by Orr, Krystal
A pair of startled brown eyes looked down at the beautifully crafted and etched arrow. Thick and wet black hair hung around the newcomer's face and water could be seen collecting on a dark skinned neck. Arizira faltered a moment at the sight, but did not lower her bow. Her eyes were just as wide as the Esu’s before her.
Both women remained frozen, Talliea covered in her damp blouse and skirt and Arizira adorning the leather jerkin and breeches befitting her calling. Talliea swallowed and despite the situation, a small smile tugged at her full lips. She had thought of this faerie for two sunsets. Slowly, she began raising her hands over her head like she’d seen the other woman do so many nights before.
Arizira tightened her hold on her bow string, but made no move to stop the Esu woman.
Talliea succeeded in bringing her arms over head and crossed them at the wrists. She was unsure what the gesture meant, but she hoped it was something that would show the Arniran woman she meant no harm. Her heart was racing in her chest and her thoughts were chaotic. The fair woman was even more beautiful in the light of the sun. The blonde in her hair seemed to catch the rays of Esuval and made her appear as some herald of prophecy, some harbinger of hope.
“Ahmanae?” Talliea said in an unsteady voice. Arizira cocked her head to the side and regarded her with curious blue eyes. Talliea smiled again and lowered her hands. She pointed to the Arniran and tried again. “Ahmanae?”
Releasing the tension she had on her bowstring, Arizira allowed the string to slacken and brought the bow down to her side. Nodding, she placed a hand on her chest and said, “Ahmanae.”
Talliea smiled and a small laugh left her lips. The woman understood what she meant! Arizira looked upon her face and was struck with how perfect the Esu woman’s smile was. It made her appear even more beautiful. A strange fluttering sensation welled up inside of her. “Tai?” she asked, indicating Talliea.
The Esu woman looked confused and licked her lips nervously. Was the Arniran asking for her own name? Perhaps she wished to know what she was doing so far from her settlement? Arizira pointed to herself again and said, “Arizira Ahmanae.” Bringing a hand to Talliea’s chest, she asked, “Tai?”
Talliea looked down at the slender and delicate hand on her flesh. The difference in their coloring amazed her and she was struck with the feelings the simple touch caused. She realized the Arniran was asking for her name. “Talliea Aldis,” she said, looking back into sky blue eyes.
Arizira stepped back and turned her head in a curious manner. Talliea noticed the other woman’s movements were more fluid and feral than her own, but she found that fact only added to the mystique and intrigue.
“Tah-li Aldis.”
Talliea laughed at the Arniran’s attempt to pronounce her name. Even though, she thought the woman’s voice musical and she liked the way her name, however accented, sounded coming from her. Nodding, she asked, hoping hearing the name a third time would help her in understanding it, “Tai?”
Arizira looked surprised for a moment but a smile finally lit up her face. If it was possible, the act only enhanced her astonishing features. “Arizira Ahamane,” she said slowly. Hearing the name again, Talliea found, did not help her any. The Esu did not have any "z" sounds in their language.
“Ari,” Talliea said with a nod of her head, the shortened variation being the closest she could come to pronouncing the strange name.
Both women realized that there was very little else they could say to one another. Obtaining the other's name was trying enough. Still, Talliea was not disappointed. Her eyes could not seem to look at Ari enough. Every time she retraced the slender figure’s features, she found something else to be amazed about. There was something, she discovered, keeping her from moving away, from listening to the voice in the back of her mind telling her that this woman was a stranger, an unknown.
Stepping closer, Talliea got within arms reach of the smaller woman and raised her right hand. The movement raised alarm in the Arniran and her eyes widened with uncertainty. Talliea allowed her hand to stop in the air between them. “I won’t hurt you,” she said, though she knew the other woman could not understand her words. After a moment, she swallowed her anxiety and moved her hand toward the Arniran again. Though the other woman still looked unsure, she made no other attempts to stop her. Arizira’s curiosity over what she intended was overriding any other instinct she had.
Talliea’s fingers stopped by Arizira’s face and slowly, ever so slowly so as not to startle the woman, she traced her fingers over Arizira’s left ear. The touch was hesitant, but gentle. Smooth did not begin to describe the feeling of the Arniran’s skin. The delicate arch of her ear was beautiful to Talliea. She had never seen anything so unique. Touching Arizira was the only way she could prove to herself that the faerie, the Arniran before her, was real and not some fevered dream. She smiled again and looked down into bright blue eyes. They regarded her with a measure of reserved humor and something else Talliea could not quite place.
“Ahmanae,” she said softly, and truly that was what she thought Arizira was. A beautiful whisper, something so quiet yet so fair.
A different kind of whisper came on a gentle breeze a moment later. Arizira's ears strained to pick up what she’d heard. Her senses and connection with the forest were all attempting to tell her of the same thing: She was being given a warning. It was more of a feeling than any actual words, but she understood the message in any form. Was there possible trouble? Danger? Arizira slowed her thoughts and opened herself more fully to the forest. The wind blew again and the warning it carried touched her mind.
Someone was trying to contact her. One of her sisters perhaps? They were all supposed to be asleep. Had one of them awakened and found her missing? It was possible, for she had been away for more than a day. She could not risk such a thing. It was better if she parted company now. She looked back at the Esu woman and noticed her unsure expression. How she wished the barrier of language did not hinder them so! “I must go, Tah-li,” she started, but her words were only greeted with a lowered brow. “The day is not for my kind. The trees send a message on the wind. I am called back to my village. I will find you again.”
Despite knowing that the Esu woman could not understand her, Arizira felt better explaining herself instead of just rushing off toward her village. Securing her bow over her back and replacing the arrow in her quiver, she took one last look at the beautiful Esu woman and sighed. “No’rei Aitla," she said, placing a hand over Talliea’s heart. The words were a blessing. Arizira was asking Aitla to bless Talliea.
Without sparing another look over her shoulder, Arizira disappeared deeper into the forest before Talliea had time to even ponder her words.
Chapter 5: Language of the Trees
Mid-day found Arizira approaching the farthest borders of her village and she cautiously slowed her stride. She was still half a day or more from the village proper, but from her current location she could make out no sounds of livelihood coming from the trees, and took that as a good sign her sisters were all still asleep. Jumping lightly over a large rooted branch, Arizira landed on a nearby rock and crouched on top of it. Again, she opened her senses to the forest around her to assure herself that things were as they should be.
When she'd departed Talliea’s company, her feet had been swift in their journey and she had made good time in returning to a safer and less questionable location. Birds cawed overhead and the breath of Salira blew through the tops of the trees. The occasional howl of a wolf or cackle of a fox were far off sounds along the fringes of her hearing, but otherwise there was no indication of that which had alerted her in the glade.
Slouching and releasing a heavy breath, Arizira looked out at the gentle slopes and rolling hills around her. The forest was beautiful in the day light, even with the sun dying in the west; not nearly as so as when the moon touched it, but the vibrant colors and hues of the trees and plants did seem to glow more brightly with the aid of the sun.
Arizira th
ought back to the Esu woman. Her name was strange. Tah-li was the closest she could come to pronouncing it. Even still, it was an appropriate name for the striking woman with such exotic features. When she had smiled at Arizira, the forest itself had seemed to take notice. A hush had fallen around them and all the spirits of the wilds had taken notice of so beautiful a gesture. Arizira had felt her breath catch when Talliea’s smile lit up her features. Everything about the Esu woman held her captive.
“It is rather early for star-gazing. With the sun holding the day for a few more hours, I am at a loss as to what could have you up at this hour.”
The sudden voice was an intrusion upon Arizira’s deep thoughts. So unexpected was it, that the lithe and agile woman jumped and found herself on the bed of pine needles around the rock. Cynra smiled down at her with an amusing smirk.
“Dream Speaker…wh-what are you doing about at this time?” Arizira asked, her eyes wide. Walking around the weather worn rock, Cynra reached a hand down and helped the youngling to her feet. “I ask the same question of you. Do your thoughts still wander to the Esu, or perhaps it is your feet that carry you away?”
Swallowing, Arizira stalled for time and regarded the face in front of her. Cynra’s smile was still in place and her eyes were squinted with a knowing quality. Had Cynra been the one that had sent a warning for her? Was the older woman aware of her day time movements? “I could not sleep. I…have been hunting,” she lied.
“In the day? With the sun in your eyes?” Cynra questioned. Looking at the arrows in Arizira’s quiver, her smile grew on her face. “Had difficulty in bringing down your hunt, young one? No arrows have flown from your bow this day, for the normal twenty are still with you.” Arizira could do nothing but appear as a fish out of water. Her mind stumbled over itself while it attempted to produce a more convincing explanation.
“Fear not, child. I know you are curious about the Esu. The time of the sun, though, is not the most inspiring time to go wandering about the forest in search of them. Were I you, I would look upon them with the moon as my guide.”
Arizira nodded and dipped her head. It was obvious that Cynra knew, at least partially, about her activities. Part of her wished to confide in the sage old woman and ask for her advice and wisdom on how to handle the Esu she had met, not once but twice. Caution kept from her thinking too much on that wish though. The Nai’iris had forbidden all from going near the Esu camp. Her curiosity would not hold any favor with the Elders.
“You are wise, as always, Dream Speaker. I shall keep myself out of the sun.” Cynra smiled and turned to walk up the hill that would lead toward the village. With her back still facing away from Arizira, she said, “Dream Speaker is not just a title, child. Aitla brought me out of my rest this day with images of you, so I asked the forest to aid me in finding you when I discovered you not present. I know not what you seek, Arizira. I know only that you feel hindered. Aitla tells me it is in your words that you find yourself limited.”
Arizira held her breath. Cynra was the one who had alerted her while she’d been in the glade. But, why? What vision had the older woman seen, and why did Arizira get the feeling that Cynra knew more than she was telling? There was something, something hidden and veiled, in the Dream Speaker's words that told Arizira she knew more.
“A bit of advice, if I may?” Cynra was speaking again, her old legs still slowly leading her up the hill. “If words fail you in whatever you endeavor to do, know that the trees speak many languages, child. They can be your guide in finding the words you need, if indeed the words are yours to know.”
With that, the Dream Speaker walked away from Arizira and disappeared over the slope of the hill. Arizira looked around her at the many towering trees and smiled to herself. Cynra truly was wise. She did not speak Talliea’s language, but the trees had been listening to the Esu settlers from the moment they had come along the borders of the forest. They knew the words the dark skins used.
All she had to do was get one of them to impart their wisdom and she would be able to speak to Talliea. That was easier said than done as the trees viewed necessity quite differently than the Arnira. What was paramount to them varied greatly than what was perceived as useful to Arizira's people. Still, there was hope of future communication if Arizira was successful.
But, what had Cynra meant about the words being Arizira's to know?
* * * * * *
Talliea, after meeting with Ari again, had returned to her clan’s settlement and swiftly gone about her chores. The hours had passed quickly. No questions had been asked and she had kept her face down to avoid the chance of any being raised. As the sun became more dim in the sky, Talliea quickly made for her simple dugout dwelling. Sitting herself down on the mat in front of the structure, she picked up the shawl she had been mending and immediately set about her menial task. She hoped that by appearing busy no one would feel the need to bother her.
As she worked the cloth, the warm sun on her face washed away many of her worries and reminded her of the Arniran woman she’d met again.
Ari.
The woman was enchanting. She was elegant and wild and free. Her attire was more elaborate than what Talliea herself wore, and the way pieces of the forest had been woven into her armor had both intrigued and unnerved her. It was obvious by the way Ari moved, and the skill with which she had wielded her bow, that the woman was a warrior. That part of the old myths appeared to be true at least. The Arniran was a protector of her people. She was deadly, yet she had not harmed Talliea. She had allowed Talliea to touch her and express her wonder. She had smiled at Talliea and it had been more breathtaking than the Esu had been prepared for. Dimples had accompanied the gesture and they had only heightened the Arniran’s already wondrous appearance.
Before she'd left, Ari had placed a soft hand on Talliea's chest and uttered slow and melodic words to her. What those words meant, Talliea could not say. The longer she sat in the sun working on the simple shawl, the more she yearned for liberation, the more she yearned to be like Ari. She found herself smiling at the thought of meeting the smaller woman again. Language was still a barrier for them, but Talliea hardly found that mattered much. She enjoyed, for reasons she could not say, the Arniran’s presence. It was comforting and asked nothing of her in return.
In her life, there was always a price attached to everything. That price was her time and her free-will. Once joined, her days would be laid out for her before they ever began. She would belong to her mate and anything he asked of her, she would have no choice but to give. Her movements would be more closely monitored and her flippant attitude, a trait sorely disliked by her people, would no longer be tolerated for any reason. For all intents and purposes, Talliea would be a slave.
Arizira asked nothing of her, however. Her actions required nothing from Talliea but that she be present. There was a gentle calm about the fair-skinned woman that Talliea could not seem to erase from her mind. She had two seasons left to her before she would be required, by Esu law, to finally take a mate. Then her chance at learning more about Ari would be gone forever. Sitting against the wall of her dwelling, Talliea vowed that she would spend her last moments of freedom-- however limited that freedom was --learning everything she could about the mysterious woman that had so attracted and fascinated her.
She would visit the glade, their glade, every sunrise and every sunset until she was no longer able.
Chapter 6: Release in Words
Several days passed after Talliea's and Arizira's second meeting in the glade. True to her word, Talliea had managed to sneak away from her settlement early in the morning and again deep in the night. She'd gone to the clearing and waited for Arizira to return, but thus far the other woman had remained elusive. Every time Talliea had entered the glade and found no sign of the Arniran, her heart had sank and the world seemed to close in around her.
She could not explain her connection with Arizira. Maybe it had more to do with what the smaller woman represented than with any
thing spiritual or divine. All she knew was that her life was, somehow, enhanced by just the chance to be around Arizira. Was it the secrecy she enjoyed? The knowledge that only she possessed? Or was it something more?
She could not deny that she found Arizira beautiful to behold. Everything about her was as if some otherworldly image out of a dream. She was exquisite. She was different. She was a spark of life in Talliea's very mundane existence.
On the sixth night since their last encounter, Talliea carefully made her way through the woods to their secret glade. She found it rather humorous that the Lat'sa'val had yet to take notice of her nightly activities. Entering the open area of the circular enclosure, she looked around for any sign of the Arniran. The moon was high in the sky and a bright shaft of light shone clearly down between the trees. Stars twinkled and lit up the inky blank canvas surrounding Aitla.
Sitting down on the rock facing the pool she'd bathed in nearly a week before, Talliea wondered if she should give up in her desires to meet Arizira again. She was risking her own safety by continuing to come into the forest so late at night, not to mention the possible repercussions therein for sneaking away from her camp without leave so many times.
What was she hoping to accomplish? Perhaps there was nothing to accomplish. Perhaps she only thrived on hoping. For once in her life, she was doing something for her. For once, there was someone who made her heart beat faster and who intrigued her. She had something to look forward to in the possibility of seeing Arizira again and that made all the difference in the world.
Around her, the sounds of the forest were lively and obvolute. Night larks sang, insects chirped, frogs croaked and the wind howled softly and brushed through the trees. Peaceful freedom descended upon Talliea, but she still found anxiety heavy in her heart. She wished for Arizira's presence. She wished for that connection. Unbeknownst to her, a silent observer had taken notice of her entry into the glade. The observer had watched her come to the clearing the past several moon risings. They had taken in her appearance and noticed the hopeful longing on her face. Each time she had come into the glade, the observer had remained silent and only been a witness to her actions.