City of a Thousand Dolls (12 page)

“Why don’t they tell us this?” she asked.

Josei shrugged. “Probably because a story of sacrifice sounds better than a tale of mutiny. You see, the Old Emperor didn’t die in the magical cataclysm. He was one of the survivors. But one of his own advisers took advantage of the people’s fury and confusion and led a rebellion. The adviser’s supporters overthrew the ruling family and established themselves as the new leaders of the Empire. The land was so damaged and wouldn’t yield crops for years, and there weren’t stores of food enough for everyone, so the new Emperor—the first Lotus Emperor—declared martial law and a two-child limit on every household.”

And that’s why the City of a Thousand Dolls exists
. Nisha looked back at the lotus pond as they left the bridge for the stone path. This part of the story she knew as well as she knew her own.
We’re here because no family can have more than two children, and because people want sons instead of daughters
.

“But why are you here?” Nisha blurted before she could stop herself.

Josei’s face went still, as if she’d pulled a mask down over her features.

“I owed someone a life-debt,” she said. “Working here, training these unwanted girls to be warriors, that was my payment.”

“Really?” Nisha stopped in surprise. Life-debts were the most serious contract in the Empire. When Josei didn’t stop, she ran to catch up, her mind spinning.

Life-debts were rare. You had to save someone from certain and immediate death, and the debt was only canceled when both people agreed that it had been paid. Who could have saved
Josei
? Nisha had just scraped up enough courage to ask her about it when they reached the House of Jade.

Matron was standing near the greenhouse, anger in every line of her stiff frame, and she wasn’t alone.

The tall, severe man standing next to her was someone Nisha had never seen before. He was about Matron’s age, muscular and flat bellied as a river crocodile, with some of the crocodile’s waiting stillness. His black hair, with a touch of gray at the temples, was slicked back, and it touched the high collar of his brown-and-silver brocade tunic.

Josei’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Remember this, Nisha. You cannot change what’s been done, no matter how hard you want to. But you can go on.”

With those cryptic words, Josei disappeared into the House of Jade.

Nisha turned to face Matron and the stranger. As she did, Nisha’s eyes met the man’s for just a moment. His gaze was flat, predatory. Adrenaline shot down her back, made her want to flee as far away as she could.

She bowed, trying not to let her anxiety show on her face.

Matron spoke in a controlled tone. “Nisha, this is Akash tar’Vey, the head of the City Council. He has … something to tell you.”

Akash tar’Vey gave her the same evaluating stare the two Council members had given her outside the Council House the day before. “We have had an offer for your bond,” he said, his voice cruelly like Devan’s. But instead of flowing warmly over her, Akash’s voice was cold and slimy, like the oil from a cart axle.

Nisha pressed her palms together and bowed again, hiding the sudden panic she felt. “Forgive my confusion, sir, but I was told that if I could get an endorsement, I might be able to bring in more money. And I
have
found someone willing to endorse me. The Combat Mistress has said she will do it.”

Akash pressed his lips together in an imitation of a smile. “An admirable gesture, but where there is one offer, there might be more. The buyer is willing to pay a higher price than we expected. It’s enough money to cover the cost of training a last-minute replacement for the girl, which will please our important client greatly. I can see no reason to risk that assured money by allowing you to go to the Redeeming.”

Anxiety stiffened Nisha’s spine. Who would offer so much money for her?

Matron’s hands clenched into tight fists. “Akash, I have said already that we must bring this offer to the Council to discuss the right way forward.” Less evenly, she added, “This high-handed behavior is completely unacceptable. I will make sure the Emperor hears of it.”

Akash’s voice grew colder. “Remember, Matron, there are those in the court who would like to shut us down. I have no intention of seeing that happen. This City is a merchant’s dream. Unwanted girls are worth nothing, but trained wives and mistresses, girls bred to please and obey, are far more valuable. With a few adjustments—more guards, stricter discipline—this City could be more than self-sustaining. It could be a source of riches and power like nothing you have ever imagined.”

“That is not why we are here.” Matron folded her arms, her words sharp. “You know that. That is not what the City is for.”

“It might not be why you are here,” Akash countered. “But the Council feels quite differently. They quite like the picture I’ve been painting for them. As long as we keep the City running, the Emperor doesn’t care how we do it. And I am not the doddering old man that my predecessor was. He might have been content to let you run this place according to your idealistic notion of helping girls, but I am not. These girls are a source of income, a commodity like spices or tea.”

Some of the fire died out of Matron’s face with this assertion. Nisha’s anxiety turned into pure, cold fear.

The gold of Akash’s flower tattoo showed as he straightened his tunic. “We can discuss this later,” he said. “In the meantime, Nisha’s price will go some way toward replacing the money we lost from yesterday’s unfortunate accident.”

Then he walked away, leaving Nisha staring after him. “He’s really going to sell me, Matron?”

Matron started to say something, then nodded once, a final, sad nod, like the closing of a gate.

Nisha couldn’t breathe. It was really happening. The Council could just sell her, like a piece of furniture or a herd of cattle.

Kalia’s words whispered through Nisha’s mind.
If they claim that money as your bond and sell you to make it back, who is there to stop them?
And she was right.

Nisha thought of Zann, trapped in the City, forbidden to play music ever again, with no hope of a different life. Nisha’s future was uncertain, it was true, but at least she had always held rights as a free citizen, and the possibility of a different future.

But now her rights were worthless, and she was the one who was trapped. If they sold her … she would be just like Zann, but worse, probably. The healers at the House of Jade were kind masters. They allowed Zann plenty of food and adequate rest. They didn’t beat her. If Nisha was bought by a cruel master, she would be considered his property. He could do anything to her, even kill her, and no one would be able to stop him.

No one would care enough to stop him.

Bright Ancestors, no
.

Her fear curdled rapidly into panic. “You can’t let them do this.” She hated the begging sound of her voice, but she could not stop herself. “Please. Please don’t let them do this to me.”

The lines around Matron’s mouth deepened. “I’ve been trying to hold them off, at least until after the Redeeming. I told them I need you too much to give you up. Akash is very anxious to finalize a deal. But I won’t stop trying—”

Nisha couldn’t hear any more. Nausea and terror had her now, and without thinking, she turned and fled into the maze. Behind her she heard Matron call her name, but she couldn’t stop running.

The labyrinth closed around her, and Nisha dodged through the narrow alleys, running blindly until she hit a dead end. Leaning against the high hedge walls, she bent over, emptying her stomach into the bushes. Again and again she retched, her stomach clenching in pain.

No, no, no, no, no!

Kalia’s words from yesterday pounded in her head, given a cruel new twist.

You don’t belong here
.

You’ve never belonged here
.

You’ll never belong anywhere
.

NISHA!
JERRIT’S CRY brought her out of a trance. She looked around to find herself surrounded by cats. Nisha wiped her mouth and sank to the ground, pressing her back against the prickly branches. The cats nuzzled close.

“They’re going to sell me,” Nisha said, the shape of the words making her feel sick again. “They’re going to make me a bond slave.”

The group exploded in startled growls.

They can’t do that!

What are we going to do?

They promised!

Enough
. Esmer’s voice was as sharp as a sword’s point. Her black-tipped tail lashed, and the other cats fell silent.

Esmer, we can’t let this happen
, Jerrit sent. He held his head low, ears back, and the fur on his spine stood up like the bristles of a paintbrush.
You can cast me out if you want, but I won’t sit by and let it happen, no matter what secrets we swore to keep—

Esmer hit him. The gray spotted cat struck so fast that Nisha barely saw it, burying her claws in Jerrit’s scalp. Jerrit yowled but didn’t strike back.

A low, ragged growl came from Esmer, and her lips pulled back to reveal her teeth. Her paw didn’t move from Jerrit’s head.
Don’t you dare lecture me about what we swore to do. Or act like you’re the only one who cares what happens to Nisha. You’re not the only one who would bear the consequences of a broken oath. The tribe stands together, Jerrit. What happens to one affects us all
.

Nisha held her breath, her own fear momentarily forgotten. She’d never seen the cats argue like this.

Under Esmer’s paw, Jerrit was still making small angry noises, but now his ears seemed more flattened in submission than in fury. The growl died from Esmer’s throat, and she retracted her claws.

Her mind-voice was as sad as Nisha had ever heard it.
We
aren’t
going to sit by, Jerrit. But we have to be careful
.

Jerrit sat up, his tawny fur still on end. His tail twitched.
I’ll try
.

“But how can we stop it?” Nisha said. “What can we possibly do? The Council could come and get me at any time.” Akash had free run of the Council House and the estate. Nisha wasn’t safe in her room. She wasn’t safe anywhere.

Esmer padded to Jerrit’s side and licked his ear.

Can you sleep outside Nisha’s door?
she asked him.

Of course
. Jerrit’s ears were upright again and his fur was smoothing. He looked around at the other cats, silently watching.
I’ll take a couple of the others
. He looked up at her, his sleek frame stiff with emotion.
We’ll watch over you, Nisha. No one will get past us
.

The idea of having sentries outside her door made her feel a little safer.

But she also knew that nothing would ever make her feel completely safe again.

Nisha couldn’t sleep. Despair wrapped her like a heavy shroud. She tried to drive it away with memories of the way Devan kissed her, the way he smiled just for her. But her mind’s images of Devan kept morphing into visions of Akash’s cruel smile. Then Akash’s face twisted into Jina’s, frozen in pain, then flattened into Atiy’s wide, dead stare.

Nisha sat up. Her skin was damp with sweat, and her hair stuck to the back of her neck. Her tiny, windowless room was hot and suffocating.
Trapped
. She longed for the cold, sharp air outside.

It was almost time for the White Mist, the heavy cloud that would rise from the ground every morning and evening. Ever since the Empire had been cut off, the cold season had been marked by thick mist and frost. The people of the Empire would pull on woolen asars and long-sleeved tunics, wear soft slippers and boots instead of sandals, and keep their ovens lit for warmth. The parrots would fly to the warmest parts of the deep forest, the deer and monkeys would grow thick, shaggy fur. And everyone would wait for the warmth and life to return to the world.

The cold season was called Earthsleep.

But it had always made Nisha think of death.

Nisha gave up trying to sleep and swung her feet onto the floor. Tonight she didn’t want to be alone. Rising in the darkness, she felt her way out of her bedroom. She thought about bringing one of the clay lamps she always kept by her bed, then decided against it. In the unbroken black of Darkfall, her tiny light would be visible for a long way, and she didn’t want anyone wondering what she was doing outside in the dark.

The minute she stepped into the narrow back hallway that separated her room from the rest of the Council House, she felt a press of fur.

I hoped you’d come out
, Jerrit sent.

I’ll say. He’s been staring at your door like a lost kitten since you went to bed
, said one of the other cats.

Jerrit growled, but Nisha smiled for the first time since her encounter with Akash tar’Vey.

The night air was cool on her skin as she stepped out the side door, and Nisha stretched out her arms to the ink-dark sky. The world suddenly seemed open and less frightening.

Aided by the cats’ soft pressure on her ankles, Nisha crept down the road to the hedge maze and found a sheltered corner deep inside the labyrinth. The dense grass tickled her skin as she lay down. Warm, furry bodies pressed against her as other cats joined them. Esmer murmured in her ear, and the purring creature on her chest could only have been Jerrit.

Nisha hugged him like a shield and slept.

She woke to cold, damp grass and wet air. A low mist rose from the ground, a white soup that soaked Nisha’s night-robe and chilled her skin. Beside her, Jerrit hissed.

Isn’t it too soon to have the White Mist?
he sent, growling.

“I guess not,” Nisha said as she rose to her feet, brushing twigs and bits of grass from her damp sleeping gown. The first morning of White Mist was always the thinnest, but it was still wet enough to make her shiver. “It’s almost the season of Earthsleep.”

The gray, even expanse of the sky glowed softly with a new day, and Nisha caught the fading scent of the night-queen flower on the fresh air. It made her think of Tanaya. Maybe when Tanaya was a princess, Nisha could ask her for help. And if all else failed and she had to run, she had the cats. Maybe the stories about their being good fortune were true. For a moment, the idea of going into the forest seemed a little less frightening.