Read In the Skin of a Nunqua for Free Online

floor with a loud clatter. Mossgail snored away.
    “What the hell are you doing!” Shanti hissed, a hard edge to her voice.
    Leanna stammered, unable to answer.
    Shanti picked up the knife. Standard issue. Leanna must have gotten it from the supply area. “If you want to show that bastard you can hurt him, that it’s personal, then cut off a lock of his hair.” She handed Leanna the knife.
    Leanna went over to Mossgail, seized a finger-size clump of hair, and tried to saw through it. His head bobbed, and Shanti’s stomach jumped. He would wake for sure.
    She took the knife from Leanna, quickly sheared a lock of hair, and then stepped out of the room. “I need string.” One of the women threw a ball of twine from inside a bag to her. Shanti worked at binding the hair with twine as the others finished packing. She hung the ornament from a nail so that it swayed in the doorway, sure to be seen.
    Leanna picked up a sack the size of a gourd. It was heavy and jingled. Inside were gold and silver coins—more money than a commander made in two, maybe three, years. The fair-haired woman ran her fingers through the treasure. “We split the money.”
    “No,” Shanti said. “This money is tainted, acquired from the illegal sale of goods. Only bad outcomes can arise from spending it. We take only the supplies. I need an anchor.”
    “A what ?”
    “A metal ring of some sort.”
    “How about a buckle?”
    “That will work.” Shanti cut a long length of twine. “Where’s his sword?”
    Leanna retrieved Mossgail’s sword, still sheathed in its scabbard, and handed it to her.
    Shanti knotted the twine around the neck of the money bag and the hilt of the sword, then threaded the two loose ends through the buckle. She balled up the remaining twine and threw it over the highest rafter in the storage area, catching it on its return. Pulling twine through the loop made by the buckle, she hoisted the sword and the money bag to the ceiling. With Leanna’s help, they whipped the dangling ends around the rafter and out of reach.
    Mossgail slept on.
    Loaded down with sacks, they left the supply area. Leanna relocked the door, then pushed the key under the crack. They darted between buildings and sneaked around camp. Shanti lifted her fist in the air, and the women plowed into her.
    “Stop, stop!” Shanti showed them her fist. “This means ‘stop.’”
    “Sorry.”
    Two guards passed on their rounds, oblivious to the deceit being perpetrated on their watch.
    The other infirmary women went one way, Shanti in another. “I’m getting rid of his clothes,” she said.
    She trekked to the river. The water rushed past, swollen from the recent rains. She removed her boots and waded in to her knees, tossing the sack into the deep and hoping it would float far downstream.
    Shanti put on her boots and returned to her room.
    *
    Shanti heard the commotion before she saw it. She finished putting her hair in the warrior’s knot, left her room, and went outside. A crowd of soldiers had gathered around Mossgail. Wearing short pants, an undershirt, and stockings, he looked wildly about and shouted, “Where is she!”
    Commander Gray Streak and Flat Face came out of the supply quarters, scratching their heads.
    Mossgail caught sight of Shanti. “ She did it. Shanti’s the thief. The lock of my hair proves it. She . . . she threatened to poison me if I didn’t give her my supplies.”
    Shanti crossed her arms and watched the antics of the thief who stole from the soldiers he was supposed to serve. He deserved what he got.
    Two men in civilian clothes came out of the supply quarters. One clutched a long stick with a knife tied to the end; the other man held Mossgail’s money bag and sword. The tall one had a lean, muscular build and seemed familiar. Recognition hit, and Shanti’s stomach sank. He had been at the tavern, bought her and the other women drinks, put his arm around her.
    “ Shit, ” she said under her breath. If he had