Choice

by Andrea Loredo

Shahira looked up at hir, worry and confusing crossing her face. Mirele staunchly kept hir eyes on the scene in front of them.

  "Please leave," the older woman said, taking a step forward.

  "But I'm your son!" the young man wailed. "You're abandoning me because I had the misfortune to be cursed to this existence? That's not fair!"

  "It's for the betterment of us all," the blacksmith said. "Just go. Make this easy."

  The young man fell to his knees, his cries echoing through the village. "Poor boy," Halim, who now stood next to Mirele, huffed. "Nobody deserves that fate, all tied up and imprisoned to some strange purpose."

  As they watched the blacksmith and younger woman haul away the boy, yelling at him to leave, Mirele was inclined to agree.

  "They don't deserve their fate," Halim repeated. "And we don't deserve to get saddled with the likes of them."

  His words made Mirele's chest tighten as ze was reminded once again just how the world viewed the Arisen.

  Ze turned to Shahira. "We should leave now," ze whispered.

  "My head is killing me." Shahira nodded, her mouth pulled down at the corners.

  "I do not wish to linger here for far too long," Mirele added, sending Shahira a pointed look. Comprehension dawned on her face, and she nodded. To think that's barely half of why I wish to leave Isca. They should have left earlier.

  Mirele quickly gathered up their supplies and began loading up Duha, who had been grazing in a nearby field. Hir armor easily took up the most space in its large canvas bag on Duha's left side. The only piece of armor ze wore was a leather brigandine ze carried with hir for occasions when hir usual plate armor was unnecessary. Ze slung hir sword on hir back, hir shield in the canvas bag with the rest of hir armor.

  Shahira came bounding along the street, Halim in tow. A canvas bag, smaller than the one Mirele had hir armor in, was slung over her shoulder. "Halim gave us food!" She said happily. She seemed much better than she had earlier. Mirele wondered if Halim had also given her some more hangover-curing herbs.

  "It's just dried meats and fruit," he said, scratching his bushy beard. "Say, where are you two headed anyway? You came from Pasmyral right?"

  Mirele nodded. "We’re headed far south," ze said. In truth, they were headed specifically to Vesuna, which wasn’t quite so far south, but strangers didn’t need to know that.

  "If that’s the case, would you mind delivering something for me? I doubt it would be too far out of your way, and this is how you can repay me for the food I gave you," Halim said.

  An eyebrow rose on Mirele's face. "What are we delivering? And to where?"

  "Just a letter with some coins to a Leonius Nejem. He's a fellow barkeep and tavern owner in Vesuna. You'll find him at his place on the docks of Vesuna, The Golden Anchor," he said, handing the parchment and coin purse to Mirele. Mirele wondered just how people came up with such names for taverns.

  "That's awfully trusting of you to have faith in us to make this delivery," Shahira stated.

  "You seem like a reliable and honest sort," Halim grunted, shrugging. "A bartender's gotta be a good judge of character. Comes with the territory."

  "Well, thank you," Mirele said, dipping hir head. If only he knew.

  "Never caught your names anyway," he said. "Sad to only know them when you're just leaving."

  Mirele looked over at Shahira, who had stilled. "My name is Octavia," ze said easily. "My friend is Vita."

  Halim nodded. "Octavia and Vita. Them's capital names alright," he said, smiling. "May spirits guide you along smooth paths." He held out his hand, and Mirele shook it.

  "May spirits keep you safe," ze said, replying with the traditional response.

  Mirele helped Shahira onto Duha and then sat behind her, spurring Duha on out of Isca and towards Vesuna.

  A couple of nights into their journey to Vesuna, Shahira said, "I never understood why the Arisen are so feared." She turned to look at Mirele, who tried very hard to ignore how pretty Shahira looked in the light of their campfire. "You reacted very strongly to what happened in Isca. You don't like the Arisen, do you?" Her mouth was set into a hard line.

  Ze sighed and rubbed hir forehead. Nothing could be further from the truth. "I dislike their lot in life," Mirele said quietly. "To be bound in such a way… One has no agency in their new life, no choice."

  "It's not right," Shahira agreed, "but it's not surprising that there are such limitations on resurrecting the dead. To play at being the ruler of life and death like that…" She trailed off. "But I can't say that I don't understand the desire to bring someone back if you could. I could bring them all back," she whispered. "I could see my family again."

  "The ritual must be done within five minutes of the deceased passing," Mirele pointed out, not unkindly. There were other risks involved with the ritual, but Mirele had no wish to think of them and Shahira in the same thought.

  "I know," Shahira said, a touch of bitterness in her voice. "It was just a wishful thought."

  Mirele knew that. Ze didn't know why ze said it. There were people ze would bring back—Salah, Lucia, hir parents—even knowing what such a thing involved. It was a selfish desire. Or was it selfless, considering that the caster would most likely die during the ritual? Mirele didn't know.

  "Do you truly not know why people are frightened of the Arisen?" Mirele asked. It seemed strange that she knew of the mark, had even seen it in a book, but didn't know why the Arisen were so feared.

  "All my studies ever told me about the Arisen was that many years ago, a handful of them rampaged, wiping out an entire town," she said. "Their marks were clearly visible, but they were warped. It's believed that they were resurrected more than five minutes after their deaths."

  "And that is why people fear the Arisen so," Mirele answered. "Most people don't believe that last part. They so fear such a thing happening again that they believe all Arisen are driven mad by the process, but that simply isn't true. That boy the other day is proof of that."

  "It's still so hard to believe." Shahira rested her chin on the tops of her knees. "Anyone could do that. Why single out the Arisen?"

  "People fear what they don't understand."

  "What a cliché."

  "It is." Mirele wished it were only that.

  "Was it only hatred of their situations that made you react the way you did in Isca?" Shahira asked pointedly.

  "No," Mirele admitted.

  Shahira stood and walked over to Mirele, sitting beside hir and leaning her head on hir shoulder. Mirele felt a flush creeping up hir neck at Shahira's close proximity, even more so than usual given what had happened in their room. Ze hoped ze could just pass off the redness of hir pale skin as the light of the fire. "Why the strong reaction then?" she asked softly.

  That was an opening if there ever was one. Mirele sighed. How could ze admit to being such an abomination to Shahira? She deserved the truth, but the truth was too ugly. Images of Shahira's face contorting into pure disgust flashed through hir mind, even though the rational side of Mirele's mind argued that Shahira would never react in such a way. Ze was her best friend, perhaps her only friend now. But what if she ran, unable to be anywhere near such a being? Where would that leave Mirele? Dead probably, ze thought derisively.

  Ze should tell the truth. It was the right thing to do, the courageous thing to do.

  "It's nothing," Mirele forced out. "I don't wish to discuss it."

  Hurt flashed in Shahira's dark eyes but quickly disappeared. She set her head back on Mirele's padded shoulder. "Okay."

  Mirele was a damn coward.

  *~*~*

  Vesuna was huge. A major port city, Vesuna was also the capital of the southern province of Serdica. Mirele had only been to Vesuna when ze was early on in hir knightly training, and the city still took hir breath away.

  Unlike the stonework of Pasmyral, with all of its buildings built so closely together and trees and other foliage running along the stone, Vesuna was spread out, its size dwarfing Pasmyral
. Canals ran through the city, and the sea breeze could be felt most everywhere. And smelled, Mirele thought as the odor of fish and saltwater hit hir nose.

  "This city is amazing!" Shahira said, looking everywhere with an expression of wonder on her face. "How have I never been here?"

  She looked beautiful.

  "Mirele?" Shahira waved her hand in front of Mirele's face, and Mirele quickly realized that ze had been staring. Ze looked away with a blush. "You're acting weird," she said. "Ever since we left Isca."

  Mirele shrugged. Ze had no idea how to answer that truthfully. "I didn't realize."

  Shahira rolled her eyes and adjusted her grip on the knapsack containing all of their clothes and the bag of food. Mirele carried the canvas bag of hir armor; somehow, the armor weighed less when ze was actually wearing it. "We should find our way to that guy's tavern. What was his name again?"

  "Leonius Nejem," Mirele replied. "Halim said his tavern was on the docks, so we should head that way."

  It took them longer than Mirele would have liked, and involved getting directions from more than a few people, but they reached The Golden Anchor before nightfall and stood outside of its door.

  "We could have been here much more quickly had you not gotten distracted by the bazaar," Mirele stated, amused.

  "Hey!" Shahira stuck her tongue out petulantly. "It's not my fault I've lived a sheltered life inside of a castle for my entire existence and get distracted by pretty baubles for sale," she muttered.

  "Yes, they were quite pretty," Mirele deadpanned. They were gaudy.

  "Sourpuss."

  Mirele raised hir brows and covered hir chest in mock offense. "You wound me, dear highness."

  "I'm about to if you keep that up," Shahira said, shaking her fist at Mirele. The gesture threatened Mirele about as much as a pack of kittens would, which was to say that ze found it adorable.

  Ze couldn't help but giggle.

  Shahira stared at hir. "Did you just giggle?"

  Arranging hir features into an expression of grave seriousness, Mirele shook hir head. "Absolutely not."

  A wide smile spread across Shahira's face. "Spirits, that is so cute."

  "I'm not talking to you anymore." Alas, there goes my aura of fierceness.

  Mirele pushed open the door to The Golden Anchor, Shahira behind hir, and was greeted by a man behind the bar calling out, "Welcome, welcome! Make yourselves comfortable!"

  The room was lit by a raging fire in the fireplace and glass lanterns not unlike the enchanted ones of the castle hanging overhead. Tables and chairs were spread across the room, and a long counter dominated the right side of the dining space. A minstrel strummed a lute in the corner by the fire.

  It was a warm atmosphere.

  Not many people sat at the tables and none sat at the bar, so Mirele walked immediately over to it and sat on a stool.

  "New around here?" The bartender asked. He was an older man, freckles spread across the dark skin of his face, and his graying hair was pulled back into a bun. "I'm Leonius Nejem, but you can just call me Leon." The corners of his brown eyes crinkled as he smiled.

  "We just arrived this morning," Mirele said, slightly on guard. "I am Octavia, and this is my friend, Vita." Shahira smiled at Leon, who returned it with double the brightness.

  "Did you say you were Leonius Nejem?" she asked.

  "Indeed, I did."

  "We have a delivery for you," Shahira said. She pulled out the roll of parchment and the coin pouch Halim had given them. "These are from Halim in the village of Isca."

  "Oh? I haven't heard from Halim in some time," he said, taking the items. "Is he well?"

  Mirele nodded. "We were only in Isca for a day or so, but he seemed plenty well."

  "That's good to hear. Now, can I get you two anything to eat or drink?"

  "Whatever you're serving for dinner is good enough for us," Mirele said.

  "And water to drink," Shahira added.

  Leon nodded. "Right away." He walked off to the kitchen that was presumably past the door behind him.

  "He's very friendly," Shahira said. "Usually barkeeps listen to patrons spill their sorrows, but he seems like he would be the one doing all the talking." Mirele almost laughed at that.

  Their food and drink came quickly, and they tore into the fish and beans. They were so hungry and eager to have something other than dried meat and fruit.

  Giving a loud sigh, Leon leaned back against the wall behind him. "It's a slow night tonight," he said. "Though it's a nice change of pace. Having every night be busy is quite draining, you know?"

  Shahira shot Mirele a look saying 'I told you so,' and ze faked coughing in order to hide hir laughter.

  "Do you have any rooms available, by chance?" Mirele asked, hoping they weren't too expensive.

  "I'm sure I do," he said and heaved a large, leather-bound book from underneath the counter. Leon opened it, flipped a couple of pages, and ran his finger down the parchment. "I've only got one room available. Single bed." He looked up at them. "That okay?"

  Spirits, I am going to die.

  "That's fine," Shahira said quickly, and Mirele was in the position of someone faced with hir imminent demise.

  "That'll be ten silver a night. How many nights are you planning to stay?"

  Shahira looked over at Mirele, who hadn't heard anything Leon had said. "Octavia?"

  It took Mirele a second to remember that ze was supposed to respond to that name. "Hm?"

  "How many nights are we staying here?"

  Mirele had no clue. Ze wanted to see if they could fetch a ship to Kulonn, the kingdom to the south. "At least a couple of nights," ze said slowly.

  "Alright," Leon said. "Twenty silver up front then, and you can pay more when you decide if you're gonna stay longer."

  As Mirele paid him, Shahira gave Mirele a puzzled look. "Ze's been acting weird all week," she told Leon.

  "Ze's not always like this?" Leon asked, amused.

  "A little awkward at times, yeah," Shahira said. Mirele frowned. Ze was not awkward. "Ze is usually a lot more alert though and less prone to getting lost in hir thoughts."

  Leon chuckled. "Traveling takes its toll on people in different ways, I suppose. Where are you two from? Pasmyral, I think, given your accents?"

  "Indeed," Mirele said.

  "How long ago did you two leave? Have you heard the news?" Leon asked.

  "I think we left nearly three weeks ago," Shahira said. A white lie, but not an unbelievable one. "We have heard what happened, though." Her face dropped. "It's a tragedy."

  "It's hard to believe such a thing would happen," Leon agreed. "The de Granius family did not deserve that horrid end."

  "No," Shahira said evenly. "They did not."

  Mirele tried to steer the conversation onto happier topics, but the damage had been done. Shahira continued to glare at her mug of water, as if the object had done something to offend her. Leon gave Mirele a sympathetic glance and shrugged.

  "I may as well see what Halim sent me," he said. "Business is gonna be slow all night, I think." Leon peeked inside the coin purse. "Ah, money. I'm always happy to receive that, but why on earth would Halim send me money? He doesn't owe me any," he muttered to himself.

  Mirele watched on in vacant curiosity, and Shahira still stared down at her water.

  Leon opened up the parchment, eyes moving to and fro as he read and widening at its contents. "How? What?" He looked up at Mirele and Shahira and then back down at the parchment. "You sure this is from Halim?" His tone was serious.

  "It is. He handed it to me himself," Mirele answered. "Is everything alright?"

  "Yeah, just some shocking news." Leon rolled up the parchment and slid it into his belt. "There's some other patrons I must take care of, if you'll excuse me," he said politely. "Oh, and here's your room key. Up the stairs and last door on the left." Leon plucked a bronze key from beneath the counter and placed it in front of Mirele before scurrying off to see to his other customers.
>
  Taking the key in hir hand, Mirele placed a hand on Shahira's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

  Shahira gave a short bark of a humorless laugh. "No."

  "Would you like to see the room and put our stuff away?" Mirele asked. Maybe it would do some good for Shahira to get out of the tavern, so to speak.

  "Might as well," she replied glumly.

  Their room had only one bed, just as Leon had said. Mirele sighed. Wonderful. Really. "I can sleep on the floor if you would prefer the bed to yourself," ze suggested. Ze set hir bags down by the only chair in the room.

  Shahira sat on the bed, testing its comfort. "We're both adults, Mirele," she said quietly. "Sharing a bed for a couple of nights won't kill us." Mirele didn't want to say that it could very well kill hir. "Besides, it'll be just like a slumber party. I've read so much about them in stories, but you know…" She shrugged and smiled, but her smile didn't reach her eyes.

  Mirele swallowed. "As you wish." Ze sat on the wooden chair by the window, thankful that the seemingly enchanted lanterns from downstairs were also in their room so they wouldn't have to mess around with candles. "Is there anything you wish to do? We've had dinner already, and there is still time before we have to turn in."

  "I think I'm just going to sleep," Shahira said. "Leon mentioning my family ruined my mood." She pulled off her cloak and boots and settled into the bed, taking the far side of it.

  Hir heart wrenching in sympathy, Mirele wished Shahira a good night before setting out to make sure hir sword and armor were well-maintained.

  It didn't take as long as ze had expected it to, so ze removed hir brigandine and other uncomfortable clothes and climbed into bed beside Shahira, who was snoring softly. Mirele quickly faced away from her though. Ze felt like ze was going to spontaneously combust from this, and ze definitely would not be able to deal with waking up cuddling Shahira.

  Hopefully that wouldn't happen, because Mirele was unsure if ze would be able to move if it did.

  Mirele fell asleep quickly and soundly and dreamt of nothing until a sharp knock at the door roused them. Ze sat up drowsily, yawning loudly. A moment passed, and ze wondered if ze had imagined the sound until there was another knock, this time a double knock.