by B. T. Narro
Then he had another. He was still fuming, so he took a few more.
Soon he had calmed enough to speak without yelling, and he and Siki started walking again.
He told her, “I grew up in Jatn with my brother and father. You know them.”
“I have not met your father, but I have heard much about DVend Quim. He must’ve taught you how to use Artistry.”
Andar shook his head. “You can believe me or not, but here’s the truth. We were as poor as a family could be. My mother died when I was very young, so the three of us did what we could to earn coin. We barely could afford the food we needed. When I was thirteen, the king’s army attacked Jatn because rebels were gathering there.”
“Yes, I heard about that slaughter. Your father escaped, though.”
“I wouldn’t say he escaped. He wasn’t targeted.”
Siki looked confused.
“My father wasn’t revealed as DVend Quim until recently. Throughout my whole life, he was Darren Litxer. He was a hero, but not the kind most people know. He didn’t always know what to do to help our situation, but he tried everything. I don’t think he did one thing for himself since my mother died.”
“I wonder why he didn’t marry another woman.”
“I’m sure he couldn’t open his heart to anyone else. My mother was the world to him. He still hurts because of how she died.”
“How did she die?”
“It’s not important to what we’re doing. None of this is.”
But in the silence that came over them, it was clear that neither wanted that to be the end of the tale. Siki had shown Andar that she thought him to be a nobleman, someone who was guided down a path, but really he had chosen his own fate. He didn’t know why it was important to him that she knew the truth, but it was.
“Please continue,” she said to his relief.
Andar nodded. He went on to describe how his mother had fallen ill and his father couldn’t afford medicine. Andar tried to skip to the important parts of his story to get back to the part about his father fleeing the city, but Siki’s questions kept slowing him down. Eventually, he decided to tell her everything of his childhood. He spoke of the tyrannical overseers at the farms and of joining the Bookbinding Guild. He described how he had foolishly stolen a small container of golden ink and it had cost him his job. It was the biggest regret of his life, but he hadn’t told anyone the truth. He had lied to his brother and father because he was too embarrassed to tell them. Now it didn’t matter anymore.
He found Siki staring at him intently during the story, but she didn’t say anything, so he continued.
Eventually, he caught up to the part of Erisena’s attempt to recruit Darren, and the army attacking Jatn soon after. He went on to describe what it was like to live without a guardian, to get by when it was just him, Leo, and Rygen in a rotting house, with no money.
That was when Siki finally spoke. She asked many questions about Rygen, forcing Andar to describe her close relationship with Leo, her unfortunate encounter with Marcus Dowl, and her summoning ability that would become important later in the tale of his life. Andar continued the story, fondly describing his relationship with the late army commander, Rolan Kipper, before Rolan was murdered, most likely by Jarrel Marks.
Before the murder, it was under Rolan’s guidance that Andar was allowed to dig in the Tisary, where he had plenty of time to practice Artistry near a stable rift. He went on to describe the terrifying experience of the rope breaking. If Leo hadn’t felt Andar’s cries for help through the stalwart link, Andar surely would’ve died a horrible death. But Leo and Rygen had come to his rescue, teaching the three of them a lot about the stalwart link between him and Leo, though it did land them in prison. But that was where they met their aunt in the cell facing theirs. Leo had to guess Yune’s identity to set her free, for she was imprisoned because she did not have identification papers when the army came to Jatn.
Andar tried to skip past this part, but Siki wanted to know all about Andar’s aunt. He didn’t have much to say other than that she was friendly and fun to be around, but she didn’t care about them in the same way that their father did.
Soon he came to his favorite part of his own story: his discovery of Artistry and how he taught his brother what he’d learned.
Andar had forgotten until then just how quickly he and Leo had joined the army. It was right after they started practicing with Artistry. He felt pity for Rygen. Life must’ve been very difficult for her alone and probably still was.
They had found a thin river ahead while Andar was telling his story. Now it was just a matter of walking to it.
“So do you believe me?” Andar asked after a long silence.
“I do,” Siki said. “And that explains why you’re a shendi.”
“What’s that?”
Her face scrunched up. “It’s difficult to explain. What’s the word for when something is appropriate among your people?”
“I don’t know. What else can you say about it?”
“It’s a word you can use to describe most people who are educated.”
“Proper?” Andar guessed.
“I suppose that’s close enough. A shendi is someone who is not proper.”
“Sounds like an insult,” Andar grumbled.
“Their actions are an insult to the rest of a shendi’s family, but a shendi doesn’t think their actions are wrong.”
“Is that why you are bothered by me?” he asked. “You think of me as a shendi?”
“You are a shendi, but that’s not what bothers me about you. You entered the palace as if it belonged to you. Then you lied to me. You insult me and my family by not apologizing.”
“So if I apologize, you will be nice?”
“Perhaps if you had apologized immediately. It has been too long now.”
They were silent for a while, the river still far ahead. Andar realized that this was what Siki was waiting for earlier when she was prompting him with, “And?” She had expected an apology for what he’d done when they’d first met.
“Well, I am sorry,” Andar told her with heartfelt honesty. “Even if it’s too late to matter, I still want you to at least know that I regret lying to you. I should’ve come to you or your father with the truth from the beginning. Your family is known for your honor, which makes me feel even more foolish for not trusting you and your father. It was wrong to lie to you. I’m sorry I did it. I wish I hadn’t.”
Andar watched her for clues to her thoughts. She was too beautiful, making it hard for him to concentrate on anything but her bright eyes and full lips. Her lustrous hair was vibrantly violet, a stunning contrast to this stark land of rock and sand. Her delicate neck and shoulders made Andar want to hold her, to protect her. Meanwhile, her curves made his blood rush. He could not think straight whenever he was around her.
He gave up attempting to read her expression, his dry lips reminding him there was one other thing he needed besides her, and this thing was actually necessary.
He became annoyed when Siki did not reply to him but only looked ahead in silence. He’d thought it was a good apology and was hurt at her lack of response. But he was glad he’d said it, nonetheless. She did deserve an apology for what he’d done. He would be angry, too, if someone had tried to trick him the way he’d tricked her.
Eventually, they reached the river.
“If there’s a town at all around here,” Andar said, “it would probably be within walking distance from this river.”
“That’s a good thought,” Siki said to his surprise, her tone friendlier. “It would probably be built on higher ground as well, for better protection.”
Andar agreed with a nod. “Should we look for one or try to find shelter?”
Siki glanced around. “I don’t suspect there are any caves around here we can use for shelter. And we don’t have the tools to make our own shelter.”
“It might be dangerous to enter a town,” Andar said. “But it could be even more dan
gerous to spend the night out here with nothing to protect us from the weather. I’ll leave it up to you.”
“Let’s look for a town. We can turn away if we want to after we see what it looks like.”
“All right.”
They drank and followed the river up the slight incline.
They walked for the better part of the day before they saw a town in the distance. Andar was not tired, but he certainly was hungry. The sun was setting quickly, and a deep chill had settled into Andar’s bones. He and Siki had put their warmer clothes back on, but neither had a coat or a cloak. Siki’s robe clearly provided more defense against the wind, but it was she who began to shiver first.
The weather didn’t seem as if it would shift so drastically for them to freeze to death, but it would be one of the worst nights of Andar’s life without a coat or a blanket. Regarding a shelter, he hadn’t seen anything he could use to make walls and a roof. He supposed they could use the last hour of light to look for a cave, or build something out of rocks and sticks, but Andar had no training in shelter-making, and he doubted Siki knew anything. Otherwise, she would’ve suggested it.
So they would risk getting closer to town. Depending on what they saw, they would decide what to do.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Night settled in by the time they were close. The town was not too small. There might’ve been two hundred people living here based on the number of houses. Andar had hoped to see what at least one of these people looked like before entering, but luck was against him.
He took Siki’s hand as they walked down the only road. All homes were built beside each other along the crudely paved path, a few boasting a second story. Andar caught sight of people walking around ahead of him, lamps in their hands. He wished he could put something over Siki’s head to hide her violet hair. The townspeople would know in an instant that she was an Analyte, not that Andar could figure out if it would put her in danger or not. It was her beauty that was most dangerous. He was glad to be here at night.
“Stay behind me and hide your face as much as you can,” he advised. “There’s no telling what these men are like.”
“I will.”
But it was a woman who they first encountered. The manly size of her silhouette had deceived Andar at first.
She looked at Andar with shock.
“Excuse me,” he tried. “We are lost. Do you speak common tongue?”
The woman looked around and called out something in a language Andar didn’t recognize.
Siki spoke quickly in Analyse, but it didn’t seem to get through to the woman.
A man approached. He was a whole head taller than Andar, with a tattoo down his check that Andar couldn’t make out.
“Garubarhikiahton.”
What language was that? It sounded much rougher than Analyse.
The man shoved Andar back and stepped after him. Lamp light flashed across his face, revealing the tattoo as some sort of symbol that resembled a dagger.
“Garubarhikiahton!” the man repeated.
“We don’t understand.” Andar held up his hands in what he hoped the man would interpret as a peaceful gesture. He remained in front of Siki, using one arm to push her behind him before he lifted both hands again.
Something—or someone, actually—lifted her. She brushed against Andar as he turned to see another massive man throwing her over his shoulder as she screamed. Andar was about to jump on the man’s back when a pair of rough hands grabbed him, hoisted him up, and flipped him around as if he were a small boy.
Soon he found himself bouncing against a rocklike shoulder behind Siki as they were taken deeper into the town. Siki screamed and kicked, but it did no good.
Andar was just about to start fighting with the aid of links when a woman called out and stopped these two men. As they stared at her, she pointed at them and yelled again.
One responded with a bit of a laugh to his tone. Andar couldn’t see the woman from this angle, but the stern tone of her reply made her sound like she at least had some authority here.
Andar’s brute dumped him on the ground a little too hard for his liking. He got up as he watched the other brute put Siki on her feet with not an inch between her body and his. He pressed her into him and looked down as if he might lick her face or something equally rude. With his other hand, he tilted her face up to him and appeared ready to kiss her. She pushed him off with a strength that surprised Andar. It even took the man back a step.
Andar lost his breath with shock when she slapped the man. Siki, you fool! Instinct made him reach for his sword. It wasn’t there. He had not worn it into the sealed room, so he did not have it here.
Andar’s brute laughed, but the furious expression of the one Siki had slapped stilled Andar’s heart. But then the man let out a chuckle as well and both walked off together with only a glance back.
Andar turned to the woman who had somehow stopped this. She was smaller than he’d expected after witnessing the size of the first woman. She probably wasn’t any taller than Siki, who came up to around Andar’s shoulders. This woman was perhaps the age of Andar’s father. Her cheek was tattooed with another symbol that resembled a weapon, a sword, perhaps.
Siki walked over to Andar. “Barbarians,” she said.
The woman overheard and spat on the ground as she glared at Siki. “Hakumeetu barbarians barashgalah.”
“Siki, be nice to the woman,” Andar said nervously as he kept his eyes on the dagger the woman was flashing. “She saved us.”
Siki put up her hands to mimic Andar. “I didn’t know bar…” She stopped herself. “I didn’t know they have an aversion to that word.”
The woman gestured for them to follow her as she led them to a nearby home. It had two floors. The walls were stone. The bottom floor consisted of one large room with a bed in the corner draped with animal skin. There was a wooden table with two chairs and a dresser nearby. A very large animal skin covered most of the floor.
The woman set down her lamp on the table. She turned away from Andar and Siki and moved her hands through the air. A rift appeared. Out jumped a creature that looked akin to Jin, Rygen’s foxlike animal. It had the same blue tint to its fur, but it was considerably larger than Jin.
It looked up at its master as the woman pointed at Andar and spoke to it. The creature sniffed around his leg. He remained calm, figuring the animal was looking for signs of aggression. Soon it stopped checking him and jumped back into the rift.
It had not been a surprise to see this barbarian bring a creature through to their realm. The barbarians were known to have an easier time connecting to the animals of the dark realm than humans and Analytes did. This woman was either the leader of this town or someone high ranked. Andar didn’t know much about the barbarians besides that the strongest usually led their groups, and they lived on an island south of Aathon called Disetel.
The woman took her two chairs and set them next to one another. She gestured at them, so Andar and Siki sat.
The barbarian tried to communicate with Andar and Siki through her language. They told her several times they didn’t understand, but she kept speaking to them for quite some time.
Eventually the woman blew out a frustrated breath. She paced around the room as she took off her coat. She had but a small shirt underneath that exposed her toned arms. It also gave sight to a dagger on her belt that Andar might need to steal if he sensed an aggressive change was coming.
The woman herself had a softer voice this time as she spoke to Andar only. He didn’t bother saying anything back, only shrugging to show his confusion. The barbarian motioned at the bed and then at Andar. She seemed to be asking a question.
He nodded. “Yes, we would like to rest. But do you have any food?” Andar stood and rubbed his stomach. “Food? Hungry.” He made a growling sound as he put his hands over it.
The woman laughed. She put up her palms as she grabbed her coat and headed toward her door. She pushed her hands out at them as she left.
>
Andar sat beside Siki again. “I think she’s getting us something and will let us use her bed afterward. Perhaps all barbarians aren’t so bad.”
Siki didn’t seem to agree as she looked at Andar with annoyance. “I don’t trust her.”
“Well of course, I don’t trust her yet, either, but she did save me from having to kill the two men who picked us up. I’m sure no one would be fetching us food if that had happened.”
Siki got up and started searching. “Help me look for a weapon of some kind.”
Andar stayed put. “Siki, sit back down! I’m sure she has people watching us.”
Siki froze. The windows were just holes in the stone walls, but each had wooden shutters that were partially closed. It was too dark outside to tell if someone was on the other side. Siki slowly walked back to her chair.
“We’ll just eat and rest and leave in the morning,” Andar assured her. “Tomorrow we can make our own shelter and hunt for our own food. I’m looking to swipe a water skin or two before we go, though.”
“Swipe?”
“Take. Steal.”
“You can do that without being caught?”
“Yes, if I can locate one first. I also wouldn’t mind swiping the woman’s dagger if I can get my hands on it.”
“As long as you’re careful.”
“You can’t steal carefully. You have to be fast and opportunistic.”
Siki nodded. “All right. But we run if you’re caught.”
The woman came back with a full plate of something. She set it down on the table. Andar didn’t bother checking what it was before he scooped the contents into his salivating mouth. He was surprised to find out that it was dried meat, a bit hard to chew but salty and delicious. She threw down a loaf of bread that startled Siki. Andar grabbed it and ripped it in two. It was somewhat stale but still delicious.
He looked around for water. The barbarian woman handed him a pouch that Andar hadn’t noticed on her person.
He offered it to Siki first. She drank some, then gave it back to him.
Andar was so hungry he had forgotten to thank this woman. He swallowed as he stood and faced her. She had no lines across her face, but her eyes revealed her age as probably twice that of Andar’s. They were hard as if they’d seen battle, but their blue spark spoke of youth as if she still had a childlike side to her.