Read Online D & D - Red Sands by Paul B. Thompson, Tonya R. Carter - Free Book Online Page A

into the thick yogurt. Tiny black weevils crawled up her hand. She put her fingers in her mouth and swallowed, bugs and all. Nabul exclaimed in disgust.
    "In my country, locusts and honey are considered a great delicacy. This 'yogurt' of yours is not as sweet, but it will sustain us on our journey," she said. Jadira swallowed, smiled ruefully, and reached for the pot.
    "I can't watch," said Marix. He turned away and crouched in the small patch of shade cast by the horse. Nabul quickly joined him.
    Tamakh stood. "You too, Holy One?" said Uramettu.
    The priest mopped his streaming forehead. "Ah, well, hmm. The rigors of our passage would be better borne if I were of, umm, finer build." He bowed his head briefly and averted his eyes.
    Jadira handed the jar to Uramettu. "Men are strange," she said. "They will rush to face a hundred swords, yet cringe at the thought of a few weevils."
    "So I have found them in Fazir as they are in Fedush," the black woman replied.
    "How long have you been in Fazir?" Jadira asked.
    "I endured four new moons in the sultan's cage," Uramettu replied. "For that long I have been forced to transform myself and satisfy the whims of the sultan." She dug her hand deeper into the yogurt.
    Resolving her apprehension, Jadira said, "I've been wondering—that is, I wanted to ask you—"
    "About my ability."
    "Yes, the changing. How is it you can become a panther? Were you cursed by an evil magician?"
    "No, no, not at all. Understand, my sister, that on the savannah there are many powerful spirits: Ontoduma, the elephant spirit; Klikka, the monkey; and many others. Each clan has a totem spirit whom they appease and worship. My clan follows Ronta, the panther. We are famed as the best hunters in Fedush, and it is to Ronta we owe this skill.
    "In some mortals, the bush spirits claim close kinship. When I reached womanhood, Ronta chose me. I went out from my village for one changing of the moon and lived as a panther. I returned and became chief huntress and wise-woman to my village sisters."
    Jadira wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Then shape-shifting is a good thing?"
    "It is a great honor," replied Uramettu.
    "Can you do it at will?"
    "Yes, but it is best if I do it fewer than four times per moon. It is easier to become a cat than to return to human form. The call of blood is powerful; the grip of Ronta so strong. Only once have I ever changed more than four times between moons."
    This remark cried out for explanation. "When?" Jadira blurted.
    "For the sultana," said Uramettu. "She . . . insisted."
    "What happened?"
    "I brought down a Zimoran bull and devoured it for the edification of Her Magnificence. The taste of blood was still with me, and I feared I would not be able to make the transformation to woman. My panther body lay in the cage for a day and a night as the change slowly took place. It was more painful than anything I'd ever borne before or since."
    They ate in silence for a time. "What will you do once we get to Tantuffa?" Jadira asked.
    "Find a way home. The slavers who sold me in the Brazen Ring never expect me to return, but when I do . . ." She opened her mouth wide and engulfed a large gob of yogurt.
    "I wonder," Jadira said, taking the jar again, "if people can change to animals, do animals ever change into people?"
    "Oh, yes," Uramettu said.
    "I believe it, for I have seen jackals who walk and talk like men." She peered into the half-empty jar. "Ym know, this isn't so bad."
    "Indeed. You and I will end by carrying our delicate male companions. Mark it, friend Jadira; it will come to pass."
    The men looked up from where they sat and wondered what the two women could find to laugh at in this awful desert.
    Captain Fu'ad clenched his teeth in futile anger. Two days out of Omerabad on the road to Rehajid, and this was the third major caravan the Invincibles had overtaken and stopped. The caravan master knew better than to protest, but his obvious evasiveness made Fu'ad's task all the