collect Alwar's bounty (which the prince hadn't mentioned stopping), they could trap her snakes and turn them in--
    Her snakes?
    Tana caught herself. Naghali-ji's snakes. Tana's punishment, and Tana's penance, was that she never speak again without fearing what might follow.
    "Ma Hiral." The prince was speaking again. "My sister, Ruqayya, and her ladies at the fort will outfit Mina Diribani for the journey. Will you also accompany us to Fanjandibad?"
    Tana's mother twisted her hands together, turning from Diribani to Tana. Diribani looked uncertain as she realized she might be parted from her entire family. Tana tried to disguise her own dismay with encouraging gestures. Diribani must go, and of course Ma Hiral would love to visit a palace. It didn't matter how lonely Tana would be, all by herself at the well. How long would it be, anyway, before one of the snakes bit her and she died in agony? If her mother left with Diribani, at least Tana would have the consolation of knowing they were both safe.
    Ma Hiral's concerned expression smoothed out. "Long journeys are hard on old bones," she said. "If it would not displease Your
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    Highness for this lowly one to remain at home, I will entrust Diribani most gladly to the royal family's care."
    "Then we are finished here," the prince said. "Captain Tashrif, your charge against Mina Diribani is dismissed. Gather your men."
    "Sire."
    Tana embraced Diribani. She could not cry; she could only squeeze her sister's waist and press her face into the pink-draped shoulder.
    "Oh, Tana." Diribani sniffed. "Your hair smells like sandalwood!" She held Tana's elbows and blinked at her with tear-misted eyes. "You'll write, won't you?" She caught a yellow rose and two rubies almost absently and handed them to her stepmother. "These gifts will pass. Don't I sound like Ma Hiral? We won't be apart forever. I'll visit when the prince comes next to Gurath. You'll return, won't you, sire?" she asked the prince.
    He held her gaze. "Yes, Mina Diribani."
    Looking from the prince's grave face to Diribani's affectionate one gave Tana the same sensation she felt when speaking snakes: that something vital had passed just beyond her reach.
    A white-coat helped Diribani into the sedan chair that had appeared for her. The prince urged his horse away; the chair-bearers followed. Diribani twisted in the chair to wave and blow kisses punctuated with ashoka blossoms. "Good-bye, dear Tana," she called. "Good-bye, Ma Hiral. The twelve keep you!"
    Tana and her mother returned Diribani's waves and blessings until the chair turned a corner and she was lost to them.
    "Move along, move along." The governor's men dispersed the crowd. Alwar had stayed to supervise the collection of every last jewel dropped during the proceedings. He ignored Tana and Ma
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    Hiral, as did his men. Like all the people resuming their afternoon activities, they gave