No one reacted. The temple remained intact.
The alu yanked a dagger from her boot. She stared at the blade, feeling her heart pound. She would put it into her own eyes. They couldn't make her see the visions if she had no sight. Anything to make it stop. She held the pointed end up, stared at the very tip.
With a rush of resolve, she rammed the dagger into her own skull.
White light blazed, and pain. So much pain. She screamed, yanked the dagger away. She clutched at her ruined eye, trying to hold the hot dampness in place. The pain made her dizzy. She sank down to her knees, sick to her stomach.
The other one, she told herself. Finish it.
Still clutching the dagger, she felt for the tip, placed it upon the closed lid of her remaining orb. The pain made her hand tremble. She didn't think she could do it.
Before she could think about it, she shoved the dagger home.
The world spun and went dark in a haze of pain.
Aliisza came to awareness. The sun warmed her face, but the air was cool. The alu heard the sound of two children playing. The streets of Sundabar bustled with life on the far side of the garden wall. Her eyes were closed, but she could see the brightness of daylight through the lids.
She brought a single hand up to her face. Afraid, she touched one eyelid. It was intact. She turned away from the sun and let her eyes flutter open.
She could see. The memory of the terrible pain remained with her.
Damn you, Tauran, she cried, thankful and angry all at once. I can't live this anymore. Please! Help me!
She hated herself for being so weak. It wasn't just the visions. She might have been able to watch them all day long if they were merely visions. It was the sorrow. She felt what her ghost tormentors felt. She knew their suffering. The anguish seeped into her, made her hurt. She couldn't block out the hurt.
The girl with the apron appeared, spoke to the children. Aliisza didn't even hear the words. The sadness radiating from their father, standing in the corner of the little garden, was drowning the alu. Numbly, she followed the young woman. She felt the girl's worry, felt her concern for her siblings.
And for her unborn baby.
There isn't enough food, the girl thought, and Aliisza could hear her. The rent is overdue. Sadil needs new shoes, and Kaiga, a cloak. How can I take care of this baby? Master Velsin will be angry that I'm late, but it was so hard to arise and dress. I need to eat, but the children need it more.
Stop it, Aliisza pleaded. Stop telling me this.
Oh, an apple, the girl thought, slowing by the barrel of fruit. Just one. I could take it-he wouldn't see.
Yes, Aliisza silently shouted. Take it! Eat it! Take care of your baby!
No, the girl thought. I shouldn't. It's not right.
Fool, Aliisza scolded. Serve yourself first. The merchant will not know the difference.
How could I raise my child to be truthful and honest if I cannot even follow that advice myself? the girl thought. No, she decided firmly.
That last thought hit Aliisza hard. How can I look my own child in the face, if I ever get to see him? she wondered. What would I tell him of myself? What could he care?
I'll beg Master Velsin for a few extra coppers, the girl mentally continued, ignoring Aliisza's revelation. Just a couple, to help with the food. I'll even…
The last thought from the girl came to Aliisza as an image, and it made her cringe. She was willing to debase and humiliate herself, let the cretin touch her, for the sake of her younger siblings and her unborn baby.
To the hells with that, Aliisza thought. Enough.
The alu raced ahead to the tailor. She entered the back room and found the man sitting at his work table, laying out fabric. The stink of his lecherousness roiled off him. She found him disgusting. She wanted to kill him.
You worm, she thought. You're too low to seek out the willing pleasure of a harlot? You have to prey on this girl? What did she do to you?
To Aliisza's utter amazement, the man was looking at her. He seemed surprised to see her standing there.
"Who are you?" he asked. "What are you?"
Aliisza couldn't speak. It wasn't real. It wasn't happening. Was it?
"Coward," she said. "I ought to slide this blade through your gut right now, let you dangle upon it and bleed out. It would take several days, you know. And I've got time."
The man blanched. "I don't know you," he stammered, standing and backing away. "Tell me what you want. Coins? They're in the strongbox. T-take them. Please. But don't hurt me."
Delighted, Aliisza crossed the floor and stood directly opposite the man, facing him across his work table. "Never mind who I am," she said. "All you need to remember is that I exist, and I know where you live."
The man swallowed hard.
Aliisza picked up a needle from the work table. "The girl that works for you," she said casually, examining the tiny shaft of metal. "The one who's late.'"
Master Velsin nodded vigorously. "Yes. Lizel," he said.
"Well, if you ever touch her again, or let any of your customers touch her, I'm going to come back here and tie you to this table and find all sorts of interesting places to put your needles. Are we clear?"
The man's eyes widened. "Y-yes!" he said. "C-clear!"
"You're going to pay her better, too," the alu said. "How much do you give her to work here?"
"Um," the man began, scrunching up his face in fear. "Three coppers a day."
Aliisza fumed. "She could make more than that selling her body on the Silk Way!" she growled. "You are a wretch. I should make you pay her what you earn! No," she said, inspired. "I should drag you to the district and let you service the dandies. I hear some of them secretly worship Loviatar. They pay well for the privilege of using you in their worship rituals, but we'd let Lizel have the coin. Wouldn't that be fun? Yes, I like that," she finished, smiling.
The man whimpered. "I'll give her five silvers a day," he yammered, wringing his hands. "And no more of the other. I promise!"
"Good boy," Aliisza purred, walking around the work table to stroke his chest with her hand. Master Velsin quaked at the alu's touch. "And you're going to excuse her for being late, because she's with child, and she has to take care of her little brother and sister. And you're never going to dock her pay because of it, right?"
"Right," the man whispered. His eyes were nearly rolling back in his head from fright.
"Because, after all, I know where to find you, don't I?"
"Yes," he gasped. "I swear, it will be as you say. Now please, leave me be."
Aliisza chuckled and headed toward the door. She paused and turned back. She gave the trembling man one last baleful stare and said, "Yrudis Gregan had better be out of this shop before Lizel gets here." And with that, the alu walked out into the daylight.
It took her several moments to notice that the ghost of Lizel's father was no longer around.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Vhok sighed as he yanked Burnblood free. "You disappoint me," he said to Hafiz. "I thought you'd be much wiser and more reasonable than those silly azer."
On the cambion's left, Zasian went through the complex motions of a spell, and Vhok felt a surge of preternatural power course through his body. The priest then dived to the floor and rolled, disappearing beneath one of the wagons. Two efreet dashed after him.
The half-fiend tensed his muscles and felt strength surge into his limbs. He twirled and shifted his blade experimentally, and waited as the horde of efreet surrounding him closed the circle.
"You were the unwise one," Hafiz growled, stepping back and watching his minions work. "Did you really think we'd welcome strangers here? Spies from our enemies sent to learn our defenses before attacking us?"