Kiya and the God of Chaos

by Philippa Bower

  Chapter Twenty Two: Denial

  At first light, Kiya rose to make breakfast. She was grinding wheat and barley grains when she heard Huy descend the stairs.

  “You have arisen early,” she said. “Breakfast will be a while.”

  “I must smarten up,” he replied. “Has your father a spare tunic? And I need a scraper for my stubble.”

  Kiya fetched him what he required and he went out to the trough in the courtyard. She listened to him splashing and rubbing and, when he came back, he looked a new man, glowing with cleanliness and with his chin clean-shaven. He was wearing Teos’s tunic.

  “I need my things laundered, please,” he said, and dropped his old clothes in a pile in the corner of the kitchen.

  Kiya kept smiling with an effort. “You look better,” she said.

  “I am going into town to find a job.”

  “Already? You have only just arrived.”

  “I see no reason for delay,” said Huy. “My future is going to be here, nothing is left for me in Gesem.”

  Kiya searched his face, wondering how he felt about having his life disrupted. “Are you sorry that you helped rescue Dennu?”

  He grinned at her. “I regretted it once or twice, during the worst bits of the journey, but Thebes is a good place to start afresh. Without you I would not have met Laylos again and the boy has survived, so all is well.”

  Kiya smiled at him. “Good. I am pleased.”

  He gave a wave and left.

  The porridge was cooking over the fire pit when the others came downstairs. First came Dennu.

  “Did you sleep well?” she asked.

  “Not badly.” He raised an eyebrow as if surprised to see her at work in the kitchen. “I see you are domesticated as well as beautiful.”

  “Thank you,” she smiled up at him then turned her attention swiftly back to the porridge.

  Teos arrived. “Good girl,” he said. “I am glad breakfast is ready. Dennu and I want to clean out the cow shed.”

  “Really?” said Kiya, looking at Dennu in amazement.

  “When on a farm become a farmer,” declared Dennu.

  Kiya dished the men out bowls of porridge and watched them eat, anxious for their approval.

  “Delicious,” said Dennu, politely.

  “It needs a little more salt, dear,” said Teos. “But not bad for a first attempt.”

  The men finished their breakfast, drank honeyed milk and went to the shed. Kiya stirred the porridge anxiously. Laylos and her mother were late and the mixture was thickening. At last they came downstairs.

  “Good morning, Kiya,” said her mother. “I see you have made breakfast.”

  “Now there are six of us, it will be hard work keeping everyone fed,” Kiya said as she ladled out the porridge.

  “You are a good girl,” said Ramala, taking a bowl and carrying it to the seating ledge. “Your aunt has had an excellent influence on you. You never made breakfast before.”

  “Aah, the child is growing up,” said Laylos. “Soon she will have her own household to run.”

  Ramala sighed. “How the years fly by. It seems no time since she was a baby.”

  Laylos took a bowl of porridge and sat beside her sister. “And what about you, my dear? You seem frail. Have the years not been good to you?”

  “I’m so tired, Laylos,” said Ramala, and to Kiya’s dismay, she saw her mother’s eyes filled with tears. “Something is wrong with me in here,” she touched her abdomen.

  “My poor sister.”

  Ramala spoke in a tremulous voice. “It was a hard birth and I never really recovered. Oh, Laylos, I feel that I am a shadow, living a half-life until death. Poor Teos deserves so much more.”

  “I know something of these matters,” said Laylos. “I will pack you with herbs to cure any infection.”

  “Really?” Ramala looked up at her sister with hope in her eyes. “Is it possible I might be well again?”

  “I cannot promise, but I will do my best.”

  Kiya longed, with all her heart, for her mother to be healed. She took the empty breakfast dishes to the kitchen, where she cleaned them quietly so she could hear the conversation. Her aunt lowered her voice so she had to strain to listen.

  “Tell me about Kiya’s young man,” Laylos said.

  “Young man?” Ramala sounded surprised. “I did not know she had one.”

  “She must have, for why else would she spurn the attentions of Dennu?”

  “Dennu? Do you think Massui’s son is in love with her?”

  “I know it. Have you not seen the way he looks at her, sister?”

  “Perhaps he has not declared himself.”

  “What nonsense. I have given them plenty of opportunity to be alone together. No, for some reason she is not interested in him.”

  “How extraordinary,” said Ramala. “He is such a handsome and charming man, and of high birth.”

  Kiya put the dishes away with a vigour that made them rattle. “I wish you would stop discussing me behind my back,” she called out.

  “Then come and talk to us,” said Laylos. “Tell us who you love.”

  Kiya came through from the kitchen area and stood before the two women. “I don’t love anyone,” she said.

  “It must be someone from the temple,” suggested Ramala, “For I have seen no young man pay court to you here.”

  Kiya could feel herself blush. “No!” she protested.

  “Whoever he is, he must be very special for you to ignore affections of Dennu,” said Laylos.

  “Dennu is just a boy,” declared Kiya. “I think of him more as a brother.”

  “Young he may be, but a boy he definitely is not,” said Laylos. “You will have to get married soon, Kiya, and few men have such excellent prospects.”

  “Oh, shush, Aunt. What good are prospects without love?”

  “Spoken as a foolish girl, Kiya,” said Ramala. “At the moment your options are few, indeed. A husband of high standing will be a protection.”

  “Besides,” said Laylos. “You say you have no feelings for him and yet I have observed otherwise.”

  “We have saved each other’s lives, that’s all,” said Kiya. “It creates a bond, I admit, but it is not love.”

  “It seems close enough to love,” said Laylos.

  Dennu and Teos entered the room, full of laughter and energy. “What’s going on?” asked Teos.

  “Nothing that concerns you,” said Laylos. “We girls have our own secrets.”

  “Come, girls, bring your men some beer," demanded Teos. "We are doing real work shovelling muck out of the shed.”

  Kiya hurried into the kitchen, relieved that the interrogation was over.

  “Where is Huy?” asked Laylos. "Why isn't he with you?"

  “He has gone into town to find a job,” called out Kiya.

  Laylos looked upset. “Really? He never said anything to me about it.”

  As Kiya filled two goblets with beer, she heard Ramala say to Dennu, “Should you wear that gold armlet while you are doing such heavy work?”

  “I never take it off,” said Dennu. “It means a lot to me.”

  When Kiya carried the drinks back to the men she was dismayed to see that her hands were trembling. Little waves rippled over the surface of the liquid.

  Teos must have noticed, for he said, “Are you feeling unwell, Kiya?” as he took his goblet from her.

  “I’m fine,” she said and managed a smile. She was conscious of Dennu's eyes upon her as she handed him his goblet. She braced herself for further questioning but was startled by a crash as the front door was flung open.