Page 106 of The King of Koraha
“All right.” She waved a hand at the door. “Help yourself.” Neda hustled out.
“You were right,” Rae said slowly.
“About what?”
“I didnotwant to know.”
At angle three fifty-five, Shyla, Rae and the twenty monks assembled in the receiving room of the monastery. She explained what she had planned with the caravans. Then fourteen monks followed her to the city.
Three teams of gamelus were already assembled with three drivers. The rest of the Invisible Swords waited nearby. There was another caravan preparing to leave. It had over a dozen wagons and their muscles were busy loading goods. Other people streamed from the city’s entrances to go tend to the herds and flocks. Shyla sent four of the monks to collect the taxes from Apanji’s Water Prince.
As Shyla and Rae drew closer to the wagons, Gurice immediately approached her. “What happened to your arm?”
“It’s fine. Just a bruise.”
“A monk attacked her with a shovel,” Rae said.
“I’m fine. And I’m not arguing about this,” Shyla said, striding away. Mojag leaned against one of their wagons, yawning. “I’ve brought the monks. Can you retrieve the chests so we can load the wagons?”
“Yup. You want them to be heavy so it looks convincing?”
“Yes.”
Mojag walked out into the soft sand. Soon the hiss of fast-moving grains sounded. One of the tax chests appeared and then another. The monks picked them up and carried them to the wagons. Everyone else formed a rough circle around the activity, keeping an eye out for trouble. Most of those around were too busy to pay attention to Mojag and the monks, but there were a few casting glances their way.
Gurice brought a young man over to where Shyla was watching the other caravan. It reminded her of her time with Lota and her family. A pang of sadness and longing filled her as the memory of Rendor playing with the children rose. He’d been happy and content. If she had never agreed to help the King, they’d still be together.
“This is Omar,” Gurice said. “He’s our guide.”
Omar was a few circuits older than Shyla and she hoped he was as physically fit as he looked.
“As much as I want this job, those monks know the way to Qulsary. You don’t need me,” Omar said.
“We’re not going with them,” Shyla said.
“Oh.” He glanced at Gurice. “But you said—”
“Qulsary is still our destination, but we’re not traveling at wagon speed.”
“Oh. You want to run it.” He eyed Shyla critically. “Can you keep up with that arm? What about the rest?” Omar glanced around. “That kid might have trouble.”
“Mojag is not coming with us. And my arm is fine.”
“How many of you then?”
“Seven.” Shyla had assigned Gurice and Mojag to travel with the second set of wagons that would assemble and leave for Qulsary in two sun jumps. With Mojag’s surprisingly powerful abilities with the sand, he could easily counter any bandits, pirates, or mercs.
“We should leave now or we won’t hit that second travel shelter before apex,” Omar said.
“We’re going to stay with the wagons for a few sun jumps before we switch to double time.” Even though they needed to hurry, Xerxes had said caravans were the most vulnerable when arriving and leaving a city. Using his logic, she figured if he planned to recapture the taxes, it would be within the first couple sun jumps. Plus it would be odd if she and the others broke off from them right away.
“All right,” Omar said.
Mojag brought out the last chest and carried it to the wagon. He struggled to heft it up and one of the monks helped him. Either it was a great acting job or he’d stuffed those chests with a ton of sand.
The four tax-collecting monks returned with Apanji’s payment. Mojag reached to grab the new chest, but the monk holding it wouldn’t relinquish it, insisting he could load it. It turned into a tug of war until Mojag yanked it free. He lost his balance and plopped onto the ground. The chest thudded next to him and sank slightly into the soft sand.
“Sorry,” Mojag said. He clambered to his feet. As he vigorously wiped his pants and hands, a small cloud of sand kicked up, obscuring the chest for a moment before he retrieved it. It was a deft maneuver, replacing the coins with sand with no one the wiser. Well, except Shyla and the rest of the Invisible Swords.
