Wing & Nien

by Shytei Corellian

  It might have been sunsteps, days, or moments and Nien could not have said, but as he returned to his body and saw Wing standing in front of him, tears flooded his eyes. He knew Wing. He remembered. Countless lifetimes they’d spent together. And though each one had been unique in form and relationship still they had been themselves.

  “When I’m with you,” Wing said softly, reading Nien’s mind as he often did, “it is to me a perfect blending of flesh and spirit, dirt and sky, rock and root. I am the beginning, you are the end. Together, we complete our one soul’s desire.”

  The realization struck Nien so profoundly his knees buckled. Even as part of him soared over the trees, the rest of him sank to the forest floor.

  Wing knelt down beside him and, leaning forward, locked

  himself shoulder to shoulder with Nien.

  Unable to contain his new reality, Nien wept. And Wing wept with him, shedding tears of joy, sadness, dissolution, union, and everything in between.

  Chapter 87

  Royal Welcome

  P ree K stood wearily at the descent into Quieness. His trip had been swift; nevertheless, the two turns and a day had been long and lonely. He still had a little food and the shoes had been a lifesaver, but memories of his previous assignment to Quieness came sweeping back and dread filled him at the thought of entering Cao City again.

  “Yosha, I hate that city,” he said to himself.

  At least, this time, he knew his way to the Palaces. If only he could circumnavigate Cao to get there.

  He sighed. There was nothing for it.

  Feet hurting, he started out again, determined to just get it over with even as he imbued himself with the thought of a warm bed and some hot food.

  Making his way off the mountain and down into the city, Pree K found his memory in tact, picking his way along the streets with far greater ease than he had the first time. Passing the main business center, he turned right along a smaller side street and found himself standing before a familiar bakery tucked between a jewelry store and a meat shop.

  Pree K paused. He was in something of a hurry — if the ache in his feet and the growl in his stomach were any indicator — and had a thought that might speed up the rest of his trip between the city and the Palaces.

  Slapping dirt out of his pants, Pree K opened the door to the shop and stepped inside.

  He’d looked the place over twice and was about to give up when he spotted the face he’d been looking for sitting in a corner.

  With a smile tugging at his lips, Pree K accosted the individual where he sat, hunched over a plate of fiilas.

  “Did you pay for those?” Pree K demanded, spreading his feet and pointing at the plate.

  The man jerked, head flying up, the tops of his thighs thumping the bottom of the table.

  Feigned innocence followed by a flash confusion preceded the bursting of a huge smile.

  “Preek!” Hilloy barked and, bounding to his feet, nearly toppled the table as he grabbed Pree K up in a hug that Pree K thought might snap his ribs. “So good to see you, boy!” Setting him down with a thump, Hilloy said, “Come back for some fiilas? I got plenty. I can get Edna to bring out another plate. Maybe.” He took a breath. “Or a ride? You need a ride?”

  “Yes,” Pree K said. “I’ve traveled all the way over the Uki Mountain Range for a plate of fiilas and a horse ride — May, is it?”

  “Well, driyar, let’s do it! I don’t have May, tho — if that doesn’t break your heart.”

  “It does a bit,” Pree K said with a wink. “But I think I’ll survive.”

  “Are you hungry first? I’ll even share the fiilas if you want some. Then, you can pay for ‘em.”

  “All right. I’ll owe you for the ride anyway.”

  It felt good to be on his rear and off his feet as Hilloy’s new mount — a lusty black and grey gelding — moved over the ground with ample speed and much less racket than had the aging mare.

  Once at the palace grounds, Pree K left Hilloy with his gratitude and followed a guard through a set of side gates bordered by a tower wall that rose above him like a bird of prey, majestic and graceful but also alert.

  It was with a discreet expression of mischief that Pree K noted this was not the way he had been taken to see the Empress on his previous trip; clearly, Nien’s name literally opened a different door.

  Through a twisting row of columns and corridors, Pree K and the guard arrived at a set of elegant red doors within one of the inner palace domes. Pushing them open, the guard stepped in and said, “The messenger from Rieeve, my lady.”

  SiQQiy looked up from the map on the table before her and upon seeing Pree K the weariness in her features fled and her mouth parted in shock. “Pree K, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, Empress.”

  Standing, she crossed the floor to him. “You’re alive,” she said, her eyes studying him as if he were not quite comprehensible.

  “Yes, Empress.”

  “How?” she asked.

  “I was not in Castle Viyer that night, Empress. I found my father, he told me what happened.”

  “You saw Commander Lant…that night?”

  “I did. He’d been at the castle and been wounded, but he told me to find Wing and get out of the valley. I found Wing and asked him to go to my father as my father had requested. I then gathered those I could find who had not gone to the festival and took them into the mountains where we hid.”

  “Where you hid…?”

  “Yes, until Wing and Nien and Carly found us.”

  SiQQiy’s eyes were huge and black and gorgeous as she watched him. “Your story,” she said, her voice clearly affected, “is one, I’m sure, that will become legend.” Taken aback by her words, Pree K was relieved when she continued to speak. “I am so sorry about your father. He was a friend to me in my youth, a friend that not only I, but every valley on this continent will one day be indebted to if we win this war.”

  Pree K bowed his head to her. “Empress.”

  “Please, call me SiQQiy,” she said. “How is Nien?”

  “He is fine, lady. He sends his regret at not being able to come in person.” Pree K paused, deciding whether or not to share a more complete thought on the matter. “I believe, if he could make it so, he would shed his body and be here already at your side.”

  The light that lit SiQQiy’s face was utterly unmistakable. “You are obviously many things, Pree K of Rieeve, but a poet, too?”

  Pree K shrugged sheepishly.

  SiQQiy laughed. “So much good news in one day? May I hug you?”

  Pree K had utterly no idea what to say to that; not that it would have mattered for SiQQiy had already snapped her arms around him, squeezing until his ribs creaked. The softness of her breasts and the sweet scent of her skin rattled Pree K’s normally unflappable center.

  Releasing him, SiQQiy heaved a sigh and touched his shoulder. “Forgive me, you must be tired after your journey.”

  “Tired a little, yes.”

  “Come, sit,” she said, motioning to a chair. “Guard, you may leave.”

  The guard retreated.

  “Would you like refreshment?”

  Pree K replied that he would and SiQQiy called her two young attendants, each adorned — as they had been the last time he’d seen them — in a single length of shimmering cloth that Pree K recalled from his last visit. After only a few words, the girls departed and SiQQiy turned back to Pree K. “What is the situation in Rieeve?”

  “According to Wing and Nien, the Ka’ull have no more than a thousand men in Castle Viyer. They believe that if the castle can be taken now it could save much bloodshed later.”

  “So,” SiQQiy said, “they have returned to Legran?”

  Pree K paused. “They were going to go, yes.”

  SiQQiy started to speak. Stopped. “Going to? They stayed in the valley until you left?”

  “Yes, at their home.”

  SiQQiy’s confusion was obvious.

  “The Cawutt
home is at the other end of the valley,” Pree K tried to explain. “The Ka’ull in the castle would not know they were there, unless…”

  “Unless they perform reconnaissance.”

  Pree K nodded. “Unless they do that.”

  SiQQiy shook her head softly as if she could not comprehend such monumental stupidity.

  She then nodded to one of her attendants. “Please inform Netalf and Jenta that the messenger from Rieeve has arrived,” and to the other, “Ready Granj Two. I will depart with my own entourage and the first contingent of one hundred in two morning’s time.”

  Pree K felt his eyes widen. It appeared they really were just waiting on word from Nien to make the biggest move of men materials in, well, their continent’s history so far as Pree K knew.

  “I received a messenger two days ago that Legran, Preak, and Jayak have all agreed to the Plan,” SiQQiy said. She indicated a spread of maps on her desk. “I was considering taking Hikon Pass, it’s a more direct route. But you just came over. What can you tell me about it?”

  “It’s…rough,” Pree K admitted. “Some very steep pitches. A lot of trail hunting in spots. The temperatures were still fine during the day; it’s getting cold at nights.”

  “So, you’re suggesting the Nijen Range then?”

  Pree K nodded. “For pack animals and supplies yes, absolutely.”

  “So, we will take only two smaller contingents with us over Hikon Pass, lightly supplied, on foot.”

  “We?” Pree K said in astonishment. And then immediately felt stupid.

  SiQQiy’s dark eyes flashed at him. “An action no more foolhardy than that made by our mutual friends, Nien, Wing, and Carly, I imagine.”

  “I suppose not,” Pree K quickly admitted, flushing.

  “And yet, I go with my armies. So, not exactly the same thing.”

  Pree K offered an agreeable nod.

  SiQQiy turned again as her attendants returned with two men who were dressed in what Pree K thought to be the uniform of her private guard.

  “Netalf,” she said, “Jenta.”

  The men bowed their heads to her.

  “This is Pree K, the messenger we’ve been waiting for from Rieeve. He has given me information on the condition of the trail over Hikon Pass; we’ll need to adjust our arrangements slightly. We’ll be leaving our mounts once we reach the mountains and going over on foot, with only two small contingents. Second Granj can pick up our horses as they come through the Nijen Range as we’ve already discussed.” She turned to Jenta. “You, and the Cao-based Granj commander will remain here.”

  “Though I have never been through the Nijen Range,” Pree K said, “I got a pretty good look at it from the Pass. It’s definitely adequate for a large movement of men and materials but if you have heavy horses and lines they’d be of use, it’s northing ridges are rocky and probably prone to slides.”

  “Netalf…?”

  “I’ll make the adjustments, Empress,” he said. The doors behind them opened again and SiQQiy’s young attendants entered once more with platters of food.

  “Enough for now,” she said. “Let’s eat something.”

  Netalf and Jenta took their leave and SiQQiy sat down across from Pree K. Pinching off the top of a piece of sweet orange fruit, she handed it to him. “You’ll like it. Just peel back the leaves.” SiQQiy placed another on her own tongue and smiled as the thin skin popped, filling her mouth with nectar.

  As Pree K peeled back the leaves and popped the tiny piece of fruit into his mouth, SiQQiy said, “To have traveled so far, by yourself, twice now to my palaces. To have led and protected your people for so long under such horrific circumstances…” Pree K felt heat rise in his face as she looked him over. “You are definitely Commander Lant’s son. His Plan is slowly bringing together a force that just might stand a chance against the Ka’ull. We are lucky to have you with us.”

  Surprised by her words, Pree K still did not feel that getting the elders to leave the valley that night or what he’d done to keep them alive in the caves thereafter anything particularly heroic; all that was done out of necessity. The burning of the Village, however; that was something Pree K felt some sense of pride in. He’d not been in the castle that night, he’d not raised his sword in defense of his friends or his fellow Cant Members who had all fallen, but at least he’d made sure that the Ka’ull couldn’t move into the comfort of the homes of those they’d slain.

  “If I become even half the man he was, I’ll be content,” Pree K said.

  SiQQiy picked up a glass. “You already are,” she said. “Now, let’s eat and find you a place to rest. Tomorrow, I imagine, will be a rather chaotic day, and then we leave.”

  As they stood and left, moving down one of the many long corridors Pree K recalled from his last visit, he said, “I almost forgot. Nien asked if it were possible to send along extra horses. All of ours were taken by the Ka’ull.”

  SiQQiy nodded. “We can and will. Your room is just down this hall and to your right.”

  “I remember,” Pree K said.

  SiQQiy smiled and nodded to him. “I am so happy you are well and safe. Thank you for bringing me word.”

  Pree K lowered his head to her but, to his surprise, SiQQiy reached out and placed her long fingers under his chin and brought his head back up.

  “Not from you,” she said kindly, a hint of emotion in her eyes.

  Pree K swallowed, unable to speak.

  Touching his face, SiQQiy smiled at him and turned, her attendants materializing at her side, and Pree K watched the three women move down a hallway to their right.

  Still shocked by SiQQiy’s deference, Pree K almost lost his way to the room he’d stayed in before despite his assurance that he knew the way.

  At the room, he pushed open the two large doors and stepped inside. It was as he remembered it. There was the amazing story-painting covering the walls and ceiling, the extensive bed, porcelain washbasin, and polished wood floor. A meticulously woven rug covered most of the floor next to the bed, its colour patterns swirling hypnotically to its center.

  Pree K wasted little time in bathing — the bed was calling his name.

  Tenderly pulling back the covers, Pree K crept into the silken sheets, but as the bed folded in around him this time, he was surprised to find that the great palace and the elegant covers felt no better than had the log home and the coarse blanket, placed over him by Wing, his first night back in Rieeve.

  Chapter 88

  A Touch of Light

  R ieeve had received a light dusting of snow over night. Looking to the southing in the first pale light of morning, Wing hoped SiQQiy and her men were not having too difficult a time in their travels. Maybe it was a bad idea, taking the offensive with Ime coming on. He shivered and drew his cloak tighter as he made his way out to the barn. He found Nien inside.

  “Brrr,” Wing said.

  Nien nodded. “E’te.”

  And then, from outside, they heard Carly shout.

  Wing reached for his sword and saw that Nien had, too. Turning together, they hit the barn doors at the same time and spilled outside. Across the yard the children came running out of the house, all together and in good order, ready to dive into the barn and the hiding hole at the back. Drawing up briefly, Wing glanced in the direction Carly was pointing.

  In the first rays of light over the mountains came a company of men moving out from the tree line to the southing.

  Breathless, hand on his sword, Wing was about to continue ushering the kids into the barn when he saw one of the company break free from the rest and begin running toward them.

  Only one person Wing knew could run like that. “Pree K!” he shouted.

  With the grace that bordered on the unnatural, Pree K crossed the distance between the trees and the Cawutt barn like liquid light over the dying Kojko grasses.

  With the rest falling in behind him, Wing began trotting out to meet him. He got to Pree K first and took the young man’s lithe frame in
a huge embrace. The rest came up behind, smashing Pree K between them.

  Amidst a flurry of questions from the children to Pree K, Wing noticed Nien’s attention had shifted back to the grand concourse of men as they continued to empty into the valley. Except that it wasn’t to any of the men that his brother’s attention was fixed, but to the one among them that was clearly not a man. Though dressed in traveling clothes and appearing as travel weary as the rest, there was no mistaking SiQQiy, Empress of Quieness. His brother looked as if his heart had stopped.

  With the gait of a man in disbelief, Nien began to walk out to meet her and Wing saw SiQQiy alter her course to meet him. They met and stood, embracing one another, lost to the reality of anything outside the circle of their arms.

  As the company of men parted around the lovers, Wing and Carly stepped up to meet the new commanders. One of them was Lead Netalf, one of SiQQiy’s personal guards that Wing and Nien had known in Legran. They greeted him with enthusiasm as he introduced three of the Granj unit commanders that were with them.

  “Well, come on up,” Wing said. “I think the space between the house and the barn will be a good place for them to bivouac.”

  Netalf nodded, and the men started out again.

  As short brown tents began to pop up, SiQQiy came up with Nien and made more introductions: “These are Hettha, my runners and sentries. And these men are the Arris, my long distance archers.”

  Wing greeted them, and he and Nien began answering their questions — traveling distances and times, what he and Nien had seen the last time they’d made a reconnaissance of the castle, and the particulars of streams and natural hideouts at the foot of the mountain on the castle side of the valley. They also informed them of the confluence, river, and likely travel routes between the confluence and Jayak. The Hettha listened before heading out to make camp in the mountains from where they would set up sentry, observation, and relay points in the days to come.

  As the rest of the men continued to set up outside, SiQQiy and four of her personal guard, Netalf, Vadet Tien, Terro Tellah, and Leef Keppik — more of the same men they’d gotten to know while in Legran — went inside the house. Helping Carly with new sleeping arrangements for the addition of SiQQiy and her guardsmen, Wing listened as Pree K laughed upon being told how Jhock, En’t, and the children had refused to leave Rieeve. Casting an eye in Wing’s direction, he said, “Told you so.”