We all sat silently, letting Shaheen think over what was being said to her. It was harsh, but Harmony was right. I was actually proud of her for standing up to her elder this way. She wasn’t being disrespectful. Shaheen was in the wrong. Shaheen needed to back up and learn to work as one with us.
Shaheen said, “Shoshin? Did I forget it myself? Harmony, you’re right. I am putting all of you in danger. Forgive me, Teacher. I will do better. Girls, Shoshin means, ‘The Beginners Mind’. It means that we can never learn anything unless we know that we are novices. We must always be ready to be taught, even by the youngest novice, if they have something to teach us. Even if we are 311 years old. A true master is taught by a minnow or a blade of grass when he or she is properly mindful. Harmony, do you have the clothes that I need to be naked? I will stay home until you say that I’m ready.”
Harmony said, “No, you will stay home until Ronin says that you are ready.”
Shaheen looked ashamed and said, “Yes, of course. Even that lesson is too advanced for me. I can try. Do you have what I need?”
Harmony stood up and said, “Come with me. The rest of you come too.”
Harmony led Shaheen up the stairs, and the rest of us followed. She took us to the room that had been her bedroom.
Turning to Shaheen she said, “Take off your cloak and your belt. Leave your breast harness on if you like.”
Shaheen was subdued and started removing what she wore and said, “It helps me be more comfortable, but I can take it off if I should.”
Harmony said, “Ronin? What do you say?”
I looked at Shaheen, trying to determine what would be best, but Shaheen took my gaze as a question. She looked into my eyes and undid the harness and set it aside.
She said, “It makes me comfortable, but it doesn’t make me happy now. It was comfortable emotionally. I can’t be naked if I wear it. I’m sorry.”
Harmony searched through several chests and a closet and found several items and handed them to the other girls to hold. When she had what she wanted, and a few alternatives, she turned to me. Shaheen stood in the center of the room, absolutely nude.
Harmony came and whispered in my ear, “Ronin, take charge. She must be yours before she can be one of us.”
I whispered back, “Harmony, you are amazing. Thank you for teaching everyone about the beginner’s mind. You are a great teacher.”
Then to the room, I said, “All of us are teachers. All of us are leaders. When it’s our time, we are in charge. I’m going to show you how to dress for the work we are doing today. Our armor will improve soon, when the leathers are ready, but for now, this is what we have. Shaheen stand up.”
Shaheen turned and faced me and stood still.
I said, “Shaheen, I said stand up!”
Shaheen quickly stood tall and straight and faced me with her arms at her side. Her head went up and her chest pushed out a little. I stepped forward and looked into her eyes. Then I reached out and ran my hands down her head and over her shoulders, as if feeling each muscle. I felt her tremble slightly, but I ignored it.
I said, “Falcon, what am I doing?” and I felt down her bare arms and inspected her hands.
Falcon stayed still, and said, “Master, you check my body for injuries that might hinder you today. You check to see if I have weaknesses that I must work harder to eliminate so that your party works together as it should.”
This was a ritual that my grandfather had taught me, and apparently, Shaheen knew it as well. I was going to get more physically, and even emotionally intimate with her than my grandfather did with me, but I was her mate, not her grandfather.
After checking her hands, I ran my own hands over the muscles of her chest, and her sides, and then her abdomen and waist. I spun her away from me and examined her back, buttocks, and legs, touching every part, sometimes running my fingers firmly along some muscle or tendon or bone. I turned her to face me again and placed my hands on her breasts and felt them thoroughly, testing the firmness, size, weight, and shape, and I used my thumbs to feel the nipples.
I said, “Falcon, what am I doing?”
This wasn’t normally part of the ritual, and I had no idea how she would answer.
She said slowly, “You are telling me to be strong today. That you are one with me. That my body is the same as yours and our fates are linked by our love. You are examining every part, because every part of me is part of you, and if even my nipples aren’t prepared for today, I am not at wholeness and not ready for Adventure.”
I said, “Very good,” and I slid my hands down her sides and crouched with my lips near her crotch. She parted her legs slightly without thinking about it, and I said, “And what am I doing now?”
Shaheen kept her head up and said, “Master, I don’t know Master. This is something new for me to learn and I won’t make a fool of myself by guessing unless you tell me to.”
Harmony said quietly, “Now you’re getting naked.”
I felt Shaheen shiver at Harmony’s affirmation. I reached slightly forward and kissed Shaheen on the spot directly over her clitoris and then touched her slit with just the tip of my tongue.
I said, “I’m reminding myself, and you, that we, are bound forever; that we live and breathe together, and that at the end of the day, when our work is done, we celebrate by giving ourselves to each other. If I bring you home safely, I have done my job. But only if I too am alive to kiss you again.”
As I stood to my feet again, I heard Dawn say, “Wow. Getting dressed this way takes longer, but I want to be taught about being naked like that.”
Harmony said, “Dawn, don’t be irreverent. This isn’t a game.”
Harmony was holding a light cloth gown and a leather vest out to me. I looked at them and decided on the blouse. I pulled it over Shaheen’s head and smoothed it down her sides. It came to just below her hips. On Harmony, it would have been longer, but on Falcon, it was not long enough to hardly go below her crotch. Next, Harmony held out a pair of pants, a skirt, and a pair of crotchless pants, like she liked to wear. I took the crotchless ones and had the woman step into them. I told her to tuck the blouse into the waist band. When she was done, the white fabric covered her groin like an underskirt. After that, I took a thigh length leather skirt and fastened it around her waist. It came to a few inches above her knees but was slit up both sides for mobility. The blouse was thin. I had put it on her for comfort, but now I took a leather vest and slid it over her arms. I laced it up the front myself, pulling it snug, but not tight.
I said, “How is that? Does the vest feel comfortable?”
She said, “Yes Master. More than I had expected. Thank you.”
I said, “We’ll get a new pair of boots and a pair of gloves in the market. Let me look at you. How do you feel?”
Shaheen stood and stared at me with a strange look on her face.
She said, “I feel naked. Thank you. Thank you so much. I have so much to learn. Harmony, I mean, Ronin, thank you for letting Harmony rebuke me and instruct me. Master, may I ask a question?”
I said, “Of course. Shaheen, don’t be so formal. I love you. We all do. Harmony may have been harsh with you, but she said it out of love for all of us, and mostly for you. What do you want to ask?”
She said, “Ronin, forgive me if I’m still to bold, but why haven’t we been together and made love yet?”
Harmony smiled said, “Because you don’t know how.”
Shaheen looked shocked but said, “I really don’t, do I?”
I said, “Two days ago, you didn’t know how to let me touch you.”
She hung her head and said, “I have to learn everything from the beginning. Do you really want me to stay home until I learn more?”
I said, “Harmony, what do you say?”
Harmony said, “Falcon, we need you. From here on out, we probably can’t survive without you. But we need you naked and one with us. You have to come and be with us. But you have to dance with us, move as one wi
th us, be part of us, not just in the same room as us.”
I said, “I think we are ready. Shaheen, I love you. Don’t be ashamed. Let’s go to the market. We need to get you boots and gloves, and we need jars, oil, and wicking chord. But Shaheen, will you leave the cloak off until you need it? Can you come to the market with us? On my arm if you want to. And be seen?”
Shaheen said, “I will try. Being naked is hard to get used to.”
April said, “Wow.”
I had forgotten that she was with us. I think that we all had.
We all turned to look at her and she said, “That was crazy. Shaheen, you’re really pretty! He kissed me like that today!”
Val said, “Kissed you like what?”
April said, “On my little lips. That’s what he called them. He didn’t make love to me, just like with Shaheen, but he kissed me like that and I had my first orgasms. Two of them. It was fun. Maybe Shaheen and I can learn to make love together. At the same time. That would be easiest and take less time. Ronin could do it to me, and you could watch. Or if you need to go first, I could watch. Tonight, when you come home. Do you want me to pick out a nightie for you? Or no, should we be really naked? But you say it’s more naked if we have something on, but I don’t really get how, but I’ll do whatever. You know what, I feel pretty tired. Ronin, can I go back to bed? My body feels funny again,” and then her eyes rolled back in her head and she started to fall toward the floor.
I caught her and carried her to the bed and Val rushed to her side. Dawn called for Alice and Brenda and Stacy. Val felt her pulse and looked under her eyelids and said that her heart was fast, but not too much so and that what she needed was just rest and food and liquids. Alice especially insisted on taking care of her for the day, but the others said that they would do whatever was necessary for the young girl as well. She was still going through changes.
The Five Elements and I left the house for the market. Shaheen was fully dressed, but barefoot. We went to a cobbler first to get her a good pair of boots. The vendor smiled and said good morning and welcomed Shaheen to the village and made a remark that it was wonderful to see new faces again, now that the troubles were over. Shaheen had preferred making her own gloves and boots, but these fit fine enough. She and Dawn and Stacy would make better ones for all of us soon.
At the next stop, we bought a large supply of clay jars that could be filled and sealed. The advantage of clay over glass was that it broke into larger pieces and the pieces were not as sharp. If we littered the floor with broken glass, we would have to be much more careful to clean up than we would with clay. I liked the clay much better for that reason. Clay was unlikely to cut the bottoms of our boots if we stepped on it.
The lamp maker had a supply of oil and wicking and when we explained what we needed, he offered to take our jars and make up a few dozen of them and seal them with wax. He said that he would cover the wicks as well, and they would be easy to light, but stay safe for as long as we needed. Years at a time if necessary. He said that he could have two or three dozen ready for us in less than an hour. I thanked him, and we moved on.
As we walked, Shaheen said, “These boots aren’t so bad. Master, there is a bookseller if you want one.”
I said, “Shaheen, it’s been a hard morning. You don’t have to call me Master.”
She smiled and said, “What should I call you?”
I said, “Elf-Boy is fine.”
She said, “Well, today, and many days from now on, you are my teacher. And I will try to show you how much I learned. I could call you ‘Sensei’, but in so many ways, I want to call you Master. So, Master Elf-Boy, do you want to go to the bookseller?”
Dawn said, “What is a Sense Say?”
Shaheen said, “S.E.N.S.E.I. It means senior teacher.”
I said, “What kind of book would we look for?”
Shaheen said, “I think that he has my old Monster Manual. A list of creatures and their descriptions. I sold it when I first came here. I assume that he still has it.”
I got excited and said, “Oh! Show me where!”
Chapter 16 - The Book
The bookseller wasn’t far, and as we entered his shop, Shaheen described what she wanted. The man frowned and thought for a minute and then said that he thought that he knew the book. He left us and went to another room and came back with an item about twelve inches on a side, and two inches thick, wrapped carefully in leather or some other material. When he showed it to us, I saw that it was sealed with wax and a stamp.
Shaheen said, “That’s the one. How is it that no one has ever opened it?”
The man said, “Look at the strange writing on the cover. Like magick runes or something. And sealed with wax. I’m not curious enough to break a seal and find out what might come out if it is opened. Here, take it from me if it’s what you are here for.”
I said, “How much do I owe you for it? It’s very old and very rare.”
The man said, “Sir Ronin, you know that we can only sell what belongs to us. I was told by my father, and he said that he was told by his father, that if a mysterious woman came and asked for the book that we would give her what belonged to her. If any other came that we should deny knowing anything.”
Shaheen said, “But your great-great-grandfather paid good money for it. We must pay you.”
The man said, “Is this yours in some way? By inheritance or some other way? Or is it from your family?”
She said, “Well, yes. That’s how I knew where to come. But you deserve money for it. For safekeeping if nothing else.”
The man pulled a note from his pocket and unfolded it and said, “This note was attached to the book. I have ready it so many times over the years that I have it memorized. It says, ‘Today a strange woman came to me at the store and asked for money for this equally strange book. She seemed in dire straits and I gave her several coins, not for the book, but for herself and a strange sense that I would be blessed by an invisible guardian if I did.’ Then, later, this was added, ‘This book has been here for years and I haven’t thought about it until now. I think that it is good luck. Never get rid of it. Never tell anyone about it. But if a strange woman comes and asks for it, give it to her and tell, her thank you for loaning magical protection to our family. Don’t take any money so that no curse will come upon us.’”
He finished reading, or reciting, the note, and Shaheen said, with a tear in her eye, “Thank you. Your ancestor was a kind man. He had the protection that um, my ancestors had for him. I will see to it that you have the same, even though I take the book away with me.”
I said, “But let me give you something.”
The man said, “No. It would be a curse. Sir Ronin, shake my hand and let me know that I have had some part in a great Adventure, and let that be all.”
I shook the man’s hand and thanked him, and he said, “I’ll see you on the village council. Young lady, are you going to open the seal? Is it safe?”
Shaheen smiled and said, “It’s safe enough for me. Inside is a description of monsters and creatures that will help Sir Ronin and the Guardian Maidens of Sturgil’s Mark protect the village. But your grandfather was right to keep it hidden.”
He said, “Young lady, can I know your name? I know these others, but not you.”
She smiled and said, “It may surprise you, but you can call me Shaheen.”
He said in surprise, “Of course. The title has passed to you now. I should have seen it. But no one has ever seen the Shaheen’s face. Oh, but Sir Ronin is here, so our rules change. I hope that your predecessor found happiness in this life or another. I am sorry if you suffered loss. This is something. The book is returned, and I look on the smiling face of The Shaheen, The Shining White Falcon. My dear, can you tell me how many have had the name before you? Out of curiosity? Some say that you Shaheen are a myth. Is there more than one, in different places, or only one at a time, or what?”
She smiled and said, “Let’s just say that I am Shaheen.
There is only me. And the fact that you have returned my book to me and now see my face is a change of season. I have waited for Ronin to appear and now many strange things are afoot in the village. But all for our blessing and protection. Your grandfather was a wise man.”
The man said, “Of course, of course. I won’t ask questions that shouldn’t be answered. And I won’t tell gossip that shouldn’t be told. I have seen the face of a Shaheen and lived. Some said that a man would die if that happened, but we say lots of things.”
I said, “Well, you don’t die, but a younger man might go blind because of her beauty.”
The man smiled and said, “An older man is not immune, unless he is blind already. But the same is true for all of these women. Valeera and Harmony grow lovelier every day, and the Lady Dawn is a light in the morning. What a day this is. Sir Ronin, would you be interested in some books that I do own and could sell at a reasonable price?”
I said, “Certainly. What do you have that might interesting to me?”
He smiled and excused himself and returned with a stack of books in his arms. He laid them on a counter and started to show them to us.
He said, “This first is instructions for making clothing and armor for warriors, huntresses, and the like, from leather and other materials.”
I had Dawn and Shaheen look it over, and they agreed that it had some techniques and information that they didn’t know, and I told the man that we would take it. Next was a book of anatomy, both human and animal, and Val approved it for purchase. There was a book on medicines and poisons, one describing setting traps and skinning, one related to traps and locks, and a final one related to various local legends and history. We agreed to take them all.
The Heart of the Falcon: The Guardian Maidens Book 3 Page 15