The Princess Who Tamed Demons by J. Kirsch Page A

looked at me with a tinge of pity, as if
I was an outsider who was helpless to understand.
    "Even if he were so generous, Najika, it
wouldn't matter. The people of the Verses hate Amir's healer. They
see his magic as demonic. The Verses say that 'men who bring others
back from the dead' shall 'be burned or have their eyes put out.'
Linn chuckled, but the sound contained no humor. "There's some
theological debate between the Mosques on what that means. How
nearly dead does a man have to be when healed to be counted as
'brought back from the dead'? The bottom line though, is this: A
good healer is a dead healer, unless he works in the palace, and a
weaker healer can make a decent living, as long as he does nothing too impressive. The world is a strange place, isn't
it?"
    "Is it the world which is strange or we humans
who make it that way?" I countered. I was feeling oddly
philosophical, but now was not the time. I put my hood up and we
started back toward the palace. We crossed the hot-baked
cobblestones of the square, and this time we went down a small side
street that would help us avoid the busyness of the
market.
    The stench of garbage here was not so bad,
crammed together though the houses here were. 'Houses' probably
boasted more than these had to offer. They were cubes of hastily
assembled mud-clay, one heaped on top of the other as if a giant's
child had placed them as building blocks. Precariously sloped
stairways crisscrossed the upper levels and overshadowed the houses
below. It was a ramshackle of humanity, pressed together into a
mutually smothering, unsanitary embrace.
    "Nice neighborhood, Linn. I bet you only take
the girls you have a crush on to see the sights," I
teased.
    He looked darkly at me from the corner of his
cowl. Or so I imagined. I couldn't see his face, nor he
mine.
    "Joke when we are safely ensconced back at the
palace. The first order of business will be a bath, no
question."
    I smiled at Linn's suggestion, and I was
already anticipating how the scalding water would feel, like wet
silk sliding over my skin, when the shadows of the ramshackle
buildings along either side of us blotted out the sun. A few
heartbeats later I heard the sound of feet pounding on the cobbles,
and three black-robed figures rushed out to block our way. I was
already tipping my cowl back, aware of two more black-robed men
attacking from behind.
    Really? Was this as creative as they could
get?
    I pulled out a whip from the folds of my robe. Smack . I threw my arm forward, my wrist snapping, and the
whip curled perfectly around the neck of the nearest attacker in
front of us. His cry got strangled half-way out, and he fell
writhing as I dragged his body forward. I drew my short-sword with
the other hand, preparing to try my blade on the two attackers
behind me. If they expected me to be just armed with a simple
dagger, then the idiots had underestimated me, and Linn had claimed
that he could 'handle himself' in a situation, whatever that meant,
so hopefully he would have a few surprises for our attackers
too.
    Looking backward, I was confused at first. The
two black-robed figures were backing away instead of trying to use
their advantage. They each drew something small and slender from
their robes. My eyes widened, and I reacted too late.
    "Ahhh!" I stumbled to the side, aware of the
dart embedded in my leg. The two black-robed figures had blowguns
aimed, the deadly whistle of projectiles also coming from the other
side of us, where I turned to look just in time to see Linn
collapse with twitching arms.
    "No!"
    I began to feel drowsy. Whatever they'd laced
those darts with….
    Two more sank into my butt, and the sword
dropped from my jerking fingers. I groaned, falling to my knees.
The handle of the whip spilled harmlessly from my other hand, and I
had a perfect, final view of two black-robed figures advancing on
me cautiously as my sight dimmed, all thoughts blown away like sand
in the wind.
    ~***~
    My eyes opened, and when