CHANGER DAYS MM

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Chapter One

It was raining in Roisinan.

The Kheldrini ship glided into the harbor of Calabra attwilight, with the first torches already guttering under shelteringroofs streaming with water. The air was rich, damp,cool, filled with the sharp, brittle smell of autumn whichopened the floodgates of memory and released a torrent ofsmall, exquisitely painful recollections into Anghara's mind.As she had found it difficult to believe that anything otherthan the yellow sand of Arad Khajir'i'id lay beyond themountains that sundered the desert from the sea, so now shefound it equally hard to think that there was anything else inthe world except this wet autumn evening on the shores ofRoisinan. There was a lump in her throat which she couldn'tquite seem to swallow as she stepped off the ship, dresseddecorously Roisinan-fashion and wrapped in what had oncebeen Kieran's cloak, the same one she had taken fromCascin and treasured carefully throughout her years inBresse and the Twilight Country -- her Kheldrini finery shecarried bundled up in a parcel in her hand. Home. She washome. Everything about this place she knew, she remembered,it was all stamped soul-deep into her; she forgot forthe moment, lost in the sheer joy of it, why she had fledRoisinan, and the cage she had once seen hanging in a streetof this very town.

She stood motionless for an instant, lifting her face into the drizzling rain much as Kieran had been wont to do backin Cascin, and for the same reason -- in the past two yearsAnghara had not seen water often, rain least of all. The fewviolent desert storms that had come her way had been a farcry from what she revelled in now -- and she had all but forgottenthe feel of raindrops on her skin. Her eyes wereclosed in a kind of rapture, and her face, if she had onlystopped to think about it, was full in the light of a nearbytorch, underneath a half-drawn hood that offered little concealment.A man standing a few paces away, talking to thecaptain of another ship which had come into harbor almostat the same time as Anghara's and had berthed alongside,glanced casually at the passenger who had just come off theKheldrini vessel, and then looked again, narrowing his eyesin sudden interest. Before Anghara had opened her eyes andmoved away from the quayside, the man had abruptly excusedhimself from his friend and stood waiting in the shadows.When Anghara walked away from her ship and intoCalabra to look for food and shelter, he followed her at a judiciousdistance.

She did not choose the hostelry where ai'Jihaar had takenher on her last sojourn in this place. That held too manymemories, even for her; and it was a place where theKheldrini traders often stayed when in Roisinan. Angharawanted to reconnect to Roisinan, not wallow in memories ofKheldrin; she picked a sturdy Roisinani inn just off the quay.She even had plans of joining the common room crowd fora while, listening to the sound of her own tongue, not heardsince she left Calabra two years before -- if one didn't countai'Jihaar in the beginning, or al'Jezraal's own surprising,Shaymir-gleaned prowess. But once the landlord's buxomwife showed her into her room, the lure of the narrow bedproved too strong. Anghara hadn't realized how tired shewas, how much emotion could drain one's strength, and shehad been living on little else but emotion, culminating with tonight, ever since she had sailed from Sa'alah. There wouldbe time -- there would be time for everything. For now, ajaw-cracking yawn reminded her that the best thing to startwith would be a good night's sleep; she yielded with goodgrace, leaving the common room for another time.

Her dreams were strange, laced with odd premonitions ofwhich she could only recall the sense but not the substancewhen she woke the following morning. She brooded onthem for as long as it took her to dress and get ready to stepoutside and begin reclaiming Roisinan, only to dismiss themas she closed the door of her room behind her. A pale sunwas shining from a washed-out sky, the air crisp and coolfrom last night's rain; the day was full of promise. Angharabreathed deeply of it, touching again the edges of last night'sjoy, tasting it as though it was sweet wine -- and then, grayeyes determined, she set her mind sternly on what lay ahead.

The first order of business was the purchase of a horse.Anghara spared a swift, regretful thought for the gray dunshe had ridden into Sa'alah -- his owner, the yellow-eyedyoung man from Kharg'in'dun'an, had said that nothing shewould ever ride afterward would match that mount. She setout in the direction where, according to the landlord, lay aposting stables which might offer a far more ordinary beastfor sale.

She had left her premonitions behind in her room, but onthis bright, innocent morning she could not get rid of aprickling between her shoulder blades. Several times sheturned sharply, but never saw anything untoward behind her,and hated herself for waking this suspicion so soon.

What if someone recognized her?

Fool, she chided herself, after yet another glance behind.The years in Kheldrin, and before that the years inBresse . . . Who is likely to recognize you after all this time?

But the feeling persisted. Perhaps because of it, she wasfar too eager to conclude the deal for the horse -- to be out of this place, with its invisible eyes. The stable owner sensedher urgency, and got away with far more than he would ifAnghara's full attention had been on the bargaining. Nevertheless,she walked out of the stables as the owner of a quietbay mare; the mare had cast a shoe the previous day, however,and it was agreed she would be delivered to Anghara'sinn after she'd received the required attention from thesmith.

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Excerpted from Changer of Days by Alma Alexander
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