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FREEDOM'S APPRENTICE
Dead Rivers Book 2
By
Naomi Kritzer
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
Freedom's
Apprentice
Naomi Kritzer
BANTAM BOOKS
SPECTRA
FREEDOM'S APPRENTICE
A Bantam Spectra Book / May 2005
Published by
Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
Copyright © 2005 by Naomi Kritzer Cover illustration © 2005 by Stephen Youll
Cover design by Jamie S. Warren Youll
Bantam Books, the rooster colophon, Spectra, and the portrayal of a boxed "s"
Bantam Books, the rooster colophon, Spectra, and the portrayal of a boxed "s"
are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
ISBN 0-553-58674-2
Printed in the United States of America Published simultaneously in Canada
To my parents, Bert and Amy Kritzer
CHAPTER ONE
There was a crumbled spot in the wall around Elpisia. Kyros sent slaves to fix it
every year or two, but for some reason—unstable ground, a vulnerability to wind
—it was always crumbling there again within a few months. When I was a child
and wanted to get in or out of town without being hassled by the guards at the
gate, I scrambled over at that spot. Half a year earlier, I had examined that point
in the wall while tracking an escaped slave.
Now, I was back, on the other side. I was climbing into Elpisia under cover of
night to free one of the slaves that I had once taken back to slavery.
I found handholds easily enough, and scrambled over. Some gravel had made its
way into my boot, so I pulled it off and shook it out. Then I wound a scarf
around my face and pulled up the hood of my coat. It wasn't cold enough for
snow yet, but there was a damp wind tonight. I put my mittens back on.
Nika's owner lived quite close to Kyros, not far from the city gate. I took a
roundabout route, trying to stay as far from Kyros's house as I could. The streets
were dark and quiet, but a few people were still out. I walked briskly rather than
keeping to the shadows; acting like I was trying to hide would only attract
attention. The wind gave me a good excuse to keep my head down and my eyes
on the hard dirt under my feet. Being a fugitive in my home city was the
strangest, most foreign experience I'd had in my life—even more foreign than
my first days with the Alashi. If someone had blindfolded me and spun me
around, I still could have found my way to anywhere in the city. It's so strange
to be back. To be back like this.
I turned a corner; there, a stone's throw ahead of me, was the household where
Nika had been sold. It was built in the Greek style, like Kyros's house, with a
courtyard in the center. The front door would be guarded at night. Well, I
assumed that it was guarded; I couldn't see much evidence either way from the
street.
The first step was to get inside. The front door, obviously, was out of the
question. There were a few low windows that opened onto the street, but they
were tightly shuttered and barred from within; besides, the rooms on the other
side of those windows might have people in them at odd hours. I circled the
side of those windows might have people in them at odd hours. I circled the
house once, keeping to the shadows now, though I couldn't see anyone watching.
The street was quiet.
Right. The first step is to get inside. You were Kyros's most resourceful servant
— can't you figure out a way to do that? Tamar had wanted to come along
tonight and I refused. If I couldn't even think of a way to get into the house,
Tamar would doubtless offer a dozen different suggestions of ways I could have
done it if I'd had her with me. I'd insisted that Tamar wait with the horses
because I thought that I would have at least a faint chance of talking my way out
of trouble if I were caught by myself. If I had Tamar with me… When I looked
at Tamar, I still saw a hint of the beaten-down slave girl that she'd been when we
met. I didn't think I could talk both of us out of custody.
The first-floor windows had a sill; maybe I could climb onto the roof from there,
and then go over that and into the courtyard. I took off my coat and mittens and
stuffed them into my bag; the wind chose that moment to send a gust whipping
through the street that left me numb and aching. Before I could change my mind,
I climbed onto the windowsill. It was awkward, and when I shifted I knocked up
against the shutter. Anyone inside would have heard that, and I froze for a
moment, ready to leap off and run if I heard movement inside. But all stayed
quiet. If anyone had heard me, they must have thought it was the wind.
Now that I was close enough to make a try for the roof, I realized that it was a
good arm's length out of my reach. If I'd brought Tamar, I could have boosted
her up onto the roof—but she didn't have the strength or weight to pull me up
after her, so I'd have needed both Tamar and a rope, anyway. With freezing
fingers, I felt for handholds in the stone and mortar of the house. And found one.
Maybe I could swing myself up and launch myself onto the roof…
I came nowhere near my goal, but managed to make a wonderful crashing sound
as I kicked loose a few tiles that shattered on the street below. I landed on the
tiles and managed to bite back a stream of oaths as the shutters banged open.
"—a bird or something."
"I just wanted to check."
"Well, you're letting in a lot of cold air, thank you very much."
I held my breath, making myself as small as possible. I was right in the open. If
I held my breath, making myself as small as possible. I was right in the open. If
they poked their heads out to look for what had made the noise, they'd see me.
"It didn't sound like a bird."
"Send one of the men if you're that worried, but close the window before I freeze
to the floor."
The shutter closed, but I didn't hear the bar put back into place. The guards
would be coming, but it would take a little time—who was in the room?
With the tip of my finger, I eased the window open a crack and peered in. It was
the kitchen, and there were two women still there, both Danibeki, and thus
presumably slaves. If I offered to free them in exchange for their help, would
they leap at the opportunity, or scream to alarm the whole house? Tamar would
love to shepherd an entire household's worth of slaves up to the reluctant Alashi,
but the practicalities of that were more than a little daunting to me. Besides, even
if Tamar were right that there were no slaves who liked being slaves, that didn't
mean they'd all be willing to flee to the Alashi. Many believed that the Alashi
practiced human sacrifice and other such atrocities.
I hesitated too long; if I'd wanted to speak with them, I'd lost my chance. I
sprinted around a corner and hid just a few moments before I heard the crunch of
the guard's boots on the street. "—bunch of jumpy girls," a male voice said.
"Wanting to hide under the bed from the winter wind."
"Something did knock down a few tiles," another voice said. They had a lantern;
I could see the light flickering. "It's not blowing that hard."
"Nika's probably right, it was a bird or something."
Nika! Had I looked right at her and not recognized her? Or had she been the one
who went for the guards? Probably the latter. So she was probably there, in the
kitchen, right now.
Muttering about girls and the cold wind, the guards did a quick search, found a
feather that had doubtless been dropped by a bird sometime in the last week, and
went back inside. I went back over to the window just in time to hear the bar
drop again.
Well, at least now I knew where Nika was. I pressed my ear against the shutter
and listened to the conversation. They were up early, not late, baking bread for
the morning; the conversation was household gossip, nothing useful or
interesting. There were three women working, all slaves. Listening to the chatter
and knowing that one of them was Nika, I was able to pick her out of the
conversation, and figure out which voice was hers.
I could just knock on the window…
Instead, I put my coat and mittens back on, rewrapped the scarf that shielded my
face, and waited.
There's no hurry, I told myself. I can go back to Tamar, talk about what to do,
and try again tomorrow. That's probably the best plan right now, take this
slowly.
Still, it seemed like it would be worth waiting. Maybe the other two women
would step out for a few minutes and I'd have the opportunity to talk to Nika. So
I waited, and just as I was thinking that I'd have to leave to be well away by
dawn, one of the women said she was going to use the privy, and another had to
go get something out of the pantry; Nika was alone.
I knocked urgently on the shutter. "Nika. Nika!" I hissed.
The shutter opened so abruptly that it almost knocked me off the windowsill.
Nika stared at me, white-faced and startled. "Who are you? What do you want?"
Her wide eyes searched mine, peering over the scarf. Did she recognize me? Just
from my eyes? I saw no anger, so probably not.
"Do you still want your freedom enough to take it? I have a horse and I'll take
you to the Alashi."
"Who are you?"
"I'm here to free you. What does it matter who I am?"
There was a long moment of struggle on Nika's face, and then she said, "I can't.
Not without Melaina."
"Who?"
"My daughter. I can't leave her here. She doesn't have anyone but me."
The other women could return at any moment. I spoke rapidly. "Fine. I'll be back
tomorrow night. Figure out a way to get yourself and Melaina out this window,
and I'll take both of you." I jumped down to let her swing the shutter closed, and
ran back for the city wall.
The sun was rising when I reached our hiding place in the track of the old river.
Tamar was letting the horses drink water from a muddy puddle. She saw me
approaching and shaded her eyes, looking to see if I'd brought Nika. "Lauria.
What happened?" she asked when I reached her.
"She wants to bring her kid. We'll try again tonight. This time I think I want you
to wait by the wall with the horses; it'll be slow going with a young child
otherwise."
"You're going to leave me behind again?"
"Like I said before, if I get caught, I think I can talk my way out. As long as I'm
alone."
"Oh yeah? What are you going to say: 'Look at me, I'm Kyros's servant, and this
is all part of his plan, just ask him'? What are you going to say when they take
you to Kyros?"
"I'll tell him what happened with Alibek, and say that freeing slaves is a ruse to
win back the trust of the Alashi. Because I know how important this mission is,
Nika's freedom is a pretty trivial cost."
"And when he asks why you didn't come straight to him?"
"The Alashi shamans have strange powers and are friendly with the rogue aerika.
I was afraid they might be watching me."
"I guess that might work."
"Maybe. But not if you're a prisoner, too."
Tamar thought this over and reluctantly said, "I want to come along next time."
Tamar thought this over and reluctantly said, "I want to come along next time."
"Once we're not trying to get someone out of Elpisia," I agreed.
"I didn't join you just to sit around outside and watch horses. I feel so useless."
"Tamar, there's no way I could do this without you."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better."
"No, I'm just saying that because I'm afraid you'll leave me and go back to the
Alashi. You could go back…"
Tamar took my hand and squeezed it. "You're my blood-sister. We belong
together. I'm not going back.
Not without you."
Six months earlier, Kyros's slave Alibek had climbed that same bit of wall; I had
tracked him down and brought him back. Kyros had praised my efficient work,
and then had sent me out on a new mission: to infiltrate the bandit tribes that
called themselves the Alashi and lived on the steppes to the north. He thought I
would be uniquely suited to this task because I was part Danibeki myself and
could pose as an escaped slave. First, though, he suggested that I be a slave, so
that I truly could escape—even if it would be arranged in advance—and make
my way to the Alashi just as a real slave would.
I agreed, and was "sold" to Kyros's friend Sophos, supposedly as a concubine for
his harem. Sophos swore that he wouldn't forget that I was a free woman; no one
would lay a hand on me. He lied. The memory of what happened still made my
gorge rise.
The night that I escaped, Tamar followed me; she threatened to spoil my escape
if I didn't bring her along. I told myself that I couldn't risk the delay of my plans,
but in all honesty, I already liked Tamar and knew that helping her to escape
would be a slap in the face to Sophos. We struggled together across the desert.
Although the younger girl had initially forced me to bring her along, by the time
we reached the Alashi, we were blood-sisters and friends for life.
We spent the summer with one of the Alashi sword sisterhoods, trying to prove
