"Naomi Kritzer - Dead Rivers 3 - Freedom's Sisters" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kritzer Naomi)

Freedom’sSisters




CHAPTER ONE


T AMAR




When I rode into the camp of the Alashi spring gathering, I tried to sit tall and hide my fear. Lauria would tell
me I was as good as they were—she’d tell me to look them in the eye. She’d say I had nothing to be ashamed of.
And I wasn’t ashamed. I was proud of what Lauria and I had accomplished. We had freed over a hundred slaves.
The Alashi didn’t free slaves because they thought those who deserved freedom would escape on their own.
Well, the Alashi might not free slaves, but I did. Lauria and I did. I took a deep breath and raised my head.

What did the eldress want from me, anyway?

First, apparently, she wanted me to wait.

I had ridden back with Janiya, the leader of the sword sisterhood Lauria and I had spent last summer with. The
rest of her sisterhood had stayed behind to escort the former mine slaves on foot. Janiya gave our horses to a girl
to care for, then we sat down in the shade near the eldress’s tent. I watched Janiya, and when she turned away
from me, I looked around. Lauria and I had found the Alashi at the end of their big spring gathering, and we’d
left right before their big fall gathering. I could smell lentils and rice cooking over fires made from dried animal
dung. There were families nearby, with lots of children who weren’t old enough to ride out with a sisterhood or
brotherhood. Looking at them made my throat ache a little.

Janiya looked me over. She hadn’t spoken much on our ride. Now she cleared her throat and said, “You look
well.”

I looked down at my muddy clothes and boots. Lauria and I had bought ourselves new clothes when we’d come
into some money, but they were worn ragged now. My hands were filthy, and I thought my face and hair
probably were, too.

“Oh, you could use a bath, but that’s not what I meant,” Janiya said. “You look very confident. You look like a
woman who can stand on her own and defend herself. When I first met you…well, you looked like you’d fight
until the last drop of blood left your body, but you didn’t look like you thought it would matter.”



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 Freedom’sSisters

I let out my breath in a short laugh. “It’s good to see you again,” I said. Janiya looked pretty much as I
remembered—well, maybe a little more gray in her hair.