“I’m not, I’m just saying, I don’t know why I couldn’t wear just a little bit of color.”
Sylah rounded on her. “Anoor, I told you, we don’t want people noticing us, the fewer jewels you wear the better.”
Anoor’s foot quivered as if she were about to stamp it on the cobbled courtyard ground.
Sylah raised her eyebrow at her, daring her.
After a moment she spun on her heel.
Sylah growled, “Where are you going?”
“To the stables, of course.”
“Anoor, we’re not taking an eru.”
“What?”
Sylah ground her teeth. “We. Are. Not. Taking. An. Eru.”
“You expect me to walk?”
—
It was an agonizingly slow walk across the Tongue. Anoor stopped every five minutes to gawk at every little thing. Sylah was shocked to see how little Anoor knew of the city she’d grown up in.
“What is that smell?” Her nose crinkled delicately.
Her privilege made Sylah yearn for a joba seed. It had been a while since her cravings had come on so strong, and she bit the tattered side of her cheek before speaking.
“That, Anoor, is the smell of the rubber plantations.”
“It smells like rotten cheese.”
“Yes, it does.”
“Why does it smell so bad?”
“Because the Dredge is the quarter closest to the rubber plantations.”
“Oh. What do rubber plantations look like?”
That stopped Sylah, her eyes going distant. “Blood is everywhere. It pours from the trees and from the backs of the Dusters who mine them. Even the Ember overseers drip blood, but only from their whips.” Sylah’s voice was low and fierce, and Anoor’s eyes had gone wide as she listened. “So breathe that smell in and appreciate it. Savor it and be thankful. For everything you own, everything you wear is because of those Dusters, because of the blood that runs thick and sluggish down every row of rubber trees and pools at your feet.”
Anoor looked at the ground as if she could see the blood there, seeping between her toes. She stepped forward gingerly, her mouth still agape. Sylah was thankful for the silence, however brief she knew it was going to be.
“Look, I’m going in here—” Sylah was interrupted.
“Is this a maiden’s house?”
“Yes. Now—”
“As in people pay for…?”
“Yes. I’m—”
“They have an eru stable! Why couldn’t we have ridden here?”
“Anoor!” Sylah didn’t mean to shout so loud. People on the peripheral of the maiden’s house turned to stare. Sylah cursed. “You need to stay out here for five minutes, okay? I’m going to go in and get something.”