by Orr, Krystal
"Yes."
"And who do you all belong to? Esuval, your god?" Talliea laughed bitterly. Arizira's innocence moved her. To be so untouched by the world she knew was refreshing. How different they were! "No, Ari. Once a female in my clan takes a mate, her life is then an extension of his. She bears him children, keeps his home, and prepares his meals and clothing. Her desires are no more. She lives only to satisfy her mate."
Silence washed over the two women. Arizira's mind was buzzing with questions. Why would any woman wish to become part of such an establishment? The men did not value their mates? They simply used them for pleasure and comfort? "That is wrong, Tah-li. Your spirit can not soar if its wings are clipped."
Talliea said nothing. She studied the Arniran's profile intently. "Do you have a mate?" Arizira attempted to keep her voice even and her question innocent. Despite being told to stay away from the Esu and limit contact, something about this particular woman drove a madness into her being and kept her from adhering to her duties.
Swallowing, Talliea paused and looked down into the fire between them. Her heart thudded against the inside of her ribs and her mouth felt dry. She did not wish to discuss these matters with Arizira. Yet, how was she to deny someone who was so wholly interested in her in every way? Glancing back up, she noticed Arizira's amazing eyes were still watching her.
"I do not have a mate, but very soon I shall. There is a man in my clan who has...declared his claim to me. The rules of my people allow me some time to either agree to mate with him, or to wait for others to state their wish to take me as a mate." Arizira's nose turned up and her flawless features took on a sour appearance. "That is distasteful. You are not free to fall in love and allow your spirit to find that which completes it?" she asked.
Talliea swallowed and her dark eyes took on a sad light. "No, Ari. For Esu women, there is only duty. It is believed that we do our part for Esuval by giving ourselves completely to our men. Once a woman is bound to her mate, she then is marked forever by the tattoos of his house. What little freedom I have now will be gone forever once I am mated and my skin inked."
Arizira stood up and walked over so that she could kneel before Talliea. She noted the defeated sag in the Esu woman's shoulders, and the woeful cast of her dark eyes as she sat next to the fire. Someone so lively and curious and captivatingly beautiful should not be kept in a cage! "Tah-li, your life is your own. I will not speak against your belief, but I will tell you of my own. Aitla teaches that love is the highest emotion we can hope to achieve in our life. The women of my tribe believe that true love is a once in a lifetime occurrence. Attraction comes and goes, but it is thought by my people that true love is the ultimate goal of our lives."
Talliea smiled softly as she listened to Arizira's words. They sounded wonderful and beautiful and she wished her own life could be governed by them. "A few of us are gifted with finding our," Ari paused for a moment and furrowed her brow in thought, "Doira'Liim," she finally said. "What is that?" Talliea asked, her eyes staring deeply into the silvery-blue in front of her.
Arizira smiled and reached up to tuck a stray strand of hair back behind the Talliea's ear. "It means "spirit mate." It is shrouded in mystery because so few of us have ever actually experienced it. The bond is said to transcend earthly bounds. It is a connection more powerful than anything under Aitla."
Outside, the wind picked up rock and twig and leaf alike. Muddy pools sloshed against the base of mighty trees as the storm continued to ravish the landscape. Talliea could not seem to take her eyes away from Arizira's. The easy and gentle smile the other woman was offering her somehow seemed to calm her, and her thoughts no longer lingered on her dilemma. How strange it was that someone she had only spoken with twice before was able to elicit such a sense of tranquility in her.
"Your world is far more beautiful than my own, Ahmanae," she whispered.
"Then we shall make your world as mine." Talliea took a deep breath and sighed. Arizira made it sound so simple. Her world was so untainted and pure it made her heart ache. "My life is only mine for two more seasons. What worth is beauty if I can not keep it?" she asked, saddened once again by her limitations. Arizira studied her face and every wrinkle in her expression. Silence stretched between them for some time. Finally, Arizira spoke up. "Would you prefer to become an animal in a cage so soon, Tah-li?"
"No."
"Then, I shall continue to show you my world until such a time comes that a decision must be made on your part." Talliea turned her head to the side. Arizira's manner of speech was captivating to her. The other woman always spoke with such conviction. Her words were sure and straightforward. It was a welcome change.
"What decision would that be?" Without hesitating, Arizira replied, "Whether or not you shall lead your life by your own choosing or have another enslave your will."
* * * * * *
Elsewhere...
"Yes, she is with her again. The prophecy is holding true."
A pause and the speaker began talking once again.
"The child is coming into her name. All is as it should be. Soon she shall understand. She will see. The two of them will unravel everything. The Child of Whispers has met her goddess..."
Chapter 8: Markahn
"Tell me more about the...Dorah Lim." Arizira smiled at Talliea's pronunciation and cast her eyes across the fire until they met deep brown. "The Doira'Liim," she corrected with an easy tone. "There is not much more that I could impart, I'm afraid. So few of my people have found their Doira'Liim that many of us have grown to believe it nothing more than fanciful boasts of our more colorful tribeswomen."
Talliea laughed at Arizira's words and felt much of her tension leave her body. The rain still poured heavily outside, much as it had the past hour. Upon realizing that she was going to have to accept the consequences of her actions, she had decided to appreciate the extra time the storm was allowing her to spend with Arizira.
"What I can tell you," Arizira was speaking again, "is that a woman's Doira'Liim is the apex of her life. She will live only for her spirit mate, as her mate will live only for her. They become a part of one another in so vital a way that great feats have been said to transpire when the need was high."
"So, a person's spirit mate completes them?" Talliea asked. Staring into the fire, her eyes shifting from blue to silver, Arizira nodded. "Yes. It is believed that our spirits have several life cycles and, if we are lucky, they meet their other half in the form of a powerful mate. One's Doira'Liim can be found again and again, from one life to the next."
Silence settled around the two women. The storm raged just outside the mouth of the cave, lightning and thunder creating a din of spectral amazement. Inside, the only sound was that of the fire as it crackled inside its deep pit. "It's a beautiful idea," Talliea said at long length. "It is more than an idea, Tah-li. It is a great and life long search by several of my people who hold it to be true."
Talliea took in the other woman's words. They were spoken strongly and with immense earnest. "You believe it to be true," she said, her words a statement rather than a question. Arizira finally looked up from the dancing flames and met her eyes. A strange tingling sensation fluttered up Talliea's neck and set her nerve endings on fire. She felt as if Arizira was looking deep inside her and truly seeing everything that made her who she was.
"Yes. I believe in the Doira'Liim, Tah-li. Something so beautiful can hardly be nothing more than a notion. Aitla made us and gave us life. Why then would She not also create our other half so that we could fully appreciate the gift She bestowed upon us?" Talliea was unsure how to answer Arizira's question. Was an answer even required? Women of the Esu were not permitted to discuss the will and teachings of Esuval. They were required only to submit and follow the tenets laid down by the Lat'sa'val. Discussing theology was a foreign idea to her.
"I...I am unsure how to respond." Arizira's face scrunched up and her ears perked back. "You do not know how to offer an opinion?" Talliea felt her face dark
en as she blushed. "The women of the Esu are not often asked their opinion. You are asking for mine?" Rising, Arizira crossed the distance between them and came to stand above Talliea.
"Stand up," she demanded. Talliea looked up at her with an unsure gaze. "Why?"
"Do as I say." Begrudgingly, Talliea did as she'd been instructed and rose to her full height. Arizira was slightly shorter than herself and she found she liked gazing down into the other woman's unusual eyes. "Why did you stand?" Arizira asked.
"Um...because you told me to."
"But you did not wish to do so?"
"No, but you said--" Arizira stopped her with a finger to her lips. The unexpected contact caused Talliea's heart to flip inside her chest. She could feel her breathing trying to escape her. "You preferred sitting next to the fire?" Arizira asked.
Talliea nodded and swallowed past her nerves. "Then why did you stand?" Arizira asked again. Raising her hand, Talliea reached up and gently took Ari's wrist so that she could move her hand away from her lips. Swallowing again, she held the other woman's gaze for a moment. "You are attempting to show me the value of my opinions, yes? My desires? My wants?"
Arizira smiled at her in a coy manner and took the opportunity their closeness provided to study Talliea more intently. Her eyes trailed down the slope of Talliea's nose and back up to meet dark, intense eyes. Something unknown stared back at her but she avoided trying to name it. The air inside the cave became dense and time seemed to stretch as Arizira slowly took in Talliea's features. Her wrist was still grasped by a tentative hold, but that point was hardly noteworthy. Allowing her eyes to move again, Arizira trailed them further down Talliea's face until they met a perfect mouth with full lips.
She noticed the slight part in those lips and took in the slightly ragged way Talliea was now breathing. Was it possible that she felt the same things Arizira felt? To her knowledge, the Esu women never laid with one another. Perhaps Talliea's response was discomfort? Arnira were extremely tactile by nature. Arizira had never stopped to think how her actions would be interpreted by the Esu woman. Talliea's reaction to her could be nothing more than uncertainty.
"Do I make you uncomfortable?" she asked slowly. Talliea felt the question whispered across her lips and everything in her begged to fall into Arizira's touch. She was far from uncomfortable. Though she couldn't put a name on exactly how she felt, she knew for a fact discomfort was not what was making her heart beat faster. "No," she replied in a husky tone.
Arizira shook her wrist free from Talliea's grasp and raised her hand to smooth her fingers across the stretch of tanned skin revealed by Talliea's night shirt. "Arnira are tactile, Tah-li. A lot of what we know and learn is obtained through touch. That sense tells us much. You must tell me if my nature offends you, for it is not my place to do with you as I wish. You are your own person and you have opinions, likes and dislikes, and desires. I will not treat you as others obviously have."
As she spoke, her fingers continued to glide across the sensitive expanse of Talliea's sternum. She could feel the other woman's heart beating unsteadily beneath her touch. Talliea said nothing for a moment and let her mind ponder over Arizira's words. She was unaccustomed to be treated as a...person. Her mother desired her to do her part for the clan. She cared little for Talliea's independence and headstrong nature. Markahn, though patient, desired for her to take her place with him and do as she was supposed to do. The few women Talliea spoke with from time to time did not share her outlook on life. They rarely asked questions about her or her perspective. To them, she was a problem, a heretic.
Here with Arizira, Talliea felt like a newborn babe come into the world. Suddenly, she was independent. Arizira treated her like an individual. She expressed concern in regard to her feelings. She asked her opinion and expected a different view. Glancing down, Talliea watched Arizira's fingers dip lower and trace along the edge of her collar. The act caused her stomach to tighten and a warm flare came to life somewhere below her waist. Despite Arizira telling her that Arnira were tactile, something in Arizira's touch spoke of something more...
Something deeper.
Just as she was about to speak, Arizira cocked her head to the side suddenly and her keen ears perked up to some unknown sound. "Ari?" Talliea questioned. The Arniran stepped away from her and held a hand up between them, silencing her. Stepping in sure strides, Arizira quietly removed the curved blade at her hip and walked slowly toward the mouth of the cave. The rain was still falling in heavy sheets and the wind continued to whip about, but the thunder had abated and lightning no longer lit up the inky black sky. Talliea noticed, as Arizira moved farther away from her, that the Arniran's eyes were glowing intensely.
Arizira made not a sound as she made her way to the exit of the cave. Her movements were smooth and flawless. Once at the open end of the cave, she crouched and peered out into the darkness beyond. The blade in her hand, beautifully crafted as it was, shined with an eerie light. Talliea remained where she was. She was unsure of exactly what had put Arizira on alert. Several minutes passed as the woman continued to look out at the darkened landscape. Finally, she stood and made her way back toward the fire pit.
"We are not alone. Two of your people are out in the weather. They move in search of something unknown to me, possibly you. Their feet do not lead them with strength in their direction. They are aimless, but they move this way. Douse the fire quickly and follow me," Arizira said, sheathing her blade.
Talliea was unsure what to do. Should she make herself known to the men heading their way? They were most likely looking for her, having noticed her absence. She was surprised they had ventured so far out. How much land had her clan explored? One part of Talliea thought it best to not risk exposing Arizira, while the other part of her wished no part in being led back to her camp like a beast.
"Tah-li! We must cover our being here. This is where you make a decision." Arizira was next to her once again. She leaned down and picked up her tanned cloak and fastened it around her neck. Dousing the flames of the fire, she turned back and her eyes glowed in the sudden darkness. "What do you choose, Tah-li? There is a passage in the back of this cave we may take. It will lead us to the outer edges of your camp where it opens into another cave."
Talliea struggled to control her rising panic. Everything was happening too quickly. Just mere hours ago, she'd been lying in her dwelling thinking of her life and Arizira, and then she'd been dashing through the forest with the cold nip of the wind at her back. Now, her people were delving deeper into the woods around them searching for her and heading in her general direction. Arizria watched her, her sight not hindered by the pitch black around them. Her ears continued to track the footsteps of the approaching Esu. They were getting closer.
"We can not linger here, Tah-li. Stay if you must. Your people will not react kindly to the knowledge of my presence. I must go." Talliea shook herself from her thoughts and turned in the direction of Arizira's voice. Reaching out blindly, she was gratified to feel a soft hand take her own. "I will follow you, Ahmanae."
The two of them quietly headed farther into the dark corners of the cave.
* * * * * *
"Here!" Lao'dahn called over his shoulder. The rain was beginning to calm, and through the failing sheets of rain he could easily make out the outline of a shadowed cave. "What is it?" a voice called against the weather. "A cave. It may provide us shelter while we decide on our course."
Markahn stepped up next to Lao'dahn and peered up the side of a steeply rising hill. When he'd crossed by Talliea's dugout on his nightly patrol, he'd hoped to find her awake so that the two of them could speak of their imminent joining. What he'd found was an empty sleeping roll with no trace of his betrothed.
Standing tall and powerfully built, Markahn cut an impressive figure. His skin was dark, enriched by the sun, but not nearly as deep as Talliea's. Dark black hair, pulled back into a short braid, fell against his back. His eyes were unusual for an Esu. Instead of the brown worn by so ma
ny, his were an eerie shade of grey. Dark tattoos crossed over his chest and spanned across his back. The black ink also colored his face, vertical lines falling over his eyes and down his cheeks.
To many of the Esu women, he was pleasing to look upon. A fine provider and future father he would most assuredly make. That he was intent on mating with Talliea caused much strife between several of the women. They viewed Talliea as unclean and unworthy of one such as Markahn.
"She would not be so far out, Lao'dahn," Markahn said in a voice that was both deep and carefree. "With the moon being blocked by the storm, she would have stumbled in the dark. There are no signs of her having come this way." Lao'dahn sighed, rain dripping from his brows down the steep slope of his nose. His features were lean and cut. His nose was slightly hooked and his brown eyes were a smoky almond shade, giving his long black hair, pulled into a tail, a darker hue. Shorter than Markahn, but more compact in stature, he was a strong man and a boon to the Esu clan.
"Either way, we need shelter from the storm. The rains are easing but the respite could be short lived." Markahn conceded and followed his fellow up toward the cave. Peering inside, his eyes were met with nothing but tenebrous and foreboding blackness. He held his hand out in front of him and closed his eyes. Muttering a near silent invocation, a soft and dim light began to form around him. It engulfed his body and lit up the area immediately inside the cave. Lao'dahn, upon noticing the action, placed the torch he'd been carrying against the lip of the cave.
If anything was inside, two hands bore better chances of victory than one. "Let us go," Markahn said, walking inside the cave. The light around him continued to illuminate his path.
* * * * * *
Arizira stopped against the wall of the narrow path she and Talliea were traversing and turned her head back toward the center of the cave. She felt Talliea collide into her back. "Why have we stopped?" the Esu woman whispered next to her ear.