by Lexy Wolfe
Taylin chuckled softly as she offered a coin to a merchant and took the small pastry in exchange. "Ithesra is the largest city in Forenta. I don’t think there is any place in all the lands quite like Ithesra's Market Circle." Taking a bite, Taylin made a pleased sound, drawing an amused chuckle out of Storm. "Are you sure you do not want some? It is very good."
Storm arched an eyebrow at Taylin, not replying to the question with what she considered an obvious answer. Taylin made an exasperated noise, taking another bite. "I do not understand you Desanti. I can understand why you would not overindulge in Desantiva, because food was terribly scarce." She looked at the dark-skinned woman's profile. "But food is anything but scarce here. Why deny yourself when there is plenty?"
A trace of annoyance flickered across Storm's features, her fists clenching in frustration. "All of you. You keep insisting Skyfire and I should eat constantly. As if we are ignorant children who do not understand anything." Fixing Taylin with a look of barely repressed anger, Storm demanded, "What reason can I give you that would satisfy you so you will stop asking us?"
Taylin blinked in surprise at the surly response, staring at Storm as the woman continued. "Just because food is available does not mean we must eat it. You have seen what happens to our mounts when they gorge themselves. We cannot afford for our awareness to be dulled even a little." With a sigh, Storm looked away towards a point in the misty distance. "And we simply cannot eat that much. But even if we could, one day we will return to Desantiva where food is scarce. It will already be difficult to return home as it is."
"Wait. What do you mean you can't?" Taylin frowned, looking at Storm intently. "You are no different than the rest of us."
The Desanti woman shook her head so her braids shifted from one side of her cloak's lowered hood to the other. "No, Taylin. The Great War changed us." Storm held up her gloved hand, considering it a moment. "Can your healer's gift see the state of a body as it is? Not merely wounds but how it works from within?"
"Of course. That is how I know how to heal. I can tell how the body should be compared to what it is." Taylin could not hide her curiosity at the question. "That is how healers know how to mend injuries properly. Though you and Skyfire are maddening. You can limit my ability to just what you allow me to know."
Storm smiled faintly as she tugged her glove off, moving to stand off to the side away from people moving through the market bridges. "You have only healed Desanti trained in the arts handed down from the Totani since before there was memory. If you had healed another, you might have seen..." Storm's voice drifted to silence for a heartbeat. "Since we have left Desantiva, Skyfire and I have sought greater understanding through our ties to our Totani. Desanti are..." She sought the words, frowning slightly in frustration. "We are human, like you. But we... changed." She offered Taylin her bare hand.
Taylin blinked, surprised at the unexpected gesture. She tugged off her own glove and clasped Storm's offered hand. Closing her eyes, Taylin sought out what made Desanti different. Her eyes flew open in outright shock and not a little bit of horror as she let Storm withdraw her hand. "Oh, Storm...!"
"Now you understand." Eyes lowered, Storm's voice was muted as she tugged her glove back on. "It is something that the why has been forgotten, but what has been accepted by the Desanti as a fact of our lives. My people would have died out completely if not for the Desanti Guardians who left Fortress to preserve what was left." She smiled a little at Taylin. "Do not pity us. The changes were necessary to survive the wastes."
"But... Storm, I am so sorry. That your people had to suffer. One day..." Taylin's voice held a note of pleading for Storm to agree with her. "One day, your people will not need to suffer these-these alterations."
Storm shrugged indifferently. "The changes serve us well. Now that I know the reason we are different, I do not know I would want them to change for myself. Or if others will in the future, when the choice is theirs to make. For now, Desantiva is still a wasteland." Storm glared as a cold gust of wind made the bridge they were on sway ever so slightly.
"I can tell that you do not require nearly as much food or water as we do. And your body rhythms are so very different!" Taylin tugged her hood up. "It is no wonder you do not sleep very long." She tilted her head. "And I think... you age differently. Something is unusual... but I cannot place it. I have never encountered its like!"
"Yes. Time flows differently for us. As children, Desanti mature sooner so we have a fighting chance to become adults. After we are born, we are beginning to walk within three moons. We can speak within one." Tugging her cloak around her tighter, Storm stated simply, "I was a Githalin Swordanzen at thirteen summers, but you would have thought I was your seventeen." Storm looked off into the distance. "We need less food, less sleep. Many of our ancestors were Guardians, and only the strongest survive to breed. Our senses are similar to Guardians so we can anticipate better, react faster."
Taylin grimaced. "Guardian senses. I can barely scry crystal and you—"
"My friend, your sight is not that different from Desanti sight. You learned to focus where you needed, just as my people do. You can see within a person." Storm smiled faintly. "Though I confess I have been able to scry all the elements since Ganessi."
"...since Ganessi? And you haven't told Dusvet Almek?" Storm shook her head. Taylin asked in bewilderment, "Why not?! If I could ever figure it out, I would be beside myself wanting to tell him. So-so he would be proud of me."
Storm shrugged. "It does not feel like such a great accomplishment to me. Just another step beyond how I see normally. You cannot scry because you have convinced yourself it is too foreign for you to learn." The Swordanzen tapped her temple lightly. "The sight is a part of you, as much as healing is a part of you. Just as using a sword is a part of me."
Taylin frowned. "What do you mean?"
The sunlight caught the blade of the short knife as Storm drew it, resting the blade across her palm. "My weapons are an extension of me. I imagine feeling myself extend beyond my fingers to where the blade ends. Or my swords." Re-sheathing the weapon, she said simply, "You could see the changes that were done by my ancestors. Why should seeing the future, past or present through another medium be any different?"
The Sevmanan healer considered Storm's words as they continued through the market. "Storm... the changes done to your ancestors. Do Desanti continue to age faster once they have reached maturity?" Taylin lowered her voice. "Is it why Desanti die at younger ages than the other nations? Dusvet Almek remarked how Elder Verris looks like a man of sixty when he is only forty, but you seem younger than twenty-one."
Storm did not reply immediately, not meeting Taylin's anxious eyes. "The desert is very harsh." She smiled at a small group of young children being herded by an extremely patient woman. "It does not seem to be a uniform thing once we have crossed the blade from child to adult. Our maturing and our aging cannot be predicted. Some seem to age faster than others, but by no reason that would let anyone say who will or won't. It does not seem to be hereditary." As an afterthought, she added, "Though I admit, I have never heard of anyone dying of old age in Desantiva."
Taylin looked startled. "Are you sure? Because—"
Taylin's probing question was cut off as one of the young children ran up to Storm, stopping to stare up at the Desanti woman boldly. "Do you have to kill someone every day?"
Storm merely arched an eyebrow, ignoring Taylin's outright shock at such a question. "I do not have to kill anyone at all. Nor would I want to," she replied evenly.
"Hah!" The boy turned around and shouted back to the others in Forentan. The tone of his voice carried an 'I told you so!' in it. He looked back at Storm and said, "Alek's cousin's cousin is supposed to be a master, but I think he's an idiot 'cause he got all mad that fewer and fewer people are agreeing with him that Desanti are bad."
"Erik!" the woman caught up to him and looked at the two women apologetically. "Please, forgive my student. He gets to be a handful when win
ter begins to settle in and he's nothing to do to occupy his attention."
"Student?" Storm looked the woman over curiously. "You are a mage?"
The woman blinked and smiled, blushing. "Goodness, no. My students are not gifted enough to be taught in the Academy." She ruffled Erik's hair, the boy swatting at her hand in embarrassment. "They will find different ways to serve Forenta, as we all do."
Erik stood up proudly, pointing his thumb against his chest. "I'm going to be a guardsman like my Uncle Nolyn. Even if I am not strong enough to be a mage like him."
The Desanti woman looked amused, tilting her head to one side. "You know, you do not need magic to feel the heartbeat of the land," Storm pointed out. "Desanti don't have any magic at all, and we can."
"You can do things without magic?" The children all perked up, trading looks with each other before Erik asked, "Could you teach us how to do stuff without magic?" The others chimed in eagerly before falling silent when Storm held her hands up.
"If your teacher allows it, I will teach you what I can." The children turned to the poor woman as one, clamoring for permission for Storm to teach them. "Hush!" the Desanti woman said sharply. The children froze, silent, staring at her with wide eyes. "Those who teach should be given respect and honored for their willingness to share their knowledge and skills with you. I will not teach anyone who does not give respect to their teachers."
The woman smiled in appreciation. "Swordanzen, if you are willing to put up with this lot, I would be pleased to have you come to my school to teach my students. It is not far from here, if you wish to see?"
Storm offered the woman a deeply respectful bow. "You honor me, Teacher."
The woman flushed at the unexpected deference given to her by the desert woman. "You need not be so deferential to me, Swordanzen. I am no mageborn."
"Before all else, a Githalin's duty is to teach. That is worthy of respect." Storm's words, while quiet, were passionate, surprising both Taylin and the Forentan woman, and making the children look at each other in puzzlement.
"Very well, then, Swordanzen. Allow me to show you where my school is." She turned to lead Storm and Taylin down the bridges. Storm's hands were claimed by Erik and one of the girls as they all but dragged the Desanti with them in their excitement.
Chapter 30
Seated back to back atop the giant, sun-dappled root of the main tree, Storm and Skyfire focused on their daily ritual of inspecting and cleaning their weapons. As he returned from the Magus Academy, Ash noticed the pair as he handed the mare's reins to the stable hand. "Have they been up there all day?" he asked the man.
The stable hand followed the Illaini Magus's gaze and grinned broadly. "Oh, aye, Master Ash. Every time the weather is agreeable. Miss Kelafy does not seem to notice them when she is hunting for them during mealtimes. They keep their drizzen from smashing the stall doors in exchange for not tattling on them."
"I see," Ash replied, amused. Ensuring the headwoman was not waiting on him, Ash easily climbed the root wall to join the Desanti pair. "Hiding away from Miss Kelafy again?"
Skyfire looked up to smile at Ash, nodding in greeting. Storm's attention was fixed on the hilt of her knife where something had embedded itself in the crevice of the design. "The day is not terribly cold. Each day, we can spend less and less time outside. We wish to enjoy it while we are able." Skyfire looked over the edge warily. "And Miss Kelafy is very persistent around mealtimes."
Once the offending dirt was removed from the hilt, Storm looked up at Ash. "It is a sin against the ancestors to waste food. But she insists on making more than even Emaris can eat." The horror at such a sin was clear in her voice. "But she refuses to hear us when we say we do not wish any food because when we do ask for food, she gives us enough to last us days." She slid the knife back into its sheath with a sharp motion.
Ash shrugged one shoulder. "Do not think of it as being wasted. What is not finished by the servants or their families is given to the beasts of the household. Nothing goes to waste."
Storm frowned, pressing her lips together unhappily. "It seems more an excuse than a reason."
"I understand. I will tell Miss Kelafy to be more conservative with meals." Sitting down near the two, Ash looked up into the trees searchingly, gathering his thoughts. "Mealtimes are not simply about sharing sustenance. They are also a time of gathering for family and friends." Ash put his hand on Storm's arm lightly. "Your company is missed when you do not join us."
"But when you need to eat and when we need to eat are not at the same times." Storm's voice held the tone of a mother with tried patience trying to explain something to a child refusing to accept something so obvious. "Miss Kelafy never listens to you; she thinks she knows better than everyone else. If we do not come to meals, she will not make as much. If we came just to talk, she would make more food for us when we do not need nor want it. As if we could eat simply because it is put before us."
Matter-of-factly, Ash asked, "Would it hurt to at least try joining the rest of us for meals? I am sure Master Almek would be pleased to have you with us as well."
Skyfire looked over his shoulder to murmur something in another tongue while Storm fixed an annoyed look on the mage. Ash sat calmly, seemingly unmoved by the agitation. Storm's eyes did not leave Ash's as she turned her head slightly to reply to Skyfire.
"Perhaps," Storm finally replied in trade common. She looked back to her two-edged sword as she drew it, resuming her incessant maintenance of her weapons. After a moment, the woman glanced up at Ash. "I thought you said your home was well guarded by your magic."
Ash frowned slightly. "It is."
Looking up to scan the trees briefly, Storm pointed to a shadowed crevice by a branch above them. "Then why is he watching the house? Why is there always someone watching the house? Or are your people afraid Skyfire and I are a danger and must be guarded against?" The bitterness in her voice was only matched by the look in her eyes.
Following the direction she pointed, Ash noticed the anomaly moments before the guardsman lowered his camouflage spell with a sheepish expression, bowing slightly to the Illaini Magus. Quirking a rueful smile, Ash shrugged. "Captain Nolyn is concerned there may be some in Forenta who would bring harm to Almek or his students, especially those who lost status when you helped reveal the darkling that had possessed Se'edai Magus Ysai Oberlain."
Storm and Skyfire both looked at Ash, Skyfire more surprised than hurt. Storm, in contrast, looked as though Ash outright called her a cripple. "You think us incapable of protecting Lord Almek and the others?"
The mage studied the Swordanzen for several moments as he considered how to respond. He opted for blunt honesty. "Are you fully recovered from the effects of the poisoning??"
The woman's copper complexion darkened as she flushed with ill-repressed shame at the pointed question. "I would die to protect Lord Almek," she stated under her breath.
"I know you would. However, I don't want you to die at all. Neither does acting Se'edai Ellis or Captain Nolyn. Or many others, I am sure." Ash reached out to her, putting his hand under Storm's chin to turn her face towards his, pulling away when she swatted his hand. "You do not always need to stand alone, Swordanzen. There is no shame in accepting assistance from others."
Storm growled, "I did not ask for assistance. I do not want assistance." Shoving her sword back in its sheath, she pushed herself to her feet. "I just want to be left alone!" She stalked towards the base of the tree, nimbly finding foot-and handholds to reach the next branch up that was near the hall balcony nearest to her and Skyfire's rooms.
"She puts duty before herself so obsessively, I am concerned she pushes herself too hard. She has been giving herself time to recover?" Ash asked Skyfire as both men got to their feet.
Skyfire returned his weapon to its sheath without the force Storm had used, his gaze following Storm's path. Silent for several minutes, he chuckled softly. "As much as she allows herself. I would not be concerned about her agitation. This is th
e longest she has remained in one place in the company of so many." Seeing Ash's bewildered expression, he explained, "Storm often disappears for sevendays or whole greater moon phases to be alone."
Ash frowned. "Disappearing? Alone?"
The Swordanzen man laughed a little, shaking his head. "It is not as terrible as it sounds, Lord Ash. Swordanzen are never truly alone." He touched the design on his shoulder echoing his tattoo. "Our Totani are always with us, and we must realign ourselves with them in solitude." He waved towards the stables. "And the drizar is never far from Storm. Even when it is the mating season, she journeys with him to find his herds." He looked towards the stables, shaking his head. "Poor drizar. He's going to have to make do with one female and not dozens of dozens if it ever warms enough for him to rut, unless your horses take a fancy to him."
Ash barely heard anything Skyfire said. His gaze was not on the stables but on the balcony Storm had disappeared into. "That girl is impossibly stubborn. She lives as though she's still in the desert. You both do! There is no need for either of you to—"
Skyfire's stared at Ash with such an expression that the mage's words drifted off into silence. "Lord Ash, Storm has survived as long as she has by doing as she has done all her life. The only thing Thandar did when he took her under his wing was give a Cursed child a place to belong." He turned away to follow Storm's path inside, pausing to speak over his shoulder. "Why should she change the behaviors that have kept her alive longer than any other Swordanzen in our history? Why should I do any differently than she does?"
Watching Skyfire disappear into the same balcony Storm had entered, Ash sighed, shaking his head. "Because neither of you have to suffer just because your people do. I just wish I could get you both to understand that." He closed his hands into fists, his expression becoming determined. "I will get you to understand that."