Read Online The Jewel of Kamara (The Delthenon Chronicles) by Bridie Blake - Free Book Online

Kalaowin word for hello.
    His
eyes flicked down to her.
    “How
much?” She demanded to the trader.
    “You ain’t got enough.” His stale breath caused her to
step away from him. He grinned at her, thinking he’d scared her off.
    “How
much?” She asked again, reaching for her coin purse. “I have money.”
    “He ain’t for sale,” he snarled.
    “He’s
a slave,” she snapped. “Of course, he’s for sale.”
    She
couldn’t bring herself to look at the man as she called him a slave.
    “Not
to you. You’ll set him loose.”
    “Mark
him as mine, and he can’t escape. He’ll be bound to me.”
    “I
told ye, he ain’t for sale!” He roared and stepped towards
her.
    Rando
moved swiftly and pulled Tempani behind him.
    The
man laughed at them. “ Ye’re as common as me. You ain’t got no weapon to protect her.”
    Tempani’s
eyes widened as Rando’s hand slipped to the back of
his shirt. The silver of his blade flashed in her eyes, and she gripped the
hand that held it, forcing him to keep it hidden behind his back.
    She
stepped around him and glared at the trader. “I will be back for him,” she
snapped. “He will belong to me.”
    The
man laughed again as she pulled Rando away. She remained silent on their ride
back to the manor. Her anger bubbled away in the pit of her stomach, and her
hands trembled from its force.
    She
handed her reigns to Lindow and then marched inside, Rando trailing behind her.
Once the door was closed behind them, she rounded on him, her eyes flashing
dangerously.
    “You’re
armed?” She cried. “If he had seen that, you’d be dead! Do you understand
that?”
    Rando
stood, his back straight, his head held high, as he watched her pace the room.
    “Dead!”
She cried again. “They would hang you for carrying a weapon!” She stopped
pacing and faced him. “Do you have anything to say?”
    “No,
my lady.”
    “You
are my chaperone! Why are you carrying a weapon? If my father found out, he
would have your head.” She rushed over to him and gripped his hands. “Please
promise me you’ll get rid of it.”
    “It
won’t happen again, my lady.”
    She
shook her head slowly. “I will never tell anyone of this.”
    “What
of the slave?”
    “I
dare not go back there and risk you losing your common sense again. Perhaps
Chae can go on my behalf and purchase him.”
    Rando
nodded and turned on his heel. When he reached the door he paused. “You can’t
save everyone, my lady. Some people’s paths are already decided.”
    “If
I don’t try, who will?”
    The
slave had already been sold by the time Chae got there. It had taken a lot of
convincing to even get him there, but in the end he had done as his sister
wished, but he was too late. He had already been purchased.
    Tempani
had trouble sleeping that night. She couldn’t stop thinking about those three
Kalaowins. They had been taken from their families and would now know nothing
but servitude. She rolled over and watched Zadi, who was curled up on her
bedroll.
    “Zadi?”
She whispered. “Are you awake?”
    Her
eyes flicked open, and she sat up abruptly. “Did you need something, my lady?”
    “No,
I was just curious about something.” She propped herself up on her elbow. “When
did you become a slave?”
    “Three
years ago.” Her voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke. “I was taken by
a trader one day and brought to the city. Lindow bought me to do chores around
here.”
    “Your
Kamari is good for someone whose only been here three years.”
    “I
knew some before I was taken, but the household has taught me to speak proper.”
A smile flickered across her face. “But my dreams are Kalaowin. Always.”
    “Do
you miss home?”
    Zadi
nodded. “But this is the path chosen for me. I’ll follow it.”
    “Maybe
we could set you free.”
    “There
are no freed slaves. I’m in your service until I die.”
    Tempani
blinked away tears. “I’ll find a way to set you free. I