“There is a place north of here.” Roskin turned and pointed in the right general direction. “Khandahr of Rheben.”
“Khandahr?” Trev’nor repeated in confusion.
Nolan shook his head, not getting the word either. “City?”
“Old city,” Roskin explained patiently. “No one lives there. Half-destroyed.”
“Ruins,” Becca breathed. “Khandahr probably means ruins. Ruins of Rheben.”
“Something like it,” Nolan agreed, visibly perking up. “Now why would a city in Khobunter be named with a Chahirese name like that?”
“My family name, no less.” Trev’nor stared north and the way his eyes looked, it suggested he was looking far ahead with his magical sense more than his physical sight. “Now that does bear investigation. That place might have answers.”
“I’m certainly inclined to go look.” Nolan flashed Roskin a smile. “That was helpful. Thanks.”
Roskin beamed back. “Glad to help.”
“Is it straight north from here?” Nolan asked.
“Adhirk.” Tone said ‘mostly.’ Roskin cocked his head and offered doubtfully, “Four days?”
Four days to get there by horseback? Or dragoo.
Trev’nor waved this away. “I can get there fast. Roskin, we want to go up and look at this place.”
“Investigate,” Nolan tacked on. “Chhaan.”
“Right. Get some answers. Then call home. Tell them about all of you.”
“That’s fine,” Roskin assured him. “We will practice what you taught.”
Becca didn’t see how the delay would hurt. They’d only need a week or two of poking around in the ruins to see if there was anything to discover. That way, when they did call home, they’d have a great more information to report instead of half-baked theories and conjecture. Half-baked theories would not get them out of the hot water they were already in. Solid information would ease them out of the tight spot and into a more secure location.
“Then we will leave in a few days for a look.” Trev’nor looked to the two of them to see if this was alright as he spoke. “We want to spend some time here fixing everything we broke before leaving. After we go to the ruins, we’ll come back in a week or two. Good?”
“Fine by me,” Nolan acquiesced.
Becca lifted her shoulders slightly. “And me.”
Khobunter apparently had very strict laws about female-male conduct. Becca didn’t pick up on it at first, as slaves didn’t abide by any kind of rules aside from the ones the guards set, so it took a day of being free in Rurick to catch on that most of the citizens here found her relationship with Trev’nor and Nolan strange. Bizarre, even. Family would interact the way they did, or spouses, but nothing short of that. The women did not speak with a man one-on-one unless another woman was with her. Becca freely went wherever she was of a mind to and spoke to whomever she pleased and the women did not agree with this behavior at all.
At first she assumed that Rikkana Sumi followed them about because of what they were doing. Nolan went off to heal anyone that was injured while she and Trev’nor surveyed the damage and discussed what needed to happen. Then Trev’nor went off to start on the government buildings and she split the other direction with a totally different project in mind, and Rikkana Sumi immediately followed her.
Becca stopped dead in her tracks and turned to the woman. “Is there a problem, Rikkana Sumi?”
“You cannot be alone while walking,” she responded with that overly patient tone reserved for a person that asks stupid questions.
She blinked. Then blinked again as the full import of that sentence registered. “You mean a woman does not walk alone? At all?”
“Covana women can,” she explained.
Covana meaning, what? Becca had an inkling but tried the Solian word to clarify. “Married?”
The Rikkana nodded. “Married women.”
So, in other words, because she wasn’t married she shouldn’t be walking around alone. “My countrywomen are free to do what they want.”
The Rikkana didn’t like this response at all. She frowned at her, a very maternal look on her face. “Not safe.”
“Rikkana, I can fight off any man. Trust me.” Rather, Becca had the opposite problem of boys being afraid to approach her. Having the Super Soldier as a brother-parent might have something to do with that. Well, that and her habit of chucking lightning at anything that bothered her. Deciding that a change of subject was in order, she asked, “We did lots of damage. Food stores fine?”
The Rikkana really, really wanted to pursue the topic but food was very important in a desert land like this one. A mulish expression on her face, she nevertheless responded, “Need to check.”
“Then let’s check.”
Seeing that Becca was willing to follow her, and she wouldn’t have to worry short-term about her being inappropriate, the Rikkana relaxed a tad and led off. Becca relaxed as well and schemed. She’d get Nolan over here later and have him explain Chahiran culture. No way was she living under these kinds of restrictions; they were patently ridiculous. Women normally moved in groups because they were social and it was more fun that way, but being forced to? Just to step outside the house? No thanks.
They stopped at a building that was thicker than most, the walls nearly wide enough that she couldn’t put her hands on either side. When she stepped inside, Becca felt that the air was much cooler, with only two lamps inside providing light. Two other women were already there, both near her age, their hair tied back in kerchiefs. They greeted the Rikkana with high-pitched excitement, which Becca took as a good sign.
As the Rikkana spoke with them, she looked the building over in general. It was quite the warehouse, really, with enough food in here to feed the town for at least two or three days. Bins were lined in rows, different types of vegetables poking out of them. Becca went and investigated as they rarely got anything more than flat bread and meat in the slave pens.
There was wheat, watermelon, corn, some root vegetables like tarot and carrots, but there wasn’t much in the way of variety. Perhaps the rest were stored elsewhere? Come to think of it, there were practically no fruits here either. At least, none that she recognized.
The Rikkana came back to her and introduced, “Raya Becca, this is Chanda and Bala.”
Becca gave the Rikkana a weary look. She had protested this, several times, but the Rikkana insisted that raya was the proper way to address her. Nolan had translated the title as meaning ‘lady,’ roughly. No matter how many times Becca denied this, and that just Becca was fine, the Rikkana would not yield.
She gave up on the point for the time being and focused on the two girls. They had to be sisters. They had the same heart-shaped faces, wavy dark hair, and slightly prominent nose bridge. Their smiles were identical too, sweet but shy, and a little nervous. Considering Becca had leveled a good section of the city three days ago, she couldn’t blame them for being nervous. Trying to show good intentions, she smiled and gave them a quick bow. “I’m Becca. Hello.”
Melting under her smile, they bobbed their heads to return the greeting.
“Food stores safe?” she asked them. The building didn’t look impacted from here, but she could only easily see about half of the area from here.
“Perfectly,” Chanda assured her.
That was reassuring. “All of it?”
They looked puzzled, although why, Becca couldn’t fathom. She thought it a rather straightforward question.
The Rikkana stepped in to clarify. “This is all.”
“Just this building?” Becca spluttered. They hadn’t passed many farms coming in, granted, but surely this building wasn’t meant to feed the whole town! Belatedly she realized that she had spoken in Chahirese and tried to rephrase in her limited vocabulary. “Just here? No more?”
“No more,” the Rikkana verified carefully. “This is plenty.”
Becca shook her head firmly. “No.” Making a snap decision, she turned to the thre
e as a whole and demanded, “Show me water. Well for town.”
Bala caught on first what she wanted to see and gestured for her to follow. Becca went right on her heels as they left the building and headed for the outer wall. They passed Nolan as they walked, who was kneeling next to an injured dragoo with a pitiful expression on its face. Becca called to him as she passed, “Meet me at the well over here when you’re done.”
Nolan sank back onto his haunches to respond, “Is there a problem?”
“I think so. But finish there, then I’ll explain.”
He waved a hand in acknowledgement and bent back to the dragoo.
Fortunately the well was right around the next corner, so Nolan wouldn’t get too lost trying to find them. Becca bent down to give it a thorough examination.
With no Weather Mage other than herself in existence, there wasn’t a ready teacher for her. Garth had instead cobbled together a curriculum of history books and two professors from Coven Ordan to give her some idea of what she could do. She had been taught by both an Air Mage and a Water Mage, and so had the basic teachings of both. She used that knowledge now to trace the water source as far as she could feel, but eventually she lost track of it. What she could feel did not seem adequate to really supply a town of this size with enough water.
Frowning, she stood up again and found Nolan right behind her. “Problem?” he prompted.
“Nol, I’m not liking what I see,” she stated, gesturing to the well. “This is the main water source for the town, but I wouldn’t think it could support more than half of this population comfortably.”
Nolan leaned so that he could peer down the well. “My water sense isn’t nearly as strong as yours, but it doesn’t seem that deep.”
“It’s not. Also, I checked their food storage, and what they call ‘food storage’ for a town is ridiculous. They have about ten varieties of vegetables. That’s it.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was. We want to do something to make up for the damage we did here, right? Then I think we should create an aqueduct system, a water reservoir, and create a garden with more variety of fruits and vegetables. To them, it will seem like a luxury.”
Nolan flipped a hand up. “It should be easy enough to do if the three of us put our heads and magic together. Want me to call Trev’nor?”
“Yes. I refuse to leave for the ruins until this is done.”
She had no argument from him. To the three waiting women, he explained what they intended to do. It was funny to watch their reactions because even though he spoke in their native tongue it was clear they had no idea what he was describing. But then, how could they, when they had never seen the like before?
Nolan gave up and said to her, “I’ll get Trev. We’ll have to just show them; they don’t even really know what the words mean.”
“I caught that. Go, go. I’ll start studying the layout while you fetch him. We have our work cut out for us here.”
“It will take more than a day,” Nolan agreed. Then grinned.
She knew that look. “You’re looking forward to playing, aren’t you?”
“What’s the fun of being a mage if you can’t be creative?”
Creative? With plants? Oh dear.
Trev’nor greeted her idea with an enthusiastic, “Great idea! It’s perfect for what they need here.”
“In other words,” Becca drawled, struggling not to laugh at his enthusiasm, “any excuse to play in the dirt will do.”
“Yes?” he responded as if this were perfectly obvious.
Boys. Give them a dirt pile and they were happy. “I’ve studied the area a little and I think I have an idea of how to work an aqueduct in here.”
“Hey now, I’m the builder in the group,” Trev’nor objected.
She pointed toward her own nose, “And I’m the one that understands best how water flows.”
He had his mouth open for a retort only to think better of it. “I see your point. Together?”
“Probably for the best. Since you’re building the things. Nolan, do you have an idea of what we can plant out here?”
“More or less but some of it depends on how much you’re going to build and where. Some plants require a lot of space to grow in, others can’t survive in full sunlight, so I’ll need at least partial shade for them.”
All valid points. “Follow along, then, and let’s figure out how to do this.”
The Rikkana more or less came along for the ride as the three mages went throughout the town and talked to anyone willing to stop and speak for a minute. They asked many questions, sometimes struggling to get their points across, as they tried to understand just what the needs were for the town and where they could build without it interfering in people’s businesses. Becca’s vocabulary grew by leaps and bounds during this process as she picked up words here and there.
Chanda and Bala turned out to be in charge of food storage for the town. Nolan pulled them aside and asked many, many questions about their storage abilities. The girls seemed a little enthralled with his politeness and looks as they would sometimes clutch each other and giggle.
It did not go unnoticed that Nolan seemed to appreciate the attention.
Half the day was spent talking to the citizens and planning what could go where. Trev’nor wasn’t even able to break ground until late that afternoon but of course an Earth Mage didn’t need the same amount of time as a regular construction crew to do the job. He had the water reservoir built and three aqueduct lines in place before the light failed him.
Nolan got sucked back into healing ailments but came back to the outer wall of the city and gave the area a long look. “Trev,” Nolan intoned with an unhappy look narrowing his eyes, “you didn’t change the soil for me.”
“Ah, oops? Wait, was I supposed to do that first?”
“Yes,” Becca inserted with a roll of her eyes. “It’s more time efficient that way, remember? That way Nolan can be planting things while you build.”
“Ah. Double oops?”
Double oops, he said. The man needed a keeper some days. “Too late now. I guess do it first thing in the morning.”
“Sure,” Trev’nor agreed easily. “I’m almost done, Bec, I think we can finish everything up tomorrow. You want to call in a storm tonight and fill up the reservoir?”
“Not a bad thought. I’ll do that.” Almost belatedly she realized that Sumi and another woman that she didn’t know where standing nearby, clearly waiting to catch her attention. Waving the boys on, she went over to the women. “Hello.”
“Raya Becca, this is Asha,” the Rikkana introduced.
Asha looked like she was a well-established matron that likely had at least five kids. She wasn’t particularly portly but her face had a roundness to it that gave her a certain charm. With a bow, she greeted, “Raya Becca. You will stay with my family.”
Oh?
Seeing her confusion, the Rikkana explained, “It was her house that you stayed in the past three days.”
Ahhh. They had chosen a house at random to sleep in. So Becca’s room was in Asha’s? “And the boys?”
“They have been moved to stay next door.”
In other words, it was Not Appropriate for them to sleep under the same roof as she did. Becca decided not to bring up that she had camped out with them for nearly two weeks before coming here. It was best to not trip into that dangerous ground. “I will be glad to stay with you, Mistress Asha.”
They both looked relieved at this response. “You are done for the day?” the Rikkana pressed.
“I am not,” she denied, trying not to show any amusement at her impatience. “I have a storm to call. But after that, I can go back.”
Asha and the Rikkana exchanged looks and it was clear they were working out who would stay with her. Becca didn’t even try to argue that she was fine by herself. Those words would fall on deaf ears. “Ten, fifteen minutes. Tops.”
Since it was a short time, they
were more amiable, and the Rikkana indicated Asha could go back first. Then she planted herself and made it absolutely clear that she was not leaving Becca’s side.
That was fine as Becca wasn’t sure she could find the house again in the dark anyway. To the boys, she said, “They’ve apparently moved you two into the house next to the one we were in.”
They weren’t surprised by this change—after all, they had just crashed it someone’s house; with the owners back, of course they would have to move—and Trev’nor gave a flick of the hand in acknowledgement before finishing up what he was doing.
Nolan and Trev’nor left, likely to find dinner and bed, leaving Becca to work. She focused on the sky and patiently called in the right wind currents, the right moisture, all culminating in a storm that would give them steady rainfall through most of the night. She wanted that reservoir as full as she could get it before leaving. Having moisture on the ground for Trev’nor to work with in the morning wouldn’t hurt either.
With her work done, she finally consented to go to bed, which relieved the Rikkana. The woman must be dead tired running all over the city all day. They barely got within sight of the door when Asha latched onto her upper arm and pulled her inside. “Raya Becca, it is late,” she said in reproving tones.
Becca bit back a sigh, or a groan, and went along. That was another rule: a woman should not be out after sunset. “Asha, this place has too many rules.”
“Good rules,” the older woman told her, still with that frown on her face. “Protect you.”
“From what, exactly? You do remember that I can level this city if I want to?”
“Protect your heart.”
And what in the world did that mean? Becca had no chance to follow it up with another question as she was dragged into the house and bombarded from both sides. “Whoa! Chanda, Bala, what?”
Both girls had visible hearts in their eyes as they looked at her. The words nearly tripped out of Chanda’s mouth, she spoke so quickly. “We heard. Raja Nolan is prince?”
“Trev’nor called him so,” Bala added, nearly vibrating in place.
“Ah, yes. Nolan is Prince of Chahir.”
Warlords Rising Page 8