4: Witches' Blood by Ginn Hale

here?” Ravishan shot him a disbelieving look. “They could find him in a year or so. Then they’ll have to send out the Kahlil.”
    “That’s not too long,” John said absently. A sweet, fruity scent rolled over him. Someone was baking apples.
    Ravishan dropped his voice to a whisper. “It means we could be leaving for Nayeshi in a year.”
    “We might miss the next Harvest Fair.”
    “I wouldn’t mind that a bit,” Ravishan replied and he looked suddenly hurt and haunted. Ravishan needed the escape Nayeshi offered. Perhaps he needed it as much as John did.
    As they walked on, the buildings they passed appeared better kept. John picked out shop signs hanging over freshly painted doors. A few blocks away, a street vendor called out that daru’sira and taye cakes were for sale. If they hadn’t needed to reach the church hostel as soon as possible, John thought he might have hunted the vendor down. A taye cake would have settled his stomach. As was, they kept walking. John caught the voices of other street vendors offering more dishes and passed them by.
    John could see the gilded silver dome and golden filigree of the church hostel a few blocks ahead of them. It was the only building in Amura’taye adorned with such extravagance. While the last few decades of crops and grazing lands had been stunted and sickly, the tithes the Payshmura church demanded remained high. With their massive holdings and wealth the gaun’im could afford it, but most common men and women barely managed subsistence. With such blatant inequity, it was no wonder that the Fai’daum had come into being.
    He wondered what Ravishan made of the Fai’daum. Before John could ask, Ravishan suddenly waved to someone ahead of them. Hann’yu rushed down the block towards them. As he came closer John saw that he was carrying a bundle of blue leaf cakes. The smell reminded John of sage.
    “I’ve been looking for you,” Hann’yu said. He smiled with obvious relief.
    “Dayyid isn’t already sending people out to find me, is he?” Ravishan glanced up and down the street with a hunted expression.
    “I don’t think so,” Hann’yu said. “Are either of you hungry?”
    “Starving,” John admitted.
    “Have some. They’re best when they’re still hot. A very kind woman made them for me, though I think she over-estimated my appetite.” Hann’yu offered them the bundle of blue leaf cakes.
    Both John and Ravishan helped themselves to the steaming, fragrant loaves. John ate his with a famished intensity. Once he had something in his stomach, he seemed to realize how hungry he really was. Ravishan smiled at him as he eyed the last cake in Hann’yu’s bundle. Hann’yu, too, noticed John’s attention.
    “Have it,” Hann’yu told him. “I’ve already stuffed myself on them.”
    “Thank you.” John picked up the warm cake but years of Nayeshi etiquette stopped him from just devouring it. “Would you like half?” he asked Ravishan.
    “Yes, thank you,” Ravishan replied.
    John handed him half the cake and they both ate quickly.
    “I’ve found myself in something of a bind,” Hann’yu said while John and Ravishan chewed. “I was thinking that the two of you might be able to help me out.”
    John simply nodded and took a last bite. Ravishan made an affirmative noise around his food.
    “Last night the rain woke me up and I saw the two of you leaving so I followed. I had thought we three could share accommodations but I lost my bearings before I even got out of the fairgrounds. I wasn’t in the best state.” Hann’yu gave John a slightly embarrassed smile. “In any case, a widow happened to notice me and took pity on me. She invited me back to her house since it was close.”
      “That was nice of her,” Ravishan said. He took the last bite of his cake.
    “She’s a kind woman,” Hann’yu replied. “But you can see my predicament. It looks bad if I return saying I spent the night alone with a woman. Dayyid might make a fuss