“My thanks,” she replied, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek.
“Be careful, Tesni,” he said, drawing her close. “I might get used to that.”
“Didn’t we have this conversation six years ago?” Tesni asked.
Rowan grinned. “Aye, we did, and everything I said then still holds true. The only difference is that now you’re old enough for courtship.”
Tesni laughed. “I thought you were going to wait until I was ready?”
“Well, maybe waiting is going to be difficult for me,” he said seriously. Then he kissed her.
It was not the rough, demanding kiss that Aeron had always given, Tesni realized quickly. This was a pure, gentle kiss, full of love, respect, honesty, and genuine affection. She found herself returning the kiss, and suddenly they both understood what Ryder had said, earlier. They felt a warm tingling all over their skin. It was a pleasant feeling, and suddenly, they just knew.
As they broke apart, she looked at Rowan through new eyes. “Did you feel that?” she asked.
“Aye, I did.”
Tesni was suddenly feeling overwhelmed. Just the morning before, she had escaped, once again, from Agrona’s clutches, ensnared for her by someone she cared about, someone she thought actually loved her. Just the night before, she had proven to everyone exactly how bad Aeron was. Tonight, she had been presented with her sash, and now here she was, faced with feelings she was unfamiliar with, knowing that she was face to face with the one she was meant to be with. It was all too much, so Tesni did what she always did when faced with something she wasn’t ready to handle.
She ran.
Rowan stood there, confused. What had he done wrong? Had he moved too fast? Should he have made himself wait? She had seemed to enjoy the kiss. She had kissed him back. So why had she run? His eyes followed her through the crowd, and he saw her run into the stables.
“Where’s Tesni?”
Rowan turned to the voice and saw Ryder and Arya behind him. “She just ran into the stables. I’m not sure why, exactly, but I’m pretty sure it’s all my fault.”
“What did you do?” Arya asked.
“Well, we were dancing, and between the moon and the stars and the firelight, and the way they all were shining on her, she looked so beautiful, that I kissed her. I thought she liked it, because she kissed me right back, but then the tingling occurred, and she just ran.”
Arya and Ryder looked at each other. It was becoming clear to them what happened. “Talk to your protégé,” Arya said, “and I’ll go talk to mine.”
She took off then and went over to the stables. She knew Tesni liked to go there when things were getting to be too much. It had been a few years since she had made the run and things had overwhelmed her this much, but Arya still knew exactly where she would find her step-daughter.
She was right, and found her up in the loft, under the hay. Most would never have noticed Tesni was there, she was so well tucked into the piles of hay, but Arya wasn’t most people. She could see where the hay moved just a little because, while Tesni was good at hiding, she still had to breathe.
The fact that Tesni was so completely buried told Arya just how overwhelmed the girl was. She was clearly scared of whatever she was feeling, and Arya sighed. She pulled the hay away until Tesni was visible and pulled her into her arms.
“I hurt him again, didn’t I?” Tesni asked, her voice soft.
“Not hurt,” Arya said, “just confused.”
“I was acting rather irrationally, wasn’t I?”
“A little,” Arya admitted. “However, you were overwhelmed by it.”
“That’s why I ran,” Tesni said. “I had to get to where I could think. I didn’t mean to confuse him. I just needed to think things through, once I realized how wrong I’ve been since the harvest festival and how right it was to kiss him instead of Aeron. Everything over the past few days just came together, and it was too much.”
“Are you afraid you made a mistake?” Arya asked.
“Yes…no…maybe… I don’t know. That’s why I needed to just come and think, on my own, and try and figure it out. I suppose that I’m pleased that Rowan is my true love. We definitely felt the warm tingle that you and atar described. It’s just…” Tesni paused, then, trying to find the right word or words to describe how she was feeling.
“It’s frightening,” Arya suggested. “It’s the scariest thing you’ll ever feel, because suddenly every inch of you yearns to be with this person, and only with this person. You have been an independent person for so long, and suddenly, that complete independence is gone, because there’s someone there you never even thought about before, and you care about that person, love that person so much that you don’t see how you could be happy in a world without them.”
“Is that how you felt when you and atar finally began courting?”
“Aye, and it was scary for me, at first, also, but do you want to know what the scariest part is?”
“What?”
Arya smiled. “Rowan will not be the only person you feel that way about. It happens again when you become a parent. Someday, Tesni, you and Rowan will likely wed. It might not be long after that before you find yourself expecting your first child, and you will find yourself developing a bond with that child, before he or she is even born, that is even stronger than the one you have with Rowan.”
“I never thought about that before,” Tesni admitted.
“Well I have,” Arya said. “And you know what?”
“What?”
“You don’t have to give birth to a child for that child to suddenly become your reason for living. An obvious case is your father. He suddenly dedicated his life more to you than to the Rangers when he found out you’re his daughter. That bond can also develop when you become a parent through marriage or adoption. I like to think that I have that bond with you.”
Now Tesni was smiling. “I like to think so, too. That’s why I keep coming to you. I know Cliona gave birth to me and raised me for the first four years of my life, but you’re the only mother I can remember.”
“Are you saying you have no memories of her, whatsoever?” Arya asked.
Tesni shrugged. “I have a few, but they’re very vague. I seem to remember that she liked to hum softly to me. There are some fuzzy memories of pretty dresses, but atar said that she was one of Queen Rhiannon’s ladies in waiting, so that doesn’t surprise me. I think the queen liked to give me little treats, but that’s all I have.”
Arya stroked Tesni’s hair soothingly. “It’s alright, Tesni. You were four when you were separated from her. The fact that you remember even that much from that far back is remarkable.”
“But now what do I do?” Tesni asked. “About Rowan, I mean.”
“A lot is going to depend on what kind of talk your father had with him,” Arya admitted. She hugged Tesni tightly. “However, I do know that, unlike Aeron, Rowan actually loves you.”
“That’s the part I’m so confused about,” Tesni said. “I felt the tingle you said we would feel, and so did he, but even if someone is your true love, can you really just commit to them? Or does the feeling itself have to keep growing the way it would in normal courtship?”
“It’s exactly like a normal courtship,” Arya said. “Yes, you felt the tingle of true love. You have been informed by your very souls that the two of you are meant to be together. However, you are also still very young, and in a way, it’s a good thing to find your true love this young. It means that the two of you have plenty of time to get to know each other better and court properly. So many couples who recognize each other as soul mates rush to get married, but you are young enough that there is no pressure in the world on the two of you.”
“I do still have a lot of goals,” Tesni admitted.
“Not least of which is earning your bow?” Arya asked.
Tesni finally smiled. “Yes, that would be my first priority.”
They walked back to camp together, only to find th
at the party had broken up at the disappearance of the guest of honor. They had a simultaneous eye-roll and headed back to the tent, where Ryder and Rowan were both waiting.
Rowan looked hopeful. Ryder and Arya turned down the privacy flap. “Not actually privacy,” Tesni said, “but probably the closest we’re going to get for now.”
“Probably,” Rowan agreed.
Tesni came and sat down next to him, taking his hands. “I’m sorry I ran off so suddenly,” she said.
Rowan gave her hands a squeeze. “You don’t have to apologize. I understand, truly. Your father and I talked about it. I understand, now, why it overwhelmed you so much and why you needed to go think things through in the stables.”
“I appreciate that,” Tesni said, “and I’m glad you understand. Arya came and talked it over with me, and she helped me to understand my own feelings and work them out so that it was no longer too much for me to handle. I honestly don’t think I could have ever asked for a better mentor or ontarë.”
Rowan smiled. “So does this mean you aren’t going to run away again?”
Tesni nodded. “That’s exactly what it means. However, I still ask that you let me set the pace, unless I end up moving too fast for you, in which case we can slow down even more. Yes, we felt the tingle, but we still have to have a real courtship, and I have a lot of things I wish to accomplish before that courtship gets too serious.”
“Whatever you need,” Rowan agreed. “I will court you in any way you wish to be courted, at whatever speed you wish to set. We can work towards our weapons together. We can talk and get to know each other even better than we already do, and if I’m lucky, you’ll let me kiss you once in a while.”
“Thank you, Rowan.” She glanced over at the privacy flap that was hid where Ryder and Arya slept, then back at Rowan. “Would you like to go for a walk around camp?”
“Staying where the Rangers who are up on the wall can clearly see us, of course,” Rowan said.
“Of course.”
“Go ahead,” Ryder said, “we trust you!”
“Is this a trap?” Rowan asked.
Ryder pulled up the privacy flap. “It’s never a trap,” he said, “I promise. I really do trust you that much, mostly because I know that you know just how easily I can kill you if you hurt her.”
Arya smiled as Tesni used the term ontarë for her. Mother. Not step-mother, but mother. She looked over and could see Ryder smiling, as well. The two of them continued to listen to the two young lovers discuss their plans for courtship.
After they left for their walk, Arya slid off of the double cot that she and Ryder shared and got into her trunk. This was the real reason they had simply drawn the privacy curtain instead of leaving the tent. She had seen the briefest glow just as she and Tesni had returned, and now she needed to see what had been crossed off. “Emotional growth,” she whispered, pointing it out to Ryder.
“We certainly saw that in her tonight,” Ryder replied. “It seems as if she has been growing in a lot of areas, lately.”
“I’ll start her on the bow course tomorrow morning,” Arya said. “One of the four known tasks left on the scroll is a perfect score on the bow course with a time of not more than one hour.”
Ryder snorted. “Archers have to get a perfect score? Those of us who prefer blade only have to score an eighty.”
“That’s because you’re not archers,” Arya said. “We’re actually expected to perfect our abilities.”
Ryder put an end to further witty remarks by kissing her.
Chapter 15
The next morning, as promised, Arya led Tesni to the bow course. “You really believe that I am ready for this?” Tesni asked.
“You are entering the final stages of your training,” Arya said. “You have your training bow and a full quiver?”
“Aye, I have them. Just what can I expect to find in here?”
Arya just smiled. “Well, I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you that you’ll find all of your skills tested. The average time for a first run at your age and skill level is approximately two hours. If you get to three, I will start to worry.”
Tesni nodded in acknowledgement, letting Arya know that she understood. Then she opened the door and entered the course.
The first room held only a single target. Tesni lined up a shot and hit the bull’s-eye. When she did, the door to the left of it opened up.
In the next room, arrows whizzed by, back and forth. Tesni was shocked to see that they were sharp-tipped arrows, not the dull-tipped practice arrows that she had seen used in the traps course. The next target was right across from her, and the door was to the right of it. Again, carefully, she lined up the shot. When she again hit the bull’s-eye, the arrows stopped.
Tesni’s eyes darted across the floor, looking for signs of traps, as Arya had said that this would test all of her skills. She saw none, but then the arrows were flying again. Again she hit the target to stop the arrows, and she understood. She would have to move quickly and shoot if she wished to keep from getting hit.
Tesni ran, firing as quickly as she could at the target to keep the arrows stopped. She missed her final shot, and an arrow grazed her calf, but she wasn’t worried. It was just a nick, and she was now through the door.
In the third room, there were twelve targets. Tesni found that if she stood still for longer than five seconds, an arrow came at her. The first time this happened, she managed to shoot the oncoming arrow out of the air before she moved. After that, she moved around a lot, though this made it difficult to aim. The twenty minutes it took her felt like an eternity, but eventually she got to room number four.
Here Tesni was surprised to find a maze. She understood what this was to test, though. It was to test her ability to stay calm in an unknown environment and not end up in a trap. She completed the maze in three minutes, hitting all six targets along the way.
The fifth room was a long, narrow hallway with a magically simulated thunderstorm. The targets in here were difficult to see because of the driving rain, and she also found it hard to correct for the wind so that her aim was accurate. Eventually, however, the five targets there were hit.
Room six held simulated battle conditions. Arrows were flying everywhere. Enchanted dummies took the places of both the enemy and her fellow Rangers. Room seven combined rooms five and six for a dangerous and difficult situation.
In room eight, the targets were both shielded and moving, hiding behind fake trees and rocks as knives and arrows flew. One knife hit her in the left arm, leaving a decent gash and making just holding her bow a painful experience.
In room nine, Tesni fully understood what Arya had meant. The targets were down in a pit, and Tesni found herself with two choices. She could repel down the wall or use the zip line. She tested the repel rope and found that it was trapped to fall apart, so she took the zip line.
Only as she got closer to the bottom did she notice the other trap. If she allowed herself to hit the opposite wall, she would set off a panel-triggered trap. Though she was unsure about what it would do, something told her she did not want to set it off.
Thinking fast, Tesni flipped her legs up around the zip line to stop herself. Then she let herself drop the three feet to the ground, spreading her feet apart to avoid the panel in the floor that she spotted just before releasing her grip on the rope. She blasted the five targets in the room and turned to the rope to climb out of the pit. It, too, was trapped.
This was a trap type she had never encountered before. Embedded within the rope were tiny blades. Always the clever one, however, Tesni gingerly picked up the bottom of the rope and slid it through her bow, raised the bow handle up to about the height of her chest, and then she wrapped the rope around and dropped it through again.
She twisted the bow around and pulled, testing her weight on it. With a smile, she walked her way up the wall, twisting her bow as she went to keep the tension taut and shorten it so that she could climb.
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When Tesni got to the top, she untangled the rope from her bow and dropped it back into its original position. She pushed on the exit door and walked out.
Arya was waiting there for her with a smile on her face. “You did very well, Tesni, for your first run. There is definitely room for improvement, but overall, you did well.”
“What was my score and time?” Tesni asked.
“You took one hour, twenty-one minutes, forty-one seconds, and scored a ninety-three. It really is respectable for your first time,” Arya said. She eyed Tesni’s injuries. “I would say that cut on your arm played a major part in your slower time. What room did you sustain that one, in?”
“The eighth,” Tesni said. “A knife got me. Also, an arrow got me on the leg in room two, but it just barely grazed me.”
Arya took Tesni to Enid, who just shook her head and bandaged Tesni up. “You got yourself a little banged up on the bow course, didn’t you?” Enid asked.
“Just a little,” Tesni said, “but Arya said that I did well. My score was ninety-three, and I did it faster than the average time for trainees at my level.”
“Well, that place where your right leg got grazed should heal up in a couple of days. Your arm, however, is a fair bit worse,” Enid said, stitching the wound carefully. “I suspect you lost more blood than I would prefer. Are you dizzy at all?”
“A little lightheaded,” Tesni admitted.
“I thought so,” Enid said. “Well, you had to use it to complete the course, but you need to rest it for at least two weeks to let it heal all the way. That means you won’t be doing any bow training during that time.”
“It’s alright,” Tesni said. “There are plenty of other things that I can do before then, like refreshing my knowledge of plants or disarming traps.”
Arya ruffled Tesni’s hair. “I’m proud of you,” she said. “Not only did you do well on the bow course, but you’re handling the news of your temporary restrictions well.”
“It’s only two weeks,” Tesni said. “I can handle two weeks.” Her eyes strayed across the camp, where Ryder was monitoring Rowan on the traps course, before her ears caught a discussion between Fiona and Branwen.
Rangers of Linwood (The Five Kingdoms Book 1) Page 13