by S. R. Cronin
Hana made a grand gesture towards me, inviting everyone to see my exposed face as it turned a deep shade of pink.
“Her confidence will be an asset.” I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not.
“Your team has no singer,” Celestine shouted. “I’ll join you two if you like.”
A look of surprise crossed Hana’s face. She’d forgotten she didn’t have a singer. Perhaps she knew she didn’t need one.
“Thank you, Celestine, but I’ll manage that part myself. Your considerable singing talents are best used elsewhere.”
She turned away from Celestine and addressed the crowd with a few words of encouragement. Everyone began to disperse. Everyone except for me. I walked right towards her.
“What kind of scump is this?”
She looked around to see if anyone had overheard my disrespectful tone. If they had, they were looking away now, pretending they hadn’t.
“I’m in charge,” she said. “I want to be able to handle any emergencies that arise in the days before the attack, and I may need a luski at my side. You’ll do nicely. Do you have a problem with your assignment?”
“Keta what’s-her-name tried to get Davor to make me give up my child.” I spat the words at her.
“Yes, I heard. Unfortunate. She and I had a misunderstanding, and her enthusiasm got the better of her as she tried to prove her worth to me. No harm done though; I understand Davor defended your mothering skills and broke off his relationship with Ketevan instead. Something of a victory for you. Is that what inspired your nude-faced look today?”
“That and the fact that my school is willing to consider having a luski on staff.”
“Oh dear. My options for influencing you have dwindled, haven’t they?” She seemed amused, not concerned. “Well, as I remember, you and I have an understanding all our own. I’m on good behavior and so are you.”
I replied with what may have been the single boldest thing I’d said in my life.
“Pick another luski for your contingency team. I don’t want to work with you.”
Fat bit of difference it made.
“I don’t care if you do or not. You won’t be so foolish as to try to destroy me before the invasion, and I insist you aid me as necessary for the next two anks. It’s a reasonable request Coral. Get over your dislike of me.”
How could I refuse to help her if she needed me? My best bet was to hope she wouldn’t.
Chapter 26. Unnerving Good Cheer
Celestine opted to stay elsewhere, so only Dad and I were at the house that evening. With Mom gone, I figured he could use my company. With Votto gone, I knew I could use his.
I learned he planned to spend the next twelve days dousing the buildings and fields in Bisu with water. He didn’t want the Mongols to be able to set fire to the entry to our realm.
“Won’t everything just dry back out before the invasion, Dad?”
“We’re soaking it in an uncommon amount of water, dear. I designed this wonderful pumping device to make it possible. Then the Velka, they’ve never been able to make rain for us, but they can keep things misty. They’ll do their best in the few days before the invasion. You see, Bisu doesn’t have to be inflammable, just unexpectedly hard to ignite.”
I understood. We’d found a dozen ways or more to confound these invaders by reducing the effectiveness of their techniques. Or at least every technique Ryalgar’s research had revealed. Maybe they’d give up on us in aggravation. Under circumstances less dire, the idea would have been comical.
“When I’m finished watering down Bisu, I’ll take my crew into Zur,” Dad said. “We’ll be on call there, waiting to provide any last-minute alterations to the landscape anywhere it’s needed. You’ll be okay here alone those last couple of days?”
“I may not be here either, Dad. The woman in charge of my part …”
“Hana …” he interrupted.
“Yes, her. I found out today she wants me to assist her. I could end up traveling around with her dealing with unexpected issues.”
“I don’t mean to give advice where it’s not wanted ….”
“It’s wanted...”
“I wouldn’t trust that woman …”
“I don’t. At all. I just wish I could figure out what she had in mind by asking me to do this.”
He looked thoughtful. “Then ask yourself, what is it she’s after?”
Good question. “World domination, I think.”
He laughed. “Seriously, Coral …”
“I am serious. At first, the woman just wanted to use us luskies to gain a more important role in Ryalgar’s plans. When that didn’t work out, she tried to coerce us into being on permanent standby to help her control everything.”
“Okay. Well, if she’s like most people, her immediate world is her everything, so she probably just wants to run the Velka.”
“I didn’t think anyone ran them.”
Dad winced. “They have their ways. I believe they’ve opted for having a leader of sorts and, if I understand the situation correctly, I’m pretty sure their current leader is your grandmother.”
“Really? Ryalgar said Grandma was important. Everyone sure acts like she is. So you think Hana might want to eliminate Grandma so she can take over her spot?”
“Well, that would be the equivalent of world domination for Hana, wouldn’t it?”
I worried about Dad’s theory all night, as I tossed in my old bed, my breasts still heavy with unused milk three days after Votto had left. I liked my grandmother, and I didn’t want her replaced by Hana. I missed my baby. I missed my little house and teaching and my life, and there was a reasonable chance I’d never get any of it back. Ever.
I felt the tears coming. Then I remembered that tomorrow I planned to ride over to Janx’s farm and tell him I was far from the sweet woman he’d come to trust.
My tears froze inside my eyes, turning into an icy snowdrift of dread.
A messenger arrived on horseback the next morning as I readied myself for the day. It surprised me messengers still worked this close to the invasion, but I supposed we needed them more than ever. I assumed he brought news for my father, but he sought me out instead.
“You are hereby requested to be prepared to leave your home eight days hence,” he began in the traditional singsong tone of the messenger. “Dress warm and bring extra clothes, as you will be camping on high ground. You are to meet your leader Hana at the forest’s opening where Vinx, Bisu, and Scrud all touch.”
“What the Heli kind of problems could they be having in Scrud?” I demanded to know.
“If you respond with any question I am to tell you that the two of you will be riding into Eds to handle problems that have arisen there.”
“What the Heli kind of problems could they be having in Eds?”
The poor messenger gave me a helpless shrug. “This is all the information I have. Hana will expect you at the agreed-upon location mid-morning eight days hence. She will have food, water, and other necessary supplies.”
I thanked him, gave him the customary extra small coin, and sought out my dad.
“I’m sorry to hear it,” he said. “You’ll be leaving before I will.”
“I know, but I should return before you leave. Hana and I need to be back in Vinx well before the invasion. At least this way we know she’s not going after Grandma. Aliz and all the other oomrushers are staying close to the grasslands of Bisu, in case the Mongols show up early. And Bisu is nowhere near Eds.”
“True. That’s some comfort.”
The question of why anyone, much less Hana, would want to go to Eds seven days before Kolada vexed me all the way over to Janx’s farm. It was just as well, as it distracted me from the conversation Janx and I were about to have.
He must have seen me in the distance. By the time I arrived, he’d poured morning wine for both of us and found an apple to slice so it could be shared. He smiled at me from the time I dismounted till I sat in the chair he offered
me.
“You seem happy this morning.” His good cheer unnerved me.
“We’ve plenty to be worried about, that’s for sure. And yet …” He took a sip of his wine.
“And yet what?”
The question came out sharper than I meant it to, but my conversation with him held enough difficulties without all this unexpected glee on his part. Whatever had gone so well for him, I’d no doubt destroy his good mood and that only made me feel worse.
“I feared you wouldn’t come see me now that Chessa had left. And here you are. Tell me why you came.”
“Surely you realize I enjoy your company as well as hers?”
“I do, but I think your visit has a special meaning today. Or at least I hope it does.”
Screaming skunk scump. He would not be dissuaded from his jubilance. Enough was enough.
“Janx. Listen to me. I’m a prucking luski.”
“I know. And I am so happy you rode over here to tell me when it would have been so easy to keep your secret instead.”
“You know?”
“Coral, the first farmer who thought she recognized your hair under your hat came to warn me about you anks ago. Seven others have been kind enough to do the same since. Not to mention, despite my grief and struggles to raise a child, I can draw conclusions as well as anyone.”
“Aren’t you scared of me?”
“Not unless you give me reason to be. So far you haven’t. I do have questions, but the fact that you’re here makes me think you’re willing to answer them.”
“Wait. You’re so happy because I came to talk to you?”
“Yes! I decided if you couldn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth before Kolada, then you and I had no future together. On the other hand …” His smile hadn’t diminished a bit. “… when I recognized you in the distance, I realized perhaps we did.”
I guess I wasn’t going to destroy his happy mood. I’d caused it.
“I wanted to tell you sooner, but …”
“Believe me, I understand …”
“You do?”
“Coral, there are things you need to know about me too. Not things like yours, but difficult truths none-the-less. Like why my wife and I left Faroo, and why it wouldn’t be wise for me to ever set foot in my home nichna again.”
I reached out and took his hand in mine. I’d always liked men’s hands, but today I noticed how strong his were.
“I’d like to know your secrets too,” I said.
He touched my arm in response, just below the elbow, and then he ran his hand up to my shoulder and left it there. Those eyes, with their intensity, bored into mine.
“She and I grew up playing together, childhood friends because our parents were business partners. We married young, had a child, and then our story took a sad turn. My wife, she had skills with numbers so our parents put her to work with the coin handling. They didn’t realize how smart she was. When she discovered our families shared dishonest secrets she confronted them and it went poorly, to say the least.”
“She sounds amazing,” I said. Odd perhaps, but I admired a woman who would do this.
“We moved to the other side of Faroo and tried to make a life apart from our kin. We thought they’d leave us be, but when others uncovered their thievery, my brother and her father conspired to lay the blame on me.”
I saw the grief creeping into his face and heard it in his words.
“She blamed herself for my troubles and not a single person in either family came to my defense. We fled in the night with Chessa and the little we’d saved.”
I touched his face, wiping at a trace of a tear. He leaned towards me as I did, and I have no idea who kissed who first, but once it happened, we kept kissing as the passion of that first embrace washed away the conversation.
The heat between us had increased considerably when he said, “If this morning is all the time you and I will ever have together, then I choose to spend it enjoying each other, not talking of our troubles. What do you think?”
I smiled and reached for him as we both forgot about everything else in the world.
It wasn’t our only time together. Despite his rather dramatic proclamation, I didn’t need to meet Hana for another eight days. My father left every morning to dump more water over Bisu. Chessa and Votto were being well-cared for deep in the forest. Janx and I? We had our minor chores and practice sessions, but we also had more free time on our hands than we’d had in a long time. It made no sense to sit alone and worry.
At least, that’s what I told myself when I showed up the next morning at his farm with a freshly made cake. He was more interested in me than breakfast, but we enjoyed the cake, too.
He came to my farmhouse the next day, awkwardly catching my father as he left. Dad seemed amused, and that evening he told me how much he liked Janx.
I brought Janx dinner the day after that, and I stayed the night and half the morning, too.
The following day we took a break. By then we both needed it. Then the next morning I went over to his house to say my real goodbyes. I told him I’d need the following day to pack. Our farewells lasted most of the morning and ended with a promise to discuss marriage when Kolada passed.
He showed up at the farmhouse the next morning anyway.
“You don’t need a whole day to pack,” he said. He was right of course, so we spent the morning saying good-bye again. We knew this time it was for real, though. I had to leave shortly after dawn the next day to meet Hana.
I rode Nutmeg and found Hana on her excellent mount with two donkeys in tow. They both carried provisions.
“What to do we need all those supplies for?” I asked.
“Have you spent much time in Eds?” she answered. “Me neither, but I understand there isn’t much there under the best of circumstances and most of the population has either been evacuated by now or relocated to nichnas where fighting is expected. We need camping gear, food, and water for up to an ank, in case this all runs slow.”
“What the Heli is in Eds that concerns you so?”
She gave me a grin. “An exceptional opportunity.”
I hoped Hana would become more talkative, but she remained unusually close-mouthed about our mission as we rode through the desolation of Scud. As we entered K’ba we kept to the road which skirted north of the reczavy campsites. I knew how much she liked to brag, so I kept prodding, putting the most delicate bit of timbre into my questions. She deflected every one.
I decided her demeanor towards me had changed. She’d never relaxed this much in my presence, not even when she showed up at my house half a year ago to tell me Ryalgar had put her in charge of me. She’d lost her fear of me.
“What makes you so sure I’ll help you with something you’re not even willing to discuss with me?” I finally asked.
“Hmm. Maybe I have my reasons.”
Good. I had her on comfortable bragging ground now.
“I thought you and I had an understanding. Don’t we?” Only a hint of encouragement.
“Oh, we do,” she said. “We do. You will do as I say, and I will not expose you as a luski. Not much of promise on my part anymore, though, given you’ve decided to expose yourself. But that was your choice.”
“I rather thought our agreement involved a broader promise to behave ethically towards each other.”
She laughed. “As long as you do what I ask, I’ll be ethical as the day is long.”
“And what do you intend to ask of me?”
“I’ll need to know more about the situation before I can answer that. Of necessity, there will be a lot of improvisation.”
“I see. Yet, I can’t imagine you have any way to hurt me if I refuse. As you said, I have nothing left to lose.”
“Oh don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “Of course you do. You have that lovely son you adore. You’d do anything to keep him safe, wouldn’t you?”
I sat up straighter and slowed Nutmeg down. “My son couldn’t be safer. He’s with m
y mother and the Velka.”
“He certainly is. Your mother hasn’t a friend among them, you know, and your grandmother and sister are far away saving the realm. Tell me, what makes you think the forest is such a safe place for them?”
I’d never considered it anything but.
“Because the Velka are people of honor. They … they have a code. They’d never hurt a child.” My fear grew and I knew she could tell. Worse yet, I knew she enjoyed watching it grow.
“You know, Coral, one doesn’t have to be a luski to get someone to do their bidding. Sometimes friendship does the trick. No magic needed.”
My mind raced. Friendship? Ryalgar had spoken of Hana’s two closest friends a few times. The two of them and Hana had given her grief during her early days among the Velka. I searched for their names or anything else about them I could remember.
“Idris.” Her name popped into my head. I remembered a skinny, angry young woman. From Eds, I thought. Was that why we were going to Eds?
“Very good. I once had a close friend named Idris. I’d still have her, but your prucking sister put her in touch with another prucking sister of yours – the one in the reczavy – and now Idris has run off to have sex with multiple men or whatever it is the reczavy do.”
Oh wait. I had heard about Idris. She worked with Gypsum on the Goat. So Idris wasn’t part of this.
“But the other one, she’s still loyal to you?”
“You bet your arse she is. Ryalgar tried to take her away from me too, by sending her off on that horrible mapping mission where poor Natia saw things no one should see. She still has nightmares about it.”
Natia. That’s right. Ryalgar thought she’d won Natia over by teaching her to make maps and by giving her an important assignment. Guess Ryalgar had only seen what she wanted to see.
“Natia isn’t a fan of my sister?”
“Natia hates your sister. But she knows how to hide it well. She’s been nice to Ryalgar and Aliz for half a year now, so she’ll be in charge during the invasion. Much of the Conclave will be off doing important things and, of those who aren’t, Natia is the most informed about the Chimera. All that mapping she did.”