where a look and a touch meant more than words.
Don’t die, Elena was thinking. Don’t die, just as you have
something to live for. Live for your freedom, and for your baby.
And maybe some of what she was thinking got through to the
woman, because she relaxed against the litter cushions, holding on to ⑤思⑤兔⑤網⑤
Elena’s hand.
17
“Her name’s Ulma,” a voice said, and Elena looked down to find
Lakshmi holding back the curtains of the litter with a hand over her
head. “Everybody knows Old Drohzne and his slaves. He beats ’em until
they pass out and then expects ’em to pick up his rickshaw and go on
carrying a load. He kills five or six a year.”
“He didn’t kill this one,” Elena murmured. “He got what he
deserved.” She squeezed Ulma’s hand.
She was vastly relieved when the litter stopped and Damon himself
appeared, just as she was about to start bargaining with one of the litter
bearers to carry Ulma in their arms to the doctor. Without regard for his
clothing, Damon still somehow managed to convey disinterest even as
he picked up the woman—Ulma—and nodded to Elena to follow him.
Lakshmi skipped around him and took the lead into an intricately
patterned stone courtyard and then down a crooked hallway with some
solid,