He came close to me and put his hands on my neck, feeling for the chain. He drew the Firelord’s sign from under my robes and hung it outside, where it shone. “I will not let them harm you, Elsha,” he said gravely, “but I cannot stop their hate. Stay very close to me.”

He picked up the reins of the mule, and together we stumbled down the steep track We went down past the first stone huts, and children playing on the road stared, curious and horrified, at my brand. One of them ran into a hut. A man came out, looked at me, and spat. “Quelled!” he shouted. He called out other things, things I didn’t understand, and more people came out and started yelling. The children threw stones, and Amasai roared at them.

We walked on, Amasai pulling the terrified beast as well as me. He held my right hand hard, but still with every step my fear and apprehension grew.

I pulled my hood low over my forehead and covered my brand. But the people knew, and threatened and taunted me. They swarmed near, and some threw stones and swore and spat. Something tripped me and I fell, helpless, dragging Amasai with me. He pulled me up and shouted something in my ear, and walked with his left arm tight about me.

We came into the marketplace, and I saw brown and yellow awnings over stalls of vegetables, clay pots, and cages piled high, filled with screaming birds. The tumult was deafening. The air was full of dust and confusion. The mob pressed close, though not close enough to touch me, and rocks and sticks struck me from behind. Amasai crushed me to him, half dragging me through the turmoil. At times I closed my eyes, too terrified to look; and when I did look, I saw a multitude of faces all shouting, hostile and savage.

Something struck me in the face, hard, and my head snapped back. Light splintered across dark, and the world spun. I heard, as if far away, Amasai roaring in anger, and felt him grip the Firelord’s sign I wore, and raise it high until the chain cut my neck. “She is his handmaid!” he cried, and for a moment the crowd moved back.

We pressed on, and I could hear Amasai swearing awful oaths, and our mule snorting with fear on the other side of him. Then the shouting started again, and the mob closed in They hit me from behind, where he couldn’t see, and a woman rushed up with a bucket in her hands and emptied something foul over me. It missed my face, but the stink made me retch. I tripped and fell, and Amasai’s arm was wrenched away. Heavy boots smashed into my ribs and legs, and something hard and sharp cut across my back. I fought for breath. I heard screams, and wondered whether they were mine.

Then I was on my feet again, being dragged, half carried, through the chaos. There was a sound like thunder; a door crashed shut, a bolt shot home, and there was quiet.