by Orr, Krystal
Yet, that time was no more. It was in the past. Through her, Talliea had blossomed into a stunning, kind, certain and strong young woman. She had grown and was now more confident and sure of who she was. Though she was still the curious woman with wide-eyed wonder to Arizira, she was now something more than that. As Arizira felt two fingers slide into her entrance and a hand wrap around her hip and middle to hold her in place, she realized what that something was: Talliea was no longer a girl. She was no longer a child ignorant of the world. She was now a woman. She was an adult and a mother to be.
Fingers began to move inside Arizira slowly and she felt her breath catch. Talliea's touch was gentle, yet also strong and reassuring. Arizira recalled the first time she had discovered that strength in her love. Then, it had not been something that excited her like it was now. No, then it had frightened her because Talliea had still been unsure of herself. She had still been haunted about who she had been before and who she stood to become by being with Arizira.
Water splashed around their naked bodies as they began to move together. Talliea rubbed her nose across Arizira's ear and exhaled against her neck. Through their connection, she was privy to every thought her love was having. No words were spoken as the two of them shared a look. Dark eyes held hooded silver-blue. Talliea leaned closer to Arizira and kissed her lips. The taste of mint graced their tongues. Arizira began to moan and breathe heavily. Water continued to splash. Talliea's feelings of protectiveness and love were shared through their bond and that sense of security seemed to bring them closer together.
Arizira pushed back and down against Talliea's strong body again. She arched her back and reached a hand around to tangle into raven-black hair, while the other hand moved to become entwined with the fingers next to her hip. All thoughts of war, hatred, and negativity fled from both women's minds.
Talliea held Arizira's eyes with her own and watched as various emotions flashed in their silvery depths. Her fingers between Arizira's legs were held tight in her love's embrace and she shuddered at how intimate they were in this single moment. "Tah-li..." Arizira whispered brokenly before closing her eyes.
Talliea pressed the smaller woman closer to her, her left hand moving to hold an ivory abdomen pregnant with new life. With Arizira's eyes closed, Talliea allowed her head to drop into the crook between her neck and shoulder. She lazily dragged her tongue across her love's skin and moaned at the taste that greeted her senses. "I have you, love. I have you," she whispered. She found it quite fitting that her own comfort and hope were with Arizira, just as Arizira's harmony and calm were with her and their union.
Arizira felt her muscles tighten as her body neared climax. Talliea's emotions and pleasure collided with her own and took her breath away. Turning her face toward the sky above, she opened her eyes and felt the wind kiss her face. A moment later her entire body convulsed and her breath caught in her throat. The fingers inside of her stilled their movements and Arizira allowed the peace and happiness Talliea was giving her to take her over completely.
In the midst of all out chaos and uncertainty, Arizira could not help smiling as she felt Talliea kissing the side of her face and jaw, her own ragged breathing sounding next to her ear. They had one another and they would never be parted again. So long as they remained together, there was nothing that could stand in their way, no force that could challenge them. The beauty of their connection, of their physical accord with each other, was precious to Arizira. It went beyond mere satisfaction.
Their bond had created the life inside of her. It had brought her back when Talliea had believed her to be dead. It had stabilized her when she had been weak, and now it had brought her mind peace and clarity.
There was nothing the two of them could not do so long as they were with each other. Surrounded by Talliea in that moment and feeling her fingers snug inside of her, Arizira truly believed everything would be well.
They were together.
"Arizira?"
Arizira shook her head and looked to her right. D'jiira walked next to her, her strong arms pulling the travois that held Talliea behind her. Arizira had offered to help, but D'jiira had informed her that her inherent strength would be enough for the task at hand. "You are with child, my daughter. Save your strength," she had said.
Up ahead, Bela'luin walked a slight distance from them, her keen eyes and ears serving her well as a forward scout. It had taken some time to put together the make-shift travois for Talliea, but Arizira had been insistent that her love be comfortable and warm.
At the curious look being directed her way, D'jiira said "You appeared distant. Where were your thoughts?"
A sad wisp of a smile tugged at Arizira's lips as she recalled, once again, the memory she had been so vividly recalling. Her face felt flushed as the images touched her mind again with a last fleeting caress. That had been a different time, an easier time, even with her believing then that it was not so. At least during that time she had been with Talliea. Her love had been at her side and served as her strength.
Now she was once again alone, with no explanation as to why or how. Arizira spared a glance over her shoulder and her eyes immediately landed on Talliea's serene face. Stray stands of wavy dark hair fell against high tanned cheek bones and full lips seemed to beg for Arizira's touch.
"I was remembering a happier time with her." That particular time had been just the day after her miraculous return to life, yet before Cynra and Taetylona had returned to set them on the quest to their destiny. D'jiira looked over her shoulder and her eyes, like her daughter's, found Talliea. Arizira continued speaking. "I just want to be with her, without war and without us always being separated."
D'jiira slowed to ease the travois over a bed of pine needles and resumed her earlier pace before responding to her daughter. "She will find her way back to you."
"How can you know, lana?"
Smiling, D'jiira bit back her own emotions and said, "Because this did not transpire until after Io departed. Her words were that Talliea's time had come. Wherever your love is, she is safe and will return to you."
Arizira pondered the words a moment. Her tall and curved leather boots easily moved across twig and stone and dirt as she walked with her mother. The blood on her face from the earlier battle had been wiped away and her long silvery hair was now thrown into a lose tail. Her bow and arrows were secured behind her back while her two sabres hung at her hips.
"You believe so?" she asked, her voice telling D'jiira that she needed some sort of hope.
"Yes. You shall see. Not all allies are those you can see with your eyes." Arizira offered D'jiira a weak smile, though the words did alleviate a small amount of her apprehension and melancholy. Perhaps D'jiira was correct. Could it be that Talliea was somewhere with Io or some other messenger receiving information on how to protect them all and avoid a war?
"Besides," D'jiira continued, "though you can not feel her spirit, it still lingers, for your child is still healthy, is she not?"
Placing her hands over her middle, Arizira sighed but said nothing. D'jiira smirked at her and said, "You know as well as I that an Arniran pregnancy is just as much a physical condition as it is a spiritual one. Talliea's spirit nurtures the baby, just as your own body protects her. If Talliea were truly gone from this world, you would know it and so would your unborn daughter."
Insects began to chirp far off in the forest and toads croaked as the world readied itself for the coming night. The sun still claimed the sky, and would for another hour or so, but its rays were growing darker and more dim with every step. "Thank you, lana," Arizira said. She reached out with her right hand and placed it on D'jiira's left forearm.
"You will learn to value the wisdom of my words," D'jiira said with a smile, easily causing Arizira to laugh softly. They walked in silence for several long minutes afterward. The music of the wood was only interrupted by the dragging of the travois as it was pulled by D'jiira.
"Are you well, lana?" Arizira asked after some ti
me had passed. D'jiira turned her head in a way much like Arizira did herself. "You have not spoken on Iolirthas's appearance." Arizira elaborated. "Or how her departure affects you."
D'jiira lowered her eyes and looked away from Arizira. She focused her attention on her footing as she navigated Talliea's travois. Io's brief reappearance had been both a happy time and a sad one. She knew it would be some time before she was able to put the encounter into the proper perspective. With the state of everything else happening around her and the group, D'jiira's thoughts were scattered.
"It was good to see her again," she began in a much softer voice, "and to know that her spirit is free and with her goddess." D'jiira licked her lips and inhaled deeply as she scanned her eyes at the line of trees in front of her. "I am most heartened that you were given a chance to see her, Arizira."
Arizira studied D'jiira's profile before the other woman turned to meet her gaze. "She was very pretty, lana," she said smiling. D'jiira smiled with her and nodded and the two walked in silence once more.
"Arizira?"
"Yes?"
"Before, when we were attacked--"
"I know what you would say, lana," Arizira said as her eyes cut to the heavy trees around the two of them.
D'jiira stopped and lowered the front half of the travois to the ground. Stretching out stiff muscles, she turned to look at her daughter. "You risked yourself to come to my aid."
"It was instinct," Arizira replied, still looking away from D'jiira's light brown eyes.
"You could have been injured. Your baby--"
"I know." Arizira briefly met her mother's gaze while her hands found their way, once again, to her lower stomach. "I could not remain idle. Tah-li froze and her vision became dark for all else save me. I-I could not watch you all be overcome." Arizira looked up and finally met D'jiira's eyes. The two shared a moment together.
"Thank you, my daughter, but please do not risk yourself in the future."
"I shall not seek such encounters, lana, but I will not allow harm to come to any of you. I know my duties, both as a woman protecting her young and as a huntress protecting her loved ones, but I can not do nothing when I have the power to do something."
D'jiira did not say anything. She held Arizira's eyes for long moments. Her daughter continued to be a source of pride for her. She was so much like Io, so much like her. Her sense of honor was such that the rest of the world could scarcely understand it, let alone appreciate it. Arizira was not one to hide; she was not one to walk away nor to allow indecision to dictate any given matter.
She was a woman willing to do what was right, even if what was right was hard and difficult. D'jiira could not deny her daughter's stubborn streak or her unwillingness to always heed prudent advice, but she could not fault her those things either. For everything that made Arizira who she was, both good traits and bad, she was her own person. She was a natural leader and her easy calm and appreciation of life led others to her cause without her being aware she had one.
"Very well," D'jiira said. "Just promise me that you will allow Bela'luin and I to protect you and Talliea first before you risk yourself and the baby."
Arizira took D'jiira's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "You have my word, lana."
The two of them smiled at one another and resumed their trek. The sun continued to set behind them. Arizira's mind began to conjure images of what a war would be like if the Arnira and the Esu actually came to arms against one another. She had seen very little of combat in her twenty seven winters. There had been the rare time or two when her tribe had clashed against Zy'nilur's tribe across the Menderway, but that was the extent of her experience.
Her skills had always been used to patrol borders and ensure enough food and supplies were available to her sisters. When not used for any given task, Arizira's abilities had been kept honed by sparing with the other hunters of her tribe. It had been as much for practice as it had been for exercise and entertainment. The Arnira believed that such endeavors with weapons and physical skill appeased the warrior aspect of Aitla.
Arizira found herself wondering if she would be able to protect all those she held dear against the Esu men. Though she had learned she was half Esu, she held no love or obligations toward Talliea's clan. To her they were still the enemy, and they had only assured that belief for her when they had attacked them before. She desired for peace between the two peoples, hoped to achieve it, but she was not ignorant to the possibility and likelihood of that not being in the future.
Without Talliea, war was likely. How many other patrols of Esu men were lurking in the forest even now? Were they scouting Arniran defenses? Making plans for an assault? How many of her sisters were likely to die if the Esu attacked them? If Talyn attacked first, would she be advocating the hate Arizira was trying to avoid or protecting the peace Arizira yearned for?
As the night steadily drew closer, Arizira could not shake the feeling that nothing was certain. For every thought she had, her mind split off in various directions, all of them contradicting the one before it. All she knew was that she would do everything in her power to protect Talliea, their baby, and her mother. With Cynra now hopefully safe with the tribe, Arizira's only immediate concern was for her family.
If she was forced to fight for her sisters, she would do so without question, without hesitation. Right now all that mattered was her current company. All else could wait to be decided until such a time presented itself.
She just hoped that time did not come.
Chapter 34: The Child of Whispers
After Sed'dya, Cynra, and Taetylona had parted company with the rest of the group, they had moved quickly for a time. Sed'dya's steps had been swift and burned with a haste native to her kind, yet Taetylona's head wound from the battle had slowed their progress. Cynra had walked with her and ensured she remained standing, despite the dark of night continuing to draw closer to them.
When they finally came before the tall wooden perimeter of the Arniran village, the sun was hanging low in the sky and the horizon was a mix of vibrant oranges and soft pinks.
"Halt! Who travels here? State your names and your purpose!"
Sed'dya pulled the hood of her cloak back and away from her face. Her shimmering green eyes and silver hair marked her as a sister. Before she could state her name or speak of her company, Cynra stepped away from Taetylona and moved to the head of the trio.
"Your eyes can plainly see that we are your sisters, just as they can see that you now address the Dream Speaker. Our purpose is for us to know, now move aside and allow us entrance. Our news is most urgent."
The slender woman who stood on the parapet above them gasped upon seeing Cynra. Many of the women of the tribe had come to believe the old woman lost in the forest. She nodded quickly at Cynra, bowed her head in respect, and pulled a horn from her hip. One blow of the horn signaled the arrival of guests and the strong, thick gate surrounding the village began to open.
Cynra moved back to Taetylona, who still had her hood up to cover her face. With Sed'dya in the lead, the three of them moved and waited for the gate to open. "All my long years and this gate has been forever open. Now in this time of change I return home to them being closed and my sisters preparing for war."
Neither Taetylona nor Sed'dya commented on Cynra's words. When the gate was swung open, two hunters appeared to greet them. They were in full battle armor. Their chests, shins, and forearms were covered by hardened and reinforced boiled leather. Boots and gloves were tall and curved, as was the Arniran fashion. An assortment of weapons adorned each hunter. Cynra could see a short sword on one hip and a long sword on the other hip of each woman. Strapped to the outside of the hunters' right thighs was a dagger, and over their backs were longbows, the weapon of their calling. One of the hunters also carried a spear. Though Cynra could not see them, she knew each woman before her also carried hidden weapons: breast daggers, stilettos, or pouches of herbal powders meant to blind an opponent.
In additio
n to weapons, the women also had on their person small pouches of medicinal herbs that could staunch bleeding, as well as dohethra that could ease pain if the injured could apply it in time.
"Dream Speaker," the lead hunter said in a reverent tone. "You arrive in a time of chaos. Zy'nilur is soon to march out and meet the Esu."
Cynra waved a hand at the woman whose green eyes and white-haired head followed her every movement. "I must speak with Talyn. The matter is most urgent."
"The Nai'iris will be heartened by your presence, Honored One. She has often despaired since your departure, but never more so than when learning of the Child of Whispers."
The small group moved inside the village and the gates began to close behind them. Fires burned throughout Cynra's line of sight, women dancing and chanting and praying around their flames. The tribe was alive with activity. Blades were being sharpened on whetstones, bow strings were being tightened, arrows were being fletched, and all around women were being adorned and prepared for war.
Cynra did not notice any children and could only assume that Talyn had ordered them to be taken to Rae'kir for safety. She spied several women she not know, their faces covered in war paint, and knew them immediately to be of Zy'nilur's tribe.
"The Child of Whispers is who I need to speak to Talyn about."
The lead hunter nodded and waved to a shorter woman with a round face who was passing by. "Adesriel, the Dream Speaker has returned. See her to the Nai'iris." Adesriel nodded and looked to Cynra, Sed'dya, and Taetylona, who still held her head down with her shoulders hunched. Though the tribe was fluttering with the comings and goings and preparations for war, few women stopped to pay attention to the newcomers.
"Who is the cowled one? She can not go before the Nai'iris without stating her name."
Cynra moved in front of Taetylona and looked Adresriel in the eyes. "She is a clanswoman of the Esu in the valley." Adesriel made a noise of shock, but Cynra continued, "Her story is long and varied and is not meant to be told in full here. Know that she enters with my blessing. I want no harm to come to her. She is a sister to us under Aitla and, as such, shall be afforded the same protection. No one shall harm her. Do you understand?"