Page 23 of Invocation

Chapter 6

They wound back through the cavern. Aruna led her through sparsely populated dark alleys instead of the main streets, a courtesy that she noticed and was grateful for but was too embarrassed to acknowledge aloud. In a few days, she’d look back on the episode with indifference, but right now it was still a raw wound.

Aruna kept his hood up, and Novikke followed suit. There may still have been people around who recognized them.

They passed a group of men lounging beside the back door of a shop. They stopped talking and watched them as they passed. Novikke stiffened as eyes fell on her.

As they were about to pass, one of the men reached out to grab Aruna’s arm.

“Hey,” the man said, and jerked his chin at Novikke. “Rent her to me. How much?”

She supposed glaring wasn’t slave-like behavior, but she did it anyway. The man only smiled back at her.

Aruna shook the man off and kept walking. “Fuck off.”

Novikke gave him a surprised glance. She’d almost thought he didn’t know any words like that.

“Ten silver?” the man said.

“Do you see a for sale sign? Go to the markets if you’re so desperate.”

The man put his hands up, looking amused. “All right, then. No offense meant.”

Aruna grabbed Novikke’s arm and pulled her down the alley. She listened for the sound of footsteps following. There were three of them. If they decided to harass them further, she and Aruna wouldn’t be able to fight them off easily.

But she heard nothing. She glanced up surreptitiously as they rounded the corner, and found the men still standing by the door, involved in conversation again.

Aruna let go of her as they turned onto another street. There was a distinctly uncomfortable silence.

“Is that a common occurrence?” Novikke said eventually.

“I wouldn’t know. In this part of town, maybe.” He looked over his shoulder, evidently having had the same concerns Novikke had about being followed. “The Goddess condemns the forceful taking of another’s body. That’s why the thought of it fills one with disgust. It’s anathema to her designs. It’s unnatural.”

“Even if it’s a human’s body?”

“Yes.”

“And what about violence, then? Toward someone else’s body?”

He gave her defensive glance.

“I’m curious,” Novikke said. “About your goddess.”

“Ravi has no objection to warfare. There is honor in being a skillful fighter. Fighting serves a purpose. It’s been a part of Varai culture for as long as we’ve existed, since the Dark Days, because it allows us to protect ourselves when hiding fails us. Rape serves no purpose. It’s cruelty for cruelty’s sake. It’s one of the few true evils in the world.”

“That’s what she says?”

“Yes.”

“Not all Varai are devout followers of Ravi, it seems.”

“Unfortunately.”

He frowned, pausing at an intersection of roads. Then he changed directions. “This way,” he said over his shoulder. “We’ll take a detour.”

“A detour?” she asked nervously, looking around for followers again.

“The scenic route.”

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