Summary: Sheriff Solshemshesh and his sheriff-in-training Lekni try to stop a rash of violent deaths in the little desert town of Saplapelanka.
Rating: Teen and up
Warnings: Some violence
Notes: Genders: male, female, trine (third gender), quine (genderfluid).
Kimah was setting and the sun rising as Lekni set off at an exasperated trot southwards of Saplapelanka. Someday, she thought, people would stop being idiots. And someday, she would stop being the sheriff’s errand-runner and instead be able to delegate someone else to go lead those idiots back to the town.
She spotted the group before she’d gone three miles, squatting embarrassedly half-naked around a large campfire in the lee of a sand dune. Lekni waved tiredly as she arrived. “I did warn you,” she said irritably to the first of their group, a merchant named Peltlin, if she was remembering correctly.
They scowled at her. “The woman sounded like she knew what she was talkin’ about,” they muttered sulkily.
“Well, I’ve brought you shoes, blankets, and horses. Courtesy of Sheriff Solshemshesh. So you’ll be able to get back to town easily.” She received a highly ungracious grunt that might have been a thanks and rolled her eyes. “Do you need me to lead you back?”
“We’ll be fine,” Peltlin muttered. A young woman patted their arm gently and gave Lekni a sudden smile. “Don’t bother about my parent,” she said. “They’re just frustrated at getting fooled. Thank you for helpin’ us.”
Lekni felt her cheeks warm, like a fool. “Let me know if there’s anythin’ else,” she mumbled, turning her horse back towards Saplapelanka.
She had plenty of time on the way back to curse the person who kept running this stupid con. She could, she supposed, also have cursed Shem for constantly making her deal with it, but that seemed less fair. After all, he was trying to train her to take his place someday, so she should be the one dealing with the routine annoyances. And it wasn’t like he knew this was going to be happening.
Continue reading “A Love Like Water”
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