Many of the revellers at Alabaster Cove simply slept on their banquet couches or on the sand. Some looked like they had simply collapsed part-way through partying. Attendants handed out silky pillows and blankets to those who wanted them. Anka and Bukur picked a spot some distance away from anyone else. Even lain next to Bukur, Anka couldn’t help but imagine the possibility of Ragur or Lurush deciding to have her as a midnight snack. The oaf next to her might just sleep through it. Her mind wandered to Oresh. If he was here, he'd probably keep watch all night.
But the myriad stars decorating the heavens and the sound of
the waves ebbing and flowing lulled her to sleep. She woke before dawn, but the
sky near the horizon was an inky blue. Bukur was snoring loudly. She decided to
get up to do some snooping.
Tip-toing in the low light between wealthy lishas and hurums
who were fast asleep, in a place which only hours before had been the scene of
raucous debauchery, felt quite unreal. Anka briefly wondered whether she was
actually dreaming, until she slipped on a plate on the ground and very nearly
tumbled onto a lisha before regaining her balance. I’ve already made myself
look like a fool in front of them, she reminded herself, I can’t afford to do
that again by making a din before the sun is even up.
Alongside the cliff wall there were a dozen small villas
reserved for the most eminent guests. Anka peeked through their curtains until
she found Lurush. She and Styra were fast asleep on a reed mat, embracing each
other in a way that would have even warmed Anka’s heart had she not known that Lurush
must have ravenously devoured Styra last night.
She sat outside the villa and tried to devise a strategy.
Hopefully now that Styra had satisfied Lurush’s gluttonous urges, she would be
easier to talk to, but she would still need to wait for Styra to get out of the
way. It would be dangerous to assume that Lurush would be willing and able to
take both of them back to the Rush, and Styra had already demonstrated that she
was compliant. She needed to talk to Lurush alone.
She looked out to sea mulling over her options and must have
dozed off, because suddenly the sun was over the horizon and she could hear
lishas and hurums stirring around the entrance to the cove. To her left, coming
round one of the outcrops of rock which enclosed the cove, was a longboat
sedately making its way towards the beach. It bore two lishas ploughing the sea
with enormous oars and a hurum manning the udder, but the boat looked like it
could carry at least twenty passengers. The hull was painted turquoise to match
the water, but the banister along the top looked like it was made of gold, as
was the head of a mischievously grinning lisha on the prow.
“Isn’t she gorgeous?” said Ragur, who was leaning on the
wall
Anka jumped to her feet, “That’s yours?”
“She’s my pride and joy. Father gave her to me for my
birthday. Me and some friends are going to spend the day at sea. Why don’t you
join us?”
“No thank you”
“A day surrounded by these calm, beautiful waters, in the
company of such distinguished and jovial lishas as myself, who could say no to
that? Come on, I insist”
An idea sparked in Anka’s mind, “Stay there one second”
She ducked through the villa’s curtained doorway, snuck
towards the pair, gently slid her hands under Styra’s arms and slowly pried her
from Lurush’s embrace.
“Mm?” said Styra as Anka dragged her away
“Shh! There’s someone I want you to meet. Come on, on your
feet”
It was a test of her strength, but Anka managed to pull her
outside.
“Oh my,” said Ragur, his tongue flicking, “I don’t remember
seeing you here before”
Styra was rubbing her eyes and swaying slightly, “Lemme back
to bed…”
“This is my good friend Styra,” said Anka, “this is Ragur,
Gilkush’s son. You wanted to get to know the Ikarkurs better, right? Well, who
better to help with that than him? Go on now, why don’t you both have some
breakfast?”
With one hand on each of their backs, she pushed them away. Watching
Ragur lead Styra along the beach, she felt somewhat smug about her elegant
solution to two problems. She went back inside the villa, where Lurush was
stirring. The sound of talking must have woken her up.
“Where’s Styra?” she asked Anka as she looked around with
half-open eyes
“I just saw her with Ragur. Never mind her, I’ve got an
unmissable business opportunity just for you. I run a successful jewellery
business in the high market. I know how to source the finest goods and how to
sell them at the highest margin”
Anka had hoped that making her pitch while Lurush was tired
would make her more pliable, but she was looking like she might fall back to
sleep.
“I was taught by Hadash, one of Kurush’s most skilled
traders, and-“
“Hadash?” said Lurush, “Why does that name sound familiar?”
“He was married to Gishka, Tiuk’s sister”
Lurush’s eyes lit up, “Ah yes, Tiuk’s brother-in-law! So you
know Tiuk?”
“I’ve known her for as long as I can remember. She and her
family were friends with my parents, and after they died Hadash and Gishka
adopted me and my sister. So I suppose Tiuk is my adopted aunt”
Lurush sat up and stroked her chin, “Recently I’ve been
thinking, I’d like to step back from managing my businesses and focus on, well,
spending all my money. I have an aide, Dila, but she’s too down-to-earth, too
logical. I need someone with the imagination to see opportunities and the drive
to see them through”
“The fact I could find my way to you is proof I’m the one
you’re looking for”
“What are you asking for?”
“Room and board in the Rush, plus two copper ingots a month”
“How about room and board, two coppers a month, and I eat
you once a week?”
Damn it, thought Anka, maybe I should have waited til after
she’d had breakfast.
“Room and board, one copper and thirty leaves a month, and
you don’t lay a finger on me, ever”
“Not even-“
“Not even a taste”
Lurush sighed, “Okay, fine. Room and board, thirty coppers
and one leaf a month”
“Er, you mean the other way around?”
“Yeah, what you said. I wish Dila was here, I usually let her
worry about numbers”
How did she ever become an Ikarkur, wondered Anka, I should
have asked for more.
“But this is just a trial,” said Lurush, “let’s see how well
you’ve done in a month’s time. If you’re a waste of my money, I’ll chuck you
out of the Rush myself”
Anka gulped, “Okay, deal”
Constructive criticism welcome
© Paul Bramhall
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