mules and two irate family members during a freak spring storm, had left him with an aversion to the cold flakes.
“Aren’t you curious what Voras wanted with our uncle?”
Kadar jumped at the sudden intrusion and turned and glared at his twin, who laughed at him.
“If it’s something he wants us to know, I’m sure he’ll tell us himself,” he remarked mildly.
Sulis made a face at him. “Oh, Mister Stodgy. It’s hard to believe we’re twins,” she said lightly, hooking her arm in his. “If you’re going to survive in the big city, you’d better pay attention.” She started to drag him toward the kitchen.
“I pay attention,” he said, stung. “I at least noticed you were irritating one of Voras’s guards. Sulis, you need to treat these people and their animals with more respect.”
She had the grace to look chastised. “I know,” she said in a low voice. “It’s just hard. I can feel it, the Temple up there. I touched the feli, and it was like someone was calling my name.”
Kadar nodded. They’d spent nights up, after their elders were asleep, talking about her “calling.” Sometimes when they were riding in the caravan, he’d turn to say something to her, and she’d have her head cocked as though listening, her eyes unfocused. It had gotten worse the nearer they’d come to Illian. She’d become short with him and Uncle Aaron—even more impatient than was natural for her. They were both supposed to finish their apprenticeship here, but he didn’t think she’d stay a week before she followed her calling. Then he’d lose her to the Temple. He put an arm around her bony shoulders and shook her lightly.
“Just don’t think about it,” he said.
“Yeah, don’t think about eating, and you won’t starve, right?” Sulis said. “Doesn’t work that way.”
Kadar’s stomach growled in agreement, and they both laughed as they entered the kitchen.
Aunt Raella glanced up from the shipping list she was tallying at the big wooden table and smiled at them. “That’s what I like to hear, the twins laughing together. There’s food if you’re hungry.”
Kadar gave Aunt Raella a peck on the cheek. The cook, a short, round, older man who was a third or fourth cousin on his mother’s side, handed him a plate of smoked meats and cheese. Kadar settled at a long plank table, scooting on the bench beside his sister and across from his two uncles.
Kadar could feel Uncle Aaron’s appraising look at him as he ate. They’d traveled together the past four years, his uncle acting as both father and teacher over the long roads. Soon, Uncle Aaron would be loading up their string of mules and leaving Kadar behind in the city so he could learn the stationary, market supply side of the family business. He would miss the older man’s tales by the fire, his quick appreciation when Kadar did something right.
Uncle Tarik spoke first. “What do you think of our city, Kadar?” he asked kindly.
Kadar thought a moment about the bustling streets and gray stone buildings, so unlike the soft, sandy streets and colorful tent villages of his desert life.
“It’s very different than what I’m used to,” he admitted. “We’ve only ever briefly passed through Illian on our way to more distant towns. The sales hall is larger and busier than any of the others. If I’m to learn the trade, this seems the place to do it. Although the crowds seem excessive even for a city this size.”
Uncle Tarik nodded. “It’s the tithing season. In the spring, the Festival of the Founding brings pilgrims from all over the Northern Territory; you just missed that crowd. Spring also brings the handfasted to ask the deity Ivanha to bless their marriages, while spring and summer bring soldiers tithing to Voras for luck in battle. Studies for healers and lawyers start in fall, so students tithe to Aryn and Parasu then. And while they’re here in town, they might as well pick out a few pretties for their ones back home. Spring, summer, fall—this is bread-and-butter season, and you’ve come at the good time of it.”
“They also come to the Temple to pledge,” Sulis said softly.
Uncle Aaron frowned and looked away, but Aunt Raella set aside her papers and answered.
“Of course,” she said. “Many of the acolytes now serving the deities came to give a tithe or ask a blessing but found a feli waiting for them and were taken as Temple pledges instead.”
Aunt Raella accepted a plate of food from the cook