The Gems of Raga-Tor (Elemental Legends Book 1) by CA Morgan Page A

for a day than allow greed and desire to grab hold of you. Out here it’s a quick way to death’s black gate,” Raga said and remounted.
    “That one wouldn’t have amounted to much,” Eris argued.
    “Then it shouldn’t bother you to never see it again,” Raga said, and urged his mount down the dune’s slope.
    “Damned fool,” Eris muttered, watching him ride away. You’ve never gone hungry, have you? The sorcerer could always command a loaf of bread to appear at his table, but a starving man would be hanged for stealing a crumb.
    Catching up to Raga, Eris asked, “If the Sultan has a whole desert full of precious gems, then what use has he for your red stone?”
    “The Sultan wants a legitimate son to succeed him. Any of his nomadic diviners could have told him that there is something different about my gem compared with those from the sands. I’m sure he takes it as an omen of good luck,” Raga answered.
    “As soon as we pass through those gates yonder, his luck will have run out,” Eris said, confidently.
    Raga remained silent and decided not to challenge Eris’ rare, good mood. The odds were still greatly against them, and as he had been chasing his gems for some time, he never allowed his hope to rise too freely. In silence, they rode the rest of the way to the city gates.
    The exquisite perfume of countless flowers assailed their noses as they passed through the city’s high portal gates. As the hour was early, the city guards, who were barely awake themselves, let them pass unquestioned. Yet in spite of the early hour, the streets were already crowded with foreigners. Some of the national costumes Eris recognized, but many, those who were likely from the far reaches both east and west, he was unfamiliar with. Dozens of these loud strangers lead heavily veiled women through the streets and guarded them with jealous, greedy eyes. Like fatted animals at a fair, the men kept the women from being bumped or jostled so that their flesh would be clear, not bruised.
    “I never thought it would be like this,” Raga said. He felt disgust as he witnessed the humiliation thrust upon the women.
    “Obviously, you’ve never paid attention to what happens when the slave ships come to Rennas Baye.”
    “I don’t think I want to either.”
    “And don’t get any ideas about leading me on a golden chain.” Eris pointed through the crowd to a man leading three women by the golden chains attached to their equally gilded collars. “This whole business is humiliating enough as it is.”
    “Even as Erisa, I’m sure it would take more than a golden chain to bind you,” Raga commented. “Let’s find a room and remove ourselves from this. Then I’ll go find out how I’m supposed to present you.”
    Eris didn’t argue.
    As they rode through the city, Raga explained to Eris the purpose of the mind-bond he was proposing as a way to keep them in contact once separated, and the necessity of their remaining in as close proximity to each other as possible. For this reason, they located an inn just off of the palace’s broad, stonework plaza. The price for the convenience was exorbitant and came close to emptying Eris’ pouch—or at least one of them.
    “We should have kept the ruby,” Eris grumbled, as he followed Raga up a flight of polished, wooden stairs. “You obviously don’t know what it’s like to live between one border dispute and another.”
    “That may be, but I know for a fact that you’re not above a little nocturnal activity to amuse yourself,” Raga said, as he pushed open the door to their room.
    Eris had never seen such a beautiful room in an inn and he had been in many. There were those few that he paid a gold piece a night for a certain amount of luxury or pleasure, and those in which he was almost afraid to sleep for fear the rats and vermin would eat him alive while he dreamed.
    It was a large room with a floor of exotic, inlaid woods. There were two large, down-mattress beds, various