Free Tivi's Dagger by Alex Douglas Page A

his
skin was leathery and heavily wrinkled.
    I noticed Kari fingering his own earlobe and
addressing the Father with a grin, to which the old man responded
with a hearty laugh and a slap on the back and a barrage of rapid
Methari. Kari looked exquisite at that moment, his face illuminated
by candlelight, so happy and peaceful. I crunched the last of my
pickles and sighed with contentment.
    “ Father Koli bids you welcome, and
wishes you peace in your dreams,” Kari said eventually, standing
up. “I’ll lead you now to where we are to sleep. A donation to the
Temple would be most welcome. In the morning, I’ll show you where
to make it.”
    There was no pool, I was sorry to note, but
while we were eating the monks had filled a bath tub in a tiled
room. One by one, we scrubbed off the dirt of the day and sluiced
ourselves with a nearby bucket before taking some minutes just to
lie up to our earlobes in the hot water and allow the soreness to
float from our muscles. As I watched the candlelight flicker over
the tiles — beautifully decorated with intricately painted blue
flowers — I was finally glad to be exactly where I was. The customs
of the people of Methar were genuinely fascinating and wonderful to
me.
    My tongue loosened by wine and heat, I
shared my observations as we prepared ourselves for sleep, all five
of us crammed into that small room on thick mattresses that smelled
of straw.
    “ All this cleanliness…even the
drinking of wine, it’s all so…civilized. You raise your glass all
together, and it’s so comradely, and —”
    Kari laughed. “Actually, it is not such a
lovely custom. The tradition of using glasses and holding them to
the sky makes it easier to ascertain if the drink has been
poisoned.”
    “ Oh.” I lay down on my mattress,
suddenly weary. It had been an exhausting day. Brin was already
asleep, his arm draped over his precious box. Kel sat cross-legged
on his mattress, engrossed in the Book of Matativi and scrawling in
his notebook, muttering to himself. Lana lay facing me with her
back to Kel, eyes closed, her breathing slipping quickly into the
rhythms of sleep.
    “ You don’t mind if I study a while
longer?” Kel whispered, when he realized everyone else was already
tucked under the covers.
    “ Go ahead,” I muttered, turning my
back to Lana to face Kari.
    The candles were burning low, and Kel’s
quill scratched furiously at the paper. Under the covers, I took
Kari’s hand and he turned to me and smiled sleepily. He stroked a
strand of hair out of my eyes and squeezed my hand. We gazed at
each other for a while, then his eyes slipped shut and I watched
him fall sleep, his lips slightly parted, his hand warm and loose
in mine.
     
    ***
     
    The next morning I woke to the screeching of
the pale birds and a shaft of dawn light on my face, shining in
through the high window. I opened my eyes to see Kari’s sleeping
face not an inch from mine. Sometime in the night we had edged
closer together and my leg was hooked around his. His hand was
folded in mine and my other hand rested on his pillow, his curls
tangled in my fingers.
    Horrified, I sprang away and he jolted
awake. I spun around to see Lana shift in her sleep and Kel slumped
over his books, snoring loudly. His inkpot had spilled on the floor
and the stain was soaking into his mattress.
    My brother’s bed was empty, the covers
pulled and smoothed as if he had never slept there at all.
    I rubbed my hand over my mouth,
suddenly fearful. What had Brin seen? What was going through his
mind now? Even in your sleep you
fornicate, you disgusting wretch. Perhaps he already
had the whip in his hand and was waiting for the opportunity to use
it once more, away from the eyes of our companions.
    Kari brushed the sleep from his eyes.
“What’s wrong, Ned?”
    “ We were sleeping a bit too close,” I
whispered. “And my brother…”
    I had to find him, to learn what he’d seen
and get the lashing over with, if that was his