Falling From the Tree (Darshian Tales #2)

by Ann Somerville

  “Maybe I want to know what naughty things you’re planning.”

  “Me? I’m too old to be naughty, remember?”

  “Ah yes, but not too old to have things done to you. When will you be too old for that, do you think? I want to line up my next lover in good time.”

  Arman clasped Kei firmly to him, and kissed him with authority. “I’ll never, ever be too old to have naughty things done to me so long as you’re doing them.” Then he pinched the backside causing him such delicious torment. “But I suspect you’d find a way to arouse a corpse, so age doesn’t come into it.”

  “Oh, yuck,” Kei said, pulling away from him. “Now I think you think I’m perverted.”

  “No, I think you’re incredibly tempting, especially when you put that pout on.” Arman kissed his soft, and, indeed, pouting lips again. “So we’ve established I have no naughtiness planned, and that you, despite claiming to be tired, are always planning something. What are you going to do to me tonight?”

  Kei’s eyes took on a glint even more stimulating to Arman’s cock than the feel of his bottom. “Come to bed and I’ll show you.”

  Arman grinned. Kei being too tired for sex—that would be the day, truly.

  Voyaging: 3

  Even when his father was in good health, the bean harvest was always a busy time for Karik and the other able-bodied men and women in the village. Fortunately, the older men like Fedor and Rin who’d lived through dozens of bean harvests, helped Risa get it all under control.

  Karik worked alongside him, glad to be busy. It made it easy to avoid Meran, and when she came to the stables to look for him, he could excuse himself to go and help Risa. He wasn’t sure if she wanted him to apologise, or to apologise to him—he just didn’t want to be caught alone with her again. Having watched other boys of his age begin the mating dance, and seeing how stupidly they behaved to impress their girlfriends, he’d decided already he had better things to do.

  Meran gave up on him eventually, to his great relief—like him, she was really too busy for this nonsense if she wanted to help her Ma. He had other things on his mind anyway, waiting for his friend to arrive from Ai-Tuek. Every time he saw small dust clouds rising in the distance, he hoped it would be Gyo and his parents, but it was three days before they finally arrived late in the afternoon, leaving themselves very little daylight in which to unload their cart. Karik noted ruefully Gyo had grown even taller in the three months since he’d seen him last.

  Gyo waved at him enthusiastically, as Risa came up to greet his brother. There were smiles and hugs all around, and then more as Misek’s parents and other family turned up to meet them. Misek’s wife, Pia, a quiet woman, sat in the cart with their nine-year-old daughter, Keira, and waited until most of the boisterousness was over. Keira smiled shyly at Karik, who smiled back. He liked Keira. She never teased him.

  “Where’s Reji?” Misek asked his brother.

  “In his house, all banged up.”

  “What in hells?”

  Gyo only waited to hear Risa’s explanation before grabbing Karik’s arm and dragging him away from the busily chatting group. “Come on, they’ve got enough people to help.” Karik wasn’t sure—he really ought to stay and unload Misek’s wagon for him. “It’s all right, Ka-chi. I want to see the fire-beetles.”

  Karik grinned at Gyo’s enthusiasm. His friend loved all beetles, especially fire-beetles, which were less common around the herbarium for some reason. Gyo liked to catch them and watch their tiny lights in his hands before letting them go—he was never cruel or destructive towards them.

  The winter air became frosty as the night drew in. The fire-beetles were one of the few insects to be active all year around, and their tiny shrill buzz was loud in the cold stillness over the waterhole, seeking mates, flashing their red-lit tails as they flew.

  “What happened to the beast that kicked Reji?”

  “P-Peit shot it—Risa wuh-was still trying to catch it up but Fedor said the thing wuh-was just too c-crazy to help. When Peit wuh-was butchering it, I asked him to crack the s-skull open—there was a lump like this in his b-brain.” Karik held up his curled fingers to indicate the inch-wide mass they’d found.

  Gyo stopped walked and turned to him. “Really? What was it?”

  “There was a wuh-worm inside it. Ma thinks i-it built the gall and that was wuh-what made the beast crazy. I’ve k-kept it if you w-want to see it. I was going to show uh-uncle Kei.”

  “I’d like to see it. Reji was lucky if the beast was crazed. I’ve never heard of that before.”

  Karik nodded. “M-me neither.”

  Gyo was distracted then, suddenly darting forward. “Got it!” Karik crowded close to see the tiny insect. “He’s a big one.”

  “Muh-maybe she.”

  “No, it has to be a boy—I can see his balls.”

  Karik laughed and the beetle, as if offended at the joke, flew away. “P-Pa wuh-wants me to g-go to Darshek. “

  “I know, my Pa told me when he asked me—that’s great, Ka-chi. Are you excited?”

  “A l-little.”

  “It’ll be fun. It’s better than weeding,” he said, pulling a face. “But if Reji’s not going, three of us aren’t enough, are we?”

  “N-no. L-Lori might c-come.”

  Gyo suddenly snatched another beetle from the air—he was so fast at that, Karik thought enviously. But he was good at all kinds of physical things. Tall, strong and graceful—if Gyo hadn’t been so sweet-tempered just like his father, Karik might have had to dislike him out of pure jealousy. But no one could dislike Gyo.

  They came to the edge of the water hole, where the fire-beetles were really putting on a show. They mated in mid-air, and despite what Gyo had said, it was almost impossible to tell the sexes apart at this time—only when the female was laying eggs could one be sure. Now was the best time of year to see them. Gyo sat down on a log to watch, entranced. Karik, more used to the sight, was more concerned by the fact the daylight was going, and after just a few minutes, he nudged Gyo. “Wuh-we better go.”

  “Yes,” Gyo said with a sigh, climbing to his feet. “Pa says we’ll stay with Kei and Arman. Do you think you’re going to ask him about...you know?”

  Karik had already given this a lot of thought. “No.”

  “Oh, come on, Ka-chi! You’re nearly sixteen—you need to know.”

  That might be so, but it didn’t mean it was easy to ask the question. All he knew was Arman had given Karik to his Ma when he was a tiny baby, and Ma had loved him and looked after him ever since with his Pa. Neither of them knew who his parents were, they’d said, and told him it didn’t matter because he was loved, and beautiful, and theirs. When Karik had asked Kei, he’d said more or less the same thing. Karik had never had the courage to ask Arman. There was something rather forbidding about the man, something that said personal matters were off-limits.

  He couldn’t help knowing the gossip, hearing the tail ends of speculation by adults who stopped speaking when he came near, forgetting their own children would gleefully pass it on as a way of teasing a stuttering boy who looked so different from them. Some people thought he was Arman’s own son. Some said he was the Prijian sovereign’s boy Arman had stolen to get revenge on her. One or two said he must be the child of a mistress, although Karik didn’t know exactly what a mistress was.

  He didn’t look like Arman. Karik was short and slight, certainly nothing like his tall father who could lift and toss bales of hay like children threw leather balls in the fields for fun. And Arman had the bluest of blue eyes, almost like the sky, they were so blue, while Karik had eyes green as new leaves. Gyo had green eyes too, because they said his real father was a Prij. But they weren’t as green as Karik’s, and Gyo’s hair and skin were as dark as any one else in the village.

  “You don’t kn-know who your fuh-father is, ei-either.” Gyo looked away shiftily, and then started to walk along again. “Gyo?”

  “Ma told me,” he said in a rush.
r />   “And?”

  His friend seemed intensely unhappy at what he was about to say. “He...he was some senator, in Kuprij. She was...well, you know your Ma and my Ma were in Utuk?” Karik nodded. It wasn’t something Ma talked about a lot, but it was during the war that she’d met his Pa, and Kei had met Arman. “Anyway, she was...his servant...and...he raped her.”

  “R-rape?” Karik didn’t know the word.

  Gyo looked down at his feet. “Forced her...you know...to sleep with him.”

  “Oh.” Karik was horrified. “I’m s-sorry.”

  “I wanted to kill him,” Gyo said with more anger in his voice than Karik had ever heard before. “To do that to my Ma.... I hate him. Ma says he’s dead now. But I wanted to kill him.”

  Karik thought about telling Gyo such thoughts were wrong, but then if it turned out someone had attacked Karik’s Ma, he bet Pa would want to kill them. And Karik would too, probably. “Better to h-have Misek. Go-good man.”

  “Pa’s the best,” Gyo said fiercely. “I know people think he looks funny, but I love him and he loves Ma and me. “

  Now the big secret was out, he’d lost all his cheerfulness, his shoulders slumped and his expression blank. Karik slipped his arm through that of his friend’s. “Our fuh-fathers are better than any P-Prij. Ah-Arman says so.”

  Gyo made an effort to smile. “He would know. Anyway, you should ask him.”

  “M-maybe.”

  They had reached the edge of the village proper, and Karik saw Misek’s wagon had already been dealt with and taken to the stables. “Oh there you are!” Risa came out of the stores shed, looking annoyed. “Where in hells did you go, Karik? I need you now, you know that.”

  Karik flushed and opened his mouth to try and make an apology, but Gyo beat him to it. “My fault, uncle Risa—I asked him to come with me. I haven’t seen him for months.”

  Risa pursed his lips. “That’s all very well, but there’s work to be done. You’re not going to wander off like this on the trip, are you?”

  “No, uncle Risa. I’m sorry.”

  “Hmmm. Well, at least you’ll have your Pa to keep you in line.”

  “Huh?”

  Risa gave him one of his brief, close-mouthed smiles. “Mis has decided he’s going to take Reji’s place. He’s worked with him before, so it’s a good arrangement.”

  In an instant, Gyo’s good mood was restored. “Great! Where is he?”

  “At Ma’s. Go wash up, Gyo, your grandma will have supper out soon. Karik, you better head home too.”

  “Yes, R-Risa.”

  Gyo touched Karik’s shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow, early, Ka-chi. Oh, this is going to be fun!” he yelled over his shoulder as he sped off.

  Risa shook his head at his nephew’s exuberance. “Off you go, Karik. Let Reji know, will you? I’ll speak to him tomorrow but I know he won’t have a problem with it.”

  Karik nodded and walked further on down the street to his parents’ house. Gyo was lucky. Karik wasn’t really looking forward to the journey as much as he would have done if Pa had been going—Risa was nice, but it wasn’t the same.

  Ma was cooking and his father was lying on his makeshift bed, holding his ribs. “Oh, there you are,” he said. “I heard Misek had arrived but then no one came near us.”

  “Perhaps they’ve got better things to do than dance attendance on your lordship,” Ma said tartly, but Pa only grinned. “How’s Gyo?”

  “G-good. Mi-Misek is going to c-come with us.”

  “Oh?” Pa said, trying to sit up and wincing as he failed. Karik went to him and shoved another pillow behind him so he could straighten more easily. “Thanks, son. How can Misek leave the herbarium for two months?”

  Karik shrugged. It had been cooked up between the two brothers, and presumably Pia had agreed. “D-don’t know.”

  “Pia’s managed before, you know. And she’s got her brother and her father to call on,” Ma pointed out as she stirred the pot.

  “Yes, but spring’s their busy time. I’ll have a word with Risa—”

  Ma turned and wagged her wooden spoon at Pa. “No, you won’t. You said Risa was in charge, so leave it be. Gods, Reji, you’ve known Misek twenty-six years—have you ever known him make a stupid decision? I’ve known him sixteen and damned if I can remember him doing so.”

  “True. All right. He’s got the experience Lori hasn’t, so it makes me a little easier. I think it will help Risa too. What do you think, Karik?”

  Karik was a little startled by the question, since he thought he wasn’t really part of the discussion any more. “Y-yes.” That sounded rather weedy. “It’s a g-good idea.”

  “There you go,” his mother said firmly. “Karik, set the table, please. Reji, can you manage to sit with us, or shall I bring you a tray?”

  “Let me try the table—my arse is turning to rock lying in bed all day.”

  She hooted with laughter. “This is the man whose idea of fun is to do just that.”

  “Just because I want to spend all day in bed,” Pa retorted, “doesn’t mean I want to keep still.”

  He got through supper sitting normally, although it was clearly a trial for him. When he declared he wanted to sleep in his own bed with his own lover that night, Ma made a protest for the look of it, and then agreed, although she insisted he would have to use a chamber pot if he needed to relieve himself in the night.

  “Anything you want. I can’t sleep on that chair, it’s harder than stone,” Pa declared with feeling. “As soon as I’m mended, I’m going to ask Noki to help me make a new one. If any of us get sick in the future, we’ll need it.”

  Ma kissed his cheek. “You’re only thinking of your own old age, which is a little closer than it is for the rest of us,” she teased.

  Pa slapped her rump. “Now come on, you old hag, you’re only two years younger than me. Maybe I better just move our bed down here and Karik can bring us our soup while we drool on the pillows.”

  “Karik will be married and too busy to feed you anything by then,” his mother said. “Won’t you, Ka-chi?”

  Personally, Karik thought that was unlikely, but he smiled anyway. “I mi-might stop by.”

  “So kind, son of mine,” Pa said, pulling a face at him. “I knew there was a reason we kept you around.”

  It was just a joke, but Karik couldn’t stop the slow burn in his face, or the emotions the words caused. Ma gave him a sharp look and then turned to Pa. “Reji, are you ready for me to give you a wash?”

  “I can wash myself,” he said impatiently. “I’ve only sprained my knee, not broken it in two.”

  She folded her arms. “Fine. Be an independent arse and when Karik and I have to come and pick you up off the floor, you’ll only have yourself to blame.”

  Pa got to his feet with the help of the chair back and his stick. “Oh, be quiet, you harridan. You’re enjoying this far too much.”

  Ma rolled her eyes at him. “Come on, Karik, we’ll clear up while your Pa proves what a man he is.”

  Karik’s parents were the only adults in the village who spoke to each other like this and he sometimes wondered if they were quite right in the head. He began to clear the plates to take to the sink to scrub, while Ma put the bread away in the bread bin and the other food into the larder. He knew she was listening out for Pa, but since his father was being so pig-headed, he also knew she wouldn’t go in there unless he yelled.

  She startled him by laying a hand on the back of his neck. “What’s bothering you, Ka-chi?”

  He turned to look at her—all he saw in her expression was kind concern. “Ma, when you were in Utuk....” Her expression changed immediately, becoming wary. “Did you know what happened to Pia?”

  She relaxed immediately, but he wasn’t sure why. “Gyo’s said something or been told something?”

  “He said...he said his Ma was raped.” It was such an ugly word, he thought, but then it was a damn ugly thing.

  “Oh. Come and sit, dear, so we
can talk about it.”

  Karik nodded as she led him over to his Pa’s now abandoned bed. “He’s upset, Ma. Really angry with the man who hurt her.”

  “I don’t blame him. We were all very angry about it. She wasn’t the only one, but for her sake and the others, we don’t talk about it, and you aren’t to, either. It’s not fair on Pia. And Gyo is Misek’s son in everything but blood, just as you are mine, Ka-chi.” She kissed his forehead in blessing and he couldn’t help but be warmed by the tender gesture.

  “He said the man was dead. Is that true?”

  “Yes, dear.” Her mouth tightened as she added, “He died five years ago, and good riddance to him.”

  “You knew who he was?”

  “We know who they all were,” she said bitterly. “And most of them are dead or forgotten.”

  “What about the people who had you? Are they dead too?”

  She picked at a speck of dirt on his shirt before answering. “Yes, but the man I was with was different. Karus was a very kind, gentle man who died before we were rescued. Don’t tarnish his good name with the sins of the others.”

  The name was too similar for coincidence. “Karus?”

  “Yes, you were named for him. He was a good person.”

  “Ma, if you know all this stuff, why haven’t you told me about it?”

  She took her hand off his arm. “We uh...Karik, it’s very complicated, and some of it isn’t mine to tell.”

  “Ah-Arman kn-knows who my p-parents are.”

  She touched him again. “Ka-chi, I think it’s time you had a talk to Arman when you get to Darshek. But you have to understand that adults have secrets too, and pain, and sometimes they want to hide things, not because they don’t trust you, but they don’t trust themselves.”

  “I just want to know who my father is.”

  “Your father is Reji, my son. I am your mother. Whoever planted his seed on whatever woman, doesn’t alter that, do you understand?”

  She almost looked afraid as she said this, for all the fierce tone in her voice. “I know, Ma. I’m your son. I just want to know who gave birth to me.”